Heather Thomson

For the first time in recorded history, purpose-driven consumers outnumber value-driven ones. This isn't a trend - it's a structural shift in how people decide where to spend their money, time, and loyalty. Heather unpacks the economic data behind this transformation, explains why it caught so many businesses and communities flat-footed, and makes a compelling case that the places and organizations that understand it are poised for their best chapter yet. This is an optimistic talk, grounded in real numbers, that reframes challenge as opportunity. What audiences walk away with: A clear understanding of the Purpose Economy and what it means for their specific context - whether they lead a business, a district, or a community - plus a practical lens for evaluating decisions, investments, and programming through the eyes of today's consumer.

Why do people choose one place over another? What actually makes them open their wallets — and come back? What separates a destination from a detour? Heather draws on consumer psychology and behavioural economics to answer these questions in ways that are data-rich, immediately applicable, and frankly more fun than you'd expect from an economist. She covers the hidden architecture of consumer decisions, the role of emotion and identity in spending, and the surprisingly small changes that can have outsized impact on conversion and loyalty. What audiences walk away with: A working knowledge of the key behavioural drivers behind consumer spending, and specific, low-cost strategies for applying them - to store design, marketing, programming, communications, and community experience.

Some communities hum. Others struggle to hold on. The difference isn't luck, location, or even funding — it's a set of identifiable, replicable ingredients that Heather has spent years documenting across North America. Drawing on applied research and fieldwork with more than 3,000 businesses, she maps what thriving communities actually have in common, what the data says about recovery and resilience, and what leaders can do, starting now, to build the kind of place people choose to stay in, spend in, and show up for. What audiences walk away with: A practical, evidence-based framework for community vitality - with clear indicators to assess where they are, where the gaps are, and what levers to pull to move the needle.

We tend to look to central banks, federal budgets, and global markets to explain the economic forces shaping our lives. But Heather argues that the real action, the decisions that actually determine whether communities grow or contract, whether businesses survive or close, whether people feel economically secure or not - happens at the micro level. In this talk, she makes a compelling and often surprising case for why the choices of individual consumers, local businesses, and community leaders are not just important, but decisive. Drawing on economic theory, real-world data, and vivid examples from communities across North America, she shows how microeconomic forces compound over time into the macro outcomes we either celebrate or lament. What audiences walk away with: A new way of seeing their own economic power and their responsibility. Audiences leave understanding how individual and local decisions aggregate into larger economic realities, and with a concrete sense of where they can intervene, invest, and lead to shape better outcomes at every scale.