Building the Future Economy

Bentley Allan, PhD, is a Transition Pathway Principal and Vice-President, Future Economy at the Transition Accelerator, as well as an Associate Professor of Political Science at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Allan is an award-winning scholar who has written on the dynamics of international order, science and politics, climate policy, and the political economy of decarbonization. He provides regular advice to government and industry on geopolitics, industrial strategy, and policy.

He has co-lead the development of three sector strategies and roadmaps in collaboration with industry partners. He is the co-coordinator of the Centre for Net-Zero Industrial Policy which advances research and action to strengthen and mobilize Canada’s expertise in modern industrial policy, enabling strategic collaboration between government, industry, indigenous communities, labor, and financial institutions in pursuit of good jobs and a competitive economy.

Travis Southin has deep expertise on the role of innovation and industrial policy in facilitating the transition to a net-zero economy, with a particular focus on scaling Canadian cleantech firms. Prior to joining the Transition Accelerator, he provided analysis and policy recommendations for the Net-Zero Advisory Body.

Travis has worked with James Meadowcroft as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Carleton University’s School of Public Policy and Administration. His research examined the politics of innovation policy and the broader role of the state in facilitating the transition to a net-zero economy in Canada and Australia. Travis completed a PhD in Political Science from the University of Toronto working with David Wolfe at the Innovation Policy Lab of the Munk School for Global Affairs. His dissertation, titled “Overcoming Barriers to Policy Change: The Politics of Canada’s Innovation Policy,” illuminates the political barriers constraining the Government of Canada’s ability to shift its innovation policy mix away from neutral/horizontal policy instruments, such as research and development tax credits, towards more targeted innovation policy instruments, such as large-scale direct grants, loans, and public procurement.

James Meadowcroft, PhD, is a professor in the School of Public Policy and Administration at Carleton University where he has held a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Governance for Sustainable Development. He has written widely on environmental politics and policy, democratic participation and deliberative democracy, national sustainable development strategies and socio-technical transitions. Recent work focuses on energy and the transition to a low-carbon society and includes publications on carbon capture and storage (CCS), smart grids, the development of Ontario’s electricity system, the politics of socio-technical transitions and negative carbon emissions.

Moe Kabbara is an experienced energy and industrial policy professional with nearly 15 years of work at the intersection of technology, policy, markets, and supply chains. His work focuses on driving systems-level change across electricity, fuels, buildings, and industry.

As President at the Transition Accelerator, Moe leads national and regional efforts to support the transformation of Canada’s energy and industrial systems. He oversees work on electricity system planning, building decarbonization, the future economy, low-carbon fuels, and regional implementation—working across sectors to align planning, investment, and execution.

Previously, Moe was a Managing Consultant at Dunsky Energy + Climate, advising governments and utilities on clean energy strategies. He also served as a Senior Investment Officer at Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, where he focused on investment attraction in the battery and automotive sectors as part of Canada’s emerging industrial strategy. Earlier in his career, he co-founded and served as CEO of a thermal energy storage start-up in Atlantic Canada.

Moe also played a leading role in establishing Accelerate, Electrifying Canada, and the Building Decarbonization Alliance—national initiatives focused on aligning policy, industry, and infrastructure to enable economic and energy system transformation.