Kayode Alawonde is the first-ever and current Cybersecurity Lead for the City of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. Kayode has over 25yrs of IT experience, with 15 of those years spent at a major commercial bank where the last role he held was Head of Enterprise Security responsible for Information security across the various technology platforms. In the previous 10 years before joining the city of Saskatoon, he was responsible for the technology strategy of an Asset Management Company, where he set up the entire IT function with information security consciousness from the ground up. He was the pioneer Head of IT and CIO. He later became Group Head Operations with several business units reporting to him (including IT), which he held before joining the City of Saskatoon.

Kayode is a Doctor of Information Technology. He also holds the following certifications: CISSP, Security+, CRISC, CDPSE, ISO 27001 LA, PMP, TOGAF.

Julie Bastarache is the Director General of Evaluation and Integrated Risk Management at Public Services and Procurement Canada. Julie is a CPA, CA and CFE with 20 years of global experience in the private, public and humanitarian sectors. She considers herself an “expert” generalist as, in addition to risk management, she has worked in external and internal audit, evaluation, finance and treasury, training and HR, communications, public education and outreach, partnering, engagement and marketing.

She first got involved in a focused risk management position while working with the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in Geneva, with more practical and field experience when, over a 2 year period, she established and supported structured risk management culture and fraud prevention awareness programs while living in Port-au-Prince during the IFRC’s 2010 Haiti Earthquake response. As an agent of change, she returned to the discipline in 2019 when she joined PSPC with the specific task of modernizing and developing the risk management culture in this big, diverse and complex department.

Marc is currently the Senior Manager, Practice Management Unit (PMU) at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), overseeing many of the planning, reporting, and external liaison functions within the Office of Audit and Evaluation (OAE).  His team consists of approximately 3 permanent staff, with additional contract staff as necessary.  In particular, Marc is responsible for external audit liaison, professional practices and advisory services, providing assistance to sectors throughout the department.

Marc’s professional career has lasted nearly 30 years in the public and private sectors. Before joining AAFC, Marc worked at Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) as a Manager, Internal Audit and Professional Practices.  He also worked with the Canadian Audit and Accountability Foundation (CAAF) teaching auditing to developing countries, specifically the Audit Office of Guyana (AOG).  Marc also worked with the Office of the Comptroller General (OCG) as Manager, Analysis and Liaison, identifying audit themes and inter-departmental areas of concern.  He has also managed audit projects at Health Canada/Public Health Agency of Canada and Public Services and Procurement Canada.  Prior to this Marc was an Audit Professional at the Office of the Auditor General of Canada.  As well, Marc taught finance and accounting at Carleton University.  Marc’s main areas of audit specialization include human resources, project management, risk management, and finance.

Marc is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA), Certified Management Accountant (CMA), Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP), Certified Human Resources Leader (CHRL), Certified in Risk Management Assurance (CRMA) and Certified Internal Auditor (CIA).  He received his Bachelor of Commerce, specializing in Accounting from the University of Ottawa in 1993 and recently received his Master of Arts degree in Leadership from the University of Guelph in 2021.

Anna Maria Campbell is an Enterprise Risk Manager for the Province of British Columbia. Partnering with  her colleagues and clients, she leads the implementation of enterprise risk management across the  provincial government. She provides risk management advice to government ministries and crown  corporations and develops tools and resources to support effective risk analysis and communication.  Anna Maria has been with the British Columbia public service for over 15 years and brings over 25 years  of business management expertise to her role, which was acquired in both public and private  organizations.

Mr. Caron is a member of the Senior Executive Service (SES) and is Chief Information Officer (CIO) / Assistant Inspector General of Information Technology (AIG/IT) for the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as of May 2021.

Previously he has served as the Director of Enterprise Network Management (ENM) within the Directorate of Operations in the Bureau of Information Resource Management (IRM) at the Department of State (DOS) since June 2016.

