2019 Leadership Summit

Jean ChrétienRight Honourable

A steadfast statesman and a riveting orator, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien gives a rousing presentation from the perspective of one of the most influential and most beloved world leaders in modern history. Born in Quebec, Canada, the son of a paper mill machinist, he knew he was destined to lead. Trained as a lawyer and serving as Canada’s 20th prime minister, he made his mark as a legislator and raised his country’s presence on the world stage.

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Stephen HarperRight Honourable

The Right Honourable Stephen Harper served as Canada’s 22nd Prime Minister from 2006 to 2015, the longest-serving Conservative Leader to hold this office since Canada’s founding Prime Minister passed away in 1891. Prime Minister Harper created the modern Conservative Party of Canada and won three successive national elections, in 2006, 2008, and 2011.

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Walter BondFormer NBA Player / "The Accountability Leader"

Walter’s mastery in two different global industries has made him an authority on peak performance. Walter has delivered his entertaining and dynamic message to companies and associations throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Europe. Clients include Accenture, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, The Dwyer Group, Allianz, Amway, GNC, Hilton, Medtronic, UPS Store, Radio Shack, Red Robin and many national associations.

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Omar JohnsonFormer CMO at Beats by Dre, and Former VP Marketing at Apple

Omar Johnson is a marketing and branding keynote speaker, entrepreneur, former CMO at Beats by Dre, and former VP Marketing at Apple. At Beats Electronics, Johnson was responsible for brand development, advertising, retail experience, entertainment / sports marketing, and digital marketing for all global brand marketing and advertising efforts.

Lane MerrifieldFounder of Club Penguin & Dragon on CBC’s hit show Dragon’s Den

The newest “dragon” to join CBC’s hit show Dragon’s Den, Lane Merrifield is one of Canada’s leading tech entrepreneurs. He is the founder of Club Penguin, the largest children’s online social network. At age 28, he sold it to Disney for $350 million, and, as their youngest executive vice president, turned it into a billion-dollar brand.

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Cybele NegrisCEO & Co-Founder of Webnames.ca

Cybele Negris is a serial entrepreneur, seasoned board member, speaker, mentor, and columnist. Cybele is CEO & Co-Founder of Webnames.ca, Canada’s original .CA Registrar and provider of hundreds of domain extensions, corporate domain portfolio management, webhosting, email, security products, and other online solutions. Webnames’ clients include some of the country’s largest corporations, government, law-firms, and global Fortune 500 brands.

Zahra Al-HaraziFounder & Director of Foundry Communications / Co-Founder of Skillit

The road to real leadership is rarely a straight one. Among Canada’s most successful entrepreneurs, few have faced more obstacles than Zahra Al-Harazi. With a no-holds-barred attitude, Zahra helps people and organizations realize their potential for success. She draws on her experience as a pioneering woman in the business world with a unique approach to attitude, leadership, and success, as well as her experience as a refugee, immigrant, entrepreneur, and community-builder.

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Darren HardyFormer Publisher/Editor SUCCESS Magazine and New York Times bestselling author

Darren is today's preeminent Success Mentor, a highly sought after keynote speaker, New York Times bestselling author, entrepreneur and former Publisher and Editor of SUCCESS magazine.

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What people had to say

About LEVEL UP 2019

“The energy in the room was exhilarating and the audience was fully engaged in the learnings of the day. Speakers gave practical takeaways on how to improve as leaders and in business as well as inspiration to overcome fears and obstacles that hold us back. The event was truly above and beyond expectations. I can’t wait to see what next year brings!”

— Cybele Negris - ICD.D | Co-Founder & CEO
Webnames.ca

"After hearing the interesting, relevant, and entertaining speakers, we returned to our business with a renewed energy and focus, and look forward to making improvements in the last quarter of 2019 and into 2020."

— Pamela Pearson - Director
Internal Operations Sentes Automotive

"The Level Up event was enormously rewarding. We garnered critical business insights from each and every speaker, and to learn from Mr. John Chrétien and Stephen Harper was an experience of a lifetime!"

— Kelly
Gallery 421

“It was a great experience to get valuable advice from respected leaders and learn what it means to be a good leader.”

— Tiaan Boshoff - Grade 12 Student
KCS

"The Level Up Leadership Conference made a big promise in what some would call a small market, Kelowna. What they delivered was a world class conference beyond our expectations."

— Dallas Gray
Al Stober Construction Ltd.

"It was a rich day for us - each speaker was engaging, our fellow attendees were great to connect with and we feel very blessed to have been part of that significant event and to take back nuggets of wisdom to our team and daily lives."

— Kate Dalton - Recruitment Consultant
Platinum Recruiting

“It was the best leadership event I have ever attended! Hopefully, this was the foundational concept of what’s yet to come.”

— Justin Corradetti
Dominion Lending

"When I saw the All-Star line of international and local speakers in person and the crowd’s reaction to this diverse group, I knew Csek Creative and NowMedia hit a home run, making Kelowna a world class location for events like this, now, and in the future."

— Al Hildebrandt - CEO
Kelowna Foundation

“Level Up was incredible! So many takeaways and so much to process from the day. We can only imagine the logistics and attention to every detail that went into creating such an event. It was clear how much dedication and thoughtfulness went into the day and it was hugely successful.”

— Monica and Jaclyn
Spaced for Living

“Level Up was an amazing experience for our team. The talent pool of the speakers was World Class! The amount of information that we are able to go back and develop our Junior Management team is overwhelming. Each speaker had something that resonated with every one of our 16 members that attended the conference.”

— Chris Pooli - Operations Manager
Kelly O’ Bryan’s Franchises

“You did all make history! The buzz was something I’ve never felt in Kelowna before.”

— Jude Brunt - Community Investment Manager
United Way Southern Interior

“RBC was thrilled to host 8 local Community youth leaders at the Level Up Leadership Conference to provide them a leadership experience that would motivate, inspire and enhance their skills as student leaders. The student’s feedback has been tremendous: ‘once in a lifetime experience’ as well as ‘I can’t wait to work on my “one thing”’. So many takeaways from the day and an exceptional opportunity to support our leaders of tomorrow.”

— Courtney Hesse - Community Market Manager
RBC Royal Bank

"The highlight for my son was meeting Jean Chrétien. It was also great for the local Entrepreneur’s Organization as we received quite a number of people interested."

— Scott Butler - President
Highstreet Ventures Inc.

"The LevelUp Conference was definitely a highlight for our staff and students. Every speaker was insightful, funny and above all, inspirational. The event was extremely well-run and a great addition to the Kelowna business community. I look forward to attending again next year!"

— Erin
Aberdeen Hall