About

Action Canada is an independent, non-partisan and non-profit organization and charity based in Ontario, Canada and led by Action Canada Alumni.

In 2017, Action Canada and the Public Policy Forum joined forces to expand Canada’s top accelerator of new leaders. Together we deliver the Action Canada Fellowship, a 10-month leadership program that aims to enhance emerging leaders’ understanding of the country and public policy choices for the future.

Since its creation in 2003, the Fellowship program has achieved this goal by bringing together outstanding young Canadians whose talents, experiences and perspectives represent the mosaic of our country and by connecting them through shared experiences across Canada.

History

In 2003, philanthropist and businessman Sam Belzberg and Simon Fraser University President Jack Blaney created the Action Canada Fellowship to support the next generation of Canadian leaders. As Mr. Belzberg said: “We want Canada to be the finest country in the world, and to achieve that we need outstanding leadership.” Under the direction of the founding Executive Director, Cathy Beehan, the Fellowship flourished and welcomed a cohort of exceptional leaders every year for over a decade.

PPF & Action Canada

After a brief hiatus, the Fellowship returned under the brand Your Energy Future in 2017 as part of its first partnership with the Public Policy Forum. Fellows studied the impacts of a transition to a low-carbon future. The following year, PPF and Action Canada signed an agreement to deliver the Action Canada Fellowship. This agreement has continued.

With over 300 Fellows in its network, the Action Canada community continues to shine as each year new Fellows join and contribute to making Canada a better place.

Action Canada Board

Laura
Corrales

2021/22 Fellow

With an Industrial Engineering background and a Master’s in Sustainability from Harvard University, Laura enjoys the entrepreneurial nature of corporate sustainability, and consider herself a social intrapreneur who uses empathy as a tool to influence and drive change at different hierarchical levels.

She has led grassroots sustainability initiatives within different corporations, and is currently a Sustainability and Climate Change Consultant with PwC Canada. As a 2021-22 Action Canada Fellow, Laura seats in the Board since 2024, and is involved in other initiatives like the Climate Reality Project, Leading Change Canada, where she also serves in the Board, and One Young World Montreal 2024.

Within the Global Shapers Community, an initiative of the World Economic Forum, she served as Canada’s first Community Champion and Montreal Hub Curator. Originally from Colombia, Laura loves reading, and spending time outdoors with her toddler, husband, and dog.

Grace
Lee

2021/22 Fellow

I am a second generation Korean-Canadian from beautiful North Vancouver, British Columbia. My values include integrity, humility, and generosity.As a Foreign Service Officer at Global Affairs Canada (GAC), I have had the privilege to represent Canada abroad as a diplomat working from Afghanistan, South Sudan, and the United Nations in New York City. Currently, I am serving as the Political Counsellor at the High Commission of Canada to Ghana responsible for the political relations for Ghana, Togo, and Sierra Leone.

From promoting the Francophonie culture to participating in the upcoming Sierra Leone elections monitoring, I am proud to promote Canadian values in West Africa. I am also committed to gender equality efforts in diplomacy by serving as the Women’s Network Co-Chair at GAC leading the largest employment equity group to empower women in leadership roles. I am passionate about Canadian foreign policy, the United Nations, and diversity issues.

I am a former Action Canada Fellow ’22 and current Board Member that organized the 20^th anniversary of the Action Canada alumni conference. In my spare time I run marathons, snowboard at Whistler, and volunteered for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics. I am a graduate of Princeton and Cambridge universities and recipient of the Operational Service Medal for Afghanistan.

John
Kimmel

2020/2021 Fellow

John Mansell Kimmel is a serial entrepreneur whose passion is giving back to his communities through Board work with a focus on entrepreneurship and employment. With two decades of Governance experience and broad experience as a nine-time Founder, John’s background from strategic operations, to enterprise IT architecture and infrastructure development, and to film, television, and interactive media production, John’s past endeavours serve him well as Founder and President of RevIQ where he develops tools, technology, and processes that inform and optimize data-driven customer experiences and predictive customer journey management.

