ALL OF OUR SPEAKERS

Ross Dunsmore

Ross Dunsmore has pretty much done everything a labour lawyer can do!  Generally, he helps employers get it right the first time, with preparation and strategy. He strongly believes that The Best Defense is a Good Offence. Over his career, he has been a leading advocate for municipalities across Ontario in their bargaining, particularly with fire fighters.

Ross has worked with many employers on proper procedures to avoid third party intervention. His practice encompasses analysis and resolution of work place disputes; from grievances and human rights complaints to wrongful dismissals. His focus is economical strategies to avoid expensive disputes.  Creative approaches to problems are a hallmark of his advice.

Ross obtained his Honours B.A. from McGill University in 1970 and his LL.B. from Queen’s University in 1973. He joined Hicks Morley as their first law student in 1973 and was admitted to the bar in 1975. Throughout his distinguished career, Ross has practiced exclusively management labour relations law and is well-known in that field. He developed specialties in change management, reorganization, amalgamations and contracting out issues.

Mary Legakis Engle

Influence through Style: How to choose words and body language to get results

Mary Legakis Engel is “The Management Coach” and a recognized speaker, coach, consultant and business executive.

Mary helps leaders and managers increase their incomes, raise their performance ratings and achieve the leadership positions they aspire to. She helps organizations improve profitability, cashflow and employee productivity through a proven facilitation process that she has honed over 10 years as a management consultant.

Mary has worked closely with managers and leaders across all industries, and has extensive experience working with global brands, public and private companies, start-ups and family-owned businesses across North America.

Mary is the Managing Director of the Global Women’s Leadership Summit, the world’s largest online professional development event for women. And as Co-Founder and Head Coach for Reddin Global, she has built the world’s first mobile management toolkit to help leaders be more effective in work and life – The Emerson Suite.

James LeNoury

Implications of Decriminalizing Marijuana and the impact on your workplace

James LeNoury represents  a wide range of  private and public sector employers and individual employees with respect to employment and labour employment and labour relations legal matters. James was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1992 and has specialized in employment and labour law since that time.

Prior to attending law school James completed a Masters of Counselling Psychology Degree and worked as a crisis counsellor, and child and family therapist at childrens’ mental health centres in Ontario.

In recognition of his accomplishments in the Supreme Court case WIlson v AECL landmark ruling which affects 10,000 federally regulated employers and 500,000 employees, James was awarded the National HR Employment Lawyer of the Year for 2016.

Sarah McVanel

The Frog Factor – Elevating performance through recognition

Recognition expert, Sarah McVanel is passionate about guiding each of us to re-discover our own greatness, and recognize the greatness in others.  She personifies Greatness Magnified!

An experienced and dynamic speaker and coach, Sarah offers the organizations evidence to back up how recognizing greatness in ourselves and others is key to sustained business success through improved morale, increased top talent retention, and generating a positive corporate culture.   Once we rediscover that understanding of our own greatness, we can use it to recognize that greatness all around us and improve ourselves, our workplace and the organization’s bottom line!

William Smalley

Influencers Toolkit for Managing the 3 “C’s” of Organizational Conflict

Bill Smalley is President of Route Five International Inc. (RFI), an award winning expert in marketing strategy and business development and a sought after speaker known for delivering powerful sessions that teach real-world skills. Described as a “strategic mind in a sales personality” he is the author of “Intelligent Selling™” a next generation sales program based on collaboration with customers to maximize value. He helps organizations clarify their competitive advantage and value to others then he teaches sales professionals how to sell that. As a trainer and performance coach he teaches skills critical for personal and organizational success including Leadership and Teambuilding, Executive Presentation Skills, and Negotiating. His warm and engaging style and “exceptional ability to motivate people to actually use what they learn” has made him a much in demand trainer, speaker, and facilitator.

Marion Reeves

Mindfulness In Practice: Building a resilient population from the ground up!

Marion Reeves is the owner of LIFE FIT Associates, a consulting company with contracts in the Greater Toronto Area. She has over 30 years of experience to draw on, having worked with a variety of organizations large and small including Peel Regional Police, Nokia, Kodak, MCI Medical Clinics and Wellness at Work. Marion’s background includes a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology and 10 plus years of experience teaching Program Planning for the post-graduate Workplace Wellness and Health Promotion Program at Centennial College. During her career, Marion has been involved in helping to advance workplace health and wellness through active participation on many provincial and federal committees. In 2013, Marion was honoured for her achievements as the recipient of the Canadian Workplace Wellness Pioneer Award.

Ronald Brecher

Answering Tough Questions: Building Credibility in High-Stakes Communications

Dr. Brecher is recognized in Canada and internationally for his expertise in toxicology, risk assessment and risk communication. He obtained a B.Sc. (Hon.) in biochemistry from Carleton University and a Ph.D. in Medicinal Biochemistry from Sussex University. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology (DABT), and a Chartered Chemist (C.Chem.) in Ontario. Dr. Brecher has more than 27 years of experience as a consultant in toxicology, with an emphasis on assessing and communicating about the human health impacts of chemicals. In addition to his technical consulting,

Elizabeth Horvath

Driving Business Results Through Workplace Mental Health

Elizabeth Rankin-Horvath, President of Hale Health and Safety Solutions Ltd., is a Management Systems Specialist, Integration Coach and Speaker, specializing in Occupational Health and Safety and Employee Wellbeing.

She was the CSA Group Project Manager on the development of the National Standard of Canada on Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace. She brings 20 years of expertise in successful integration of occupational health and safety management systems and experience with workplace mental health issues to help organizations with successful implementation of the National Standard.

Craig Fairclough

Connecting Business with Post-Secondary Institutions
How to Engage Students in Solving Challenges

Craig Fairclough is the Academic Coordinator for the Occupational Health and Safety Certificate Program in The Chang School of Continuing Studies at Ryerson University. He also teaches a variety of courses on a part-time basis at Ryerson University in the School of Occupational and Public Health, Faculty of Community Services, the Chang School of Continuing Studies and the Ted Rogers School of Business Management.