Speakers & Sessions
Chef Mark McEwan
Keynote Speaker
June 23rd, 2022
9:15 AM – 10:30 AM
Chef Mark McEwan began his career as the executive chef at Toronto’s upscale Sutton Place Hotel. From there, he opened the ground-breaking North 44 and North 44 Catering which set a new standard for Toronto’s culinary scene. Chef McEwan continued to push dining innovation with the launch of Bymark, ONE and Fabbrica which now has 2 unique locations.
Inspired by global food halls, Chef McEwan opened McEwan Foods, which has 3 locations across Toronto. Chef McEwan then showcased his innovative approaches to Middle Eastern, North African, and South Asian cuisine with Diwan at The Aga Khan Museum. Now, Chef McEwan mentors budding chefs in his kitchens, through his bestselling cookbooks and as head judge on Food Network Canada’s hit series Top Chef Canada and Wall of Chefs.
Mark and McEwen With Mark McEwan
Through a series of questions and explorations lead by Mark Murdoch and Dave McEwen, Chef Mark McEwan will walk us through the journey from inspiration to execution, how he finds, and sometimes creates, the next trend and then makes it real for diners.
Chris Jeens
Vender - Operator Relationships & New Equipment Technology Trends
June 23rd, 2022
10:45 am – 12:00 pm
Do your vendor and service partners fully understand the modern foodservice customer at colleges and universities across Canada? Do you truly understand how the foodservice equipment supply channel operates between the manufacturer and your kitchens? Can new technologies that are being developed for the appliances used in your operations contribute to the way we all help satisfy our customers’ evolving wants and needs? In this session, Chris Jeens will start a conversation about how the foodservice equipment channel is anticipating change and adapting to help colleges and universities better serve your clients.
After graduating from Wilfrid Laurier University, Chris began his career in the Foodservice and Hospitality industry in 1995 at W.D. Colledge Co. Ltd. His role as a sales agent for many large equipment and supply manufacturers across Canada has allowed him to develop a broad understanding and appreciation of how these products can make a huge impact on any foodservice operation. Chris will bring an industry partner’s perspective to a conversation on how to make informed choices about equipment and supplies.
W. D. Colledge Co. Ltd. has been an active supporter of CCUFSA for more than 20 years. Chris’ first CCUFSA conference was also in Windsor, in 2001. In 2016-17, Chris served as President of the Manufacturers’ Agent’s Association for the Food Service Industry (MAFSI). Chris is a dedicated family man, residing in Toronto with his wife, Julie, and sons Simon (a University of Guelph student) and Jeremy (a Wilfrid Laurier University student). Chris has a passion for music and is a lead singer with a better than average bar band made up of neighborhood friends. U2 is not worried.
Linda Nazareth
Navigating Change - Where We Left Off: Ten Trends Changing the Post-Pandemic Economy
June 24th, 2022
9:00 am – 10:15 am
Linda Nazareth is an economist, a futurist, and a respected authority on the future of work.
As a newspaper columnist and an author, she knows how to frame things in ways that both educate and entertain, and as the Senior Fellow for Economics and Population Change think-tank at the Macdonald Laurier Institute, she knows what she is talking about.
She is also the host of Work and the Future, a new podcast that explores trends around the labour force and the workplace.
Linda’s career has taken some non-traditional turns for someone in her field. Her first job was as a government economist where she specialized in labour market planning, which was followed by a stint at a major financial institution where she spent years as a Senior Economist. Wanting to change things up while she could, she lobbied to have a job created for her on Business News Network BNN, and during her time at BNN, Linda started writing books and giving keynote presentations, and eventually left daily broadcasting to give those passions her full-time attention. Her clients have included everyone from American Express through to The Economist Magazine, and all have benefited from her ability to take big ideals and distill them into information that they can use for their own strategic plans.
Now, as we head for a post-pandemic reality, Linda is helping organizations think about the things trends that will shape their new reality. Linda’s presentation Where We Left Off: The Trends Changing the Post-Pandemic Economy, details the economic forces remaking our world and looks at what we need to do to stay ahead of them. From technology to demographics to shifting work patterns to inflation, the world is changing and the time is now to prepare for the changes.
Mark Murdoch
Leadership Lessons from The Playground
June 24th, 2022
10:45 am – 12:00 pm
Everything we need to know about leadership we can learn in the most common of places, the playground, your relationships, interactions with friends and colleagues. It is easy to learn but hard to put into practice. The real test of leadership can only be found in a period of crisis, much like to one we have just come through. Today we are going to explore some simple lessons of leadership that can be used by anyone who leads people, from the most junior supervisor to the most seasoned professional, through a series of poignant and funny vignettes.
Mark Murdoch has over 45 years’ experience in the food service industry, starting as a busboy at age 14. With three decades of work in the higher education food service sector he has led self-operated and contract managed schools through periods of incredible change and growth.
Dr. Joe Schwarz
Nutritional Advice – Is there a solution to the confusion?
June 25th, 2022
9:00 am – 10:30 am
Eating has become a confusing experience. Virtually every day bring news about some “miracle food” that we should be gulping down. One day it’s tomatoes to prevent cancer, then flaxseed against heart disease or soybeans for menopause. Then there are the worries: genetic modification, aspartame, MSG, the safety and efficacy of dietary supplements. We need proper science to guide us through this nutritional maze.
Joe Schwarcz is Director of McGill University’s “Office for Science and Society” which has the mission of separating sense from nonsense. He is the recipient of numerous awards for teaching chemistry and for interpreting science for the public. “Dr Joe” has hosted a radio show on science for forty years, has appeared hundreds of times on television, writes a regular newspaper column and is the author of eighteen best-sellers. He has been awarded honorary degrees by Athabasca University, Cape Breton University, the University of Windsor and Simon Fraser University. Professor Schwarcz is also an amateur magician and often spices up his presentations with a little magic.
Virtual only
Dr. Bill McVey
Successful Organizations and Creating Psychic Edge Capital in the 21st Century Digital Noosphere
June 25th, 2022
10:45 am – 12:00 pm
Doctor McVey has had a diversified career as Chief Executive Officer, business professor, organizational consultant, and author. His main areas of expertise are in the fields of organizational leadership, business ethics and organizational psychodynamic psychology. He is most known for his work on Soulful Organizational Psychology and the Organization Within Culture. His work and teaching are about the need for an intersubjective-self-psychology in disruptive economies. He emphasizes the importance of a psychology of common sense-exemplar-leadership in emerging organizations.
In a disruptive digital noosphere economy, accumulating traditional resources, once the core belief for organizational success, is still necessary but insufficient for sustaining a competitive advantage. Today, the true value in organizations is realized in the maximization of human potential self-development and collaborative-creative culture.
Dr McVey will lead us through an exploration of the Digital Noosphere Psychic Edge:Dr McVey will lead us through an exploration of the Digital Noosphere Psychic Edge:
1) What is Psychic Edge Capital?
2) Sensing organizational wholeness and building trust, loyalty, and principles
3) Why empathic character is more important than personality traits
4) The nature of executive-exemplar character, leadership HEFT and empathic virtuous habits
5) Organizational diffusion and follower emulation of virtuous habits
6) Psychic emotional mastery and collaborative-creative intelligence
7) Why principles are more important than techniques and processes
8) Principles for psychic edge, astonishing teamwork and sense making
Join & Grow With Us
CCUFSA members benefit from the opportunity to share ideas, real world experiences and build solutions with like minded colleagues, all food service professionals with a common goal.