The Right Hand
A live Podcast taping
Presented by Visa
September 23rd 2026
7-10pm (program starts at 7 pm followed by a cockatil reception)
East Room (107 King West), Toronto
Inspired by the book The Right Hand: Conversations with the Chiefs of Staff to the World's Most Powerful People by Phoebe Saintilan-Stocks, join us for an evening around the “power behind the power” and a conversation around the Canada-US relationship featuring:
Shiela Nix, Former Chief of Staff to Second Lady Jill Biden and VP Kamala Harris
Melissa Winter, Chief of Staff to First Lady Michelle Obama
Phoebe Saintilan, Author of The Right Hand
With
Introductory remarks by Katie Telford, Former Chief of Staff to PM Justin Trudeau
Tickets - $100
Our Speakers
Melissa Winter
Melissa Winter is a senior strategic advisor and one of Washington’s most trustedpolitical operators, with more than 25 years of experience at the highest levels ofgovernment and public life. She served as the longest-tenured staff member to Michelle Obama, working alongside her from the 2007 presidential campaign through two terms in the White House and for nearly a decade beyond.
While Deputy Chief of Staff during the White House years, Melissa helped shape and execute some of Mrs. Obama’s most impactful initiatives including Let’s Move!, Reach Higher, Joining Forces and Let Girls Learn. She oversaw East Wing operations,scheduling and advance, global travel, political engagements and worked continuously to ensure the First Family’s private time was safeguarded and the Obama’s home life was protected.
Melissa is currently a Senior Advisor to the Obama Foundation providing strategic counsel to ensure seamless alignment with Mrs. Obama’s legacy issues, including the Girls Opportunity Alliance. She advises on all presidential center exhibits, materials and programming as they relate to Mrs. Obama.
Prior to the 2007 campaign, Melissa worked extensively across Capitol Hill including senior roles with Congressman Norman Y. Mineta of California and Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut and on national campaigns at the presidential and vice presidential level.
Melissa first became interested in politics when she moved to Washington, DC for an internship while an undergraduate at Skidmore College, where she graduated with a degree in Art History in 1989. She has made Washington, DC her home ever since making public service her profession of choice and a core value of who she is.
Sheila Nix
Sheila Nix is the CEO of The Mobile Voting Project, where she leads the organization’s national strategy to expand secure mobile voting and bring VoteSecure — its open-source mobile voting platform — to jurisdictions across the country. A veteran political strategist with nearly three decades of experience in government, campaigns, and nonprofit leadership, Sheila most recently served as Chief of Staff to Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential campaign. She previously served as Chief of Staff to Dr. Jill Biden and as a Deputy Assistant to President Obama, coordinating major policy and communications initiatives, and was Chief of Staff at the U.S. Department of Education. Sheila also served as President of Tusk Philanthropies and has held senior roles in the U.S. Senate, including Chief of Staff to Senators Bob Kerrey and Bill Nelson, the Illinois Governor’s Office, and on multiple presidential campaigns. In addition, Nix served as the U.S. Executive Director of Bono's ONE Campaign.She holds a law degree from the University of Chicago and a bachelor’s degree from Creighton University.
Our Podcast Hosts
Katie Telford
Katie Telford is one of the most influential political operatives of her generation in Canada. As the 15th Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister, she was the central figure in the Prime Minister's Office for nearly a decade — the person managing the machinery of government at its highest level.
A Toronto native and University of Ottawa political science graduate, Telford built her career through the Ontario Liberal ranks, serving as chief of staff to Education Minister Gerard Kennedy and later as deputy chief of staff to federal Liberal leader Stéphane Dion. She went on to direct Justin Trudeau's 2015 campaign, a race that took the party from third place to government, and held senior roles in the 2019 and 2021 campaigns that followed.
In office, her portfolio spanned the government's pandemic response and the negotiation of the 2022 supply and confidence agreement with the NDP — the arrangement that shaped the balance of power in a minority Parliament. She has also testified before parliamentary committees on questions of foreign interference in Canadian elections.
Few people have spent more time in the room where Canadian political decisions actually get made.
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