Mr. Caron has over 24 years of information technology (IT) experience.  He began his career in the US Army working in hands-on technical positions serving for 7 years as a Programmer and Administrator.  Mr. Caron then spent 2 years as a contractor with the federal government, where he acquired more refined technical skills and a more detailed understanding of IT operations.  He joined the federal government at the Department of State (DOS) in 2003 as a Systems Administrator.  He has held multiple positions at the DOS, moving from managing small technical groups leading up to Director for ENM.

One of his most significant accomplishments was acting as the technical liaison during a major cyber security event at the Department. His leadership allowed the Department to resolve the incident as quickly and effectively as possible with minimal impact to the mission.

As the Director of ENM, Mr. Caron was personally responsible for the leadership of the largest office within the IRM bureau. This included managing the financial portfolio of over $200 million and prioritization of work across a wide range of disciplines.  In this role he was responsible for the network and authentication infrastructure for the Department, led the re-engineering of the Department’s primary Identity and Access Management solution, formed teams to address key security efforts needed to mitigate future potential cybersecurity attacks through collaborative efforts, led the redesign of the Department’s Active Directory significantly improving security and responsible for the engineering and management of all the Department’s global network infrastructure and perimeter security infrastructure.

Mr. Caron is a co-chair on the CIO’s Innovation Counsel for Zero Trust as well as co-chair for ATARC.org Zero Trust Working Group. He previously chaired ATARC.org Trusted Internet Connection (TIC) 3.0 Working Group which resulted in 8 vendor proof of concepts being delivered to government participants.

Mr. Caron received his associate degree (Magna Cum Laude) in Computer Information Systems, Network Administration from the Northern Virginia Community College.  At the Department of State, he also has received training in the Executive Potential Program from the USDA Graduate School in 2009 and Advanced Leadership Skills in 2014.  He received his certification in May 2020 as a Forrester Zero Trust – Strategist (ZTX-S) and received his Federal IT Security Manager Certification (FITSP-M) in 2017.  Mr. Caron has received numerous individual awards for his exceptional service since 2004.

Bill Danielsen works as the Executive Director for Enterprise Identity Services with Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC).  Throughout his more than 25-year career in the federal government, he has championed a number of significant change management initiatives and has overseen the implementation of several multi-national and international projects.  Additionally, Mr. Danielsen has chaired federal committees reporting to the Privy Council Office that have directly impacted the operations and machinery of government.  A seasoned leader, he has led crisis and emergency response for a portfolio of more than $120B.  He has been a leader working to address corporate risk associated with insider threat across a number of federal departments.  Insider threats include intentional and unintentional events caused by employees that can have significant and catastrophic impacts to organizations, largely linked to data breaches.

Academically, Mr. Danielsen is a Doctoral Candidate pursuing his Doctor of Business Administration with Royal Roads University.  His research is focused on understanding insider threats and the impact of social bonds as a potential mitigation to threat behaviours.  He holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Royal Roads University and a Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences from the University of Victoria.

Amanda Elliott is a senior risk analyst for the Office of the Chief Audit, Evaluation and Risk Executive at Public Service and Procurement Canada. As the project lead responsible for the development of risk management learning and communication products, she works with her team to develop products that are accessible, engaging and interactive. Prior to this, Amanda spent an extensive part of her federal government career in the area of internal audit where her work included support to senior executives in the identification and assessment of risks related to large IT transformation projects.

Aron is the managing director of cybersecurity at Valencia. Before cybersecurity, he earned a degree in behavioral science, and worked as a stockbroker in Toronto. He started Cygnos IT Security as head hacker, and sold the firm to Grant Thornton in 2012. In 2015 he founded Valencia IIP Advisors. We specialize in cybersecurity, privacy, and cloud.

Aron’s work is with the federal government, cities, provinces, fortune firms, and national retailers. He’s responded to hacks by Anonymous, lead classified security projects for the government, and run hundreds of penetration tests, risk assessments, simulations and security incident responses.