As an American-born, Toronto-raised transplant to Prince Edward Island who has found his heart in Charlottetown, John is an advocate on PEI for solutions that improve education, fitness, entrepreneurial, and social outcomes with his participation in Boards including Pride PEI, Fusion Charlottetown, The Charlottetown Film Society, Videogames PEI, the Canadian Interactive Alliance, The ORDER of The Wallace McCain Institute, and with the PEI organizers of TechStars Startup Weekend. Outside of his work optimizing customer experiences at RevIQ for his clients, his passion projects include finding a permanent community enterprise to engage PEI’s 2SLGBTQIA+ community with a permanent venue, developing a speechtext-focused syntactic interpretation tool to permit synchronous fact-checking in political debates, and working with business owners across Atlantic Canada to harmonize the small business investor tax credits across the Greater Atlantic Area. When he’s not travelling internationally to visit global clients, John spends his time downhill skiing, sailing, or – when the weather isn’t cooperating – catching a retro flick at Charlottetown’s City Cinema.

Katie
Davey

2019/2020 Fellow

Katie Davey is a public policy expert and social innovator, currently the Executive Director of the Pond-Deshpande Centre at the University of New Brunswick. With a background in applied research and real-world implementation, she addresses New Brunswick’s socio-economic challenges through social innovation, entrepreneurship, and public policy.

Previously, Katie was Director of Policy & PPF Media at the Public Policy Forum, where she led key projects on child care, journalism, immigration, and digital connectivity, and enhanced the organization’s presence in Atlantic Canada. As a 2019/20 Action Canada Fellow, she focused on employment integration for refugees and the evolving job market. Katie has also created four policy podcasts and hosts the UNB Alumni podcast, Unbeknownst.

Passionate about public service, Katie was a Senior Advisor in the Office of the Premier of New Brunswick, advancing legislation and stakeholder relations in women’s equality, labour, and innovation. In 2023, she was recognized as a top innovator by Atlantic Business Magazine. She serves on the Boards of the Human Development Council and Action Canada and received the Proudly UNB Young Alumni Achievement Award in 2024.

Angèle
McCaie

2019/2020 Fellow

Angèle McCaie had the immense pleasure to participate in the Action Canada program as a fellow as part of the 2019/2020 cohort.

Since 2013, she has occupied the role of Chief Administrative Officer for a small, rural, francophone and Acadian municipality in New Brunswick called Rogersville, her hometown. She is fervent in the pursuit of creative solutions to public challenges, and she considers herself a passionate feminist and a minority rights activist. She lives in Collette, New Brunswick with her partner and two children.

Jean-Sébastien
Blais

2020/2021 Fellow

Born in Montreal on April 29, 1978, to a family of Quebec entrepreneurs, he spent his early childhood in the Laurentians region and later settled with his parents in Plessisville in the Bois-Francs region.After obtaining his master’s degree in political science from Université Laval in 2007, he continued his research on democracy and federalism at the University of Minho in 2012, at the European Academy of Bolzano in 2015 and at the University of Bristol in 2017. In 2021, he completed a certificate in negotiation with the London School of Economics and a certificate in administrative justice from the Foundation of Administrative Justice.

After a brief stay in Toronto, he moved with his wife to the Yukon in 2009. After a contract with the Council of Yukon First Nations, he joined the territorial public service in 2011 where he supported various departments for ten years in the area of policy analysis. In 2021, he joined the Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada where he is currently the Director of Corporate Services for the Yukon Region.

Involved in his community, he was elected vice-president of the Association franco-yukonnaise in June 2011. In 2013, he was elected school trustee of the Commission scolaire francophone du Yukon (CSFY) and assumed the presidency of the council of commissioners in 2015. During his presidency, the CSFY signed a settlement agreement with the Government of Yukon in 2020 and opened Yukon’s first French-language secondary school the same year: Centre scolaire secondaire communautaire Paul-Émile-Mercier. Active on the national scene, he has represented the CSFY on the board of directors of the Fédération nationale des conseils scolaires (FNCSF) since 2015 and was, from 2019 to 2021, second vice-president of this organization.

In addition to his involvement with the francophone community, Mr. Blais has served on numerous boards of directors including the Board of Directors of the Yukon Human Rights Commission. He currently sits on the boards of the Yukon Liquor Corporation and Action Canada. In 2020, Jean-Sébastien Blais was named a Fellow of Action Canada by the Public Policy Forum in recognition of his leadership. The same year, Francopresse recognized him as one of the ten influential personalities of the Canadian Francophonie.

Mr. Blais is married to Dorothy Williams, a teacher. Together they are the parents of three children.

Umang
Khandelwal

2018/2019 Fellow

Umang Khandelwal is a 2018-2019 Action Canada alumna. An immigrant to Canada, Action Canada was formative in expanding her understanding of Canada in its diversity, and nurturing a strong sense of purpose for service through law and policy.

