Meet the speakers of Canada's Succession Summit

Calgary, AB — August 24, 2026 — Canada's Succession Summit brings together the people shaping how Canadian businesses change hands: entrepreneurs who have bought and built companies, investors and lenders financing transitions, advisors structuring deals, educators preparing the next generation of owners, and policy leaders working on the conditions that make succession possible.

The lineup is deliberately cross-sector. Succession rarely fails for a single reason, so the conversation in Calgary spans capital, tax, governance, seller readiness, and the skills and infrastructure Canada needs to support Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition at scale.

Matthew Mendelsohn

CEO, Social Capital Partners

Matthew is the CEO of Social Capital Partners. SCP believes that who owns Canada's economy matters for our future, and is currently focused on expanding access to capital and increasing opportunities for enterprise ownership for Canadians. Matthew has served as a deputy minister in the Ontario Government, the federal government and was the founding Director of the Mowat Centre, a public policy think tank at the University of Toronto. He has been a senior advisor at Boston Consulting Group and a professor of political studies at Queen's University and Toronto Metropolitan University.

Irfhan Rawji

Investor and Entrepreneur

Irfhan Rawji is an investor and entrepreneur. Irfhan is Board Chair of The Logic, Board Member of National Bank (TSX:NA) and Board Member of Wilmington Capital Management (TSX:WCM.A). He is actively involved in civic affairs, as Board Chair of the Institute for Canadian Citizenship, Board Chair of CIFAR, Board Member of Business and the Arts, Board Member of the Aga Khan Museum, and Member of the Canada Council for the Arts. Irfhan holds an MBA with High Honors from Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar, and a BCom with Honours from the University of British Columbia, where he was a Wesbrook Scholar.

Kevin Guenther

Partner, Corporate Group at Stikeman Elliott

Kevin Guenther is a partner in the Corporate Group at Stikeman Elliott in Calgary. His practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, corporate reorganizations, tax structuring, and general corporate and tax matters. He frequently represents private equity firms, search funds, and independent sponsors on fund formation, senior lender arrangements, platform acquisitions, and subsequent tuck-ins.

Liz MacRae

Co-Founder, Village Wellth

Liz MacRae is the Co-Founder of Village Wellth, a platform that empowers professionals to acquire and grow small businesses. In addition to her work building technology and community at Village Wellth, she has helped organizations design and facilitate ETA and succession planning programs. Liz is passionate about democratizing access to entrepreneurship as a means of wealth creation, legacy preservation, and local economic resilience. She brings a deep commitment to equipping both buyers and sellers with the tools and support they need to succeed in business transitions.

Steven Wang

CEO, Venture for Canada

Steven Wang is a lawyer, educator, and public interest leader working at the intersection of economic opportunity, AI, and the future of work. As CEO of Venture for Canada, he leads the organization's work to expand entrepreneurial pathways, strengthen business succession, and advance responsible AI adoption across Canada. Steven has taught at Harvard Law School and the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, exploring topics ranging from AI and its institutional impacts to China and the international order. Earlier in his career, he practiced corporate and M&A law at Cravath, Swaine & Moore and Paul, Weiss in New York and Toronto, and founded a Gates Foundation-supported social enterprise in China. A Rhodes Scholar, Steven holds degrees from the University of Toronto, the University of Oxford, and Harvard Law School, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Harvard International Law Journal. He is also a David Rockefeller Fellow at the Trilateral Commission.

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Phil Davidson

ETA Program Lead, Haskayne School of Business

After earning a degree in finance, Phil spent 25 years in industry before returning to earn an MBA and then a doctorate in business. While in industry, he worked on corporate restructuring for 10 years before starting the first of four ventures in his career. In 2023, Phil was tasked with launching the EtA program at the Haskayne School of Business, where he teaches strategy and entrepreneurial thinking.

Iggy Domagalski

Former President & CEO, Wajax

Iggy Domagalski is the former President & CEO of Wajax (TSX: WJX), one of Canada's most diversified and long-standing industrial products and services providers. Prior to Wajax, he served as CEO of Tundra Process Solutions, a leading western Canadian supplier of industrial process equipment. Iggy began his career in finance with Investors Group and Richardson GMP in Winnipeg before moving into industrial leadership as President of Western Industrial, a Vancouver-based air compressor manufacturer. He has participated in more than a dozen acquisitions and sold two companies to strategic buyers.

Kathleen Haryanto

Learning Design Lead, Academies at Venture for Canada

Kathleen Haryanto is the Learning Design Lead, Academies at Venture for Canada, where she helps design and deliver learning experiences that prepare Canadians to pursue entrepreneurship and business ownership. Her work has been particularly focused on Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (ETA), helping participants build both the practical knowledge and personal clarity needed to navigate the path from aspiring buyer to owner-operator. With a background spanning learning design, economic development, social finance, and impact consulting, Kathleen is passionate about creating accessible pathways for people to pursue ambitious ideas and build meaningful careers.

Avnit Sekhon

Transaction Advisory Lead, Treewalk Consulting

Avnit Sekhon is the Transaction Advisory lead at Treewalk Consulting, a mid-size CPA firm. He and his team specialize in Quality of Earnings reports for the lower mid market and mid market on both the buy-side and sell-side, completing north of 50 QoE reports a year.

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Jeff Neufeld

CEO, Neuhoff Capital Corporation

Jeff Neufeld is the CEO of Neuhoff Capital Corporation, which he founded in 2010. Before Neuhoff, he enjoyed a professional career as a concert pianist, performing throughout North and South America and Europe, while developing an early interest in value investing and options trading. Since founding Neuhoff Capital, Jeff has acquired two operating companies, founded three, and completed three successful exits.

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Cordell Jacks

General Partner & Co-founder, Regenerative Capital Group

Cordell Jacks is General Partner and co-founder of Regenerative Capital Group (RCG), a Canadian private equity platform reimagining how ownership and capital can strengthen the country's real economy. RCG partners with entrepreneurs to acquire retiring owner-operated businesses and steward them through long-term transitions in leadership, governance, and ownership. Cordell lives in Campbell River on Vancouver Island with his wife and two young children.

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Daniel Skilleter

Director of Policy, Social Capital Partners

Dan is the Director of Policy at Social Capital Partners. He was a senior economic advisor to former Premier Kathleen Wynne and to a Minister of Finance. He is a sessional lecturer at McMaster University's Masters of Public Policy program, where he teaches Stakeholder Management.

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Additional speakers will be announced in the coming weeks. To follow the lineup as it grows, visit the speakers section of canadasuccessionsummit.ca. If you know someone who would be a strong fit for this conversation, please contact us.