Catalyst

What does it take to build AI that people can trust?

That was the question at the center of our Champions Luncheon in Toronto, where we brought together Catalyst community members, workplace leaders, and our 2026 Catalyst Convene Canada Champions for a thoughtful conversation on ethical AI, trust, and leadership.

A special thank you to Anna Matta from the Vector Institute and Isabela Stille from Catalyst for leading a discussion on how leaders can navigate the opportunities and risks that come with AI adoption—and why inclusion must be part of that conversation.

We were thrilled to spend time with this year’s Champions, including Bob Hakeem and Jennifer Caputo (Canadian Tire Corporation), Sara Thomson (TD Wealth), Hilda Ng (iA Financial), Rose Porter (Scotiabank), Roselle Gonsalves (ATB Financial), Ashley Popko (TC Energy), and Linda Hasenfratz (Linamar).

Most of all, thank you to everyone who joined us and contributed to such an engaging exchange of ideas.

The conversation continues at Catalyst Convene Canada 2026 on October 21. We look forward to seeing many of you there.

✨ Learn more about this year's Champions via the link in bio.

Across the 2025 Catalyst Champions, a clear pattern emerges: The leaders building high‑performing cultures are not treating trust as an idea. They are operationalizing it in how they lead every day.

For Vanessa Lewerentz, it’s about making values real across contexts. Principles stay consistent, but their application adapts locally. That’s what makes trust credible across teams and geographies.

Sonja Volpe takes a structural approach. By embedding inclusion into governance, leadership accountability, and workforce planning, she ensures trust is built into the system, not dependent on individual leaders.

For Naz Zehra, trust starts with safety. By sharing experiences that are often left unspoken, leaders make it easier for others to show up, speak up, and contribute.

And Molara Awosedo builds trust by shifting ownership. By stepping back and redirecting visibility and decisions to her team, she strengthens confidence and removes bottlenecks.

Different approaches, one outcome.
Trust scales when it is reinforced through everyday leadership behaviors.

👉 Read the full story in "Fieldnotes by Catalyst": https://ow.ly/qc5S50ZkSu5

Where have you seen leadership behavior directly shape trust or inclusion on a team?

We want to share a few meaningful moments we’re still thinking about from last week in Toronto 🍁

Thank you to the Employee Experience Summit team for bringing together such a strong group of HR, DEI, and employee experience leaders, it made for conversations that felt both honest and grounded in what’s really happening inside organizations today.

During conversations with leaders across HR and employee experience, one theme stood out: trust.
It defines how people experience leadership decisions, communication, and change in their everyday work—and how those changes show up for employees.

As expectations around AI grow, so does the pressure on leaders to get it right.
But trust remains a challenge. According to KPMG, Canada ranks 42nd out of 47 countries globally when it comes to trust in AI systems.

Exploring how to close that gap is critical—and this is a great place to dive deeper:
https://ow.ly/JRHJ50ZfjyT

Grateful to everyone we connected with in Toronto—what are you seeing, and what do you think can be done?

There are moments when conversations move beyond ideas and start shaping how work actually gets done.
Catalyst Convene Canada is one of those moments.

On October 21, leaders from across Canada will come together in Toronto for a day of honest dialogue, practical insight, and shared learning focused on one thing: how inclusion shows up in real workplace decisions.

Convene Canada is about understanding the realities leaders are navigating today, from workforce transformation to AI. and walking away with ideas that can be applied immediately.

You can expect:
Conversations grounded in the Canadian context
Research-backed insights that connect inclusion to business impact
A community of leaders who are thinking deeply about what comes next

And it all continues into the evening, as we recognize the 2026 Champions—leaders driving meaningful change across organizations.

📍 October 21, 2026 | Hilton Toronto + virtual

If this is the kind of conversation you want to be part of, you can learn more and register here:
https://events.catalyst.org/event/aa2344ef-0493-4a6c-bf64-4f4a47d893a4/ticket-info?environment=P2&_gl=1*1c8sxbc*_gcl_au*MTAyODUxMzg4Ny4xNzc2MDkzODM1