Asper School of Business

2024 Rod Senft Family Business Conference

Taking place in Winnipeg, Manitoba on September 25, 2024, the Rod Senft Family Business Conference is an opportunity for business and academics to connect and collaborate to strengthen the family enterprise footprint in Manitoba and Canada.

2024 Rod Senft Familly Business Conference banner

Agenda

TIME      
8:30 amBreakfast buffet
9:00 amConference opens
9:05 am

Opening remarks

Presented by Dean Bruno Silvestre

9:30 am

Interactive session

Safeguarding Legacy: Navigating Social Media Risks for Family-Owned Enterprises

Presented by Estelle Metayer

10:45 amNetworking break
11:00 am

Presentation and discussion  

Bill C-208 / Changing Capital Gains Rules
Impacts on the Family Business

Presented by Evelyn Jacks and Larry H. Frostiak

12:00 pm  

Lunch and keynote speaker

Presented by Mark Dufresne
1:30 pm

Interactive session

Navigating Difficult Conversations in Family Business: The Indispensable Art of Communication and Relationship Building

Presented by Dr. Lukas Neville

2:30 pm Networking break
2:45 pm

Continuing

Navigating Difficult Conversations in Family Business

4:00 pmClosing remarks
4:15 pm Reception

Conference presenters

  • Mark Dufresne

  • Mark Dufresne [BComm(Hons)/88]

    Mark was born and raised in rural Northwestern Ontario, near Kenora. He spent his early days working in the family’s automotive service stations, raising quarter horses, cattle, and other animals on the farm, playing sports, and focusing on school.

    An Asper School of Business graduate, Mark earned his CPA designation while working at KPMG. He returned to the family’s furniture business in 1992 after writing the original business plan in 1986. After years of constant learning, improvements, consultations, failures, and even more determination, that 7-employee operation grew into The Dufresne Group (TDG). Mark remained with TDG until 2014 when he joined Ashley Furniture Industries as CEO of Ashley Global Retail. He returned to TDG in 2017 and resumed the role of CEO. 

    Today, the TDG umbrella spans all Canadian provinces with over 225 storefronts served by its Ashley and Dufresne brands, supports independent furniture retailers with their Dufresne Retail Solutions Group (dRSG), and has a strategic alliance with The Northwest Company to provide furniture and appliances to Canada’s most remote Northern communities. In 2013, TDG expanded into the USA, investing in the Dufresne Spencer Group (DSG) and partnering with the Spencer family to become the largest Ashley licensee in North America with an additional 130 storefronts. Recently, TDG was awarded their 25th consecutive Canada’s Best Managed Companies award, an honour Mark and team are proud to maintain. Above all, TDG is purpose-driven to Make Life Better for its teams, guests, and communities. 

    Mark is passionate about growth, innovation, and team development. A believer in lifelong learning, people, and their potential, he finds joy in helping people grow. He remains curious and determined across all facets of his life and is active in YPO and other learning and networking forums. Yet what’s central to Mark’s life is family. He lives in Winnipeg with his wife Stephanie and loves spending time at Lake of The Woods with their three grown daughters, his parents, siblings, nieces, and nephew. 

  • Woman looking at the camera with her hands on her chin.

    Estelle Métayer

    Estelle Métayer is an expert in competitive and strategic intelligence, a reputed public speaker and guest lecturer, an adjunct professor and national academic director of the Broad Oversight of Technology Program for the Canadian Institute of Corporate Directors’ certification and training programs.

    Prior to selling Strategic Intelligence, a leading training organization for executives and analysts, in 2004, she was its president and founder. With consultant experience at McKinsey & Company and career beginnings at the ING Bank in the Netherlands and Poland, she has first-hand practical experience in competitive intelligence, business development and strategic planning function as well as the financial risks associated with expansion into emerging countries.

    An independent member of the board Audemars-Piguet and a member of Martur Fompak, she works close with family businesses providing a variety of services and products across sectors. She has previously been a member of Zag Bank, Blockstream, dairy co-op Agropur and video-game developer Ubisoft.

