Flyout Menu
Become an Insider
Login
Become an Insider
Login

Gallery: Think Ottawa Gala

Tia MacPhersonTia MacPherson
Priska Even-Hen, Paola Toussaint, Martine St-Pierre, Cassandra Auguste-Rene of Its Time Event Management, Kris Bellefontaine of Makatew Workshop, Tatiana Amisial, Barbara Alexis-Tettey, Sheyna Antoine and Sagine Edouard of Its Time Event Management celebrate after the award ceremony at the Think Ottawa Gala at the Rogers Centre in Ottawa on Feb. 12, 2026. Photo by Tia MacPherson for OBJ.
Priska Even-Hen, Paola Toussaint, Martine St-Pierre, Cassandra Auguste-Rene of Its Time Event Management, Kris Bellefontaine of Makatew Workshop, Tatiana Amisial, Barbara Alexis-Tettey, Sheyna Antoine and Sagine Edouard of Its Time Event Management celebrate after the award ceremony at the Think Ottawa Gala at the Rogers Centre in Ottawa on Feb. 12, 2026. Photo by Tia MacPherson for OBJ.

Event Date: 02/12/2026
Organizer: Ottawa Tourism/Rogers Centre

Ottawa highlighted its growing reputation as an international meeting destination during the 2026 Think Ottawa Gala on Feb. 12, where civic leaders were recognized for attracting major conferences and sporting events to the capital.

Backed by Ottawa Tourism, Invest Ottawa, and the Rogers Centre Ottawa, the program honoured organizers credited with bringing nearly 30,000 visitors to the city in 2025 and generating economic activity for local hotels, restaurants and venues.

This year’s recipients were:

  • Leo Doyle, Ontario Cup, Ontario Basketball Association 2025
  • Phyllis Bergmans, Canadian Ringette Championships 2025
  • Richard Johnston, Canadian Track and Field Championship 2025
  • Matei Radulescu, 30th International Colloquium on the Dynamics of Explosions and Reactive Systems (ICDERS) 2025
  • Alison Jones, International Tritium Conference on Tritium Science and Technology 2025
  • Judith Nassuna, Global Nursing Summit 2025
  • Timothy Lethbridge, IEEE-ICSE 2025 (International Conference on Software Engineering) / ACM
  • David Michelson, IEEE International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation and North American Radio Science Meeting 2025
  • Cassandra Auguste-René, Ottawa Black Business Expo 2025
  • Mark Tse, Cybersecurity & Identity Summit 2025
  • Melissa Brett and Dr. Stephanie Redpath, Canadian Paediatric and Neonatal Transport Conference 2025
MC Stephanie Seguin of Ottawa Tourism, left, poses with award presenters Carly Grace of Rogers Centre Ottawa, Michael Crockatt of Ottawa Tourism and Sonya Shorey of Invest Ottawa at the Think Ottawa Gala in Ottawa on Feb. 12, 2026. Photo by Tia MacPherson for OBJ.
Lakhwinder Saran of Irish Hills Golf & Country Club, left, and Jagdeep Perhar, a board member of Rogers Centre Ottawa, attend the Think Ottawa Gala in Ottawa on Feb. 12, 2026. Photo by Tia MacPherson for OBJ.
Ian Fraser, CEO of the RA Centre, enjoys the cocktail hour at the Think Ottawa Gala in Ottawa on Feb. 12, 2026. Photo by Tia MacPherson for OBJ.
Meg McCallum, left, and Kaite Burkholder Harris of the Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa attend the Think Ottawa Gala in Ottawa on Feb. 12, 2026. Photo by Tia MacPherson for OBJ.
Mayor Mark Sutcliffe shares a hilarious moment with MC Stephanie Seguin of Ottawa Tourism at the Think Ottawa Gala in Ottawa on Feb. 12, 2026. Photo by Tia MacPherson for OBJ.
Guled Aden of the City of Ottawa attends the Think Ottawa Gala in Ottawa on Feb. 12, 2026. Photo by Tia MacPherson for OBJ.
James Wilson, left, and Tara Duarte of JPdL attend the Think Ottawa Gala in Ottawa on Feb. 12, 2026. Photo by Tia MacPherson for OBJ.
Georgia Gauthier, left, and Krynn Wrigley of Rogers Centre Ottawa attend the Think Ottawa Gala in Ottawa on Feb. 12, 2026. Photo by Tia MacPherson for OBJ.
Lauren Epp, Farzane Zangene, Matei Radulescu, Jennifer Marie Stewart, Daniela Gutiérrez de Piñeres and Patrick Genest of the University of Ottawa attend the Think Ottawa Gala in Ottawa on Feb. 12, 2026. Photo by Tia MacPherson for OBJ.
Dr. Stephanie Redpath, left, and Melissa Brett of CHEO attend the Think Ottawa Gala in Ottawa on Feb. 12, 2026. Photo by Tia MacPherson for OBJ.
Leo Doyle of the Ottawa Basketball Network celebrates at the Think Ottawa Gala in Ottawa on Feb. 12, 2026. Photo by Tia MacPherson for OBJ.
Dr. Sam Suppiah, left, and Dr. Ian Castillo of Canadian Nuclear Laboratories attend the Think Ottawa Gala in Ottawa on Feb. 12, 2026. Photo by Tia MacPherson for OBJ.
Award Recipients at Think Ottawa 2026: (L-R) Puneet Aggarwal and Presantha Dassa, representing Mark Tse and the Cybersecurity & Identity Summit; Melissa Brett and Dr. Stephanie Redpath of the Canadian Paediatric and Neonatal Transport Conference; Cassandra Auguste-René of the Ottawa Black Business Expo; Bill Dunnion attending on behalf of Mark Tse and the Cybersecurity & Identity Summit; Matei Radulescu of the International Colloquium on the Dynamics of Explosions and Reactive Systems; Timothy Lethbridge of IEEE-ICSE 2025; Leo Doyle of the Ontario Basketball Association; Richard Johnston of the Canadian Track and Field Championship; Phyllis Bergmans of the Canadian Ringette Championships; Dr. Sam Suppiah, representing Alison Jones and the International Tritium Conference on Tritium Science and Technology; David Michelson of the IEEE International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation and North American Radio Science Meeting; and Dr. Ian Castillo representing Alison Jones and the International Tritium Conference on Tritium Science and Technology attend the Think Ottawa Gala in Ottawa on Feb. 12, 2026. Photo by Ottawa Business Journal/Tia MacPherson.

