Clean50 Summit 15

No joke.

We were honoured to have many of Canada’s finest, most driven and accomplished climate-connected leaders join us from every corner of the country on October 15th, at the Evergreen Brickworks, for the 15th Clean50 Summit.

Comprised of an incoming class of 72 of the 75 individuals or teams on our individual Clean50, Emerging Leader and Lifetime Achievement lists, 40 plus representatives of 33 of the 40 Top Projects and another ~35 existing Clean50 members, 5 sponsors senior sustainability professionals not already Clean50 members and a few very special guests, the Summit was considered by most participants to be a rousing success.

The numbers seem to support that: on a 1-10 scale that graded the Summit with a score of 8 described as “8+ – a really special day / best day ever / best day of my year” we got numerous 9s and 10s, and an average of 8.3. We look for opportunities to drive connections and collaboration: Just 6 days later, the first 60 participants to respond to a survey reported making a total of 521 connections with whom they expected to collaborate, and 151 collaborations already in progress.

The day begins early for some participants. Upon signing up for the Summit, registrants are asked if they’d like to facilitate one of the 42 table discussions that take place during the day, leading a group of 12 of their peers through the planned format. Some 32 did so, had taken some Zoom training already, and at 7:30 AM were on site, coffee in hand, and led by Clean50 2014 Emerging Leader, the incredible Kate Whalen, took some training in a session designed to model how the day’s tables should be led.

Pictured below, conversations that ranged from “share and answer questions about your biggest success story from the last year” to “What’s our best advice for R&D Clean16 winner Nat Schmitt to help her grow Wildtech DNA” (featuring as fellow participants venture investors, fellow clean tech CEOs, and potential customers) to “How can we best drive efforts towards to improve the environment for Canada’s clean tech industry” (featuring clean tech CEOs, VCs and government policy makers) to “Elbows up for Climate” – discussing how municipalities might lead the fight to make climate a focus for a government seemingly obsessed with pipelines and enabling the Canada of the last century, instead of building on our remarkable “best-in-the-world” assets to develop and deliver the technologies of the 21st century.

As but one example of “well equipped to answer the question” the latter table conversation included as participants former mayors David Miller (Toronto) and Karen Farbridge (Guelph), current mayor Richard Ireland (Jasper), present municipal councilors Shanon (Regina) and Jessica McIlroy (North Vancouver) as well as Ottawa Climate Action Fund ED, Cherise Burda, and Green Resilience Project project leader (and last year Clean50 LTA award winner) Mitchell Beer, VanCity sustainability leader Alison Moore, and Emma Murphy from Green Economy Canada. Talk about a powerhouse conversation!

Those 42 discussions – 14 at a time – 12 people each – each specifically curated to find common ground with at least 3 of the other table participants – take place with one session in the morning and two in the afternoon.

Lunch and Dinner featured not just award presentations – but also live RAPs from Baba Brinkman (son of incoming Lifetime Achievement Award winner Dirk Brinkman and existing Clean50 Member, Joyce Murray) – calling out individual Clean50 members for their achievements in an energetic fashion that had participants waving arms in the air and yelling back.

We cruised to the end of the largest Summit ever – fittingly in the same place and less than 10 metres from where the Clean50 program was first announced 15 years ago – on June 6th 2011.

Things worth noting: At least a dozen participants were on their 4th – 15th Summit – and of the 57 people who attended the first Summit, at least seven were back this year. As one frequent flier put it to me a few years ago, “This is the best day of my year. It’s the day I don’t need to explain why I run my business the way I do. It’s also the day I get the energy and optimism to keep going”.

Below a series of comments culled from the Linked In posts that followed, led off by one of this year’s stellar summer students, Clean50 Analyst Nell Sykes, who talks from the perspective of an undergrad seeking hope in a world that seems doomed..

Nell Sykes, Clean50 Analyst, Summer of 2025

By the time I was born in 2004, climate change was already a crisis.
My relationship with the world around me has never not been defined by the knowledge that my very existence, and the sustenance of my way of life, is destroying the world around me. Growing up and gaining political consciousness in this context – watching leaders tempt and betray us again and again – has made it difficult at times to believe in a future that climate disaster does not consume, or at least fundamentally define.

