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Hilary Ballantyne
My name is Hilary Becker and I was born May 6th 1992. I was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis the following October, six months later, at Sick Kids Hospital. The same hospital where Dr. Lap-Chee Tsui first discovered the gene mutation that causes Cystic Fibrosis, just three years prior to my diagnosis.
My parents were told my life expectancy was 27, if I was able to make it through the first year of life. Here we are 30 years later and I am healthy. This is largely a result of the advocacy and fight my family and I have been on for the last 30 years. A fight to get access to the best medical therapies in the world.
That being said, I haven’t always been healthy. I had a swift decline in my health in my late-20’s that was halted in its tracks once I received the new gene modifier, Trikafta. The first of its kind - a transformational drug that has the potential to treat up to 90% of patients with Cystic Fibrosis.
I gained access to Trikafta in January 2022, three years after the first patient in US received treatment. This life changing drug has given me a new perspective on life. Since then I’ve built my own business and a really incredibly life for myself, all while continuing to fight for the day when CF is finally cured.
Gordon Hart
Selectpath Benefits & FinancialAs Founder/President and CEO of Selectpath Benefits & Financial, Gordon currently directs all operations for a $28-million-dollar advisory firm, managing over $1 billion in group insurance premiums and with over $1 billion in assets under management serving over 2,600 organizations and 4,000 households. With 95 staff, spread across six locations (Oakville ON, London ON, Sarnia ON, Windsor ON, Halifax NS, and Saint John NB), Selectpath has become one of Canada’s largest independent financial services firms. Selectpath was recognized by Profit Magazine from 2002 to 2006 as one of Canada’s Fastest Growing Companies with revenue growth of 3,350% over 10 years. In 2007 the London Chamber of Commerce named Selectpath as their Small Business of the Year after being a finalist in 2003, 2004 and 2005. Selectpath was a Large Business finalist in 2021. Over its history, Selectpath boasts an enviable 98.5% client retention rate and a 2023 net promotor score of 73.9 (70 is world class in the industry). Selectpath is an Imagine Company, a qualified Living Wage employer, and soon to be an accredited B-Corporation.
In 2016, after the successful sale of Carswell Partners, Gordon engineered the re-tooling of Selectpath to develop their own Human Resources division in tandem with sourcing Payroll and Human Capital Management technologies to support an integrated approach to employee benefits and human resources.
In 2020, Selectpath joined the Navacord group of companies to bring credibility to their financial services business vertical. Navacord has a growth path to become the 3rd largest integrated financial services and property and casualty broker by the end of 2022 under the ideal of better together.
Licensed since 1989, Gordon Hart’s financial services career has focused primarily on building and executing employee benefits, pension, and human resource solutions for small to medium organizations. He is considered one of the foremost experts on employee benefits strategy and healthcare, having built one of the largest benefits practices in Canada. Gordon has successfully worked with startups to Fortune 100 Companies, managing over $150 million in premiums for approximately 300 clients. Gordon’s commitment and belief in his clients’ success that is instrumental in helping them execute solutions that are innovative and sustainable. Gordon’s clients characterize him as determined, persistent, innovative, and straightforward. Gordon’s client practice net promotor score is 83.
Brad Kotowich
Focused Leadership GroupBrad is the Owner/Principal of Focused Leadership Group Ltd. His purpose in life is to nurture and align the individual and collective strengths within organizations to achieve success and capacity growth. His focus is on helping to build great workplace cultures, focused leaders, and intentional strategy. Since 2004, Brad has consulted with organizations of all sizes across all sectors. He is an energetic and engaging speaker that will ignite your curiosity and not allow you to sit quietly.
Gavin Mosley, CEBS
Mosley Group Benefits Inc.After graduating with a degree in finance at the University of Western Ontario in 2005, Gavin's employee benefits career began as an Account Executive with Great-West Life, one of Canada’s leading group insurance carriers. In 2011, he joined the consulting community to develop a specialization in alternate financial arrangements.
Through The International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, Gavin holds a Certified Employee Benefit Specialist (CEBS) designation.
His passion is designing innovative benefits plans to help organizations attract and retain key talent, enabling them to build a better workplace. Since no one solution is a perfect fit for every organization, Gavin has trained extensively in insured and self-funded programming combined with the latest benefits technology to help his clients provide robust, yet easy-to-understand plans for staff.
David "Dave" Patriarche
Founder of Canadian Group Insurance Brokers IncDave Patriarche founded Mainstay Insurance Brokerage in 1996 as a one-person shop specializing in providing employee benefits to small and mid-sized businesses in the Greater Toronto Area.
Dave is a strong believer in continuing education and recognized the need for the group insurance industry to broaden its efforts in this area. In 2003 he started a small networking group, which evolved into regular breakfast meetings across the GTA, then into regular educational seminars beginning in 2009.
Dave is recognized as a leader in the group benefits industry, an accomplished speaker at industry events and a contributor to various industry publications. He mentors and acts as an informal resource to benefit brokers, participates in industry think tank groups as well as panels such as; the Benefits Advisors’ Drug Plan Outlook, the Canadian Leadership Council on Drug Plan Partnerships.
Dave spends his spare time with his family and also enjoys taking groups sailing on Lake Ontario, the Caribbean and Mediterranean seas and has even crossed the Atlantic ocean in 2019.