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Plenary Speaker: Bryan Yu,
Chief Economist & VP, Credit 1
Plenary Speaker: Marc Low
Director of Innovation, Growth & Emerging Tech, KPMG Ignition GVA
December 5, 2024
8:30am – 4:30pm
Vancouver Convention Centre, West Building
Resilience and Reinvention
Engage with industry leaders through keynote sessions that delve into the current Economic Outlook and the opportunities Generative AI presents. Participate in interactive break-out sessions on a variety of leadership and technology topics, from Leading Complex Teams to Maintaining Engagement in an Increasingly Remote World and Building a Strong Accounting Tech Stack.
Network with like-minded professionals who are equally committed to driving innovation within their organizations. Don't miss this opportunity to empower your career and network with peers. Register now as this event will sell out.
Eligible CPD Hours: 7
Course Fee: $475
PD Passport: 12 credits
Nexus Day Agenda
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| 8:30 am - 8:35 am | Welcome and Introductory Remarks |
8:35 am - 9:55 am PLENARY | Economic Outlook 2025: Navigating Our Way Back to Normal Presenter: Bryan Yu, BA, MA | Chief Economist & AVP, Central 1 This session will help you understand economic changes on the horizon, so you can make informed and impactful business decisions. We will examine the current interest rate and economic trends impacting Canada and British Columbia, and assess growth prospects and risks for the coming years. |
| 9:55 am - 10:10 am | Break |
10:10 am - 11:20 am BREAKOUT 1 | Building a Strong Accounting Tech Stack Presenter: Chad Chang, CPA, CMA | Co-Founder & Advisor, Purpose CPA In this session, participants will explore how to create a robust accounting and tech stack that optimizes critical business areas. Participants will learn how integrating these systems can enhance efficiency, data accuracy, and overall business performance. We will delve into seven key business areas to help you determine how to choose and build an effective accounting stack. Key takeaways
Leading Diverse Teams Presenter: Dr. Shawn Ireland, MS, MA, Ed.D | Managing Director & Partner, HRCgroup Ltd Today’s business environment may comprise as many as five generations. Having people who were born between the 1930’s and the 1990s work together allows for creativity and innovation, but also for conflict and misunderstanding. Today’s leaders and manager must continuously learn and understand the differences among generations. From differences in social, cultural and political preferences to the differences in values, communication, boundaries and priorities, leaders must be agile and flexible, learning to adjust their leadership style and overcome potential roadblocks to management success. Participants will gain an appreciation for the preferences, strengths and challenges that members of each generation offer, the values that inform their views and perspective of work and the workplace, and the motivations of each generation. Key takeaways
Maintaining Engagement in an Increasingly Remote World Presenter: Tammy Towill, MBA, FCPA, FCMA | Partner, Cordura Group The evolution of remote work has fundamentally reshaped how organizations operate. As the boundaries between work and personal life blur, maintaining high levels of engagement amongst employees has become both a challenge and a necessity for organizational success Key takeaways
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| 11:20 am - 11:35 am | Break |
11:35 am - 12:45 pm BREAKOUT 2 | ESG Reporting Landscape Update Presenter: Jocelyn Li, CPA | Senior Manager, KPMG ESG reporting requirements, expectations and pressures are rapidly evolving both locally and globally. This session will provide participants with a high-level update on the ESG regulatory environment, current market trends in ESG, upcoming developments and the role of CPAs. The aim will be to equip professionals across industries and organizations to understand where ESG reporting is heading, and how it might impact their organization, whether as a leading public reporter, a user of ESG information, or as a small private enterprise in a global market. Lead with Impact: Advanced Meeting Facilitation for Accountants Presenter: Jacqueline Voci | Communication Coach Do you want to get more out of the meetings you hold? More connection. More conversation. More creativity. More innovation. More outcomes. This session will enhance your meeting facilitation skills, transforming routine meetings into dynamic, productive conversations. Key takeaways
Tools to Stay Grounded, Positive and Hopeful in a Challenging World Presenter: Scott Orth | Resiliency & Mindfulness Coach For many of us, it feels like we live in a time of increasing change, uncertainty and challenge. Extreme climate events have almost become expected. Technology and AI advancements create a hopeful, yet uncertain future. Social and geopolitical unrest around the world weighs on us. And then there is stress each of us carries in our work and personal lives. It is easy to feel unsettled and worn down amidst these many challenges and uncertainties. One of the roles CPAs play is to bring a sense of calm, clarity and reason to challenging situations; principally in business, but increasingly on the human side things as well. It becomes harder for CPAs to play this role when they themselves are feeling stressed and worn down. Join us for this engaging session that will leave you better prepared to deal with the challenges and uncertainties you will face in the days ahead. Key takeaways
