Ted Jackson
Edward (Ted) Jackson is Chair of the Group of 78. He is a professor, consultant, and editor with current research interests in sustainable finance, gender lens investing, jobs in the transition economy, and community-university partnerships. He is a retired tenured public-policy professor, former associate dean (research) and co-founder of the Carleton Centre for Community Innovation, at Carleton University, where he continues to serve as a senior research fellow. He is also an honorary associate at the Institute of Development Studies at Sussex University. As president of the consultancy E. T. Jackson and Associates, he has advised bilateral and multilateral development agencies and banks, investment funds, foundations, non-profits, and universities in 60 countries, including Bangladesh, Belize, Ghana, Kenya, Singapore, South Africa, and Vietnam. An active volunteer, he co-founded the McLeod Group and has advised the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, an American farmworkers’ rights non-profit, and the Singapore-based Sweef Capital impact fund.
Keynote Speaker: Peggy Mason
Friday, October 9, 2026 7 PM ET Reinventing the Architecture of Peace: How We Got Here and What Must be Done
Peggy Mason‘s career highlights diplomatic and specialist expertise in the field of international peace and security, with a particular emphasis on the United Nations, where she served as Canada’s Ambassador for Disarmament from 1989 to 1995.
Since 1996 Ms. Mason has been involved in many aspects of UN peacekeeping training, including the development of ground breaking UN principles on the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of former fighters, the reform of UN arms embargoes and the dramatic evolution of UN peacekeeping in the 21st century. Until 2014, she regularly brought the UN political/diplomatic perspective to a range of UN, NATO and EU training exercises to help prepare military commanders for complex multidisciplinary peace and crisis stabilization operations.
For 10 years Peggy Mason was a Senior Fellow at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs (NPSIA) at Carleton University, where she lectured, participated in training for Iraqi and Kuwaiti diplomats and chaired the Advisory Board of the Canadian Centre for Treaty Compliance (CCTC). She has long been active in a range of Canadian non-governmental organizations engaged in foreign policy, peacebuilding and global governance issues. A graduate and gold medallist of the University of Ottawa Faculty of Common Law, Peggy Mason was inducted into its Honour Society in September 2003. In October of 2019, and again in 2023, Peggy Mason was elected Vice-Chair of the prestigious Canadian Pugwash Group. In June of 2020, she joined the Advisory Board of a new progressive foreign policy think tank, the Institute for Peace and Diplomacy.
Host and Moderator: Kizzann Sammy
Kizzann Sammy MA, MBA, FRSA, is a senior development professional with over 25 years of experience advancing inclusive, evidence-based policy and programming across government, non-profit, and international development sectors. She brings a strong record of volunteerism and advocacy, having served on boards and committees focused on governance, youth leadership, and social impact, contributing to strategic planning and governance strengthening for programs supporting survivors of human trafficking. Her development work spans more than 30 countries, with a focus on gender equality, sustainable finance, climate resilience, and inclusive economic growth. She works in both English and French, leading research, training, and evaluation initiatives that center equity, amplify marginalized voices, and inform policy at national and international levels. A strategic thinker and collaborative leader, Kizzann is deeply committed to advancing inclusive dialogue, strengthening governance systems, and contributing to public policy discussions that promote sustainable and equitable development.
Keynote Speaker: Dan Smith
9:00 am Keynote Address 2: Reinventing the Architecture for Peace: The Five Global Hinge Points of the Mid-21st Century
Dan Smith is an independent consultant based in Sweden and non-resident Senior Fellow of the UN Institute for Disarmament Research in Geneva. He was Director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute from 2015 to 2025. From 2003 to 2015, he was Secretary General of International Alert, the peacebuilding organization, and previously (1993-2001) Director of the International Peace Research Institute, Oslo. He chaired the UN Peacebuilding Fund Advisory Group in 2010–11. His current research focuses on the security impact of ecological crisis, and on world order, mediation, the Middle East and Northeast Asia. He has authored atlases of world politics and of peace and security in the Middle East and blogs on international politics at www.dansmithsblog.com.
Host and Moderator: Leah Darbyson, Researcher and G78 Executive Committee Member
Leah Darbyson is a recent graduate of the Master’s program at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs where she specializes in Health, Displacement, and Humanitarian Policy. Her research focuses on climate-induced migration, property rights in conflict zones, and the intersection of legal regimes, development, and displacement. Her work reflects a strong interest in rethinking international cooperation, sustainable development, and the governance of emerging technologies.
