2026 Keynote & Presenters
Meet the voices shaping this year's conversations!
Keynote Speaker
Vikram Vij
Keynote Speaker
Vikram Vij is an Entrepreneur, Dragon’s Den investor and world renowned chef. He is the owner of the restaurant Vij’s.
Successful Immigrant Panel
Amir Hosh
Successful Immigrant Panelist #1
Amir Hosh is the founder and principal of Ayoub’s Dried Fruits & Nuts, a popular Canadian retail chain known for fresh, in-house roasted nuts and dried fruits.
Mehran Jamshidi
Successful Immigrant Panelist #2
Mehran Jamshidi is a full-time Lecturer at the University of British Columbia (UBC) Sauder School of Business, where he teaches graduate and undergraduate business students.
Yuan Shi
Successful Immigrant Panelist #3
Yuan Shi is an investor, academic, and engineer based in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Speakers
Kuljeet Kainth
Opening Remarks
Kuljeet Kainth is the Branch Manager Advisor, Newcomer North BC Team – RBC Royal Bank.
Mentors
Tarun Singhal
Mentor
Tarun Singhal is an AI Leader and Enterprise Consultant with over 17 years of experience driving strategy, machine learning delivery, and digital transformation across Fortune 500 organizations like SAP, P&G, and IOCL.
Shruti Chamoli
Mentor
Shruti Chamoli is a Total Rewards leader with over 20 years of international experience across India, Kuwait, and Canada.
Selcuk Cicek
Mentor
Selcuk Cicek, M.Sc., MBA is the Reporting Lead, BC Health Workday Program with over 15 years of experience across healthcare, higher education, and foreign affairs.
Paul Kernan
Mentor
Paul Kernan is a retired Architect AIBC with more than four decades of professional experience in architecture, building science, sustainable design, and building-envelope performance.
Mei Chen
Mentor
Mei Chen is a Co-op Education Coordinator at Simon Fraser University and a CEWIL-certified Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) Practitioner.
Anne Reith
Mentor
Anne Reith is the Manager of the Learning Experience Team at Doctors of BC where she leads the design and delivery of learning experiences that support the professional growth of the employees.
MC
Farhang Koohestanian
Co-Master of Ceremonies
Farhang Koohestanian is the Manager of MOSAIC’s Surrey Language Centre (SLC).
Alma Krilic
Co-Master of Ceremonies
Alma Krilic is an experienced educator and researcher based on the unceded territory of the Coast Salish peoples.