Speakers

Program   Speakers   Registration   Accommodation

 Please note: Speaker details will be added as they are confirmed

Abigail Apenteng
Manager, Family & Income Stability, City of Brantford

Abigail serves as a Manager in the Family and Income Stability division for the City of Brantford, where she is dedicated to supporting the most disenfranchised members of society through the Ontario Works. Abigail holds a Bachelor’s of Honours in Social Work from York University.  With over 16 years of experience across three municipalities in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, she has also spent over seven years as a supervisor, honing her expertise in leadership, client service, life stabilization, and fostering self-sufficiency. She is a passionate leader dedicated to coaching, mentoring, and fostering the success and growth of those she works with. Abigail is committed to empowering her team and the individuals she supports, helping them achieve their fullest potential. Her dedication to personal and professional development is evident in her unwavering commitment to guiding others towards success.

Abigail’s commitment to empowering individuals is evident through her extensive work in employment readiness skills development and her ability to forge strategic partnerships with community organizations, including local colleges, non-profits, food banks, shelters, and crisis centers. She is especially passionate about working with youth, guiding them towards further education, employment opportunities.

Her dedication to assisting individuals from diverse backgrounds in achieving their full potential continues to drive her impactful career in social work.

Caitlyn Bourque
Special Projects Manager, City of Greater Sudbury

Caitlyn Bourque is the Special Projects Manager with the Social Services Section of the Children and Social Services Division with the City of Greater Sudbury. She has a B.Sc. (Hons) in Biochemistry from Laurentian University and a Master of Public Health (MPH) from McMaster University. She also holds a Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) certification with the Project Management Institute. Caitlyn’s work focuses on supporting the City’s Roadmap to End Homelessness by 2030 through the implementation of various initiatives. Caitlyn has held various roles within the City of Greater Sudbury since 2019 including Special Projects Coordinator with the Children Services Section and Data Analysis Administrator (By-Name List/HIFIS) with the Social Services Section.

Jessica Braimoh
Assistant Professor, York University

Jessica Braimoh is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Science (Criminology) at York University. Jessica has been involved in numerous community based projects that explore the coordination of socio-legal processes and policies among public institutions and the ways that this work responds and/or intervenes in the lives of people experiencing marginality and social exclusion.

Amanda Buchnea
PhD Candidate, Social Practice and Transformational Change Program, University of Guelph

Amanda Buchnea (she/her) is a Doctoral Candidate in the University of Guelph’s Social Practice and Transformational Change program with a research focus on community homelessness planning, youth homelessness prevention, and community-engaged policymaking. Amanda holds a Master’s in Public Policy from the University of Toronto, and a BA in Social Development Studies from the University of Waterloo. She has spent the last 9 years working in the field of youth homelessness prevention research and advocacy, and is currently the Strategy, Policy and Innovation Specialist at the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness. She has written numerous community reports and research papers and has presented across Canada and internationally on youth homelessness prevention, systems change and housing justice.

Kristen Bustamante
Manager, Special Projects, Children's Services, Region of Waterloo

Kristen Bustamante is the Manager of Special Projects in Children’s Services at the Region of Waterloo. Kristen has worked at the Region of Waterloo's Home Child Care Program for 8 years, most recently as the Manager of Home Child Care. She is currently on secondment, focusing on issues related to access and inclusion. Kristen brings experience and learnings from her previous career in the immigrant and refugee settlement sector to early learning.

Erin Dej
Associate Professor, Wilfred Laurier University

Erin Dej is an Associate Professor in the Department of Criminology at Wilfrid Laurier University. Previously, she was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness. Erin has been doing research about homelessness for over 15 years, guided by the lived experts she works with to study homelessness and social exclusion, with an emphasis on the criminalization of homelessness.

Tyla Fullerton
Manager, Integrated Policy, Planning & Funding, Children's Services, Region of Waterloo

Tyla Fullerton is the Manager of Integrated Planning, Policy and Funding in Children's Services at the Region of Waterloo. Her current portfolio includes managing the child care subsidy program and overseeing the CWELCC directed growth approach for Waterloo Region. With a background in community psychology, Tyla is committed to finding ways to remove barriers for families who are underserved in the licensed child care system.

