Join us for a one-day event aimed at helping Agency Leaders create an engaging workplace that ignites creativity and supports collaboration.
Agency leaders seek to restore a culture of inclusivity, creativity and collaboration to their agencies and THRIVE is here to help. Thought leaders from around the world will provide you with the tools to keep your people focused on creating effective work that works and THRIVE through restored purpose.
THRIVE is about helping leaders to transform their agencies into strong, resilient workplaces that support their people, their clients and their business. This year we're focusing on building workplaces that ignite creativity and provide a foundation for purposeful work.
ICA Member Agencies $899 + HST (Invoicing option available)
Non-Member Agencies and Brands: $1,299 + HST
Dr. Tracy Brower, PhD, MM, MCRW
A PhD sociologist studying work-life fulfillment and happiness. She is the author of The Secrets to Happiness at Work and Bring Work to Life. She is the vice president of workplace insights for Steelcase and a contributor to Forbes.com and Fast Company. You can find her on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, Unsplash or at tracybrower.com
An advertising writer, featured in The D&AD Copy Book, a collection of the top 50 copywriters from the past 50 years. Author of several books including How to do better creative work. His latest, Can't Sell, Won't Sell: Advertising, Politics and Culture Wars has been described by the IPA as "the most provocative advertising book in years".
Michele Bailey is founder of The Blazing Group, a brand and culture agency born of her strategy-first approach to business, flair for sharing stories, and desire to enhance employee wellness while pursuing business goals. The author of The Currency of Gratitude, Michele makes the business case for fostering a deep connection between a company's brand identity and its internal culture. It's in forging this connection that the real work of company culture takes place.
Sue Bennett began Bennett Design Associates in 1997. Today, Bennett Design is one of the largest independent interior design firms in Canada with a staff of 45 and an extensive service offering covering all aspects of the design process including strategic, creative and project management services. Sue is credited with coining the term: The Elastic Workforce™ and routinely consults to some of Canada's top corporations on how to understand and prepare their space for the new needs of today's workforce.
Sue has been recognized on the Profit W100 many times as one of Canada's top 100 Women Entrepreneurs and in 2015 she was awarded the North American Enterprising Woman of the Year award. Sue was also recognized by BMO in 2016 in their commitment to the advancement of women during their Celebrating Women Awards Ceremony for her efforts in Community and Charitable Giving for her philanthropic and fundraising efforts in the fight against Women's Cancers.
Sue is a registered member of both IDC and ARIDO where she also holds a 'Fellow' designation and was honoured to be the President in 2012. She is a LEED AP certified design professional and has a MCR (Masters of Corporate Real Estate).
Robert has been with the Bank of Montreal since 2006. He plays a key role in analyzing economic, fiscal and real estate trends in Canada. Robert regularly contributes to various department publications, and is a regular commentator on economic and financial trends to the media.
Before joining BMO, Robert worked in the Research department at the Bank of Canada. Robert holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Western Ontario, and a Masters degree in Economics from Carleton University.
As the founder and managing partner of Williams HR Law LLP and President and CEO of Williams HR Consulting Inc., Laura boasts more than two decades experience providing strategic advice and legal representation to organizations on a full range of labour, employment law and human rights matters. Laura is passionate about providing her clients with proactive advice designed to minimize workplace aw challenges, maximize employee engagement and boost their bottom line performance. She is widely recognized as a leader in helping organizations leverage innovative strategies to reduce liability and costs derived from ineffective and noncompliant workplace practices.
As a recognized thought leader, Laura has been featured in various industry magazines, business and human resources publications. Laura has also been featured in various publications including Canadian Lawyer, Lawyers Weekly, Law Times, HR Professional Magazine, Canadian HR Reporter, Canadian Employment Law Today and Canadian Labour Law Today. In addition, Laura has appeared in various national broadcast and print media including CTV News, Global News, BNN, CBC Radio, the Globe and Mail, National Post, Canadian Business Magazine and Chatelaine.
Jandre is an employment lawyer at Bridge Legal & HR Solutions. With background in philosophy and law, Jandre approaches his work with a keen eye for detail. His focus is on providing comprehensive and timely advice to employers for every stage of the employment relationship. He provides expert advice on employment contracts, human resource policies, human rights, occupational health & safety, or accessibility matters.
