Courtney Betty is a Lawyer, public speaker and one of the leading Diversity and Equity Advocates in Canada.  His career began with the Department of Justice Canada representing the Government of Canada in complex constitutional, tax, commercial, and civil matters.  As a Diversity leader, Courtney Betty played a leading role in advancing strategies for using procurement contracts as means of creating economic and social equity. His present focus is educating corporations, governments and organizations on the legal risks associated with failure to implement proper Diversity and Inclusion strategies.  Mr. Betty has received numerous awards for his role as a Diversity leader including the City of Toronto William Hubbard Award, the Planet Africa Award, and the Queens Jubilee award.  By combing his legal experience with his passion for diversity, Mr. Betty provides proven legal guidance to corporations and organizations to successfully navigate the legal risks and benefits of Diversity and Inclusion.

Elizabeth Bingham is a team lead, workplace investigator and trainer at Rubin Thomlinson LLP. In her role as a team lead and investigator she conducts and oversees investigations into a range of issues, including harassment, sexual harassment and discrimination. As a trainer, she values the opportunity to connect with people from all sorts of organizations to talk about making their workplaces more respectful and inclusive.

Silke Brabander is a Senior Policy and Program Advisor in Violence Prevention at the Women’s Equality Branch of Executive Council Office with the Province of New Brunswick. Fluent in English and French, Silke brings over 15 years of experience in policy analysis, program management, community engagement and training from working in public, private and non-profit sectors. With expertise in gender-based violence, Silke has provided training to thousands of service providers working in the field of domestic violence. Over the last four years, Silke has served as a member and chairperson of New Brunswick’s Domestic & Intimate Partner Violence in the Workplace Committee, an inter-agency group representing academia, government, employers and unions. She has provided training to employers – from large HR departments to small businesses – on how to address domestic violence in the workplace and why, encouraging the use of “It’s Your Business: A Domestic Violence Workplace Toolkit.”

Originally from Montreal, Silke holds a B.A. and an M.A. in Political Science with a focus on gender and international relations.

Connie regularly advises, represents and advocates for employers on a wide range of employment and labour law matters.  Thoughtful and strategic, Connie complemented her strong private practice with a secondment with one of Canada’s largest retailers where she skillfully led its labour and employment department nation-wide. Connie began her career with Sherrard Kuzz LLP as a student during which time she participated in a secondment with the Ontario Labour Relations Board. She is bilingual – English/Mandarin.

Dr. Stephen D. Hart obtained BA, MA, and PhD degrees in psychology at the University of British Columbia. He has been on faculty in the Department of Psychology at Simon Fraser University since 1990, and has held the rank of Professor since 2001. He also has been a Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Psychology at the University of Bergen in Norway since 2000. He works as a Threat Assessment Specialist at Protect International Risk and Safety Services Inc. His expertise is in the field of clinical-forensic psychology, with a special focus on the assessment of violence risk and psychopathic personality disorder. He has co-authored more than 235 books, chapters, and articles. He has served as editor of two scientific journals; a member of the editorial board of eight journals; and ad hoc reviewer for more than 30 journals. He served as executive committee member of several professional organizations, has received various distinctions for his professional work, and has been qualified to give expert testimony before various courts, tribunals, and review boards in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

Courtney Laidlaw is a Human Rights Consultant in the Diversity and Culture Group at the Toronto Transit Commission where she investigates, analyses and resolves complex complaints regarding alleged contraventions and violations of human rights legislation. She also provides consultation to internal and external stakeholders on human rights, workplace violence, workplace harassment, accommodation and accessibility. Before joining the TTC, Courtney managed the faculty governance processes and the Office of the Dean at Osgoode Hall Law School, prior to which she practiced in the areas of labour, employment and human rights law. She received a BA in History, a BAH in English and Politics, and a JD from Queen’s University, and has a Master of Laws in Labour Relations and Employment Law at Osgoode. Courtney is actively involved in the human rights space, having recently co-chaired a webinar on Considerations for Conducting Trauma-Informed Investigations and Dealing with Microaggressions and Unconscious Bias, and presented at the Ontario Bar Association’s Annual Update on Human Rights on the subject of human rights considerations of employee discipline for social media use. She also currently serves on the executive of the Ontario Bar Association’s Constitutional, Civil Liberties and Human Rights Law Section as the Continuing Professional Development Liaison.

