Bruce MacDonald is the President & CEO of Imagine Canada. When carnivals and social good combined, it pointed to a path, and for 30 years, Bruce has been walking that route. From working for organizations that provide services to young people, older adults, persons with disabilities, community service clubs and sports and recreation groups, Bruce’s experiences have led him to Imagine Canada. Prior to that, he was the CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada where he participated in a collective effort to bring mentoring programs to kids.  

Bruce holds a Bachelor’s of Commerce in Sports Administration from Laurentian University, a Master’s in Management in the Voluntary Sector from McGill University, and a former record in the Guinness Book of World Records. From 2019 to 2023, Bruce served as Co-Chair of the Permanent Advisory Committee on the Charitable Sector, working with the federal government. In 2025, Bruce received the King Charles III Coronation Medal in recognition of his distinguished achievements and leadership. 

The Honourable Uzoma Asagwara was first elected as the MLA for Union Station in 2019, when they became the first non-binary MLA in the Manitoba legislature and one of the first black MLAs elected in Manitoba’s history. They served as the official opposition critic for health from 2019-2023. 

Asagwara is a registered psychiatric nurse and addictions specialist. 

Before becoming an MLA, they practiced frontline nursing in acute adult psychiatry, co-occurring disorders initiatives, and specialized treatment services.   

They also spent over a decade working with youth and families in mental health, addictions and stabilization care. They were an active entrepreneur and community health and equity advocate. They served on the Board of the Women’s Health Clinic and advanced economic opportunity for equity deserving groups across Manitoba. They are a former member of the Canadian National Basketball team and mentor to young athletes.  

They have served as the Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, Seniors and Long-Term Care since 2023. 

Marta Hajek is the Chief Executive Officer of Elder Abuse Prevention Ontario (EAPO), where she leads a dedicated team advancing the safety, dignity, and human rights of older adults while addressing the systemic impacts of ageism and elder abuse. Under her leadership, EAPO has strengthened provincial, national, and global collaborations to ensure that the voices and lived experiences of older adults inform policy development, decision-making, and resource allocation in support of Canada’s fastest growing demographic. 

Marta has extensive experience in community systems coordination and collaborative leadership. Earlier in her career, she helped facilitate the rollout of Ontario 211, now a national information and referral service connecting Canadians to health and social supports. Through this work she developed deep expertise in building partnerships across community-based service sectors to strengthen coordinated responses to complex social issues. 

Today, Marta continues to advance collaborative approaches to aging policy and elder abuse prevention through a number of advisory and governance roles. She serves on the Ontario Securities Commission’s Seniors Expert Advisory Committee (SEAC) and sat on the Boards of the Canadian Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse (CNPEA) and the International Longevity Centre Canada (ILC-C). She is an elected member and Co-Chair of the Steering Group of the Global Alliance for the Rights of Older Persons (GAROP), Co-Chair of the National Leadership Council advancing the Community-Based Seniors Serving (CBSS) sector, and, through EAPO, a founding partner of the Canadian Coalition Against Ageism (CCAA). 

Internationally, Marta is an active advocate for strengthening human rights protections for older persons. She has delivered several interventions at the United Nations, calling for the development of a UN Convention on the Rights of Older Persons, and most recently spoke at the UN High-Level Political Forum on the intersection of gender and ageism, alongside Canada’s Ambassador to the UN, Bob Rae. 

Through her work, Marta continues to champion collaborative, community-driven solutions that address the growing complexity of aging in Canada, including the disproportionate impacts of gender-based and intimate partner violence affecting older women. 

Connie Newman (BSc, MEd at UofMB) is the Executive Director (consultant) for the Manitoba Association of Senior Communities.  MASC is a member association currently with 90 member Centres throughout Manitoba.  She travels the province providing guidance and encouragement to member centres. 

She leads the Manitoba’s Age Friendly initiative which provides her and her with opportunities to connect with local Age Friendly communities all around Manitoba.  She is also a member of the Manitoba Seniors Coalition (formerly Seniors Vote 2016). 

She is 78 years young – in her other life she was a junior high teacher/principal for 34 years.  She is a boomer – independent so far with many connections in Manitoba, Canada and beyond. 

Her favorite pastime is her dog – Yoshi, a companion, a friend. 

She believes in active aging and all that it means – keeping one’s mind and body active helps her to assist those around her who may need information and support as we all age together. 

Barbara’s 45+ years’ experience in community, organization, and network development has been gleaned from working and volunteering with a wide range of community and civil sector organizations locally, nationally, and globally, including United Way British Columbia, Vancouver Foundation, Community Foundations of Canada, and Health Canada’s Health Promotion Directorate. Her more recent work in healthy aging has focused on community engagement, sector strengthening, and knowledge mobilization, including initiatives addressing ageism, supporting aging in place, and growing the Men’s Shed movement in Canada.

Barbara is currently Executive Director of Men’s Sheds Canada (MSC), an organization whose vision is a Canada where every man feels valued and engaged in his community, experiencing purpose, belonging, and well-being in his aging journey. She holds a BA in Communications from Simon Fraser University and a Master of Management Degree (National Voluntary Sector Leaders) from McGill University. 

Dr. Laura Kadowaki is a Research and Knowledge Mobilization Specialist for the Healthy Aging Department at United Way BC. Through her work with the Raising the Profile Project and United Way BC, she has been collaborating with the community-based seniors’ services sector in BC since 2016 to raise the profile and build the capacity of this sector. Laura has a PhD in Gerontology from Simon Fraser University. Her areas of research interest include community-based seniors’ services, social determinants of health, ageism, and seniors’ housing. Laura is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Gerontology at Simon Fraser University. She is also an Executive Committee Member for the Canadian Coalition Against Ageism.  

Dr. Kiran Rabheru is a Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Ottawa and Geriatric Psychiatrist at The Ottawa Hospital. With over 40 years of experience, he has dedicated his career to caring for patients and their caregivers, first as a primary care physician and later as a geriatric psychiatrist. Dr. Rabheru is a Certificant and Fellow of both the College of Family Physicians and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. He is recognized as a Founder of the subspecialty of Geriatric Psychiatry in Canada. He has received the Outstanding Achievements in Geriatric Psychiatry Award from the Canadian Academy of Geriatric Psychiatry (CAGP), and in September 2024, he was honored with the Distinguished Service to the Field of Psychogeriatrics Award from the International Psychogeriatrics Association (IPA).

In 2025, he received the Award for Creative Professional Activity from the Association of Chairs of Psychiatry in Canada. Dr. Rabheru is the Founding Immediate Past Chair of the Board International Longevity Centre Canada (ILC Canada). In 2022, under the leadership of Dr. Kiran Rabheru and in collaboration with 14 key national organizations in the field of aging, the Canadian Coalition Against Ageism (CCAA) was launched. Dr. Rabheru serves as the Founding Chair of CCAA.

Dr. Rabheru is dedicated to serving older persons and envisions a world free from ageism. Through scientific advocacy and reframing how society thinks, feels, and acts about aging, he works to ensure that older persons live without discrimination and fully enjoy their rights. His goal is to create an inclusive world where no one is left behind.