Derek “Drex” Jancar is a pillar of the Toronto community, and his impact now extends to a global scale as CEO of October’s Very Own. As co-founder of The Remix Project, Drex helped power an organization that has provided youth in Toronto with resources, workshops and opportunities. Graduates of the program continue to shape culture in Toronto and all over the world. Drex sees the importance of OVO as an emblem of the city and its successes, and wants to cement it as a legacy brand that is authentically representative of its Toronto roots. “It's where everyone worked on their skills and put blood, sweat and tears into their career paths. It inherently defines who we are. We obviously are global thinkers, but we're always coming from the place of Toronto and Canada.”

Gary Slaight and Derrick Ross lead Slaight Music, a vital incubator for Canadian artists, and have played an instrumental role in building the country's music infrastructure. Slaight, arguably Canadian music's most important philanthropist, has helped distribute over $280 million through The Slaight Family Foundation across healthcare, Indigenous youth programs, mental health and the arts. In 2025, he supported renovations at Massey Hall and continued landmark investments in music education and artist development – such as a $10M donation to the Unison Benevolent Fund. His proudest recent achievement: “supporting our most vulnerable populations – whether through music lessons, mental health, or those suffering from dementia.” In 2025, Slaight received the Order of Ontario. Derrick Ross, a former musician and label executive, has served as President of Slaight Music since 2010, spearheading the careers of over 35 artists, and his leadership continues to fuel support for CARAS, the Polaris Music Prize and Unison. Together, the duo continue to uplift music through direct investment and tireless industry advocacy.

Dr. Charlie Wall-Andrews is a champion for inclusion and equity in Canadian music. As the Executive Director of the SOCAN Foundation, she's spearheaded the development of initiatives addressing underrepresentation of marginalized communities in the industry, like the Women in Music Canada Leadership Accelerator, which helped 16 women develop leadership skills for the industry, and Reverie: The Indigenous Music Residency, a CBC and SOCAN Foundation program that brought six Indigenous artists to Toronto for a four-week residency. She also leads the organization’s equity-driven programming including Her Music Awards, Indigenous Song Camp, Equity X mentorship program, and Black Canadian Music Awards, as well as distributing grants that led to the creation of over 800 new works in 2024. In her capacity as a researcher at Toronto Metropolitan University, meanwhile, Wall-Andrews launched two significant reports in 2024. The first, in collaboration with Speaking Non-English, dove into the opportunities and barriers facing Latin music in Canada as it gains popularity but lacks industry support. The second, produced with ADVANCE, examined the value of Black music in Canada, highlighting the massive influence of Black music as well as the continued underrepresentation of Black music professionals in the country. Through her work, Wall-Andrews is both providing much-needed data about equity issues in the Canadian industry, while also enacting proactive strategies to address them.

Andrew Mosker is the founding President and CEO of the National Music Centre (NMC) in Calgary, where he has spent more than two decades building one of Canada's most significant cultural institutions. Under his leadership, NMC evolved from the grassroots Cantos Music Foundation into the national home for music in Canada, culminating in the creation of Studio Bell — a $191 million landmark that now houses special exhibitions for the Canadian Music Hall of Fame (with a special focus on Sum 41 this year), Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame collection, Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame and ADISQ Hall of Fame. In 2024-25, NMC presented a special exhibition on the Beatles' first trip to Canada and announced a major partnership with the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music, expanding NMC’s global reach. In 2025, Mosker was awarded the King Charles III Coronation Medal, further recognizing his national contributions to Canada’s cultural landscape.