Lee Anne Leo is currently the Ornge Human Resources Business Partner – Corporate Services with over 10 years Investigative experience.  She began her career Human Resources career with Skyservce Airlines in 1998 becoming the Human Resources Manager in 2006.  During her tenure with  Skyservice investigations would consist of low level corrective action interviews for her own staff which then expanded to assisting all levels of the organization with corrective action investigations, interviews, coaching and mentoring.  Her real introduction to investigations at a higher more formal level was at Ornge which she joined in 2010. She was appointed as the Harassment, Discrimination and Violence Investigator. Her first formal assignment was in 2012 alongside a third party Investigators TurnpennyMilne LLP Workplace Lawyers.  Since then she’s conducted or been involved in over 50 investigations.  She’s also assisted in the development of the Ornge Harassment, Discrimination and Violence Policy in 2016 and redeveloped the Ornge Harassment, Discrimination and Violence Policy merging both the Provincial and Federal Legislations in 2022. Her formal training has been with Queen’s University in Mastering Fact-Finding & Investigation Program.

Jennifer holds a Master of Arts in Labour Studies from McMaster University with a research specialization in workplace harassment and violence. Her consultancy focuses on the promotion of human rights, equity, and access to foster inclusive and healthy work environments. She has extensive experience working with organizations on a wide range of issues including, but not limited to, legislative compliance, policies and procedures, and organizational responsibilities.

Jennifer has an in-depth understanding of how systemic issues contribute to and exacerbate workplace inequities, particularly for marginalized workers. Using an intersectional, anti-oppression, and anti-racism lens, Jennifer effectively identifies and offers resolution options to address the myriad of issues that confront employers and impact employees. As such, Jennifer is routinely called upon to help organizations develop strategies to identify and eliminate systemic barriers and prevent and address workplace harassment, discrimination, and violence.

Dara Marcoccia is a seasoned HR professional who has been working in Human Resources for over 23 years both in the private and public sector. Her focus and passion is human resources operations and she has worked for the last nine years at Trillium Health Partners as the Director, HR Services. In this role she supports employee and labour relations, recruitment, volunteers and major projects. She is a results-oriented leader with a track record of transforming HR to drive service excellence and build strategic partnerships. She is a devoted employee advocate and strives to create a positive employee experience in all areas of HR. When she is not at work you will find Dara playing Pokemon Go with her 11 year old son Mateo.

Nelson Onwuliri, Head of Human Resources, is a professional with 5+ years of human resource management experience, the last 3 years have been with First Nations and Indigenous Government. Nelson has a notable experience in strategic human resource planning, performance management, staffing, federal and provincial law compliance, employment contract negotiations, employee benefits, compensation and payroll, training and development, and management coaching.

Nelson Onwuliri holds a master’s degree with a merit in International Relations and Security from University of Westminster, London, United Kingdom and a bachelor’s degree with a second class upper in Political Science from Madonna University, Nigeria. Additionally, Nelson Onwuliri also has a Post-Diploma in Human Resources Management with Honours from College of New Caledonia, Prince George, British Columbia, Canada. Nelson Onwuliri has worked with Prestigious National Multi-Cultural Institute in West Africa to become a master level trainer in cultural competency. Nelson Onwuliri is a member of Chartered Professionals in Human Resources of British Columbia/Yukon and a member of Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM). Nelson Onwuliri is also a Registered Professional Recruiter under the Association of Professional Recruiters of Canada. Nelson Onwuliri is also a certified member with AFOA and has recently got his Certified Indigenous Human Resources Professional (CIHRP) through AFOA Canada.

Nelson Onwuliri works with professionals who are in leadership roles in public education and are looking to understand the strategies they can employ to balance themselves between their personal life and their work life so they can be more effective in their leadership role.

Richelle provides advice to a wide range of clients in both the private and public sectors in management side employment law with a particular focus on wrongful competition, executive compensation and compensation plans, and wrongful dismissal issues. She has successfully litigated cases before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice and Court of Appeal as well as private commercial arbitration proceedings and has conducted hearings before the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal. Richelle has extensive experience in the insurance brokerage industry advising on employee mobility and book of business ownership issues.