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| 12:45 pm - 1:45 pm | Lunch Break |
1:45 pm - 2:55 pm BREAKOUT 3 | Delivering Great Customer Experiences Presenter: Helen Fotos, PMP, PMI-ACP | Consulting Director Do you want to enhance your organization's customer experience? Join us for a presentation on designing interactions that drive customer satisfaction and loyalty. In this session, participants will learn practical approaches to optimizing customer experience including: understanding the customer journey; leveraging digital platforms; and implementing omni-channel strategies. Key takeaways
Leading in the Age of Integrity™: Mindsets of Workplace Transformation Presenter: Andrea Jacques | CEO, Kyosei Consulting International Many leaders’ are passionate about growing purpose-driven, socially responsible organizations where both people and businesses can thrive, but they often find their efforts (and motivation) faltering. Why? Because they are leading from an outdated Industrial Age "operating system" that simply isn't designed to meet the needs of today's rapidly evolving workplaces... and world. This session will show leaders how they can upgrade their “operating system,” transcend the unconscious mindsets that fuel distraction and overwhelm, and adopt new principles and practices that fuel focus, energy, resilience and results on both the personal and business front. Key takeaways:
Risk versus reward: Emerging Technology Trends to Watch Presenter: James Anderson, CMC, Master of Management (Administration) | Partner, PwC Canada Emerging and innovative technologies have the potential to reshape the accounting and auditing fields! This session will explore recent trends which have the potential to impact and disrupt, including generative artificial intelligence, blockchain, automation, and quantum computing. We will examine their initial promises, current status, and future potential, both in terms of your practice or business, and the businesses of your clients. Gain critical insights to help you navigate the technological landscape, ensuring your skills and knowledge remain at the forefront of your profession. Key takeaways
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| 2:55 pm - 3:10 pm | Break |
3:10 pm - 4:30 pm PLENARY | Generative AI: Beyond the Hype - Unveiling the Reality and Potential Presenter: Marc Low, MBA, | Director of Innovation, Growth & Emerging Tech, KPMG Ignition GVA Generative AI. It’s seemingly everywhere. Is it hype? Is it real? As knowledge workers, should we be excited or worried? In this session, we’ll separate fact from fiction, exploring this fast-moving space with a practical approach that will leave participants with a clearer perspective of the potential opportunity (and what to avoid!). To understand the paradigm shift that Generative AI represents, participants need to understand context: what the technology does (and does not do), how it changes how knowledge work gets done, and how we need to adapt our skills and our approach to processes and technology as a result. Key takeaways:
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James Anderson is a Technology Consulting Partner at PwC with more than 20 years of experience working on strategy-through-execution initiatives to enable business led, experience focused, technology enabled outcomes for clients.
Recently, James has worked with a number of Federal Agencies, Provincial Ministries, Crown Corporations and Canadian businesses to assist them with developing digital strategies selecting the right technology, and designing and executing large transformation programs. Prior to joining PwC, James had a successful career as a Signals Officer in the Australian Army where he led soldiers on multiple operational deployments across the Pacific and Middle East regions, and worked on the design and development of next generation battlespace communications.
Chad Chang, CPA, CMA, is a Co-founder and Advisor at Purpose CPA. He has 25 years in the trenches of sales, marketing, HR, accounting, and tech.
Chad is all about shaking up the norm. He fuses business analysis, project management, accounting, and the latest tech to flip operations on their head. If it’s about transforming how things work, he is in.
Helen Fotos has over 20 years of experience across diverse industries and technologies, and specializes in advising clients on digital transformation and customer relationship management (CRM) strategy.
Helen holds several CRM and project management qualifications and serves as a subject matter expert for the Project Management Institute, contributing to initiatives such as PMP® and PMI-ACP® certifications and the Agile Practice Guide. As a frequent presenter on modern tech trends, Helen enjoys sharing her insights and cross-sector lessons learned to help organizations succeed in improving customer experience.
Dr Shawn Ireland is a founding partner and managing director of HRCgroup, Inc. He works extensively with Fortune 500 companies, foreign governments and international aid agencies.