Sarah Hasse
Director, Workforce Development, Fleming College

Sarah is the Director, Workforce Development with Fleming College. With over 20 years of experience in the Employment Services field in both community and post-secondary settings she has played a key role in the Employment Services transformation journey in the Muskoka-Kawarthas prototype region. Sarah’s focus on the client defined journey of success in the labour market is the driver behind the development of programs and services to grow sustainable employment.

Christine Heavens
Director, Community Development and Services, Cochrane District Services Board

As the Director of Community Development and Services, Christine Heavens brings extensive expertise to her role within the Cochrane District Service Board. She excels in developing tailored, culturally inclusive, and person-centred strategies supported by strong community and business partnerships. With 24 years of management and leadership experience in the public sector—over half of which has been in senior management roles—Christine has successfully led both in-person, and remote teams. She is skilled at identifying complex regional issues and devising effective strategies to manage multifaceted regional and community projects.

Her innovative approaches and collaborative efforts to address systemic barriers to education and employment have earned her considerable respect within the Cochrane district and across the province. Ms. Heavens is an active member of the SSM consortium and executive team, serves as chair of the Far Northeast Training Board, chairs the Literacy Network Northeast Working Group, and leads the District School Board Ontario Northeast Special Education Advisory Committee.

Christine holds a master’s in business administration (MBA) focused on global leadership, is a Certified Engineering Technologist, and a Survey Technician. She is also finishing a master’s degree in education focused on leadership in learning.

Outside of her professional commitments and educational pursuits, Christine values spending time with her family, travelling, and exploring the great outdoors.

Christine Lachance
Interim Housing & Ontario Works Program Manager, Cochrane District Services Board

With over 25 years of dedicated service at the Cochrane District Services Board (CDSB), Christine Lachance’s career reflects unwavering commitment, compassion, and perseverance. As a former teen mother, she overcame significant challenges by pursuing higher education despite financial hardships, following her passion for human services and community support.

Throughout her various roles, Christine has mentored others, supporting their professional growth. She currently leads the Cochrane District Nurse Practitioner Pilot Project. Known for her dedication to her work and the community she serves, Christine embodies and demonstrates respect, dignity, and care in all she does.

Outside of her professional life, Christine enjoys spending time with family, traveling to warm destinations, curling, fishing, camping, and biking. She is well known for her kindness, dedication, compassion, and empathy toward others.

Leah Logan
Regional Director, Indwell

Leah Logan is a Regional Director at Indwell. Indwell is a non-for-profit Christian organization that is currently providing a range of supportive housing to more than a thousand households across southwestern Ontario. Developing purpose-build housing communities and providing health supports to our communities most vulnerable, Indwell actively works to see tenants grow in their health, wellness and belonging. Leah is responsible for the development and management of Indwell's supportive housing programs within Waterloo Region. With a background in community development and program design in the social services and housing sectors, Leah dedicates her time to creating vibrant, livable, and safe communities where all can feel a sense of belonging.

Nicole McGivern
Supervisor, Family & Income Stability, City of Brantford

Nicole McGivern is a supervisor in the Family & Income Stability Department at the City of Brantford, where she has dedicated the last nine years to various roles, including manager, policy and procedure coordinator, service coordinator, and housing and community outreach worker. With a background in psychology from Wilfrid Laurier University, Nicole began her career in the non-profit sector, focusing on crisis intervention, mental health, and addiction services. Her diverse experience equips her with a comprehensive understanding of the challenges faced by individuals and families in need.

Amy Osika
Manager, Client Services & Waterloo Region Housing, Region of Waterloo

Amy has an extensive background in housing and homelessness, bringing over 15 years of experience to her role as a manager with the Housing Services Division of the Region of Waterloo. Currently, she oversees the supply of around 2,800 units under Waterloo Region Housing and is responsible for the delivery of various housing programs. Her work focuses on addressing housing needs and supporting the community.

Kathy Peters
Executive Director, Burlington Ontario Health Team

Kathy Peters, BSc.Bio., BSc.OT., MBA, is an experienced health system leader and presenter who is passionate about driving integrated systems of care. Kathy’s authentic leadership approach has successfully implemented cross organizational and sectoral collaborations and integrations from governance and strategic levels to clinical models of care. In her most recent role as Executive Directors for the Burlington Ontario Health Team, Kathy has led health care organizations serving Burlington to incorporate as a new Not-For-Profit organization with the shared purpose to promote health and wellbeing for the benefit of the general public by delivering care through an integrated health care delivery system in Burlington and surrounding communities.