Umang is a competition/antitrust lawyer at Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP. She advises on all aspects of competition law, including merger review, abuse of dominance, misleading advertising, criminal price-fixing investigations and general compliance.

Previously Umang clerked for the Honourable Andrew D. Little, Chair of the Competition Tribunal, at the Federal Court in Ottawa. Early in her career, she worked as a Competition Law Officer in the Monopolistic Practices Directorate of the Competition Bureau, and on amendments to the Competition Act as Special Advisor to the Deputy Commissioner, Competition Promotion Branch.

Anne-Marie
Rouleau

2018/2019 Fellow

Born in Québec City, Anne-Marie (Ana) Rouleau is a Foreign Service Officer at Global Affairs Canada.Ana joined the Federal Public Service through the Advanced Policy Analyst Program (APAP) in 2017. Thanks to the APAP, she had the opportunity to work in all the central agencies, including as an Analyst for the Privy Council Office’s Foreign and Defence Policy Secretariat, where she supported the Prime Minister and various Ministers in their engagement related to the NAFTA renegotiation.

Ana also worked at Transport Canada on the International Team and as Issue Management Officer for the Minister and his team during the crisis surrounding the downing of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 and the COVID-19 pandemic.

More recently, she served a senior advisor at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, where she managed a $3.5M grant envelope dedicated to Canada’s response to the Venezuelan refugee and migrant (VRM) crisis, and more specifically to the VRMs’ protection and migration needs in the Americas.

Ana places particular importance in her international experiences which gave her a more inclusive vision of the world. In her spare time, Ana loves learning new languages and cooking. She is also an international observer for electoral missions and is passionate about democratic issues around the world.

She is an alumna from the Action Canada Fellowship (2018-2019)

Ayesha
Malette (née Harji)

2015/2016 Fellow

Ayesha joined Global Affairs Canada in November 2021, where she is the Director of the Task Force responsible for establishing a Canadian centre for democracy. This mandate letter and platform commitment was most recently announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the December 2021 Summit for Democracy and has as its aim to amplify Canadian expertise to support of democracy and good governance.

Prior to this, Ayesha was the Director of Strategic Issues in the Intergovernmental Affairs Secretariat of the Privy Council Office. In this role, she supported the Prime Minister and the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs in their engagement with provinces and territories and helped to deliver on the government’s key commitments in areas of COVID response, health, climate, and reconciliation. Previously, Ayesha also led the whole-of-government effort to prevent and counter foreign interference in Canada’s democratic institutions and the 2019 General Election.

Ayesha was recruited into the federal government through the Management Trainee Program, following the completion of an Honours undergraduate degree in International Relations and a Masters degree in Public Administration at Dalhousie University. Her experience in government has included time in the International Affairs Division of Public Safety Canada, where she led the coordination of the department’s multilateral engagement with the United Nations and the Organization of American States on policy issues related to human rights, law enforcement, counter-terrorism, border security and corrections. For two years, Ayesha managed the Virtual Risk Analysis Cell, where she contributed to the federal government’s response to national-scale emergencies like the 2016 wildfires in Fort McMurray and in British Columbia, as well as 2017 floods in Ontario and Quebec, and assessed the impacts of natural and man-made hazards to Canada’s critical infrastructure assets and systems.

Outside of work, Ayesha serves as President of the Board of Directors of the National Capital Branch of the Canadian International Council, making her the youngest branch President and first person of colour to occupy the post.

She is a 2015-16 Action Canada Fellow and Chair of the Action Canada Board of Directors, and a regular participant in the Banff Forum. Her hobbies include sewing clothes for herself, bingeing true crime podcasts, and reading a mix of both fiction and non-fiction.

Action Canada Team

Numerous distinguished Canadians have contributed to the development and evolution of the Action Canada Fellowship. The program’s excellent reputation and the outstanding caliber of the Action Canada Fellows’ network is, in large measure, thanks to them and their commitment to nurture the nation’s future leadership. Many of these individuals are noted in the Friends of Action Canada section (link). The current team includes:

Staff

Mark
Stevenson

Mark Stevenson is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience as an editor and writer, and he is our editor-at-large for this fellowship year.

As a reporter, he covered everything from business and politics to sports and the environment. He worked as a story editor at Saturday Night magazine before joining the National Post as part of the team that developed and launched the newspaper. He’s since worked at the Globe and Mail in the Report on Business and as national editor, and spent a decade at Maclean’s, including five years as Editor-in-Chief. He lives in Toronto.

