Devin specializes in the financial, organizational, and strategic aspects of family enterprise. He brings a background in corporate strategy, economic analysis and investment banking to his work with family businesses, family offices and family foundations.
He was raised in Toronto, Canada and holds a Master’s from the Kennedy School at Harvard with a focus in finance and economics, as well as a Bachelor of Business Administration from York University. He has worked with private and public sector leaders throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, and teaches about family enterprise at Harvard and Kellogg.
Devin’s work with family enterprises focuses on continuity planning, governance design, enterprise risk, and shareholder development, and he is frequently invited to speak at global conferences on a range of topics. His writing has appeared in the Harvard Business Review and The Atlantic, and he is the lead author of a forthcoming book on family business resilience which will be published by PublicAffairs.
Devin lives in Toronto, Canada with his wife Nathalie and their two children.
Tim Dutton is the Director of Corporate Affairs at Intellijoint Surgical, a leading Canadian medtech business based in Kitchener, Ontario. In this role, he is responsible for strategy, stakeholder relations, and public policy and leads projects that drive long-term growth for the business. Prior to this, Tim was the Director of Policy in the Office of the Premier of Ontario, where he oversaw work related to innovation policy and economic growth, education and workforce development, and government services modernization.
Sachin Shah is Chief Executive Officer of Brookfield’s Insurance Solutions business. In this role, he oversees a seasoned team focused on providing capital-based solutions to insurance companies and their stakeholders.
Mr. Shah joined Brookfield in 2002 and has held a variety of senior roles, including Chief Investment Officer of Brookfield Asset Management and Chief Executive Officer of Brookfield Renewable Partners where he was instrumental in growing the platform into a global business diversified across multiple technologies.
Mr. Shah holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Toronto, is a member of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada, and serves as Chair of the Board of the Ryerson University Brookfield Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. He previously served as Chair of the Advisory of the Brookfield Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, one of the predecessor entities of the Dais at TMU.
Sarada Peri was Special Assistant to the President and Senior Speechwriter for President Barack Obama. She is the founder of Peri Communications, where she helps C-suite executives, nonprofit leaders, philanthropists, and politicians with speechwriting, speech delivery, message strategy, and more. Prior to joining the White House, she was a Principal at West Wing Writers. She was also a member of the 2012, 2016, and 2020 Democratic National Convention speechwriting teams. Sarada also writes under her own byline, and has been published in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The Daily Beast, and other outlets.
A recovering policy wonk, Sarada worked in the U.S. Senate as a health care and education legislative staffer. She started her career as a high school English teacher in New Orleans through Teach for America, and is a graduate of Tufts University and Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. Sarada is also a Senior Fellow of the Dais, where she leads a masterclass on strategic communications and workshops on speechwriting with impact.
Nancy Naylor served in the Ontario Public Service for over 35 years. She served as the Deputy Minister of Education for five years, and also served in leadership roles in the Ministries of Health, Finance and Colleges and Universities. Her roles included leading major projects in funding, labour relations, infrastructure, information technology and public policy. Ms. Naylor holds degrees from McMaster University and Carleton University and has served on a number of other boards, including the Public Policy Forum.
The Hon. Elizabeth Dowdeswell (Lieutenant Governor (2014-2023)) is a public servant who has dedicated her career to a more democratic and sustainable country. Prior to her service as Ontario’s longest serving Lieutenant Governor, she was President and CEO of the Council of Canadian Academies, and has had a number of successful leadership roles in public policy, the energy industry, education and the public service. Internationally, she has also served the United Nations as Under-Secretary-General.
Usha Srinivasan leads the Office of Zone Learning overseeing the institutional strategy and direction of the 10 innovation zones at Toronto Metropolitan University, as well as the Image Centre, the Law Practice Program and the Dais. The community-connected zones cover a full spectrum of sectors from a Biomedical Zone embedded in St. Michael’s Hospital to the Social Venture Zone supporting social entrepreneurs and innovators.
From 2020 to 2024 Usha served as the Founding Director of the Brampton Venture Zone (BVZ) at TMU, during which time she launched and led the BVZ in Downtown Brampton’s Innovation District. As Founding Director she developed the vision and strategy for the BVZ incubator, securing $5 million in funding over 5 years from the City of Brampton. She also oversaw the creation of partnerships with over 100 industry and community organizations, and supported the development of over 40 startups, 90% of which are still active and generating revenue today.
An experienced entrepreneur in her own right, Usha has founded multiple startups with proven expertise in ecosystem-building, strategic planning, and partnership management with a strong emphasis on diversity, inclusion, and community engagement.
Dany is co-chair of Torys LLP’s Competition and Foreign Investment Review Practice and advises international and domestic clients on all aspects of competition law and foreign investment matters, including in the area of national security reviews.
Canadian and multinational clients rely on Dany’s advice on all aspects of competition law and foreign investment matters under the Investment Canada Act, including notably acting on the DuPont/Dow merger, the Supreme Court of Canada Tervita efficiencies case, the Interac case (Canadian bank payments system), GE/Honeywell and Rio Tinto/Alcan.
Dany is the co-author of Competition and Antitrust Law: Canada and The United States (5th edition) for LexisNexis Butterworths and a member of the American Bar Association Antitrust Section’s Thought Leadership Task Force.
Dany has been recently appointed as the Vice-Chair of the American Bar Association Antitrust Section’s Thought Leadership Task Force. Dany sits on the boards of the Conference Board of Canada, Canada’s Sport Hall of Fame, Unity Health and The Toronto Club. He is also the recipient of the King Charles III Coronation Medal.
A 24 year veteran of the technology industry, most recently as Vice-President, Corporate Affairs and Corporate Social Responsibility for Cisco Canada, Willa has had a meaningful impact at the national level in Canada with her leadership of programming and advocacy work for Digital Equity and Inclusion, and capacity building across Canada’s Social Impact sector. As vice-president of Cisco Canada, Willa created Connected North, a distance learning program offering immersive and interactive education services to students in remote northern communities. Using a video communication technology to create a network of 27 high schools in various provinces, Connected North has reached over 7500 Indigenous youths and has helped to improve their future prospects through education.
Working with governments, non-governmental organizations, the private sector, and communities across Canada, Willa galvanizes ecosystems of partners focused on sustainable change.
Mala Khanna joined Canada’s public service in 2000 at the Department of Justice Canada, where she held positions in the Public Safety, Defence and Immigration Portfolio and the Public Law and Legislative Services Sector. She was Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet (Parliamentary Affairs) at the Privy Council Office and served as the Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet (Parliamentary Affairs) at the Privy Council Office. Before joining the Department of Canadian Heritage as Associate Deputy Minister of Canadian Heritage earlier this year, Mala Khanna served as Assistant Deputy Minister of the Sub-Saharan Africa Branch at Global Affairs Canada.