When I first met Gavin Pitchford and interviewed for my analyst position with Canada’s Clean50, I told him that above all, I was looking for a source of hope.

My experience this summer, culminating at the Clean50 Summit last Wednesday, has exceeded that expectation in every sense.

Hope, in this time, isn’t about denying our fears about the future, but embodying them in action. Across sectors and regions, perspectives and professions, the Clean50 represents a coalition of people working on climate from every imaginable angle: finance, technology, government, law, engineering, advocacy and more. It is both a network and an ethos, a living demonstration that impact need not be uniform to be united.

The Summit reminded me of what good leadership can do. In a moment when cynicism feels like the only rational stance, seeing genuine conviction in action was a valuable antidote. It reminded me that the difference between drift and direction is often just someone willing to decide that progress is still possible. That reminder has renewed not only my sense of hope, but my resolve to continue devoting my career to building a future that justifies the faith we still manage to have in one another.

As I sat in my democratic theory course yesterday, discussing Iris Young on inclusive democracy navigating differences, I couldn’t help but think about the Summit. Young writes that true democracy depends on deliberative systems that include all those affected by collective decisions, defining difference not as an obstacle, but as the pulse that makes our shared problem-solving just and complete.

Institutions like the Clean50 are not simply associations of like-minded citizens; they are a necessary arm of democracy. They expand who gets to participate in the conversation about our collective future. In doing so, they remind us that citizenship extends far beyond the ballot – it lives in the everyday choices to collaborate, to share knowledge, and to build bridges in areas that institutions neglect.

We need this now more than ever, and I am incredibly grateful to have been reminded, last week, that even in an age of disillusionment, conviction still exists. Sometimes, it even gathers in a room.

Thank you to everyone who made the Clean50 Summit possible, and to those who continue to show that leadership, empathy, and courage are still renewable resources.

Thank you to Gavin and my wonderful colleagues Megan Aoki, Sara Escallon-Sotomayor Amy McDonnell and Julia Heuff

Kate Whalen

There are moments when you look around the room and think, “This is exactly where I’m meant to be.”
That’s exactly what the #Clean50 Summit feels like.
I’ve been part of this community for over a decade — first as a Clean50 recipient in 2014. Since then, I’ve returned as a facilitator, Clean50 Advisor, and this year as Lead Facilitator.
It was an absolute honour to design and lead the training for 30+ Clean50 facilitators (all current or past recipients) to help bring three powerful, interactive sessions to life — guiding 160+ leaders through conversations that moved from stories to solutions to action, each brimming with honesty, laughter, and courage.
The energy and collaboration in every room reminded me why this community matters so deeply.
A huge thank you to Gavin Pitchford, whose vision goes far beyond recognition. Clean50 isn’t just an award — it’s a living, breathing network of people committed to solving complex sustainability challenges together. Gavin has created a space where celebration meets action, and where collaboration becomes our greatest renewable resource.
Grateful as well to all the Clean50 winners who became facilitators as well – it can take courage to agree to undertake steering 12 seasoned CEOs though a process! Thank you to Chris Wilson for the creativity and partnership every step of the way; to Diane Kilcoyne for laying a great facilitation foundation to follow; to students-turned-friends Madison Mote, Nelly Okwu-wolu, and Sama Hameed, who stepped in last minute as note takers; to Megan Aoki, Sara Escallon-Sotomayor, Nell Sykes, Amy McDonnell, and Julia Heuff for all their behind-the-scenes magic; to Sanjay Parker and the team at Evergreen Brickworks for running a great space, to Baba Brinkman for the lyrical genius, and to the note takers and outstanding facilitators who brought the summit sessions to life!
To all the Clean50 winners — congratulations on being recognized for the incredible work you’re leading, and welcome to this vibrant community. Thank you for bringing such honesty, hope, and possibility into every conversation. You made the sessions and the Summit unforgettable.