Sally
Diab

As a Coach, I am passionate about collaborating with individuals and teams to identify the path that most resonates with their values and shifts their energy to achieve their goals and create greater satisfaction, purpose, and balance in their lives. I care deeply about my clients, and I am dedicated to empowering them to evolve through positive change.

As a Strategy and HR professional experienced in both the public and private sectors, my areas of expertise include partnering with organizations to facilitate transformations, promote long-term growth, and coaching teams toward optimal productivity.

As an adept relationship builder with a natural communication approach, I have been fortunate to work with executives and companies from a broad-spectrum of industries in different regions of the world. Working in diverse markets has cultivated my cultural awareness to understand and acknowledge the context in which people work. Specific sector expertise includes oil and gas, consulting, financial services, and entrepreneurship.

Intuition and empathy are at the heart of my work which includes championing women-led businesses through mentoring, coaching, and advocacy. Drawing from my personal experience, I recognize the importance of supporting the distinct needs and challenges faced by women working in fields where they are underrepresented, as well as all leaders transitioning into new – and perhaps unfamiliar – markets or geographies.

I completed my undergraduate degree from the University of Toronto, completed my coach training at a graduate level at Royal Roads University, and I am accredited by the International Coaching Federation.

Karim
Djinko

Karim Djinko is a recognized expert in human potential development in Canada and internationally. Certified executive coach by the International Coaching Federation (ICF), trainer, he supports companies and institutions wishing to accompany their managers and leaders in their evolution by focusing on developing relational skills and leadership.

A deep understanding of diversity, equality, and inclusion drives Karim’s work. His human-centered approach resonates with individuals and teams, making them feel valued and understood.
Karim has extensive experience in facilitation, having served as a manager for seven years at the United Nations and in the public and private sectors.
He designs and implements personalized training and development programs, particularly leadership, communication, team synergy, and self-esteem.
He also supports best practices for workplace integration and inclusion and gender-sensitive management.
Karim Djinko is a certified Profil Nova expert, a psychometric tool designed to unleash the unique potential of individuals, teams, and organizations.
karim has worked as a TV, radio, digital, and print journalist for many years, primarily for Radio Canada in Montreal and Toronto and directing the United Nations radio in Mali.

Suzanne
Nault

Throughout her career, as an executive coach, leader and psychologist, Suzanne has focused on helping leaders achieve positive sustainable change for themselves, their employees and their teams. For the past forty years, she has worked with leaders from various levels of government and Fortune 500 companies in Canada and around the world.

Since 2018, Suzanne has been supporting the leadership development of Fellows enrolled in the Action Canada Fellowship program through teaching and peer coaching. In 2007, the University of Ottawa launched a program in Public Sector Management and Governance to prepare public sector leaders to assume senior positions. From the onset of this program, Suzanne has been contributing to their development through lectures, individual customized coaching program, and, peer coaching. She is a well-sought speaker on topics of resilience, and, transition, particularly retirement and military to civilian life.

Prior to founding her own firm in 1998, she worked for Health Canada and the Communications Security Establishment Canada as Head of the Counselling and Advisory Program and as Senior Consultant in Innovative and Quality Services. Suzanne is certified as a professional integral coach by New Ventures West, California, and, the International Coaching Federation, in Conversational Intelligence™ and Story Coaching™. She is a licensed psychologist with Ordre des psychologues du Québec. Her academic background includes a Master’s degree in clinical psychology (University of Ottawa), a B.A. in psychology (University of Ottawa).

Suzanne is co-author of the #1 international best seller “The Expert Success Solution: Get Solid Results in 22 Areas of Business and Life”. She is fluently bilingual (English, French).

Sara-Christine
Gemson

Sara-Christine Gemson is the Executive Director of the Action Canada Fellowship and PPF Academy. She is a 2015/16 Action Canada Fellow and a long-serving member of the Action Canada Board. She was Director of Communications at Teach For Canada, a non-profit that recruits, prepares, and supports teachers to work in First Nations communities in northern Ontario. Before joining Teach For Canada, Sara-Christine worked for 7 years as a TV, radio, and web journalist, primarily for Radio-Canada in Toronto and Regina. While in Saskatchewan, she covered provincial and federal elections, the attempted hostile takeover of Potash Corp, and two Grey Cups. She also produced special series on First Nations employment and on the challenges facing the fransaskois education system after 20 years of autonomy. In the Toronto newsroom, Sara-Christine also replaced as a radio host and produced the 6 o’clock news. Times.

