The Cansbridge Fellowship
Conference 2026
Build companies.
Build communities.
Build yourself.
About the Conference
The Cansbridge Fellowship Conference (CFC) 2026 is the largest gathering in the fellowship's 14-year history. A declaration that Canada's next generation of founders, operators, and leaders is ready to take on the world, through an immersive experience.
Itinerary
From inspiring keynotes to a plethora of workshops and networking, there's sure to be something for you!
Peruse the itinerary for more details, or check out the speakers section for more information on all our keynotes, workshops, and panelists!
Build to Become
This year, our CFC is themed Build to Become. It's a belief that the act of building shapes not just what we create, but who we are. So, when Canada chooses to invest in its innovators, we build a nation worth believing in.
Speakers
Hear from an exceptional line-up of thought leaders, innovators, and industry experts shaping the future. You're sure to leave inspired with fresh insights and new ideas! Click on a speaker to learn more about them and the workshop they're hosting.
Keynotes
Workshop A Presenters
1:30 PM - 2:30 PM
Please note that all workshops are first come, first served.
Nathan Parsons Cybersecurity Breaches Oakville
Cassia Attard Rejection Therapy Terrace
Workshop B Presenters
3:30 PM - 4:30 PM
Please note that all workshops are first come, first served.
Panelists
Ceremonies & Keynotes
Incredible keynote speakers, innovators and speaker panels that will leave you inspired to take action.
Interactive Sessions
Featuring hands-on experiences from the brightest minds. From Rejection Therapy, to Perfecting Your Pitch.
Lifelong Community
The people you meet here are the ones you'll be growing with, professionally and personally.
About the Fellowship
Founded in 2011, the Cansbridge Fellowship selects ~15 of Canada's most ambitious undergraduate students each year for a $10,000 grant, an international internship in Asia, and lifelong membership in a community of builders and leaders.
And the results speak for themselves.
Fellows go on to work and lead at the highest levels, globally. They found companies backed by the world's top investors, including multiple YC companies, and build ventures reaching hundreds of millions of users.
(Raised $75M Series B)
(Raised $3M Pre-Seed)
(Raised $50M Series A)
($22M Series A)
(A16z Speed run)
(TechStars)
(Acq, YC'21, Thiel Fellow)
(Acq by ZeroClick)
(YC'21, Acq by Niche)
(Raised $75M Series B)
(Raised $3M Pre-Seed)
(Raised $50M Series A)
($22M Series A)
(A16z Speed run)
(TechStars)
(Acq, YC'21, Thiel Fellow)
(Acq by ZeroClick)
(YC'21, Acq by Niche)
Sponsors
The Cansbridge Fellowship Conference would not be possible without the support of our sponsors!
Contact Us
If you have any questions, feel free to email the CFC Director at asma@cansbridgefellowship.org. We look forward to hearing from you!
To stay up to date on all things CFC, be sure to follow our socials!
See You Soon!
Conor Plunkett
Ex-Founder
About Conor
Conor Plunkett is an ex-founder who taught himself how to code, while graduating from a dual degree in civil engineering with Ivey. He worked at Coinbase, ran a crypto hedge fund, and sold his AI startup to HF0-backed Crossmint to lead agentic payments as a product manager. He's travelled to 36 countries, DJ's part time, and loves to travel.
About the Workshop (Location: Terrace)
Rejection Therapy
Ever wondered what's standing between you and your dream? A whole heap of rejection. In our workshop, you and your friends will learn first-hand what it's like to get rejected a bunch by the world. And, make a ton of awesome memories along the way. By the end, you'll be more confident, more inspired, and learn that rejection really isn't all that bad. In fact, it's only the start towards the journey of serendipity.
Aamyneh Mecklai
McKinsey
Cassia Attard
Closed Loop Ventures
About Ammyneh
Aamyneh is a Business Analyst at McKinsey & Company, where she focuses on deploying agentic AI solutions across the TMT and healthcare sectors. Before McKinsey, she worked at product studio Rumor Avenue, building digital products for startups and global brands. During her Cansbridge summer, she spent time in Sri Lanka launching and running an after school program for students in Colombo.
About Cassia
Cassia is investing in early-stage companies building the circular economy at Closed Loop Ventures. Prior to joining Closed Loop, she spent several years at climate and agricultural startups, ranging from a fertilizer company in Kenya to a rice company in Bangkok.
About the Workshop (Location: Terrace)
Rejection Therapy
Ever wondered what's standing between you and your dream? A whole heap of rejection. In our workshop, you and your friends will learn first-hand what it's like to get rejected a bunch by the world. And, make a ton of awesome memories along the way. By the end, you'll be more confident, more inspired, and learn that rejection really isn't all that bad. In fact, it's only the start towards the journey of serendipity.
Bob Mathers
Growth Mixtape Podcast
About Bob
Bob Mathers is a keynote speaker, leadership coach, and host of The Growth Mixtape podcast. A former senior leader who lost his role and rebuilt his career through sobriety and curiosity, he helps audiences navigate the burnout, AI disruption, and identity crisis hitting senior leaders hardest.
