Opportunities To Ignite Your Mind
BIOGRAPHIES OF PANELISTS AND MODERATOR: CANADA AND THE NORDICS
H.E. Signe Burgstaller, Ambassador of Sweden to Canada
Signe Burgstaller has served as Sweden’s Ambassador to Canada since September 2023. She is a Swedish career diplomat with more than 30 years of experience in different foreign policy areas, including Nordic and Baltic Sea regional cooperation, cooperation and democratic transition in Central and Eastern Europe and the Horn of Africa, UN reforms,humanitarian affairs, peacekeeping and peacebuilding, international security policy, and Arcticaffairs. Previously, she has served as Sweden’s Ambassador to Sudan, with a cross-accreditation to South Sudan, and as Sweden’s Ambassador to the Republic of Moldova. Prior to that, Ms. Burgstaller worked in multilateral affairs and served as Deputy Permanent Representative of the Permanent Mission of Sweden to the UN in New York. She has also been posted to Prague, Washington, and Pristina, Kosovo. In the Ministry for Foreign Affairs inStockholm, she has held different positions, including as Deputy Head of the Security PolicyDepartment and Coordinator for Arctic Affairs.
H.E. Nikolaj Harris: Ambassador of the Kingdom of Denmark to Canada
Ambassador Harris was appointed Ambassador of the Kingdom ofDenmark to Canada in December 2024. He joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark in 2001 and has spent half of his career at Danishmissions abroad. This includes postings as Deputy Head of Mission in Lithuania from 2004-2007 and Deputy Head of Mission in Turkey from2009-2013. In 2013 he was appointed Deputy Director for the Department for the Middle East and North Africa at Denmark’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he served – with a short break in Cairo in 2016 – until he was appointed Ambassador to Morocco and Mauritania in 2018. In 2021 he returned to Copenhagen and took up the position as Director for Consular Affairs and Crisis Management which he held until November 2024. Ambassador Harris obtained a Masters in Contemporary History and Political Science from the University of Copenhagen in 2000. In 2023 he completed Copenhagen University’s “Leadership in Public Governance” program.
Ambassador Harris speaks English, German, French and Russian (basic level). He was Knighted (Order of Dannebrog) by Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II in 2019.
H.E. Hanna-Leena Korteniemi, Ambassador of Finland to Canada
Ambassador Korteniemi took up her position as Finland’s Ambassador to Canada since January 2025 after having served as Director of the North America Unit at Finland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs. There she oversaw bilateral relations with Canada and the USA, including political and commercial issues and transatlantic relations. Ambassador Korteniemi joined Finland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 2006. Her previous foreign postings include Head of the Unit for Peace and Security at the Permanent Mission of Finland to the UN in New York, and at the Embassy of Finland in Washington, DC. In Helsinki she has also served at the Political Department’s Unit for Arms Control and Unit for Security Policy and Crisis Management,as well as at the departments for Global Affairs and for International Trade. Earlier in her career she worked as a Transatlantic Diplomatic Fellow at the US Department of State. She holds amaster’s degree in social sciences from the University of Tampere and a B.A. from the University of Oregon. Ambassador Korteniemi was born in Lapland, right above the Arctic Circle.
H.E. Hanne Ulrichsen, Ambassador of Norway to Canada
Her Excellency Hanne Ulrichsen, Ambassador of Norway to Canada since 2025, holds a Master’s degree in Political Science from the University of Oslo. Specializing in security policy, she has also completed studies atl’Institut d’Etudes Politiques in Grenoble, France, and at the the University of Warwick, in the United Kingdom. She holds a Master’s in European Administration Studies from the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium, and she graduated from NATO’s Senior Leadership Course at the NATO Defence College in Rome with high distinction. She speaks both English and French.
From 2005 to 2008, Ambassador Ulrichsen served as Deputy Head of Mission in Amman, Jordan (also covering Iraq). She then served as a Transatlantic Diplomatic Fellow in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. From 2009 to 2011, she worked at theRoyal Norwegian Embassy in Washington, D.C. The Ambassador has also served in the Office of the Prime Minister of Norway, the Office of the Norwegian Director of Intelligence, and at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs. From 2021, Ms. Hanne Ulrichsen was Director for theSection for Middle East and North Africa in the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
H.E. Auðbjörg Halldórsdóttir, Ambassador of Iceland to Canada
Ambassador to Canada since December 2025, Ambassador Halldórsdóttir brings to the role experience in foreign and security policy, multilateral engagement, humanitarian assistance, and culture. Prior to Canada she served as Iceland’s Permanent Delegate to UNESCO (2022-25), where she focused on advancing Iceland’s and the Nordic countries’ interests in education, culture and science. Prior to this she served as Foreign Policy Advisor to the Prime Minister of Iceland (2018-2022). Earlier roles at Iceland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs have included Director of International Security Affairs(2018), Director of Humanitarian Policy and Assistance (2014-2018), and Director of the Icelandic Crisis Response Unit (2014-2017). While posted to Brussels (2008-2014) she served as Iceland’s Deputy Permanent Representative to NATO and as Political Counsellor. Ambassador Halldórsdóttir holds a B.Sc. in Broadcast Journalism and an M.A. in International Relations from Boston University. She also holds diplomas in Public Administration and Business and Marketing Studies from the University of Iceland. She speaks Icelandic, English, French, and Danish.
The Right Honourable David Johnston, Former Governor General of Canada
The Right Honourable David Johnston was Canada’s 28th governor general and is the current Chair of the Rideau Hall Foundation, a national charity dedicated to connecting, honouring, and inspiring Canadians through leadership and innovation initiatives. Prior to his vice-regal mandate, he spent 45 years as a professor of law, serving three terms as Principal of McGill University and two terms as President of the University of Waterloo. He also served as president of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada. A Harvard, Cambridge, and Queen’s alumnus, he was the first non-U.S. citizen elected chair of Harvard’s Board of Overseers, where he was also a two-time all-American hockey player and Hall of Fame inductee. Mr. Johnston has authored over 30 books, holds more than three dozen honorary degrees, and was named a Companion of the Order of Canada. He has chaired numerous federal and provincial task forces and served on the boards of over a dozen public companies.