Anne
Matio

Anne is a bilingual FR/EN leader with over ten years of experience in project management, program development and strategic partnerships. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry and a master’s in Biotechnology & Management. Her skills have led her to work in many fields, including Federal agencies, Corporations and nonprofit organizations.

Anne has always been a go-getter. Her passion is purposeful vision planning, relationship building, designing and implementing effective program processes to maximize impact. She is known as a creative problem solver who combines the results-driven mindset of global corporations with the community-centered focus of nonprofit organizations.

Anne knows how to get things done efficiently without sacrificing quality. After building a solid management foundation with a Fortune 500 company, Unilever, Anne made a deliberate career shift to expand her exposure and lend her skills to the nonprofit sector. One of Anne‘s proudest achievements was overhauling the communications and brand strategy for Canada International Black Women Excellence.

Anne joined PPF in March 2023

Emilie
Davy

Emilie is the Program Coordinator at Action Canada and the PPF Academy. Fluent in both French and English, she has worked for festivals, art companies, and non-profit organizations. Her career journey showcases her expertise in project coordination, strategic communications, and stakeholder engagement.

Emilie joined PPF in February 2024

Mentors

Scott
Taymun

Scott Taymun retired from the federal public service in October 2024. He served more than 30 years with the Canadian federal government across seven departments, including 20 years as an executive and close to 10 years with central agencies.

Known as a fixer and change agent who delivers, Scott served as an executive across multiple functions of government, including policy, communications, planning and governance. He played a lead role shaping public affairs policy and reforms at National Defence in the late 1990s, helped design and implement the public sector management reforms that followed the sponsorship scandal in the 2000s, and served as Chief of Staff to both the Secretary of the Treasury Board and Clerk of the Privy Council. He finished his public service career with the Canada Border Services Agency, managing major projects and initiatives, and serving as an executive coach and mentor.

Scott has an undergraduate degree in the Social Sciences and a Masters in International Affairs. He is also a free-lance writer for The Hub, an active volunteer, serves on the Board of Directors for the Clayton Senior Housing Corporation, and continues to coach and mentor mid-career executives.

Kris
Frederickson

Kris is the Director of Sustainability at Keyera, one of Canada’s largest midstream energy companies, where he leads a team to enable best-in-class environmental, social and governance performance through strategic alignment, implementing best practices in sustainability, and stakeholder engagement. He has also held sustainability roles with Suncor Energy and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency.

Kris has undergraduate and masters degrees in Biosystems Engineering from the University of Manitoba and an MBA in Indigenous Business & Leadership from Simon Fraser University’s Beedie School of Business. He is also an Indspire Laureate and Action Canada Fellow.

In addition to work, Kris is an active volunteer, most recently as a member of the Board of Governors for the University of Calgary where held the positions of Vice-Chair of the Board and Chair of the Environment, Health, Safety and Sustainability Committee.

Rachel
Wernick

Rachel Wernick retired from the federal public service in May 2023 after a distinguished career as an executive in policy and program design that culminated in her role as Senior Assistant Deputy Minister of Skills and Employment at Employment and Social Development Canada. She led reforms to the Youth Employment Strategy, the Skills for Success program, and the co-development of the Indigenous Skills and Employment Training program. Her leadership extended to the establishment of the Future Skills Center, an independent center for skills innovation and research.

Rachel is one of Canada’s leading practitioners in social and employment policy having gained experience in a variety of executive roles at Canadian Heritage, the Privy Council Office, Citizenship and Immigration Canada and Public Works and Government Services. Rachel’s passion for policy excellence resulted in her appointment as Co-Champion of the Clerk’s Policy Community initiative; a role she held for five years.

Rachel’s expertise includes workforce development, skills innovation, the future of work, skills and employment for marginalized populations and gender and diversity analysis. Rachel is a strong proponent of the benefit of user-driven design and has a proven ability to lead multi-partner collaboration to take something from policy idea or challenge through to actionable options for implementation.

Rachel is the Program Director for the newly revamped Policy Leadership Program (PLP), which is tailored to meet the evolving needs of public service policy executives early in their leadership development. The PLP is delivered through a partnership between the Public Policy Forum and Telfer Executive Programs at the University of Ottawa.
Rachel joined PPF as a Fellow in October, 2023.

Advisors

Tina
Rasmussen

Tina Rasmussen is from Green Lake, SK., and a proud member of the Flying Dust First Nation. Tina has always focused her energy on her traditional homeland and economic development as a necessity to moving indigenous communities and individuals forward.