About the Workshop (Location: Markham)
Become Unforgettable in a World of Sameness
AI is watering down everything we consume. It's getting harder to stand out and become a brand people remember. The solution is easier than you think. By rediscovering your childlike curiosity, you create unforgettable connections in an increasingly disconnected world. You can be the most interesting person in the room. You can be the person nobody forgets. This interactive workshop shows you how.
Ella Schlaghecke
Corgi
About Ella
Ella Schlaghecke's experience spans a diverse range of industries—from food and beverage, hospitality, media, and fashion to policy writing and technology. She brings a cross-disciplinary and multicultural lens into all her work, and as a life enjoyer at heart, she carries an entrepreneurial and positive spirit into every room she enters.
About the Workshop (Location: Vaughan)
Getting Unstuck
Each person walks in carrying a problem they're currently stuck on, and leaves with a concrete move that will be coming from the one person in the room best positioned to give it. Almost any problem someone has, someone else has already solved a version of it, there is no such thing as an original problem. The whole event is a machine for helping people understand this and also help each other out with what they're stuck on.
Miriam Mourad
Stan
About Miriam
Miriam Mourad is a remote work strategist and LinkedIn branding expert who has spent the last three years building in public - a habit that has brought her new opportunities every single month, including her current role as Creator Partnership Manager at Stan, which she landed through building online too. She has helped 30+ founders and consultants turn their online presence into investment, partnerships, and roles they actually want. Her mission is simple: to help people build careers they love without compromising their well-being.
About the Workshop (Location: Markham)
Show Your Work: How Building in Public Opens Doors You Can't Plan For
For three years, building in public has brought me new opportunities every single month: clients, partnerships, and the job I have now. In this workshop, you'll see how sharing your work openly creates a ripple effect that compounds: opening doors across your industry while quietly changing how you see yourself. You'll leave with a simple, sustainable way to start building in public, no huge following or "hustle" required.
Matt Shoss
Dragonfruit Ventures
About Matt
Matt built a 250k+ follower brand with 70M+ impressions. He advises early-stage startups as a fractional CMO, helping founders scale distribution. Now, he leverages that edge to source founders, host events, and build communities - positioning Dragonfruit Ventures as the Gen-Z, distribution, media-first fund.
About the Workshop (Location: Gala Space C)
Building Your Personal Brand in a Social-First Era
In a social-first world, people often discover the founder before they discover the company. This workshop will break down why personal brand matters, how to build one that actually feels authentic, and how founders can use content to create trust, grow an audience, and open doors for their business.
Lyn Chen
Cansbridge Scholars
About Lyn
Lyn Chen is an entrepreneur-educator and Co-Founder of Cansbridge Scholars, where she runs an entrepreneurship program for ambitious 18-25 year-olds. A Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree and Thiel Fellow, she previously built a YCombinator-backed developer tooling company and led TKS Toronto before founding her own education venture studio. She's on a mission to empower 50 million young people through interdisciplinary learning, community, and entrepreneurship, teaching the skills schools leave out.
About the Workshop (Location: Vaughan)
The Art of Pitching
Pitching is a life skill; you pitch every single day, whether you realize it or not. In this hands-on workshop, Lyn Chen breaks down how to craft and deliver a compelling 60-second elevator pitch that works in any room, from investor meetings to first conversations. You'll leave with a pitch you can actually use, and the confidence to say it like you mean it.
Zhida Shang
Schwarzman
About Zhida
Dr. Zhida Shang is a family medicine resident doctor at the University of Toronto, 2024-2025 Schwarzman Scholar and a recent graduate of McGill's medical school class of 2026. Prior to medical school, he completed a Master's degree in nursing and worked as a nurse.
About the Workshop (Location: Oakville)
The Journey of Education: The Grit Mindset
Life is full of twists and turns, and being a student in university, challenges are part of the journey. This workshop explores how the education you pursue shapes who you are. uncovering why you do what you do, and where you want to go with it. What do you eventually want to accomplish in life?
Aidan Gurung
Rhodes Scholar
About Aidan
Aidan Gurung is the Program Director at Cansbridge, where she designs learning experiences for ambitious young people pursuing unconventional paths. She trained as a teacher in Canada, earned a Master's in Education from Cambridge, and is now completing a PhD in Education at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, where she researches how people can build successful careers while also having fulfilling personal lives. She has solo-trekked through the Himalayas, read 100 books in a year, and believes the best goals are the ones that require you to become someone new.
About the Workshop (Location: Kitchener)
Setting (and Achieving) Impossible Goals
A lot of people set goals. Few people treat them seriously enough to achieve them. In this interactive workshop, we'll treat personal development with the same rigour as a university class. We'll set "impossible goals," reverse-engineer the skills and experiences they require, and build a learning plan for becoming the person who can achieve them. You'll learn how to become a straight-A student in the only class that actually matters: your life.
Aayush Kogar
The Creative Solution
About Aayush
Aayush is on a mission to be the best manager in the world. With a background in sports, the military, startups and consulting, he is today the co-founder/Managing Director of The Creative Solution, a next-gen creative studio helping young creatives do their best work.
