Victor Chiasson is currently Acting Manager for DND’s Civilian Workforce Analysis team.  He has worked as an HR data analyst in the Public Service from 2005-2016 at Innovation Science and Economic Development (ISED) and since 2016 at DND.   In these contexts he has not only worked as an analyst but also a wide variety of analysis related activities, from data quality and governance to BI implementation.

Stacey Ileleji is passionate about creating the conditions, structures and systems at work that enable people to realize the utmost in personal and professional potential, while achieving organizational goals. She is supported in this endeavour by an honour’s degree in Commerce with a focus on organizational development, change management and strategic human resources management. With well over 20 years’ experience within, and external to, the public service sector, she is also a certified Prosci Change Management Practitioner. With experience as both a specialist and a manager, she knows first-hand the struggles of those leading teams and trying to effect change. She is also an executive member of the Interdepartmental Organizational Change Network (IOCN), a grassroots group made up of federal public servants that make Change Management (CM) information easily accessible by: designing / delivering workshops, running a blogging initiative, and creating spaces for practitioners to exchange on CM issues within the public service. An avid music lover she dabbles in song-writing and loves to sing.

Jennifer is an influencer, inspirer, connector and leader in Toronto’s business and startup community. Jennifer is a Queen’s University Honours graduate with a Master’s of Science degree. She has a broad wealth of experience in business development, sales and marketing across the financial institutions, insurance providers, telecommunication, healthcare, manufacturing, education and technology industries.

Hope Makena has pursued and achieved success as a Certified Human Resources Professional in the workplace over the past 8 years in multiple organizations including the United Nations, educational institutions, start-ups, and in the private, non-profit and public sectors. She currently works at the Department of Justice, where she strives to drive change and helps create a culture that promotes employment equity, and that works to eliminate barriers, biases, discrimination and harassment. Individuals who may identify as visible minorities, women, Indigenous peoples, peoples with disabilities and LGBTQ2+ members are often marginalized in the workforce, and sometimes face unfair recruitment, career development, promotional processes, or are altogether denied merited opportunities. Hope aspires to see a world with a leveled playing field where diversity and inclusion in the Canadian workforce is the norm, rather than an asset. She believes that being a strategic and engaging leader entails becoming a mindful advocate for inclusive organizational designs, processes, policies, and cultures.

Zachary Nichol is the Manager, HR Innovation Solutions for the City of Ottawa where he leads a team responsible for the HR systems and information strategy. The team is key to modernization efforts and the introduction of new technical solutions to automate processes and improve the quality of information for decision making. It provides a center of leadership and expertise to drive HR through digital transformation focused on the employee experience. Prior to joining the City of Ottawa, Zachary held various roles with the City of Hamilton & Arcelor Mittal Dofasco.

Dr. David S. Weiss, FCTDP, ICD.D is President and CEO of Weiss International Ltd., a firm specializing in innovation, leadership, and HR consulting for many Fortune 500 companies and public-sector organizations. David has delivered over 200 conference presentations and he has written over 50 journal and trade articles. He is the author or co-author of six business books including Leadership Driven HR (Jossey-Bass, 2013) was listed by the Globe & Mail Report on Business as the #1 business book seller on April 9, 2013, and Innovative Intelligence (Wiley, 2011, also available in Chinese and Farsi) which was a “top 5 business book for 2011” reported by CBC News. David has conducted executive sessions in Canada, USA, China, Russia, Israel, Uganda, South Africa, Malaysia, Chile, Hungary, Paris and England.  Previously, Affiliate Professor of Rotman School of Management, Senior Research Fellow at Queen’s University, and Chief Innovation Officer in a multinational consulting firm, David currently teaches at four university executive development programs, including Rotman, Schulich, DeGroote and St, Mary’s University. David’s doctorate is from the University of Toronto and he has three Masters degrees. He has been honoured by many organizations globally, including by the Government of Canada and the Province of Ontario with the “Distinguished Lecturer” certificate, by the Asia-Pacific HR Congress with the “HR Leadership Award,” by the Institute for Performance and Learning as the first lifetime “Fellow” in Canada, and by HRPA with the lifetime designation of “Fellow CHRE.”

Joseph has spent his career leaning into the most complex problems he could find – first the U.S. public education system, then social impact startup innovation, and now end-of-life care. At the age of 25 he launched his first entrepreneurial venture, a not-for-profit to help teachers avoid burnout. He then went to work with another not-for-profit, systematizing their model of placing Dream Directors in high schools, codifying their theory of change, and building out the training infrastructure to allow them to operate at scale. Following that, he helped build a social impact startup studio, designed to conduct original research and launch startups that take on large-scale social issues. And his most recently venture, After, focuses on supporting organizations to distinguish themselves by providing holistic care of their teams, with a particular focus on end-of-life planning for themselves and their loved ones. A native Torontonian, Joseph now lives with his wife and two dogs in Brooklyn, New York.