Tina is the Chief Business Officer for MLTC Industrial Investments, the Economic Development arm of the Meadow Lake Tribal Council. She has a diverse background of experience. Having spent 15 years as a municipal Chief Operating Officer, 20 years involved in Saskatchewan’s Health Authority Board Keewatin Yatthe and 9 years with Northern Lights Board of Education. She continues as a Board Member with Beaver River Community Futures supporting small business development in her home region. Tina brings a wealth of experience in a variety of fields and many connections to the Indigenous communities of Northern Saskatchewan. In addition Tina holds a BA Advanced from the U of S, a Certificate in Local Government Authority from the U of R and is certified as a Professional Economic Developer for Saskatchewan and a certified Technician Aboriginal Economic Developer (TAED).

In her capacity as Chief Business Officer, Tina focuses on creating new partnerships and business opportunities for the MLTC membership in a variety of areas including, forestry, oil and gas, renewables, hospitality, agriculture and broadband to ensure diversification and a strong MLTC presence. She believes strongly in developing the participation of Indigenous people and communities in the economic fabric of our province and our country and is working to advance this at every opportunity. Renewable energy is her strongest interest area. She has worked on the MLTC Bioenergy project, and several solar projects to date with a focus on MLTC participation in renewables into the future.

Matt
Garrow

Matt has dedicated his career in public service to supporting the well-being of Indigenous communities.

His roles across two-levels of government have included rewarding positions at Indigenous Services Canada, Employment and Social Development Canada, as well as a stint at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Secretariat during its inaugural year. Matt is currently the Sr. Director of the newly established Economic Reconciliation Directorate at Indigenous Services Canada that is responsible for working with Indigenous communities and their representative organizations, to develop and implement an Economic Reconciliation Framework.

Carolyn
Chisholm

With several decades of experience in the mining industry, Carolyn Chisholm oversees the Canadian External Affairs team at Rio Tinto, leading the company’s strategies at both federal and provincial levels.

Before joining Rio Tinto, Carolyn dedicated over twenty years to external affairs and public policy in the private sector, serving as the Vice President of the Natural Resources and Environment Group at Global Public Affairs. Committed to community engagement, she holds a position on the Board of Directors of her local hospital, serves as a founding member of Women for Nature, and is a Board member of the Terry Fox Research Institute.

Mark
Cauchi

Mark Cauchi is the Director General of the Energy and Transportation Directorate at Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC).

He is responsible for overseeing the work on Canada’s greenhouse gas and air pollution regulations for light, medium and heavy-duty vehicles including the recently finalized Electric Vehicle Availability Standard. Mark also oversees the on-going development of Canada’s Clean Electricity Regulations and Oil and Gas Methane Regulations. Prior to this position, Mark led a departmental task force that supported the development of Prime Minister Trudeau and President Biden’s 2021 Road Map for a Renewed Canada-US Partnership. He led policy work to support the largest single investment in Canada’s biodiversity in 2018. He was Director of Transportation from 2010-14 and Executive Director of Oil, Gas and Alternative Energy at ECCC from 2014-2017. He worked in Canada’s Privy Council Office from 2003 to 2010.

Julie
Tousignant

Julie joined NRCan as the DG of Strategic Policy Branch in February 2023.

From 2019 to 2023, she worked as Director of Program Integrity for the Canada Education Savings Program within Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC). Previously, she worked at the three central agencies (Privy Council Office, Finance Canada, and Treasury Board Secretariat), the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, and occupied various positions at ESDC (Director responsible for the Foreign Credential Recognition Program and Apprenticeship Grant Program, senior analyst in Chief Data Office and at Employment Insurance Policy Directorate).

She has a Bachelors of Sciences in Economics, and a Masters of Science in Economics from the University of Montreal.

Niall
O’Dea

Dr. Niall O’Dea is Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Policy, at Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

Before assuming this role in April 2021, Dr. O’Dea had been Assistant Deputy Minister and, previously, Associate Assistant Deputy Minister for the Canadian Wildlife Service at Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) since March 2018. Prior to his tenure at ECCC, he had served in various roles at Natural Resources Canada since 2011, including Director of Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation, Senior Advisor to the Deputy Minister and Director General of Electricity Resources.

Niall joined the Government of Canada in 2006, working first at Environment Canada on policy, legislative and regulatory proposals for reducing industrial greenhouse gas emissions and subsequently at the Privy Council Office providing advice to the Prime Minister, Cabinet and the Clerk of the Privy Council on proposals and policy issues under the responsibility of the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, the Minister of Natural Resources and the Minister of the Environment..