Richelle’s primary objective when working with clients is to provide timely and insightful legal advice that is appropriately tailored to the client’s business and economic needs and objectives.

Professional and industry experience

Employment and Labour Law

• Successfully defeated a claim for wrongful solicitation and disgorgement of profits in a lawsuit between two insurance brokerages
• Acted for a large international company in which summary judgement proceedings seeking damages for wrongful dismissal damages were defeated
• Represented a large manufacturer in grievance proceedings in which a termination for cause of a long service  employee was upheld pursuant to a last chance agreement

Human Rights

• Represented a large public institution in proceedings related to the elimination of workplace benefits for workers over the age of 65

Richard has worked within the Canadian Federal Public Service for over 25 years. He is currently the Director of the Equity, Anti-racism, Diversity and Inclusion Leading the Anti-Racism and Anti-Discrimination Secretariat at the Department of Justice Canada where his work focusses on ensuring equity and inclusion for all equity seeking groups within the organization. Over the years, his work has involved leading initiatives in support of Government of Canada commitments to the United Nations International Decade for People of African Descent. Richard is one of the founders of the Federal Black Employee Caucus that has been working with federal public service and union leadership to address anti-black racism in the federal public service. Richard’s work regionally, nationally and within the federal public service is intended to improve the condition of Black and African diaspora communities in Canada. Over the last few years Richard has been a speaker on addressing systemic racism, anti-black racism and how to be an ally within the Black Lives Matter movement.

Heather has thirty years’ experience working as a mediator, adjudicator, advocate, prosecutor, investigator, and trainer. She has worked for all three levels of government practising almost exclusively in administrative law and social justice. Most recently, Heather was appointed as a Vice Chair at the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal and the Licence Appeal Tribunal of Ontario. She is also a roster certified mediator with the Superior Court of Justice. Heather has successfully mediated hundreds of human rights and employment law disputes and has been a guest speaker for the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association and mentor for Osgoode Professional Development.

At HR Proactive Inc., Heather provides customized in-person and virtual group training sessions for clients in the public and private sector as well as one-to-one sensitivity training. Topics include respect & civility in the workplace, sexual harassment, and bystander intervention. Heather’s goal is to help employers maintain healthy, respectful, productive, and mutually inclusive workplaces.

Flora brings a trauma-informed approach to workplace investigations, drawing on her ability to develop trust with those she engages with. She has an in-depth understanding of the complexities of gender-based violence, harassment, and discrimination and how these can manifest in conduct and attitudes, giving rise to challenging workplace issues. Flora also has specific expertise with cases involving civil sexual assault and harassment, cyber-bullying, law enforcement, and those involving educational institutions, LGBTQ*+, and athletic-related organizations. She has attended the Institute for International Criminal Investigations in The Hague, Netherlands, for accreditation on the Investigation of Conflict-Related Sexual and Gender Based Violence under international criminal law.

Before joining Rubin Thomlinson, Flora served several law firms, with a focus on civil sexual assault (including historical childhood abuse) and human rights litigation. She also provides as-needed investigation services to the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) of the Ministry of the Attorney General.

Dr. Kelly A. Watt obtained her BA in psychology at Simon Fraser and her MA and PhD in psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She worked as a Psychology Fellow at Vancouver Coastal Health between 2008 and 2010. She currently works as Threat Assessment Specialist at Protect International Risk and Safety Services Inc. and a Workplace Consultant at Competence Center Bergen. She is a member of the Mental Health, Law, and Policy Institute at Simon Fraser University. Her expertise is in the field of clinical-community-forensic psychology, with a special focus on violence risk assessment and management, victim safety planning, coordinated community responses, and threat assessment teams. She also currently serves as the President for the Global Team Collaborative which serves as an information exchange and resource center concerning the goals, structures, processes, operations, and outcomes of teams, focusing on both challenging issues and promising practices. She has co-authored more than 85 articles, chapters, manuals, reports, and presentations and has provided over 200 invited presentations and workshops for diverse professionals in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.