Chris Wilson: My cure for climate despair wasn’t an article. It was a room full of humans.
I’ll admit it—sometimes I catch myself doom-scrolling about climate change.
The headlines feel endless. The problems feel too big. The progress feels too slow.
But yesterday was different.
I had the privilege of helping train 30 facilitators with Kate Whalen, PhD, for Canada’s Clean50 Awards at the Evergreen Brickworks in Toronto—and something shifted.
In one room sat Indigenous chiefs, HP corporate executives, sustainability leaders (Soula Chronopoulos), and community builders (Gavin Pitchford). People who don’t just talk about change—they embody it.
We spent the day building skills, sharing ideas, and creating the kind of conversations that actually move people to act.
Somewhere between the laughter, the tough questions, and the “aha” moments… that heavy, anxious feeling I’ve carried about the climate started to lift.
It reminded me:
Hope doesn’t live in headlines.
It lives in connection.
I walked out of that room inspired, grounded, and honestly—just excited to see what’s possible when thoughtful, committed people come together.
It’s an experience I’ll never forget.
And I can’t wait to do it again next year.

James McNeil  Yesterday’s Clean50 Awards in Toronto were truly inspiring, bringing together changemakers from across Canada working to drive climate action and sustainability in every sector.

My heartfelt thanks to Gavin Pitchford and the entire Clean50 team for creating such a powerful platform to celebrate leadership and collective impact. The energy and commitment in that room give me hope for what is possible when business, community, and policy come together with purpose. I feel humbled to have had the opportunity to meet and mingle with so many impactful people.

Nina Latinga, Nets for Net Zero: What I loved most about this day, is that I was in room full of people who turned their ambitious ideas into real measurable impact. There’s plenty of talk these days about what we need to do, but not enough concrete action and investment into a regenerative economy. This Canada Clean 50 summit isn’t about ideas and ambition, it’s about rolling up our sleeves and getting the work done. Not only is it incredibly inspiring to learn from others in the room, but it leads to opportunity for real collaboration to build Canada’s clean economy. Let’s turn all of those conversations into bigger and better projects for a regenerative ocean and sustainable impact for generations to come.

David Rutherford, Mackenzie Investments:  I was allowed in to rub shoulders with the engineers, activists, academics, businesspeople, civic and Indigenous leaders, and the world’s most prolific tree planter, that made up this year’s Summit. It was profoundly humbling to be in the company of people so committed to real action. My most important lesson? It was shifting my embedded, hardwired framing of issues from the negative to the positive – from risks to opportunities. Thanks especially to Wren Montgomery and Chad Rickaby, MPP for changing my perspective.

At this fifteenth edition of the Clean50 Summit, I saw that perspective applied again and again by smart, dedicated people who look at the world’s seemingly insurmountable challenges and see only potential solutions. That’s the power of action and commitment. When all you’re doing is thinking about the bad things in this world, it’s very easy to dig a hole you can’t see any way out of. The best way out – the only way – is to start doing something.

The Clean50 is full of doers. Yet, for all this group has done, and for everything they continue to do, it’s not nearly enough – certainly not enough that the simply well-intentioned among us can continue to sit on the sidelines. If it’s truly a war to save the planet (or more specifically to save the planet from its most destructive inhabitants), there can be no passengers. Everyone needs to pick up a shovel and get to work. We have been shown the way.

Jennifer Sicilia, COO, RYCOM:  What an inspiring day at the Clean50 Summit 15.0 last week!It was an incredible opportunity to learn about the innovative ideas and meaningful work coming to life across Canada that span so many industries, yet are united by a shared purpose: making tomorrow better.
What stood out most was the creativity in the room and the people who weren’t afraid to step outside the box and challenge the status quo. The collaboration across business, government, academia, and community-driven organizations was truly inspiring. Equally powerful was the emphasis on mentorship and inspiring the next generation to take action.

Bettina Hoar:  It truly was an inspiring and wonderful day! As a first-time award winner, initially I was surprised to see so many past winners attending an all-day awards event – turns out – it’s so much more than that! You truly have created an exciting accelerator for sustainability in Canada, Gavin, and I look forward to future events!