Aron sits on Algonquin College’s cybersecurity advisory board. He is co-author of “Canadian Privacy – Data Protection Law and Privacy”. He presents every few weeks to boards, city managers, health care organizations, and security events. He’s been on CBC, Global, CTV news. His certifications include CISSP, CISA, CRISC, CRMA, CDPSE and CIPP/C, MCSE

Tricia works for Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), as Senior Director, Enterprise Risk Management. Prior to joining ESDC, Tricia spent 10 years at Treasury Board Secretariat in Ottawa Ontario where she held various positions.

Question-asker, status-quo pusher, client-focused and a dynamic leader, Tricia eagerly seeks opportunities to support community endeavors with her skills and expertise. She is Treasurer on both the Board of Directors at the Institute of Internal Auditors – Ottawa Chapter as well as the Board of Directors for the Dave Smith Youth Treatment Centre.

Tricia is a CPA, CMA and has a Master’s degree in International Trade and International Finance from the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs (Carleton University) and an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree from Western University.

John Lark is an accomplished manager with broad experience in the management of staff, budgets and deliverables. He has managed research teams, chaired federal-provincial committees, and facilitated workshops at the Board level of large-scale organizations with domestic and international operations. He is a leader in risk management whose skills have been recognized internationally. He has worked with Canadian federal and provincial governments as well as the OECD, the US EPA, the Canadian Standards Association, the Risk Management Institution of Australasia and ISO, the International Organization for Standards. Mr. Lark has also been an invited speaker on Enterprise Risk Management, Operational Risk, Risk for Boards of Directors, and Internal Audit Control and convened an invited session of global leaders in risk management. He was awarded the global certification in risk management, CPRM in 2010.

He is a highly regarded global expert and has been an invited keynote speaker at international conferences in Washington D.C., Biel Switzerland and, Sydney, Canberra and Cairns Australia. Mr. Lark was one of Canada’s delegates to the ISO risk management Committee and was a Team Leader of several ISO Working Groups and Subcommittees. Mr. Lark was the sole author of the international ISO Guide to implementing ISO 31000:2009 released in January of 2016.

Mr. Lark also has extensive Board experience and is Chair of two Not For Profit Boards and sits on the board of several major charities. He recently completed the Director’s Education Program that is jointly offered by the Institute of Corporate Directors and the Rotman School of Management. After completing the course he successfully passed the qualifying exams and earned the ICD.D designation confirming his knowledge of Board obligations, structures and functions as well as all legal and regulatory obligations.

Jeffrey Milne has worked for the BC Government in the Ministry of Finance within the Risk Management  Branch (RMB) since 2007. Jeff’s current role is Manager, Enterprise Risk Management. Prior to that he  was a Risk Management Consultant in both the Education and Health teams within RMB for over a  decade. In his roles at RMB he has provided extensive risk management advice to his clients (twenty BC  ministries, twenty-nine crown corporations, sixty school districts, twenty-five postsecondary institutions,  and six health authorities). Jeff has successfully led or been involved with many RFPs for professional  services under RMB’s provincial programs. He has provided risk management and insurance advice on  five public-private partnership projects. Jeff has been a team lead on RMB’s Provincial Construction  Insurance and Loss Control Programs. During his time at RMB, he has authored risk notes, newsletter  articles, guidelines and co-authored RMB’s construction contract risk provisions. Jeff received his Master  of Arts in Leadership from Royal Roads University in 2016 and completed professional designations as an Associate Business Continuity Professional (ABCP) in 2008, Canadian Risk Management (CRM) in 2000,  and a Chartered Insurance Professional (CIP) in 1999.

Rodrigo is proof that a summer fling can turn into a passionate long-term relationship. What started as a summer student job with the Canadian federal public service launched a career focused on building dynamic, collaborative teams and ecosystems for good management and effective public services.

Throughout his career Rod has been involved in standing up various new Departments and leading transformations in great organizations such as Public Safety Canada, Employment and Social Development Canada, Canada Border Services Agency, and the recently created Indigenous Services Canada. His journey in the federal Government has allowed him to serve in various management roles across most Internal Services functions, including Finance, Human Resources and Management & Oversight.