Dr. O’Dea completed undergraduate degrees in biology and philosophy at Memorial University of Newfoundland, and a masters and doctorate at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar.

Shaun
Fantauzzo

Shaun Fantauzzo is the VP of Policy and Major Projects at the First Nations Major Projects Coalition. Based in Toronto, he’s responsible for advancing the FNMPC’s policy objectives and helping develop the organization’s work concerning Indigenous economic and equity participation and major projects.

Prior to joining the FNMPC, Shaun spent nearly ten years working for the federal government in progressively senior roles within the Department of Finance Canada and Natural Resources Canada. He has worked on major federal priorities such as modern treaty and self-government negotiations, the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion, Indigenous access to capital, and private corporation tax planning. In addition, he has authored numerous reports and articles on Canadian public policy issues, ranging from pension policy to fisheries reform.

Shaun has a graduate degree in political science from the University of British Columbia. In his spare time, he enjoys cycling, skiing, and hiking.

Sarah
Daitch

As a Chartered Mediator, a facilitator, and dialogue process designer, Sarah sees collaboration as a vital tool for bringing the voices of people into decision making on challenging issues that shape their lives. Sarah specializes in consensus building in social, environmental, health, sport, energy and extractive sector issues.

Raised as a visitor on Treaty 8 and Metis territory in Fort Smith, Northwest Territories, Sarah is the founder and principal of a small consultancy, Daitch & Associates. Her business has delivered on mandates in cross cultural settings in Canada, the US, Europe and Latin America for sub national and national governments, for the United Nations, for tribal governments, NGOs and for sports federations – resulting in wiser, better decisions for the future on pressing public issues.

Recent examples of projects addressing natural resources include developing and drafting the Gwichi’in Tribal Council’s Mining and Minerals Strategy and leading an initiative focused on community-based mine monitoring committees in four mineral producing regions, for UNDP and the Swedish Environmental Protection agency’s Environmental Governance Programme.

Sarah is a graduate of the University of Calgary and holds an MA in Dispute Resolution from the University of Victoria; she sits on the facilitator-mediator roster for the Ontario Energy Board, and the UNDP’s Crises Bureau – Global Policy Network Experts Roster – Extractive Sector, amongst others. Sarah is an Action Canada Fellow (2013), a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, and is an alumni of Canada’s national cross country ski team.

Ahmed
Hanafy

Ahmed Hanafy is a Partner at Dunsky Energy + Climate Advisors. Ahmed brings experience advising governments (federal, provincial and municipal), utilities, corporations and other actors across North America with their efforts to accelerate and navigate the energy transition.

Combining deep technical knowledge with strategic foresight, Ahmed has guided numerous clients through the critical intersections of technical, policy, regulatory and strategic issues within the evolving energy sector. Drawing on technical expertise in renewable energy, energy storage, electric vehicles (EVs), Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) and other emerging technologies, his work informs and shapes clients’ corporate strategy, system planning, project development, and policy/regulatory initiatives.

Tom
Rand

Tom Rand’s focus is on carbon mitigation as an entrepreneur, venture capitalist, author and speaker. He is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of ArcTern Ventures and sits on the board of a number of clean energy companies and organizations.

He also developed Planet Traveler, a low-carbon hotel project in downtown Toronto. Tom’s first book Kick the Fossil Fuel Habit (2010) was winner of the 2011 Whitepine Non-Fiction award; his second – Waking the Frog – became a bestseller in Spring 2014; his third – Climate Capitalism: Economic Solutions for a Planet in Crisis was published early 2020. Tom holds a BSc in electrical engineering (U of Waterloo), an MSc in philosophy of science (University of London and LSE) and an MA and PhD in philosophy (U of Toronto), is an Action Canada Fellow, and has been a member of a number of federal and provincial advisory boards. Tom is a regular contributor on Canada’s leading op-ed pages and television, and you will often see him on stage waving his arms as he speaks passionately about the intersection of climate risk and economics

Kulvir
Gill

Kulvir Singh Gill is a gifted strategist and facilitator with over twenty years of experience in helping organizations build their growth strategies and develop their next generation of innovative leaders. Working as a management consultant, Kulvir has designed and delivered dozens of corporate strategy retreats, multi-stakeholder working sessions, and leadership programs for high-potential talent around the world.

