Global Chamber Beyond Borders: Opportunities in Toronto and Canada

Date: Thursday, January 29th
Time: 5pm - 8pm ET / Zoom begins 6pm ET / 3pm PT / 8am next day Japan
Location: Trowbridge, 1 King Street West, Suite 1201. Toronto, ON M5H 1A1

For Virtual Attendees: Zoom link provided upon registration.

You're invited to discover growth opportunities to and from Toronto... and across Canada. Hosted in-person by Trowbridge in Downtown Toronto. An hour of essential information to grow in 2026, and an hour to connect with global leaders in person.

Agenda

• 5pm ET In-person Connecting 
• 6pm ET In-person and Zoom Beyond Borders
• 7:30pm ET In-person Connecting (continued)

Beyond Borders

• Global Opportunities 2026 - Doug Bruhnke at Global Chamber
• Economic Forecast 2026 - Carol Schleif at BMO
• Implementing Global Success - Ernie Nagratha at Trowbridge
• Building a Successful Global Team - Elliot Altland at GoGlobal
• Success with Outsourcing Your Team - Chris Yap, CEO at Gabtech
• Be an Effective Exporter and Global Leader - Lora Rigutto, CITP at FITT
• Cross Cultural Success Beyond Borders - Brogan Taylor, Chairman/CEO at Stillman Solutions
• Canada and Japan Success - Tomoko King, Japan-Canada Advisor at Tomoko King Advisory

2026 is a pivotal year for businesses in Canada, as the shifts in market dynamic continue and progress to discover and capture new opportunities continues in earnest. 

Grow beyond borders! This is an in-person event with a zoom link for remote participants.

Speakers:

Arun (Ernie) Nagratha - Managing Directort at Trowbridge Professional Corporation

Ernie Nagratha is a Canadian Chartered Professional Accountant, specializing in expatriate taxation as it relates to Canadians living and working around the world. Ernie joined Trowbridge Professional Corporation as a founding partner shortly after its inception in 2002 to build the firm’s expatriate tax services practice. As a former expat living and working abroad, Ernie’s real-life knowledge combined with his in-depth tax expertise has resulted in a growing international client base. Ernie shares his love of business and helping people when he travels the globe speaking to Canadian expats on how to navigate the often complex world of international tax.

Ernie has completed levels I and II of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants In-depth Taxation Program and is a current member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario. Ernie graduated with his Bachelor of Business Administration from the Schulich School of Business, York University, Toronto.

Carol Schleif, CFA, FSA - Chief Market Strategist, BMO Private Wealth (Invited)

Carol Schleif is the Chief Market Strategist of BMO Private Wealth, an integrated wealth management provider that serves ultra-affluent individuals, families and family offices across their tax, estate, investment, philanthropic, risk and family capital needs. She is a voting member of the Asset Allocation Work Group and Investment Committee as well as leading the Senior Investment Advisory Council for BMO Wealth Management.

Carol is an experienced investment leader with 40 years in the industry and has worked extensively with ultra-affluent families in the management and oversight of their investments. She has a deep understanding of the markets and portfolio construction and management across asset classes. She is a sought-after speaker and thought leader, and a frequent contributor to Bloomberg, Reuters and other financial media.

Prior to joining BMO Family Office, Carol served as Deputy Chief Investment Officer with Abbot Downing. In this role, she oversaw several key initiatives at the firm and drove product and content development. She led the Private Wealth Management Investment Strategy work stream. She also launched and led mentoring and training programs to enhance career development for asset management employees.

Carol serves on the joint board of trustees for the College of St. Benedict/St. John’s University where she co-chairs both endowments’ investment committees. She also serves on the University of Minnesota Discovery Capital Advisory Board and the Hamline University Finance Curriculum Advisory Committee.

Carol earned her MBA from Hamline University. She earned undergraduate degrees in both business administration and equestrian science from William Woods College, where she graduated salutatorian and summa cum laude. She has also earned the Fundamentals of Sustainability Accounting (FSA) and Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA) designations.

Elliot Atland - Associate Director at GoGlobal 

Elliott Altland is an Associate Director at GoGlobal, where he supports teams across the U.S. and Canada in expanding internationally. He specializes in Employer of Record (EOR) services, international contractor management and foreign entity incorporation, helping organizations build and manage teams with confidence anywhere in the world.  

