Joelle Foster

Join us at 8:00am on December 19, 2025 for our last CreativeMornings Winnipeg event of 2025! We will be exploring the global theme of INNOVATION with our headliner: Joelle Foster, co-founder and President/CEO of North Forge.

Joelle has over two decades of experience supporting entrepreneurs across Canada. She co-founded the Women's Equity Lab (WEL) MB to increase the number of women angel investors and developed North Forge’s four-stage digital Founders Program, driving a 300% growth in tech-enabled and advanced manufacturing companies in Manitoba. Joelle also established the Angel Network (2021), Global Entrepreneur Initiative (2023), and Women in Innovation Lab (WiLab, 2023). Under her leadership, North Forge won two Diversity and Inclusion awards in 2024.

Previously, Joelle served as Executive Director of the University of Calgary’s Hunter Hub for Entrepreneurial Thinking and as a Director for Futurpreneur Canada, where her efforts led to the launch of over 325 businesses in Manitoba, including notable startups like Skip the Dishes and Callia Flowers. Joelle has recently been appointed as a national board director for the Canada Foundation for Innovation, a government-led non-profit that gives over a billion dollars toward research initiatives.