Over his career, he was worked directly with Fortune 500 clients across multiple industries including mining, oil and gas, heavy industrial, financial services, and retail. Kulvir began his career as a management consultant with Oliver Wyman before holding several positions with Barrick Gold involving supply chain management, post-merger integrations, strategic planning, innovation and sustainability.

Kulvir has also played a major role in driving several multi-stakeholder coalitions. He was the Founding Executive Director of the Development Partner Institute (DPI) to advance sustainability in the mining industry. Kulvir has also served as the Innovation Ecosystem Manager for the Canadian Mining Innovation Council (CMIC). He current serves as a co-lead for The Nourish Movement which brings global leaders to empower human health through food, sustainably.

In an advisory role, Kulvir serves on the board of directors for Canada Nickel Company in addition to having previously served on the advisory boards of Summit Nanotech and Zerv. He is also a formal mentor to start-ups for the Mining and Minerals workstream of Creative Destruction Lab (CDL).

Kulvir is also passionate about community service. He is a co-founder and board chair of the Seva Food Bank in Mississauga. He also serves on the boards of the William Osler Health System, the Empire Club of Canada and the Sikh Research Institute. Kulvir is a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal and a 2010 Action Canada Fellow. He holds a B.Sc. and a B. Comm. from the University of Calgary and the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors. He lives with his family in Brampton, Ontario.

Alexandria
Shrake

Alexandria has over a decade of multifaceted experience in the energy sector. Through her consulting firm, 114 Degrees West, she thinks about the power of language – technical jargon, political discourse, and everyday conversation – and how to resonate on a human level.

Her early career spanned geophysics to strategic planning and digital innovation. In 2020, she took the entrepreneurial leap, establishing 114 Degrees West Inc.(114th), a bespoke strategy and innovation consulting firm. 114th drives change within organizations and institutions and is committing to working with clients who share a similar vision. 114th works with heavy industry, clean-tech start-ups, and Indigenous organizations in the energy sector.
Of note, she has supported clean tech start-up Entropy Inc. a venture in which the Canada Growth Fund has invested $200 million in, contributed to various initiatives supporting equity participation within First Nation communities, and is maintaining ongoing engagement with the start-up community in Canada.
Her hobbies include participation in the Canadian start-up community as an angel investor, trail running, and electronic music

Guillaum
Dubreuil

Guillaum Dubreuil has developed expertise in public affairs and international trade throughout his career. He represents the CSL Group and its Canadian entity, Canada Steamship Lines, in dealings with governmental bodies and external partners both in Canada and internationally, and manages various internal projects. Prior to joining CSL, Guillaum spent four years as Senior Director of Public Affairs at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the largest business organization in the country. In this role, he contributed to the negotiations of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUMA) and the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the European Union, and acted as the Sherpa for the B7, the summit of G7 business groups.

Much of Guillaum’s international business experience was acquired while working at Languages Canada, Canada’s association of language schools, where he traveled the world promoting the teaching of Canada’s official languages. Guillaum has also worked at Universities Canada and, prior to that, as an entrepreneur and consultant.

Currently, Guillaum serves as the Chairman of the Board of Shipowners of Saint-Laurent, the outgoing President of the Board of the Association of Young Chambers of Commerce of Québec, and a member of the boards of Cargo M and SODES. A proud Baiverain by birth and Montrealer by adoption, he studied psychology at UQAC (Université du Québec à Chicoutimi) and administration at UQAM (Université du Québec à Montréal), and holds a certification from the Institute of Leadership in Management.

Shoshanna
Saxe

Dr. Shoshanna Saxe is an Associate Professor in the University of Toronto’s Department of Civil and Mineral Engineering.

She holds a masters from MIT and a PhD from the University of Cambridge. She investigates the relationship between the infrastructure we build and the society we create to identify opportunities – and pathways – to better align infrastructure provision with sustainability.

Saxe is a former Action Canada fellow, sits on Waterfront Toronto’s Capital Peer Review Panel, Metrolinx Project Evaluation Committee and the board of Action Canada.

She was awarded the 2019 OPEA Engineering Medal – Young Engineer. Her research and commentary have been featured in media outlets such as The New York Times, The Toronto Star, The Financial Post, and Wired, including “What We Really Need Are Good ‘Dumb’ Cities” (New York Times, July 2019)

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Ginger Gosnell-Myers

Ginger Gosnell-Myers – of Nisga’a and Kwakwak'awakw heritage is passionate about advancing Aboriginal rights and knowledge, while breaking down barriers between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people.