We’re bringing you an exciting line-up of keynotes to share their knowledge and experiences at Cannexus27!
Physician | Expert on Authentic Leadership and Inclusive Wellness | Best-selling Author
Dr. Samra Zafar is passionate about helping people live and lead with courage to become agents for change. She is an award-winning international speaker, best-selling author and resident psychiatrist who specializes in authentic leadership, belonging and inclusive wellness. In her captivating keynotes, Zafar shares valuable, science-backed tools and insights to help leaders build authentic connections and inclusive workplace cultures that foster high-performing, resilient and agile teams for transformational results.
After escaping a decade of abuse as a child bride in Canada, Zafar pursued her education and became a global advocate for progress. Her bestselling memoir, A Good Wife: Escaping the Life I Never Chose, shares her journey while her second book, Unconditional: Break Through Past Limits to Transform Your Future, details science-based strategies rooted in lived experience to help readers unlearn limiting beliefs and live fuller, unconditional lives. It was named one of Forbes’ 2025 “Best Books for Personal Growth by Women Authors”.
Previously a leader in financial services, Zafar is currently completing her residency in psychiatry at the University of Toronto. She is also the founder and Executive Director of Brave Beginnings, a registered charity that provides mentorship to survivors of abuse. Her work has been featured in several national and international media outlets, including The Huffington Post, Harvard Medical School’s Primary Care Review, CTV, CBC, Global News, The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star and more.
A four-time TEDx speaker, Zafar has been recognized as one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women, Top 25 Most Inspirational Women and Top 25 Canadian Immigrants. She is a trailblazer, spearheading inclusion and wellness in organizations across the world. Past speaking clients including RBC, TD, Manulife, Deloitte, CPA, Yale University, Adidas, Art of Leadership, Canadian Psychiatric Association, UNICEF, and several other corporations, associations and universities. Her keynotes combine scientific research with hard-earned life lessons to share courageous strategies that lead to bold results.
Zafar earned her medical degree from McMaster University. She also holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in economics from the University of Toronto. Formerly a governor at the University of Toronto, Zafar currently sits on the board of Women’s College Hospital Foundation. She also served as chair of the University of Toronto Mississauga Campus Council.
Award-Winning Indigenous Journalist and Author
An award-winning broadcaster, author and professor, Duncan McCue is a masterful storyteller and celebrated leader in decolonizing journalism. Throughout his distinguished 25-year career with CBC, he was best known as the host of CBC Radio’s Cross Country Checkup and as a longstanding correspondent with The National. Honest and insightful, McCue is a sought-after trainer and educator in helping to build respectful relationships with Indigenous communities to spark social change and reconciliation.
From climate change to residential schools and violence against Indigenous women, McCue has tackled some of the most complex issues facing Canadians and Indigenous Peoples. Most recently, he was the driving force behind CBC’s award-winning investigative podcast series, Kuper Island. In 2023, the Canadian Association of Journalists presented McCue with its highest honour, the Charles Bury Award, for his “efforts to inspire change in how Canadian journalism covers Indigenous stories.”
McCue is now a guest host, trainer and Indigenous advisor for CBC and a Professor of Indigenous Journalism and (Story)telling at Carleton University. He has spent decades training journalists across Canada and the world on how to respectfully share Indigenous stories and perspectives. He developed the innovative online resource, Reporting in Indigenous Communities, which inspired his textbook, Decolonizing Journalism: A Guide to Reporting in Indigenous Communities. McCue is also the author of Shoe Boy: A Trapline Memoir.
Before becoming a journalist, McCue studied English at the University of King’s College and completed his law degree at the UBC. He was called to the bar in British Columbia in 1998. His educational journey also includes a Knight Fellowship at Stanford University and a Southam Fellowship at Massey College/University of Toronto.
McCue is Anishinaabe and a member of the Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation in southern Ontario. In recognition of his public service, he was presented with an Indspire Award and an honorary doctorate from the University of King’s College