Opening Night Kickoff

Elevate Festival 2026

Sep 22, 2026 · 18:00–20:00 · Timezone not confirmed

Elevate Festival 2026 starts right here. Presented by TD and hosted by Amber Mac, experience an evening of world-class speakers and bold ideas as global leaders in tech and innovation take the stage to explore the trends and breakthroughs defining the future. This year, we’re kicking off the festival with… An exciting announcement from Elevate CEO Lisa Zarzeczny. TD’s Rizwan Khalfan joins Cohere’s Francois Chadwick to discuss how organizations can move from experimentation to responsible adoption. Justin Scaini from Kids Help Phone returns with new findings at the intersection of youth mental health and tech. Avinash Sooriyarachchi and Howard Cohen from Mistral show us the path to owning your AI Future. A look inside the creative process of Julio Himede – the creative lead behind Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Halftime Show, the Grammy Awards, and tours for Shakira, Doechii, and Alicia Keys. Get a glimpse at the future of search and user privacy with DuckDuckGo CPO, Beah Burger-Lenehan. Toronto Raptors legend and six-time NBA All-Star Kyle Lowry joins us for a fireside chat on his career, his connection to Toronto, and cultivating a winning mindset.

Session status: scheduled

Room: Meridian Hall — Main Stage

Track: Main Stage

Official session / agenda

Saving a session is not registration. Check the official agenda for availability, eligibility and any additional fees.

Speakers and their event affiliations

• Abdullah Snobar

  Affiliation at this event: DMZ

• Amber Mac

  Affiliation at this event: AmberMac Media Inc.

• Arlene Dickinson

  Affiliation at this event: District Ventures Capital

• Avinash Sooriyarachchi

  Affiliation at this event: Mistral

• Beah Burger-Lenehan

  Affiliation at this event: DuckDuckGo

• Debbie Gamble

  Affiliation at this event: Interac Corp.

• Francois Chadwick

  Affiliation at this event: Cohere

• Howard Cohen

  Affiliation at this event: Mistral

• Imran Khan

  Affiliation at this event: TD

• Julio Himede

  Affiliation at this event: Yellow Studio

• Justin Scaini

  Affiliation at this event: Kids Help Phone

• Kyle Lowry

  Affiliation at this event: North Twenty Ventures

• Lisa Zarzeczny

  Affiliation at this event: Elevate

• Rizwan Khalfan

  Affiliation at this event: TD Bank Group

• Stuart Brignell

  Affiliation at this event: Stuart Brignell Trio

Parent event

In person · Toronto, Ontario, Canada

This describes the parent event. Confirm the session’s attendance requirements with the organizer.

Companies participating in the parent event

These are event-level relationships, not confirmed sponsorship of this session.

• 1Password · Speaker company Source
• A&K Robotics · Speaker company Source
• Adaption · Speaker company Source
• Adrenaline Fund, Archangel Network of Funds · Speaker company Source
• Aiko Health Solutions Inc. · Speaker company Source
• Air Canada · Speaker company Source
• AmberMac Media · Speaker company Source
• AmberMac Media Inc. · Speaker company Source
• AMG Venture Partners · Speaker company Source
• Angel Investors Durham (AID) · Speaker company Source
• Antler · Speaker company Source
• Arcbright · Speaker company Source
• Archangel Adrenaline Fund · Speaker company Source
• Archangel Network of Funds · Speaker company Source
• Augmenta · Speaker company Source
• AVACAM · Speaker company Source
• Avidbots · Speaker company Source
• Bank of Montreal · Speaker company Source
• Barn Ventures · Speaker company Source
• BCC Studio s.r.l. · Speaker company Source
• Bconic · Speaker company Source
• BDC · Speaker company Source
• BDC Black Entrepreneur Fund · Speaker company Source
• BDC Capital · Speaker company Source

Showing 24 of 220 company relationships. View all on the event page.