Sustainability creates value when it is embedded across the business, not siloed in functions or added on after the fact. This session breaks down what it takes to embed sustainability into decision-making, culture, and leadership. Not as an initiative, but as a driver of brand strength, talent development, growth, and competitive advantage.

• Why sustainability stalls in mature companies and how to break inertia
• How to activate culture and human capital to drive momentum
• What leading brands use sustainability to create value and stand out
• Real-time audience insight: what’s driving your program, what’s blocking it, and why that matters

Employees want to be part of their company’s purpose — 89 percent say it matters to their job satisfaction, and global participation in volunteering and impact programs has grown 57 percent year over year. Yet inside most organizations, fewer than 1 in 5 employees are even aware of the programs available to them. That gap is where engagement breaks down, and where the risk to culture and retention begins.

This panel brings together engagement leaders from Manulife, RBC, and IGM Financial who are closing that gap at scale. They’ll share what’s actually working across complex, global workforces: building awareness across regions and job types, partnering with Comms to cut through internal noise, balancing top-down strategy with grassroots energy, and designing programs that help employees engage with what genuinely matters to them.

Expect real examples, honest insights, and practical strategies to help any organization move employees from awareness to action — even when attention is scarce and capacity is tight.

As we look ahead to 2030, pressing net-zero targets and a growing back-to-office trend are turning corporate sustainability’s focus inward, toward internal opportunities to activate impact and advance ESG commitments. At the heart of this focus? Buildings. Making owned assets more climate-ready, for instance, is driving new technologies, with resilient buildings representing the top returns and the largest addressable market for climate investment, delivering shared long-term value for your emissions reduction pathway and your balance sheet. And whether you own or lease, engaging people within your offices to shift their perspective on waste or reduce their water use can have broad-reaching implications for your environmental goals, not to mention your operational costs. Developing a successful ESG strategy for your corporate space starts with people and harnesses creativity and innovation to make a collective impact. In this panel, experts in building culture share their experiences and a primer on how to engage your teams and lead change to create sustainable spaces where people thrive.

As regulatory expectations continue to evolve, businesses are navigating higher standards for transparency, accountability, and disclosure.

• What companies are doing to stay ahead (or not) and how compliance is becoming a competitive edge.
• The challenges keeping companies up at night
• Balancing compliance risks against competitive opportunities and using proactive practices to build trust and credibility

Companies are moving beyond broad commitments to focus on what truly matters; embedding materiality, aligning strategy to purpose, and creating impact at scale.

• How are leading companies assessing material issues based on impacts, risks, and opportunities?
• What steps strengthen strategy, goal setting, and collaboration across the business?
• How does a socially oriented purpose shape long-term direction?
• What global insights and practices are shaping sustainability strategies today?

“Our restaurant is founded on a holistic approach of regenerative practices and processes. Working with our regional purveyors, our food and wine are a reflection of our local ecosystem and the land we inhabit.”

▲ Restaurant Pearl Morissette Website
▲ Canada’s 100 Best 2025: #1
▲ Michelin 2025: 2 Stars

Artificial intelligence is reshaping the path to sustainability — offering powerful tools to reduce emissions, optimize resources, and enhance ESG reporting, while also introducing new environmental challenges of its own. This session explores how organizations can balance AI’s immense potential with its carbon footprint, examining innovations in green computing, responsible scaling, and governance frameworks that ensure technology serves as a true catalyst for sustainable progress.

• Assess GenAI’s carbon footprint and emerging solutions to reduce its impact.

• Highlight energy-efficient models and green data center innovations.

• Explore AI-driven sustainability gains in supply chains, reporting, and climate action.

• Discuss governance and education for responsible, sustainable AI use.