Chris Yap is the CEO and Founder of Gabtech Global

Chris Yap is the CEO and Founder of Gabtech Global, a rapidly growing remote staffing company that scaled from two team members to one of the Inc. 5000 Fastest-Growing Companies in America. With a background marked by resilience and an unwavering commitment to impact, Chris has built a global organization that empowers businesses through talent, systems, and sustainable growth practices.

Recognized as a Titan 100 CEO and an Outstanding Alumnus of San Beda University, Chris is known for his clear strategic thinking, values-driven leadership, and ability to simplify complex growth challenges for entrepreneurs and executives worldwide. He has helped organizations streamline operations, strengthen culture, and scale without sacrificing the wellbeing of their people.

Beyond business, Chris is deeply committed to mentorship, global collaboration, and building opportunities for emerging leaders across borders. He believes that growth is most powerful when it uplifts both companies and the communities around them. 

Lora Rigutto, CITP® - Partnerships and Community Lead at Forum for International Trade Training (FITT)

Lora Rigutto, CITP®, is the Partnerships and Community Lead at FITT with over 25 years of experience in international trade. Starting her career as a Trade Advisor with ProChile – Trade Commission of Chile in Toronto, she has helped numerous businesses navigate global markets and export challenges. As a Certified International Trade Professional - CITP®  and ICC-certified Incoterms® 2020 Trainer for Canada, Lora brings deep expertise in trade practices and is passionate about sharing FITT’s renowned global business training programs and credentials with students and businesses.

 

Brogan Taylor, MBA - CEO at Stillman Solutions Team

Brogan Taylor is the CEO of Stillman Solutions Team, an Integrated Language Ops Solution Provider with operations spanning the Americas, Europe and Egypt. Stillman’s solutions include global multi-lingual communications managed services which feature system integrations, workflow optimization and automation, process management, quality assurance, regulatory and privacy compliance. Stillman is ISO certified to deliver scalable, high-quality translation, localization, data annotation, digital marketing and graphic design services.

Prior to relocating to London, ON Mr. Taylor spent 15+ years as a corporate finance professional in several different capacities based in Toronto. His extensive experience spans the industry and includes private equity investing in financial restructurings and operational turnarounds, corporate finance consulting as a Director with FTI Consulting (NYSE:FCN) and distressed debt portfolio management with the Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSE:TD). He is an experienced advisor to executive management teams and boards of directors.

 

Prior to acquiring Stillman, Mr. Taylor worked at Gluskin Sheff + Associates (TSE:GS) advising the executive management team and board of directors through, an operational transformation and strategic shift leading to the firm’s acquisition by ONEX Corporation (TSE:ONEX) in 2019.

Mr. Taylor has extensive leadership experience driving financial performance, operational improvement and change management within private and publicly listed companies. His leadership expertise include managing successful strategic transformations while driving value for all stakeholders.

 

Tomoko King - Founder and Principal Consultant at Tomoko King Consulting & Advisory

Tomoko King is a Japan–Canada advisor and operational excellence strategist supporting globally minded leaders and teams navigating cross-border collaboration. Her work focuses on aligning ways of working and decision-making to reduce execution risk and support sustainable global partnerships.

Born in Ottawa and raised in Osaka, Japan, Tomoko spent 17 years at Toyota's Canadian subsidiary, bridging teams across Japan and North America. She has since applied Japanese management philosophies and operational excellence practices across manufacturing, municipal government, provincial healthcare, and higher education to strengthen execution and leadership capability.

She holds an MBA from Wilfrid Laurier University, is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP®), and serves on the board of the Project Management Institute (PMI) Canada's Technology Triangle (CTT) chapter. She is currently exploring Waterloo Region–Osaka collaboration opportunities at the intersection of emerging quantum-related ecosystems.

 

Doug Bruhnke - Founder and CEO of Global Chamber®

Doug Bruhnke is founder and CEO of Global Chamber®. He's a global entrepreneur, connector, trade advocate, speaker and author dedicated to growing Global Chamber® and helping members reach new markets and gain new clients across metros and borders more successfully.

Doug worked with the Dupont Company and had expatriate assignments in Tokyo and Singapore. He has over 38 years of global trade experience working with clients in nearly every market segment including automotive, aerospace, industrial, healthcare, life sciences and technology. Currently his memberships include Global Chamber®, the Arizona District Export Council, the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition and the Thunderbird Global Alumni Network (TGAN) Advisory Council. He's a German-Polish American living in the U.S. who has 5 U.S. patents and an education that includes a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Utah and an EMBA from Michigan State University.