Ben Burmaster is the Founder & CEO of Snuggle Bugz. A born entrepreneur, he founded five successful companies before pursuing his passion project with his wife, Tanya. Ben and Tanya started Snuggle Bugz in 2006, based on their shared vision of instilling confidence in Canadian parents navigating the early stages of parenthood.

With an extensive Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) development background from previous software businesses he’d founded, Ben established Snuggle Bugz early on as a true omnichannel retailer, competing equally on- and off-line against big box stores, major online marketplaces, and boutique retailers alike.

Ben’s uncompromising commitment to excellence and innovation has driven the expansion of Snuggle Bugz to 9 bricks-and-mortar stores and a robust e-commerce shop that’s experienced consistent growth for the past 10 years in the challenging and ever-changing juvenile goods market.

John Bakker is a seasoned entrepreneur and ecosystem enabler who brings a thoughtful, people-centered approach to organizational strategy and leadership. After leading large-scale engineering and transformation projects in the automotive sector, he transitioned into entrepreneurship—founding several recruiting and business service companies.
As the Visionary at Amplify Mission, John draws on decades of Board and operational experience with purpose-driven organizations to help build redemptive workplaces where people flourish.

David Au Yeung is the co-founder of Carity.AI, an automotive technology company that uses GenAI to provide instant answers for consumer shoppers. Their clients include Volkswagen Canada. He is also the co-founder of CollectiveXP, a software advisory business with an investment arm that focuses on SaaS software incubation and Search Fund buyouts. Prior to these ventures, he co-founded Flipp, where the company grew from 3 to 450 employees with over $100 million USD in revenue.

Simi Lawoyin is a redemptive venture-building coach, business consultant, people + culture strategist, and wellbeing enthusiast with a multidisciplinary background.

Philip Yan is the founding director of the Centre for Redemptive Entrepreneurship (CRE) at Tyndale University. The vision for the CRE is to equip Christian entrepreneurs as culture-shaping catalysts in advancing their redemptive ventures.