His expertise includes fostering critical thinking, strategic change, virtual teamwork, and managing human behaviour. He’s a Core Faculty member of the Industrial and Organizational Psychology graduate programs at Adler University in Vancouver.
Andrea Jacques is the founder and CEO of Kyosei Consulting and has spent more than three decades helping leaders drive performance and profits while creating workplaces that grow - rather than deplete - the energy, creativity, and wellbeing of their people.
Andrea began her career with academic, government, and health care institutions in Canada, but developed her innovative approach to sustainable leadership working with multinational executives in Japan at the Center for International Communication and Management. Andrea is an engaging speaker, facilitator, executive coach and author, and partners with organizations globally to grow the capacity of leaders to create workplaces - and a world - where everyone thrives.
Jocelyn Li, CPA, is a Senior Manager in KPMG’s ESG practice specializing in ESG reporting, disclosures, and assurance. Jocelyn supports clients with the development and enhancement of their sustainability reports and supporting processes, working with them to prepare for upcoming regulatory reporting including ISSB, SEC and ESRS.
Jocelyn is also an adjunct professor at UBC’s Sauder School of Business where she teaches a variety of accounting courses. Additionally, she designed and delivered the inaugural ESG and Climate Accounting and Reporting MBA course in Spring 2024.
Marc Low, MBA, helps clients imagine, design and build their future in a rapidly-evolving competitive landscape. His cross-industry consulting experience spans financial services, retail, energy sectors and more.
His focus on user-centered design principles helps abstract concepts like “exponential technology” come alive for clients and makes them real, actionable and impactful in ways that drives measurable results. As the head of KPMG Ignition, Marc leads a team whose sole focus is to help Canadian companies become more dynamic, more competitive and more sustainable. Marc is a proud graduate of the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business where he earned an MBA with Honours.
Scott Orth is a mindfulness coach and trainer, who gives CPAs the tools they need to delete the overwhelm, focus on what matters most and drive their future. He gives them strategies to respond to the challenges in their day more mindfully, allowing them to be more focused, productive and happier with the life they are living.
Scott was previously the National Leader of HR for one of Canada’s largest employee-owned engineering and science consulting organizations and thoroughly enjoys the challenge of working with analytical, critical thinkers.
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Tammy Towill is a partner in the Cordura Group and faculty member with the School of Business with Capilano University, providing business advisory services and related education and training programs to organizations and communities seeking growth or change.
For over 25 years, Tammy has worked with private and public sector companies throughout North America, Europe and Asia, providing education, training and facilitating in the areas of leadership, strategy, business planning and curriculum development and implementation. She has served on and worked with several boards in Canada and the US.
Jacqueline Voci is a communication coach on a mission to advance how people communicate in the workplace. She is a fun and engaging presenter who has been a professional communicator for more than two decades.
She started out in the PR industry, coaching executives for media interviews and securing coverage across North America including The Globe & Mail, CBC, and BusinessWeek. Now, she delivers training on speaking clearly, presenting powerfully, leading meetings, and other interpersonal communication topics, all with the aim of helping people become more empowered communicators. Meditation informs her approach to communication and every aspect of her life.
Bryan Yu is Central 1’s Chief Economist and AVP, where he leads a team conducting macro- and regional economic analysis for the organization and the broader credit union system.
He authors many of the team’s flagship economic and housing outlook reports and weekly notes. Bryan speaks regularly at credit union and industry events and is frequently contacted by media to provide national and provincial economic commentary. He also leads Central 1’s IFRS9 national platform business, and sits on various Central 1 risk and treasury committees. Bryan joined Central 1 in 2010, and previously worked as a housing economist for the BC Real Estate Association, CMHC, and conducted academic research in immigration economics. Bryan holds a MA in Economics from Simon Fraser University and a BA from the University of Manitoba. He currently serves on the boards of S.U.C.C.E.S.S. the B.C. Paraplegic Foundation and the Canadian Association for Business Economics.
Past Participant
“I loved the options for breakout sessions. This allowed some flexibility to customize the PD to make the entire day engaging and relevant to my preferences.”
“Very relevant topics and practical reference materials and techniques to implement.”
“All of the sessions were useful. It was excellent professional development. I was impressed with how seamless the virtual part was.” “This was just what I needed. Thank you for putting on this topic!”