Get our email newsletters

Get up-to-date news about the companies, people and issues that impact businesses in Ottawa and beyond.

Sign up now

The Latest

More Stories

Video

Ottawa’s AI scene is evolving. Early momentum was created by companies such as Solink, founded by Mike Matta, which applied computer vision to retail analytics, and Ranovus, led by Hany Mussad, which develops the optical hardware necessary for high-capacity AI data centres. Subsequent growth was driven by firms such as MindBridge, co-founded by Solon Angel and Eli Fathi, and BluWave-ai, led by Devashish Paul, which targeted specific industrial applications in financial auditing and energy grid management. A new AI player is garnering international attention. Backboard.io is developing a memory-native API designed to manage long-term context in large language models. In January 2026, the company closed a pre-seed funding round led by Mistral Venture Partners, with participation from N49P, Garage Capital, and Developer Capital. In this episode of Techopia Live, OBJ publisher Michael Curran speaks to Rob Imbeault, the founder and CEO of Backboard.io. Having already co-founded tech unicorn Assent, Imbeault is now in the CEO seat and predicting big things to come. Chapters: 00:00 Intro 02:56 Introducing Rob Imbeault 14:00 Sponsor Segment 22:27 Building a Better Working World 24:03 Techopia Sponsors 24:43 Closing and What’s Ahead at OBJ For more on Ottawa’s tech and innovation scene, visit https://obj.ca/techopia. Subscribe to Techopia’s weekly newsletter here: https://obj121.activehosted.com/f/5
Techopia Live: Imbeault is back with Backboard.io | Eposide 295

More Videos

OBJ360

Sponsored

Sponsored

EXPERT BLOGS

View All | Submit an Expert Blog

EVENTS

View Calendar

View All | Submit an Event

Nominations for 2026                         now open.

Close the CTA