Speakers

Neil Bouwer

Neil Bouwer

Visiting Professor of Practice

Max Bell School of Public Policy

Neil Bouwer is a Professor of Practice at the Max Bell School and the former Vice-President of the Innovation and Skills Development Branch at the Canada School of Public Service. He has also served as an Assistant Deputy Minister at the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, Natural Resources Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, and the Privy Council Office of Canada; and in executive positions at the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, Human Resources and Social Development Canada and the Business Development Bank of Canada. He has also worked at the Department of Finance and Western Economic Diversification Canada, and has Economics degrees from McGill University and St. Thomas University. For many years Neil actively supported the Government of Canada policy and data communities, the Advanced Policy Analyst Program and the Free Agent HR Program. Neil is excited to bring his many years of Public Service experience to his work at the Max Bell School of Public Policy.

Wendy Cukier

Wendy Cukier

Founder & Academic Director

Diversity Institute, Toronto Metropolitan University (Formerly Ryerson University)

Dr. Wendy Cukier is the Diversity Institute Founder, Academic Director of the Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub and Research Lead of the Future Skills Centre. The Diversity Institute is one of the ecosystem partners supporting the 50-30 Challenge in advancing gender parity and increased diversity on boards and/or in senior management. She is the co-author of the bestseller, Innovation Nation: Canadian Leadership from Java to Jurassic Park and former VP of Research and Innovation. The Diversity Institute has more than 130 research staff, 100 research associates from around the world, 200 industry partners and focuses on dimensions of diversity and inclusion in the workplace, future skills, and entrepreneurship and innovation with hubs across the country. Harnessing the power of innovation, it promotes the advancement of underrepresented groups. Wendy has been recognized with the Harry Jerome Diversity Award, the Bob Marley Award, the Metropolis Research Award, the CATA Alliance, Sara Kirke Award for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and 100 Most Powerful Women by WXN. She has been named a YWCA Woman of Distinction and one of the International Women’s Forum 2020 Women Who Make a Difference, a Woman of Influence and one of the “100 Alumni who shaped the Century” by the University of Toronto. Wendy holds a PhD, an MBA, an MA, and honorary doctorates from Laval and Concordia.

Lewis Eisen

Lewis Eisen

Perfect Policies

Lewis Eisen is the developer of the Perfect Policies™ approach to using respectful language in policy drafting, which has influenced organizations globally. His Amazon international bestseller *Rules: Powerful Policy Wording to Maximize Engagement* is now in its 4th edition. Lewis draws on 40 years’ combined experience as a practising lawyer, business consultant, and federal civil servant, and spends his time delivering workshops and speaking to groups of HR and other professionals around the world.

Leslie A. Fierro, PhD, MPH

Leslie A. Fierro, PhD, MPH

Sydney Duder Professor of Program Evaluation, Max Bell School of Public Policy

McGill University

Dr. Leslie A Fierro is the Sydney Duder Professor of Program Evaluation in the Max Bell School of Public Policy at McGill University. She is an evaluation practitioner and scholar with more than 20 years of experience. ​Originally trained as an epidemiologist, she became an “accidental” evaluator during her ​time working at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the early 2000’s. Since then, she has immersed herself in learning how to make evaluation (including her ​own practice) more meaningful and impactful. She has had the pleasure to work as an ​employee or consultant in many sectors, including the U.S. and Canadian Federal ​governments, the private sector, philanthropic/non-profit sector, and academia. In these roles ​she has engaged in scholarship and practice that aims to increase our collective understanding of how to strengthen the capacity of organizations to commission, conduct, and use high-quality evaluations.

Her work includes, but is not limited to, envisioning and implementing the Evaluation Capacity Case Challenge (EC3), conducting a ​review of U.S. federal agency evaluation policies, performing a study on evaluative thinking, ​researching organizational evaluation capacity (and measurement), and leading an evaluation of the Canadian Evaluation Society’s Credentialed Evaluator (CE) Designation.

Denise Gareau

Denise Gareau

She, Her, Elle, Director, Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus) Unit

Women and Gender Equality (WAGE) Canada

Proud civil servant with nearly 30 years’ experience working in diverse economic and social public policy fields. Over the past decade, Denise has led on several horizontal and whole-of-government strategies, and in 2019 became the Government of Canada lead for Gender-based Analysis Plus – or – GBA Plus. Denise is a bold advocate for GBA Plus because of the valuable insights it generates for better and more responsive government programs and policies. When public policy practitioners hone their GBA Plus competencies, they have a powerful tool at their disposal to change cultures, tackle discrimination and effect change.

Julie Gilbert

Julie Gilbert

Julie Gilbert Consulting

Julie Gilbert is an independent consultant with over 25 years of experience in program evaluation, applied health services research, and impact assessment. She has spent most of her career working within the Canadian healthcare system and the community sector. As a Staff Scientist at Cancer Care Ontario, Julie built an evaluation team and led evaluations of many different programs and models of care across the cancer continuum. She has worked alongside health system leaders and clinical champions across Canada and globally. She specializes in using principles of Implementation Science and Impact Measurement to design evaluations that are fit for purpose.

Julie has a Ph.D. in Health Services Research and an M.Sc. in Epidemiology, both from the University of Toronto. Currently, she holds an adjunct appointment at U of T’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health and is a credentialled evaluator with the Canadian Evaluation Society. She has over 35 peer-review publications and has conducted evaluation studies in the public sector in Canada and worldwide.

Dr. Nelson Jatel

Dr. Nelson Jatel

Since founding Limnology Research Corp in 2001, I have led a team of social scientists delivering social network analysis for government and corporate clients. Our projects cover a range of specialized applications, including mapping national networks of refuge education providers, supporting organizational change management initiatives, and identifying key actors in watershed networks to enhance watershed governance.

