Please Note: Program and speakers are subject to change.

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2026 Aspire To Lead®

Chinese Canadian Leaders’ Summit

“Chinese Canadian Leadership, Belonging, and the Future We Shape”

May 15 – 17, 2026
University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON

Friday, May 15, 2026

Opening Remarks by ACCT Chair

TRC Acknowledgement, Learning and Relationships

• Indigenous Teaching – Elder Myeengun Henry, Knowledge Holder, Faculty of Health, University of Waterloo

Chinese Canadian Leadership

Context Setting

• Presentations on issues and trends 2023 – 2028 by Dr. Paul Holley, Association of Canadian Studies
• Presentation on current state of Chinese Canadian leadership by CPAC (Chinese Professionals Association of Canada)
• Presentation on future issues and trends

Keynote – Pathways to Leadership

Dr. Cindy Gouvia, President and Vice Chancellor of Sheridan College

• What does it mean to lead when you may be the only one like you in the room?
• Navigating belonging, visibility, and intersecting identities while exercising authority

Panel Discussion: Respond to Context Setting – What is this moment asking of us?

• Examining underrepresentation of Chinese Canadian leadership – what prevents full access and participation
• How leaders are identified and advanced
• What are some of the barriers holding back talented Chinese Canadians
• Examining the exposure, confidence, and sponsorship needed to step forward

Table Discussion

• Share knowledge, lived experiences, and insights on pathways to leadership
• Discuss specific issues and factors on underrepresentation of Chinese Canadian in leadership / civic leadership roles and perspectives for change at the personal, community and organizational levels

Table Discussion Feedback

Keynote – Having a seat at the table by George Tai, Partner, Dentons

Panel Discussion

• What difference did a seat at the table make at the personal, community, and public policy level
• What do aspiring leaders of Chinese descent need to know about power – what is our perception of power and the use of power

Table Discussion

• Identify and validate existing resources and opportunities
• Identify gaps and ideas to address the issue

Table Discussion Feedback

Meet and Greet / Networking

Gala Dinner

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Saturday, May 16, 2026

Belonging

Reflection and Response to Day 1

Keynote

Niigaanwewidam James Sinclair – Abusgubaabe writer, editor, activist and professor at the University of Manitoba

• First Nations and Chinese Canadians: our shared journeys, relations, and cultural beliefs

Panel Discussion

• First Nations and Chinese Canadians: our shared journeys, relations, and cultural beliefs
• Cornerstones for truth, reconciliation, and future relations

Panel Discussion – Belonging and Leadership

• Collective journey
• Social identity and Belonging
• Resilience and Esteem

Table Discussion

• Identity
• Power
• Change
• Impact

Table Discussion Feedback

Panel Discussion – Chinese Canadian Centered Conversation on Leadership

Panel Discussion – What Belonging Looks Like for Chinese Canadians

• The unique gifts we bring
• Chineseness as an asset in leadership in Canada

Table Discussion

• Navigating belonging, visibility, and intersecting identities while exercising authority

Table Discussion Feedback

Fireside Chat

• Formal and informal civic actions

Concurrent Action Labs

• The challenge to increase Chinese Canadian civic leadership by 2030
• Mapping
• Ideas – Prototype
• Identify collaborators at the regional level
• Promote recognition for Chinese Canadians
• Sustain conversations and connections
• Capacity building
  • How do we want to celebrate Canada’s 160th anniversary?
  • How do we want to recognize the 80th anniversary of the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act?
  • Political engagement

Networking

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Sunday, May 17, 2026

The Future We Shape

Fireside Chat

• “Saying the quiet part out loud – an authentic conversation for these times”

Panel Discussion

• Questions I wished I had asked at the start of my career

Panel Discussion – Changing the Numbers by 2030

• Leadership opportunities such as:
  • Public appointments
  • Formal and informal civic actions

Report Back from the Action Labs

Artistic Reflection and Summary of the Summit

Table Discussion – Commitment for Action

Closing Ceremony