About the Workshop (Location: Gala Space C)
Designing a 6-Figure Business on Campus
Not everyone needs to drop out. Aayush co-built a 6-figure business right from campus and is sharing his playbook step by step. He'll dive into the strategies for scaling while studying, top student growth hacks, how to spot winning ideas, and common pitfalls to avoid.
Joss Murphy
Wygo
About Joss
Joss Murphy is the cofounder and CEO of Wygo, a Toronto-based software startup that helps artists and entrepreneurs build ambitious community projects. She is a UWaterloo grad, former Socratica host, core leader of the CN Tower Lookalike competition, and recently raised a 1.5M pre-seed to grow the Wygo team.
About the Workshop (Location: Kitchener)
Values-driven company building: Startups for the socially-inclined
Join this workshop to learn how-to: root your company in core values, build community around your mission, earn your first 10 customers, raise money from values-aligned partners, and build in Canada as a young team.
Elizabeth Silva
BFL
Nathan Parsons
BFL
About Elizabeth
Elizabeth Silva, CPA, CGA, has more than 30 years of experience in corporate accounting, planning, and performance analytics within banking and insurance. As Vice President, Performance Solutions at BFL Risk and Insurance Services Ltd., she partners across organizations to drive growth, sharpen decision-making, and align risk management with business strategy to deliver long-term value.
About Nathan
Nathan Parsons leads the Western Executive Risk Division for BFL CANADA, the largest employee-owned insurance brokerage in Canada. The Practice was formed in 2019, following Nathan's earlier career stops both underwriting and advising clients with two of the largest multinational insurance organizations. The core focus areas for the Executive Risk Practice include Cyber Risk, Technology Errors & Omissions, Management Liability, Crime and Cyber Crime, Financial Institutions Errors & Omissions, and Employment Practices Liability exposures.
About the Workshop (Location: Oakville)
Cybersecurity Breaches: Identifying Risks and Simulated Breach Exercise
During this session, BFL CANADA will walk participants through some of the most likely breach outcomes, and how to both qualify and quantify risk exposures from an operational and financial perspective. In addition to guidance on best practices and cyber hygiene, the BFL team will guide participants through a simulated cyber-attack for a hypothetical technology company, following a pre-established Incident Response Plan. The exercise will allow participants to work collaboratively within teams to establish their understanding of operational and technology impacts, and proceed through appropriate incident response steps.
Sunday Ajak
The Residency
About Sunday
Sunday Ajak is a professional development and speech coach, and is currently the Head of Marketing at the Residency & previous President of Western University.
Sunday speaks on specialized topics that include leadership, communication/conflict, team management, development, public speaking, and entrepreneurship, all done with passion, purpose, vulnerability and authenticity.
Ritika Saraswat
Re-Defined
About Ritika
Ritika Saraswat is a speaker, founder, and personal branding consultant who helps founders and executives build powerful personal brands, especially on LinkedIn. She's the founder of re-defined, a 50,000-strong community of immigrants across Canada, and has built a combined social following of 170,000+ across LinkedIn, Instagram, and X. A two-time TEDx speaker, she's passionate about storytelling, career growth, and helping people build lives beyond the traditional nine-to-five.
Erin O'Hanley
Venture for Canada
About Erin
Erin O'Hanley is a leader at Venture for Canada, where her work sits at the intersection of people, organizations, and how we prepare for the future of work. Over her career, she has helped build and evolve teams, systems, and organizations through periods of growth and change. She is particularly interested in how the things we build—companies, careers, communities, and new technologies—shape not only what we accomplish, but who we become along the way.
Eleni Belete
Startup Ecosystem Canada
About Eleni
Eleni Belete is an experienced ecosystem builder who is passionate about strengthening the Canadian, African, and global startup ecosystem as a whole. Her career spans a background in government relations, working directly with tech startups, supporting venture capital firms, and now leading national ecosystem at Startup Ecosystem Canada. In her free time, you can find her creating art, playing tennis, or travelling.
Vishar Yaghoubian
Toothpod
About Vishar
Vishar is the founder of Toothpod, a dental smart gum designed to clean teeth when there's no access to a toothbrush. With $1M+ in funding, they partnered with a leading dental group serving 400+ clinics. Vishar served on the UofT Governing Council, was Mental Health Director and Assistant Coach for the Women's Basketball D-League. She was named Entrepreneur of the Year by Next Canada, with Toothpod featured in national news and one of the Most Ambitious startups (BetaKit).
Emily Talas
LYV
About Emily
Emily Talas is a Toronto-based community builder and founder of LYV. She's spent 4 years with The Cansbridge Fellowship, from 2022 Fellow to Head of Community, and led community and talent at Stan. Before that, she ran events and partnerships at The Well, turning a 3.1M sq ft property into one of Toronto's busiest community hubs.
About the Activity (Location: Gala Space A)
We're Not Really Strangers
Join this community activity for a moment of connection with other CFC attendees, where you'll deep dive into a moment of connection, conversation and introspection. Limited capacity!
