The international event focuses on building community as a measurable business benefit.
Toronto Community Week 2025 will bring together some of the most influential names in the field of community leadership at Startwell from October 23 to 25.
Celebrating professionals who create exceptional community experiences in the B2B space, Toronto Community Week is organized by Led by Community, a UK-based non-profit organization that has been hosting Community Week events in London for two years and will host events in Lisbon and New York next year.
“The talks and the people behind them really understand what it takes to build meaningful professional networks.”
Ilker Akansel, talented
The Toronto edition aims to transform the public service profession into a strategic business function rather than a piecemeal initiative.
The three-day event, a first in Canadian history, will give hundreds of professionals in technology, SaaS, customer service and more the opportunity to learn what it takes to build truly scalable communities.
Community has become a serious business function for many technology companies. Building community, once seen as an extension of marketing, now requires dedicated teams that play a central role in how companies interact with customers, gather feedback and shape products in real time.
Here are three reasons you'll want to attend Toronto Community Week 2025.
Structure
Toronto Community Week is built around sharing, testing and developing ideas. It will begin with a workshop on community strategy and clients. Participants will work directly with experts to implement advocacy, engagement and customer communication mechanisms in their organizations.
Day two of the conference will feature keynote presentations and panel discussions from some of the brightest minds in community building. Sarah Masterton-Brown, head of the Mews community, said the sessions always bring a wide range of ideas.
“Each session feels like a real exchange of ideas, rather than just another conference,” she said.
The week will conclude with Unconference Plus Toronto, a high-energy, participant-led day where participants set the agenda. On the day, participants will be able to propose and vote on topics, followed by breakout workshops and the opportunity to share key takeaways from the day.
Speakers
Toronto Community Week brings together some of the most recognizable names in community and customer service from Canada and around the world.
Richard Millington, founder of consultancy FeverBee, will present his strategy for building resilience to changes in interaction patterns across industries.
Erica Kuhl, executive vice president and general manager of Silicon Valley-based Gainsight, will explain how a community can become a company-wide center of excellence, drawing on her experience at companies like Salesforce.
Caitlin O'Hanlon, Toronto-based Wattpad's head of creators and community, will explore what it means to listen at scale, drawing on the millions of voices that have shaped the storytelling platform.
Ashley Williams, Community Manager at Stripe, will look at strategies to turn naysayers into champions and make the community essential to business growth.
Jillian Beitlich, Senior Manager of Public Relations and Advocacy at Calendly, will explain how design and architecture influence user behavior and engagement.
Energy
London Community Week, held earlier this year, attracted hundreds of participants and over 50 speakers from across Europe.
Ilker Akansel, founding partner of TalentLed, said the event was a constant source of fresh ideas. “Community Week was a major source of inspiration for me,” Akansel said of the London version. “The talks and the people behind them really understand what it takes to build meaningful professional networks.”
Erin Lynch, senior account manager at Hivebrite, said conversations at Community Week were surprisingly candid. “It was inspiring to be surrounded by community builders willing to share their experiences and successes,” she said.
Ruthie Berber, director of communications for Grow Therapy, said those conversations reminded her why she got into the field in the first place. “It’s about people, purpose and learning together,” Berber said.
Toronto Community Week picks up where these conversations left off and is designed to provide a place for professionals to reconnect, share notes, and turn community into a measurable business advantage.
PRESENTED BY
If you create exceptional B2B community experiences, buy tickets now.
All photos courtesy of Led by Community.