Rod currently leads the Results, Risks and Resources Division at Indigenous Services Canada. A startup-like shop which has been improving alignment, predictability and flexibility in the allocation and reallocation of Departmental resources to ensure Indigenous partners receive the best services and can take control of their services as soon as possible.

When not at work or blogging about cars, you can find him jogging, skiing or mountain biking with his two kids, friends and family.

Melanie Rousseau is the Chief Risk Officer and Director of Risk and Business Continuity Management for Alberta Environment and Parks, leading a team of subject matter experts in the fields of enterprise risk, strategic foresight, business continuity, corporate security, and facility emergency management.

Her journey in risk management is quite untraditional.  Melanie has a Bachelor of Education and a Certificate in Adult and Continuing Education from the University of Alberta and as well training in Prosci change management, Bridges change and transition management, Bowtie risk analysis, business continuity management, incident command and leadership development.  She has worked in for-profit, nonprofit and government organizations; in operations, strategy and senior management.  This combination of education and experience led to advising how to mitigate and manage risk on complex policy discussions and operational planning.

During the COVID-19 pandemic response, Melanie’s team advised and led the business continuity response and re-entry initiatives for AEP.  At the same time, she led the update to the department’s Business Continuity Plan, reflecting on the real-time lessons learned and how to apply this to future corporate resilience.  What she learned was that while preparing to respond to an incident is important, more emphasis needs to be placed on risk and threat analysis to greatly reduce or even mitigate future disruptions entirely.

Rosemary is a financial crime risk analyst with 12+ years’ experience in the financial services industry.  Areas of experience include Know Your Client Due Diligence, Financial Crime Risk Mitigation, Anti-Money Laundering, Sanctions and Anti-Bribery & Corruption Risk assessments. Rosemary currently works as a Senior Risk Manager for the Business Integrity – ESG Group at Export Development Canada.

Leslie Siegman combines a 25 year career in both the public and private sectors in the transportation industry, including for some of Canada’s premiere companies such as CN Rail, CAE Electronics and Rolls-Royce. While in the public sector, he has occupied positions with Canadian Transportation Agency, ISED, and Transport Canada. His responsibilities have included ensuring effective monitoring and enforcement of the air, rail and marine industries compliance with legislative and regulatory provisions, which is in the interest of travelers, shippers and the transportation companies that follow the rules and should not face unfair competition from those who don’t.

His responsibilities incorporated a broadened mandate to track and enforce compliance with all legislative and regulatory requirements, having his officers consider whether to take action in every case where the organization finds a contravention of legal requirements, updating regulatory language to make compliance obligations as clear as possible and considering the designation of a wider set of regulatory provisions and finally implementing a risk-based, data-driven and systematic methodology to let us target finite compliance resources based on the likelihood and expected impact of possible violations.

Karen Zarrouki (she/her) is currently a Manager working in the Internal Audit Sector, Office of the Comptroller General at Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS). Karen entered into internal auditing in the Summer of 2014, and has undertaken several internal audit engagements ranging from audit to risk and control self-assessments, to the Review of Risk Management Practices at TBS. She has worked in TBS since 2006 and occupied the positions of Special Advisor, Security and Identity Management, Chief Information Officer Branch; acting Director, Centre of Excellence for Risk Management and Regional Federal Councils in the Priorities and Planning Sector; Manager, Office of the Auditor General Liaison; and Senior Policy Analyst, Cabinet Operations, Regulatory Affairs Sector. Her 31-year federal public service career also includes working at the Privy Council Office, Industry Canada (Broadband Access program) and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Karen holds a Master of Arts Degree in German Linguistics, and a Bachelor of Arts Honours Degree in French and German Language. Her area of specialization for internal audit is risk management, and holds both the Certification in Risk Management Assurance and Certified Government Auditing Professional designations from The Institute of Internal Auditors. She is also certified in change management (Prosci).