Richard Benoit is a Senior Consultant with the Steelcase Applied Research + Consulting team. He has over 12 years of experience of leveraging research and insights to help organizations create highly effective workplaces that align with their culture and business strategies.
Mathew Palmer joined General Motors Canada in 2014 and was appointed to the role of Director, Corporate Continuity, in April 2020. In this role Mathew is responsible for coordinating and overseeing General Motors Canada's response to COVID-19 and associated workplace transitions.
Mathew also oversees a number of projects that are at the cutting edge of the future of transportation, including the development of General Motors Toronto Mobility Campus at 721 Eastern Avenue.
Executive Headhunter, Talent Arts
Rachel's background begins in north Los Angeles growing up with lots of sunshine and a steady influx of creative people around her, given her father's career as an international cartoonist and single-cell animator. Upon finishing her education in Canada, Rachel landed her career in the Advertising industry. Over the next 12 years she successively moved through different disciplines of Copywriting, Account Services and Strategic planning, working at Leo Burnett, DDB, Saatchi & Saatchi and FCB, developing brand campaigns and communications strategies.
Rachel moved into recruitment in 2013 - taking an inside knowledge of the industry with her to inform her approach and in 2017 moved independently to start her own search practice. She has spoken at the MARS centre for Digital Day, served as Chair for the Humber Advertising and Marketing Communications Advisory Committee and as Corporate Consultant with OCAD University.
Executive Headhunter, Talent Innovation Inc.
After graduating from the Commerce program at Queen's University, Tracy spent 15 years in various brand, retail and digital marketing roles for companies such as Kraft, Unilever, Coke and Nike. Given her passion for people and building exceptional teams, she moved into recruiting in 2008 and since then has built a strong reputation as a high-performing and committed talent partner. Over the past 15 years she has placed hundreds of top performers within leading companies in the CPG, Retail, Food Service, Alcohol Beverage, Financial Services, Teleco, Pharma and Agency sectors.
Tracy has also worked extensively with the Smith School of Business at Queen's University for the past 10 years, and as the current "Marketing Advisor in Residence”, helps educate and inspire undergraduate and graduate-level Business students about career opportunities in marketing.
Bonny is a purpose-driven business strategist and former CMO, with more than 12 years of experience in developing diverse, passionate teams and organizations to better connect with their customers. She is known as a strategic and analytical thinker, who challenges the status quo and drives change through the connection between people, processes and purpose. Bonny uses her past experience of launching a disruptive new digital insurance company in Ontario, to help entrepreneurial minds go-to market. As Co-Founder of Sidekick and co-author of the Wellbeing at Work Report, Bonny has served as the lead in strategic planning, organizational design, and business strategy development for clients including the Dairy Farmers of Manitoba, the Canadian Centre for Substance Use and Addiction, and more.
Thrive takes place at the POi LivingLab at 3389 Steeles Avenue East just outside of Toronto on Wednesday, September 28th. Thrive is focussed on providing new workplace strategies to agency leaders and what better way is there to showcase new ways of working then hosting a conference inside of a LivingLab! POi’s LivingLab is a workspace AND a showcase allowing audience members to experience first-hand how to engage with employees in many different situations. There will be lots of opportunities to explore the space, see how the technology works and experience cutting-edge workplace strategies in real time.
Download parking instructions here
Seating is limited. Bulk Buy and Traveller discounts available. Connect with leah@theica.ca for more information.
Make sure to choose the Round Table Discussion you'd like to attend when selecting your tickets. We will make every effort to slot you into the round table of your choice.
No. Thrive is open to all agencies and agency partners and their employees.
The content at this conference has been specially curated by the ICA for a very senior audience of agency leaders and their management teams. The focus is on people challenges stemming from the pandemic and so this content is valuable for HR, Operations and Finance executive leaders as well.
Please arrive at the POi LivingLab at 3389 Steeles Avenue East, Unit 120, North York, ON M2H 3S8 (at Steeles & Hwy #404) at 8:00 am for a Continental Breakfast.
Yes, please see the pdf above for details on parking and how to access the conference space.
Business casual.
Please contact Leah Power at leah@theica.ca.
Tickets include the day’s content, breakfast, lunch, cocktails on Wednesday, September 28, 2022.
Tickets are non-refundable but are transferable to someone else on your team.