At Limnology Research Corp, we leverage social network insights to foster informed decision-making, strategic planning, and governance support. With over two decades in social science and project management, I continue to drive our commitment to applying rigorous social network methods to solve real-world challenges, strengthening communities and organizations alike.
As an Adjunct Professor at UBC Okanagan, I teach Water Management and Limnology, dedicating myself to mentoring the next generation of water professionals. My teaching experience also includes Environmental Water Law at Okanagan College.
Outside of work, I am an outdoor enthusiast, often found fishing, running, and playing basketball, or enjoying time at our family vineyard in Naramata.

André Loranger

André Loranger

Chief Statistician of Canada

André Loranger is an experienced senior public official, having worked at Statistics Canada for 26 years, leading large and complex statistical programs covering all aspects of the Canadian economy. He has previously served in various senior leadership positions in the Agency including Assistant Chief Statistician for Economic Statistics and Assistant Chief Statistician for Strategic Data Management, Methods and Analysis. In that capacity, Mr. Loranger was also Statistics Canada’s Chief Data Officer responsible for the overall stewardship of the organization’s information data holdings.

Mr. Loranger represents Statistics Canada on various international expert groups pertaining to economic statistics. He is currently the chair of the United Nations Network of Economic Statisticians and the chair of the United Nations Committee of Experts on Environmental-Economic Accounting.

Mr. Loranger holds an M.A. (Economics) degree and a Bachelor of Social Sciences (Economics) from the University of Ottawa.

Ryan MacDonald

Ryan MacDonald

Director, Health AI Implementation

Vector Institute

Ryan MacDonald is the Director of Health AI Implementation at the Vector Institute, one of Canada’s 3 national institutes dedicated to research and application in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). Ryan and his team work closely with healthcare institutions and providers to enable health AI deployment in order to improve patient outcomes and care delivery. Before joining Vector, Ryan worked as a Senior Manager in KPMG’s Healthcare practice in management consulting focused on transformation in the health and social care space. Ryan has led teams supporting system wide digital and operational transformation in Canada, the United States and the Caribbean. Ryan has a Master of Public Policy from the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto and has gone on to do certifications at Cornell University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in data analytics and artificial intelligence.

Élyse McCall-Thomas

Élyse McCall-Thomas

Evaluation Manager, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, PhD Candidate

University of Ottawa

Élyse is a Ph.D. Candidate with the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Education, working with Dr. Isabelle Bourgeois. The focus of Élyse’s research is the theory-policy-practice connection with a specific focus on the implementation and impact of the Government of Canada’s 2016 Policy on Results on the capacity to do and use evaluations. Élyse is also an Evaluation Manager with the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and has over 16 years of experience in research and evaluation. Her work spans many areas including research funding, education, public health, homelessness, mental health and addictions. Through her work, Élyse emphasizes considerations of capacity building, equity and inclusion, as well as the use of evaluation to support learning and evidence-based decision.

Jérome Mercier

Jérome Mercier

Director General

Evaluation, Employment and Social Development Canada

Jérôme Mercier is the Head of Evaluation at Employment and Social Development Canada since December 2021. Prior to joining the evaluation area in September 2019, Jérôme worked at the Treasury Board Secretariat on expenditure and compensation analysis in the areas of pay equity; at the OECD where he contributed to a publication on long-term care financing and the Employment Outlook and at the Department of Finance in the areas of personal income tax and federal-provincial relations. Jérôme Mercier holds a master’s degree in economics from Queen’s University and a bachelor’s degree in industrial relations from Laval Université.

Pushpita Saha

Pushpita Saha

Program Monitoring Evaluation and Learning Officer

Oxfam

Pushpita Saha is a Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) specialist with over 10 years of experience designing and leading MEL systems in gender, economic, and climate justice across Bangladesh, Africa, and the Middle East. With expertise in qualitative and quantitative methodologies, Pushpita has coordinated complex impact evaluations and performance assessments for international development programs, focusing on feminist and decolonizing approaches. Passionate about knowledge equity, she champions Southern-led solutions while advancing climate and health innovations, gender equality, and youth empowerment. A skilled storyteller, Pushpita uses research and evaluation insights to inform policy, drive social change, and amplify marginalized voices globally.

Kim van der Woerd

Kim van der Woerd

Lead for Strategy and Relations

Reciprocal Consulting

Kim is a proud member of the ‘Namgis Nation, and completed her PhD in Psychology at Simon Fraser University (SFU) and her dissertation research focused on a comprehensive participatory evaluation of a Federally funded First Nations substance abuse treatment centre. Kim has over 25 years of experience conducting local, provincial and national program evaluations, and conducting research. Kim has received many awards and distinctions for her research and evaluation work.

Sofia Vitalis

Sofia Vitalis

Lead of Education and Mentorship and Partner

Reciprocal Consulting Inc

Sofia was born and raised on the unceded lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Skwxwú7mesh Úxwumixw, and mi ce:p kʷətxʷiləm Nations. Sofia is of mixed ancestry, though her strongest cultural roots are through her maternal side connecting to her tierra in Colombia, South America. Sofia has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from Simon Fraser University, where her passion was deepened for critical reflection of systems and heart-centred values that affect all aspects of her work and life. Passions she was able to foster and grow through the work she does at Reciprocal Consulting. In her role, Sofia is passionate about adapting systems to meet people’s needs as well as working collaboratively. Sofia also thrives on fostering relationships and deepening understanding through the organizational and community education work she is privileged to do at Reciprocal Consulting. Sofia has a special affinity toward systems in public health and access to safe inclusive services.