    Estelle was trained in the Netherlands, where she obtained her MBA and Drs. from the University of Nijenrode. She speaks French, English, German, Dutch, Italian and is learning Arabic and Turkish. She is also a mother, a commercial pilot and flight instructor.

  • Professor Lukas Neville, smiling and wearing glasses, at the Asper School of Business.

    Lukas Neville

    Lukas Neville is an associate professor of organizational behaviour at the Asper School of Business at the University of Manitoba. He holds a Ph.D. from the Smith School of Business at Queen’s University. Dr. Neville teaches in the BComm, MBA, and Executive Education programs at the Asper School, and has facilitated training and workshops for audiences in a range of industries, including telecommunications, health care, and financial services.

    His research and teaching interests relate to helping individuals, organizations, and teams recover from conflict and workplace transgressions. His most recent research, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, relates to forgiveness in the workplace, and his previous research has been published in journals in the fields of management and organizational psychology.

    Neville's teaching has been recognized with a range of awards, including the Reg Litz MBA Luminary Teaching Award, the Associates Achievement Award for Teaching, the University of Manitoba Merit Award for Teaching, and the CSA Golden Shovel.

  • Larry Frostiak

    Larry H. Frostiak

    Passionate about working with business owners, Larry believes that Canada’s economic success depends on people creating jobs for others. He provides business and tax advice to owner-managed enterprises, including financial and wealth management services, to assist clients in building “tax-efficient” business and corporate structures.

    Larry is a founding partner of Frostiak & Leslie Chartered Professional Accountants Inc and an elected fellow of the Manitoba Institute of Chartered Accountants. A frequent speaker and lecturer on tax and estate planning matters, he has authored many articles on these subjects and designed multiple course with the Knowledge Bureau. He co-authored a text, Taxation of Trusts and Estates: A Practitioners Guide 2014, published by Thomson Carswell.

    He is committed to helping his community as well as contributing to his profession and the arts in Manitoba, currently serving as a board member of the CPA Manitoba Foundation and on the Prairie Theatre Exchange Foundation. Larry has also formerly held board and chair positions with organizations such as the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP, of which he is also a founding member), and is a past president of the Estate Planning Council of Winnipeg.

  • Evelyn Jacks

    Evelyn Jacks

    Twice named to the Top 25 Most Influential Women in Canada, and recently recognized nationally in The Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub (WEKH), Evelyn Jacks is an inspiring entrepreneur and one of Canada’s most prolific financial authors of 55 personal tax and finance books.

    A highly respected knowledge innovator and designer of scalable e-learning platforms and financial education programs, Evelyn strives to provide world-class financial education to professionals and their clients to help improve wealth potential and secure financial futures.

    As President of Knowledge Bureau, Evelyn has founded the only multi-disciplinary educational institute to provide holistic financial education leading to specialized professional credentials in the tax accounting, business management and financial services.

    She has worked extensively in the community on numerous Boards including The Associates of the Asper School of Business, the Winnipeg Art Gallery and the United Way Cabinet, and has served as Vice President at the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce.

About Rod Senft

  • Rod Senft [BComm(Hons)/67, LLB/70] is an accomplished entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist with a passion for family enterprise. He is the founding partner in three successful Canadian private equity firms – Tricor Pacific Capital, Founder’s Group of Food Companies, and Pender West Capital Partners – and has over five decades of experience in the industry.

    Rod obtained his Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Law degrees from the University of Manitoba, which helped him establish a successful career. He is committed to supporting family businesses and the entrepreneurs of the future and has been a strong advocate for raising awareness about the importance of family enterprise within the Canadian economy.

    Beyond his work, Rod is also actively involved in philanthropic activities through the Senft Family Foundation. He has generously supported various initiatives and programs in Manitoba and Vancouver, empowering the next generation of entrepreneurs and business leaders.

  • Entrepreneur Rod Senft's portrait.

Past events

View past Senft workshop event agendas.

The 2023 conference themed Succession Planning in Family Enterprise-Align the Family and the Business will Follow, focused on the intricacies of succession planning.

Event photos

Conference partners