ANNETTE VERSCHUREN was born and raised in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Formerly a development officer with the Cape Breton Development Corporation, she has worked with the Canada Development Investment Corporation and Imasco, Ltd., before co-founding Michaels in Canada. Verschuren is well known as the past president of Home Depot in Canada and Asia. She is currently the Chair and CEO of NRStor Inc., an industry leader in the commercialization of energy storage technologies. She lives in Toronto. She lives in Toronto with her husband, Stan Shibinsky.

ELEANOR BEATON is an award-winning writer and women’s leadership coach. She has written on women’s issues, business, entrepreneurship and leadership for The Huffington Post, The Globe and Mail, Chatelaine and PROFIT magazine. She is the founder of Fierce Feminine Leadership, a leadership development company for emerging women leaders.