The Honourable Rechle Valdez was appointed Minister of Women and Gender Equality and Secretary of State (Small Business and Tourism) in May 2025. She is the Member of Parliament for Mississauga-Streetsville. Minister Valdez brings diverse experience in business, community leadership, and public service to her role. Before entering politics, Minister Valdez worked in corporate banking for over a decade, ran a small baking business, and hosted and produced a national television show.

She has been a vocal advocate for women entrepreneurs, youth engagement, and the celebration of cultural diversity in Canada.

Elected to the House of Commons in 2021, she made history as the first Filipino-Canadian woman elected to Parliament. She has previously served as Minister of Small Business and as Chief Government Whip.

Hamza Khan is a best-selling author, award-winning entrepreneur, and world-renowned keynote speaker whose TEDx talk "Stop Managing, Start Leading" has been viewed over two million times.

He challenges audiences and organizations to rehumanize their workplaces to achieve inclusive and sustainable growth. He is a visiting scholar, top-ranked university educator, and respected thought leader with actionable insights featured by the likes of Inc., VICE, and Business Insider. The world's leading organizations trust Khan to enhance modern leadership, inspire purposeful productivity, nurture lasting resilience, and navigate constant change.

Khan has spoken on various global stages, from the World Youth Forum to TEDx, and works with clients such as Microsoft, PepsiCo, LinkedIn, Deloitte, Salesforce, TikTok, and hundreds of colleges and universities. Through his writing, speaking, teaching, and executive coaching, Khan empowers people to thrive in the future of work.

Chef Anwar Bootwala is an internationally experienced culinary professional whose career spans India, the UAE, Oman, Yemen, the United States and Canada. He has held leadership positions with renowned hospitality brands including Taj, Hilton, Sheraton, Movenpick and Novotel.

A founding member and Honorary Member for Life of the Emirates Culinary Guild, Chef Anwar has led award-winning culinary teams, contributed to a Guinness World Record for the world's longest cake and catered prestigious royal events.

Mariyah Saifuddin is the co-founder and CEO of Innovative Solution Partners, a Michigan-based IT consulting firm that helps enterprise clients nationwide turn data into a driver of growth. Since 1999, Innovative Solution Partners has partnered with organizations to build custom analytics and reporting solutions that sharpen decision-making, stretch budget dollars further, and create measurable operational clarity - work that now extends to guiding clients through their Al and cloud transformations.

With more than two decades of experience at the intersection of business and technology, Mariyah brings a rare ability to connect people, operations, and systems. Mariyah previously served as President of the NAWBO Greater Detroit Chapter and currently serves as a Board Director for CARES of Farmington Hills. Her leadership has earned national and regional recognition, including being named a 2024 Top Woman in Tech by Purpose Jobs, a Notable Nonprofit Board Leader by Crain's Detroit Business, and an Enterprising Women of the Year honoree.

Dr. Hunaid Nulwala is a polymer chemist, inventor and entrepreneur based in Pittsburgh. As Co-founder and CTO of RoCo, he develops and commercializes advanced ionic-liquid materials for applications across energy, electronics, pharmaceuticals and industry.

RoCo has launched ventures including Singularity Polymers, PuraGen and Reclamation Factory, advancing barrier coatings and innovative plastic-recycling technologies. Dr. Nulwala holds more than 20 patents and has authored over 50 scientific publications. His experience includes Eastman Kodak, General Electric, the U.S. Department of Energy and Carnegie Mellon University.

He earned his Ph.D. in Materials Chemistry from UC Santa Barbara. Beyond his scientific and entrepreneurial work, Dr. Nulwala collaborates with universities, supports workforce development and mentors young problem-solvers as a robotics coach.

Mustafa Peshawarwala is a technology entrepreneur and executive leader at Royal Cyber, a global technology consulting company. He helps organizations turn Al, data, and digital transformation into practical business results.

His work spans CampusMind.ai for higher education, Nouraa.ai for customer experience, LawPilots for legal services, Metafy.ai, GoTestPro.com for test automation, and AlOps for IT operations.

Achievements & Recognition

• National Best & Brightest 2022
• CRN Fast Growth 150 2022
• ITWA 2022 Gold - Best IT Company of the Year

Lubaina Rakla is a firm believer in nurturing your body and mind through eating well. Foods that are whole, natural, and low-processed provide us with the energy and fuel we need.

Lubaina's journey with LIVA began when she was pregnant and was diagnosed with gestational diabetes - it was a shock. She had to adapt to how she ate and how she thought about food (particularly sugar and sweet things), in order to protect her health and her child's.

Date sugar became a key ingredient in her diet, allowing her to still have the sweetness she loved without worrying about blood sugar levels. She was so inspired by date sugar and wanted to share it with everyone, through her brand LIVA Foods Inc.

Shabbir Bata is a technology leader and entrepreneur, currently serving as Senior Director of Cloud Engineering at 66degrees, where he leads cloud engineering initiatives and helps organizations navigate complex technology transformations. He is also the Co-Founder of The Premium Basket, a premium nuts, dates, and healthy snacking brand being built and scaled across India and international markets.

As a member of the Dawoodi Bohra community, Shabbir draws inspiration from the community's strong culture of entrepreneurship, hard work, and business excellence. His journey brings together technology leadership, entrepreneurship, and a passion for building businesses that create long-term value.

Over the past four years, Zahra Ali (Madraswala) has built her independent practice into a multidisciplinary business, managing projects from concept through construction and execution.

A major part of her entrepreneurial journey has been learning how to market herself. Zahra built her brand and audience organically through social media, developing a strong understanding of digital storytelling, personal branding and how to turn creative expertise into visibility and business opportunity.

As a mother of three, her journey has also been about building ambition alongside a full personal life, taking calculated risks, navigating uncertainty, advocating for the value of her work, and continually redefining what growth looks like.