10:30 am Panel 1: Women’s Peacebuilding Strategies: Experiences from Sudan, Gaza, Ukraine, and Iran
Evelyn Namakula Mayanja, Assistant Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies, Carleton University
Host and Moderator: Susan Tanner, G78 Vice-Chair and Human Rights Advocate
Susan Tanner previously held positions in both the Federal and Ontario governments Susan has maintained an active role in community organisations as both a board and staff member. Susan was a founder of Halton Hills Community Legal Services (1978) and founding chairperson of LEAF (Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund) (1985). She represented Friends of the Earth at the 1992 UNCED in Rio and in 1995, Friends of the Earth Canada accepted a UNEP award for work on the Montreal Protocol done under her leadership. While serving as Executive Director (2007-10) Canadian Environmental Network, Susan was honoured as a United Nations Association of Canada “Championne” for her work on human rights and the environment. Her federal government positions included: Senior Advisor to the Deputy Minister, Justice Canada, on Gender and Diversity; Senior Manager, Federal participation, Expo 86; Forum Lead, Disaster Management, World Urban Forum, Habitat Jam; Counsellor, Association of Executives (APEX). Her provincial positions included: Member of the Ontario Environmental Assessment Board; Vice Chair of the Social Assessment Review Board; Mediator at the Ontario Grievance Settlement Board, Clinic Education Officer for the Ontario Legal Aid Plan. Susan holds a Masters’ of Environmental Studies and a Masters’ of Law, is a member of the Ontario Bar, has consulted in the private sector on sustainability, and taught as a sessional lecturer at Carleton University.
1:00 pm Keynote Address 3: Reinventing the Architecture for Peace: Creating a Peace Agenda for Canada
Keynote Speaker: Lloyd Axworthy Former Foreign Minister of Canada
Host and Moderator: Sylvie Lemieux
Sylvie Lemieux is a retired Lieutenant-Colonel Army Engineer and a retired executive from the Public Service of Canada. She has served across Canada and has participated in a UN humanitarian mission in Pakistan as a teacher for mine awareness to support Afghans’ repatriation. Upon her retirement, she completed a masters in Globalization and International Development at the University of Ottawa and a doctorate in Conflict Studies at Saint-Paul University. Her thesis was centered on the process of global treaties through the lenses of the Ottawa Treaty. A former Green Party of Canada Candidate for Glengarry-Prescott-Russell Sylvie is a board member of G78, CNANW, CPRA and IPB, and a member of Pugwash.
2:15 pm Panel 2: New Politics, New Peacebuilding: A Conversation with Leaders and Scholars of Youth-Led Peace Organizations and Political Movements
Alimi Salifou, Co-Chair, ImPACT Coalition for Future Generations, Nigeria
Moderator: Kaima George-Chuka
Kaima George-Chuka is a PhD Candidate in International Development at the University of
Ottawa, examining when and how corporate accountability mechanisms shape outcomes in
energy sector governance. Her work explores the interplay between home-state regulation, hoststate institutional capacity, and community agency across diverse settings.
Situated in Business and Human Rights scholarship, her research engages human rights and
environmental due diligence (HREDD), Indigenous consultation and consent, grievance and
remedy mechanisms, benefit-sharing arrangements, and the political economy of energy
transition. She examines how accountability regimes shape corporate conduct, dispute resolution,
access to remedy, and why similar instruments produce divergent outcomes across jurisdictions.
She holds an MBA and an MA in International Law and Diplomacy, with cross-sector experience
spanning higher education, technology, consulting, and banking. She is a member of the Human
Rights Research and Education Centre (HRREC), the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) UK,
and the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) UK, Chartered Institute of Bankers in
Nigeria (CIBN) and currently serves as a Teaching and Research Assistant at the School of
International Development and Global Studies.
4:00 Wrap-up Session
Host and Moderator: Richard Harmston, G78 Board Secretary and Chair, Peace and Security Working Group
Richard Harmston worked with and for internationally-focused civil society organizations for more than 50 years, primarily in the field of international development and North-South cooperation. He has specialized in organizational development, NGO-government relations, inter-organizational cooperation, and strengthening civil society, particularly on themes of development, peace, & governance. He directed the International Student Movement for the United Nations (Geneva), created and managed the Public Participation Program in the Canadian International Development Agency (Ottawa), and was Executive Director respectively of the Canadian Council for International Cooperation (now Cooperation Canada) and South Asia Partnership Canada. He was on the founding board of directors of the North South Institute, the Group of 78, the Canadian Committee for UNIFEM, and the Civilian Peace Service Canada. He is retired in Ottawa, Canada, and continues engagement with the Group of 78 (Chair, 2006-24) and CPSC.