Kathy is a Patient, Family and Caregiver-focused leader with a history of co-designing new collaborative-decision making structures in partnership with patients, families, and caregivers. She is passionate about improving the patient and family experience, developing cross-sector coalitions for the intention of innovation and integration, and striving to deliver services sustainably for current and future generations.

Kathy has worked in both the private and public sectors of the healthcare industry, with over 20 years of leadership experience in management and system planning roles. Kathy is an alumnus of St. Francis Xavier University, Dalhousie University, and McMaster University. 

Ashley Quan
Senior Manager, Research & Government Relations, Feed Ontario

Ashley Quan is the Senior Manager of Research and Government Relations at Feed Ontario, a charity that supports a network of food banks across the province. Her work focuses on creating tools and opportunities for food banks to engage in community organizing and advocacy, producing research on how food bank use intersects with social welfare, labour, and housing policy, and working with government partners and like-minded coalitions to advance evidence-based solutions to food insecurity and poverty.  

As a passionate advocate for active transportation and city-building, Ashley currently serves as the President of the Board of Directors at Cycle Toronto and has worked on several municipal and provincial electoral campaigns. In her free time, she enjoys rock climbing, crafting, and cooking, and has recently set a goal to visit all of Canada’s national parks.  

Melissa Riou
Senior Planner, Strategic and Environmental Planning Section, Planning Services Division, City of Greater Sudbury

Melissa Riou is a Senior Planner with the Strategic and Environmental Planning Section of the Planning Services Division with the City of Greater Sudbury. She is a Registered Professional Planner and a Member of the Canadian Institute of Planners. Melissa has a B.A. (Hons) in Geography from Laurentian University and a Master of Applied Environmental Studies (MAES) from the University of Waterloo. Melissa’s work focuses on policy development, affordable housing, and community improvement plans. Melissa was the Director of Planning for the Sudbury East Planning Board from 2011 to 2016. Prior to that she was a Planner with Oxford County from 2005-2011.

Carrie Sanders
Professor, Wilfred Laurier University

Carrie Sanders is a Professor of Criminology and Director of the Centre for Research on Security Practices (CRSP) at Wilfrid Laurier University.  She has been working with a number of community organizations to study community safety and community responses to homelessness in Brantford, Cambridge and Guelph. 

Tammy Smith
Program Manager, Community Development and Services, Cochrane District Services Board

With a remarkable career spanning 30 years in the social services field, Tammy Smith has dedicated over 25 years to the Cochrane District Services Board (CDSB) within the Ontario Works program. Starting as a frontline worker, Tammy steadily advanced though various roles, culminating in her current position as Ontario Works Program Manager, a role she’s held for the past 8 years. During this time, she has helped spearhead numerous key initiatives, including the Social Assistance Modernization project and EST roll-out for the district, showcasing her ability to lead and innovate. 

Tammy’s leadership is grounded in her commitment to creating a service environment that adapts to the needs of the community while valuing the individuality of each resident. She aims to foster a space where respect, communication and collaboration are at the core of all activities. She emphasizes treating individuals, staff and community partners with the dignity and respect they deserve. Tammy believes that by working together, we can ensure that every individual is supported in their journey toward a better life.

Away from her professional responsibilities, Tammy resides in the small community of South Porcupine, where she loves spending quality time with her family, especially her nine grandchildren, who are her greatest joy.

Myles Soulliere
Manager, Windsor Regional Employment Network

Myles Soulliere is a skilled leader in program management and operations with a deep background in community and employment services. As the Lead of the Windsor Regional Employment Network, acting as the Service System Manager for Employment Ontario Transformation across Windsor/Essex, Chatham-Kent, and Sarnia-Lambton, Myles oversees the integration and delivery of employment services to job seekers and employers.

Prior to this, Myles served as Coordinator of Housing Administration and Development for the City of Windsor and Program Manager at New Beginnings Windsor-Essex. He has consistently demonstrated success in leading complex programs, managing diverse teams, and delivering impactful outcomes, particularly in youth employment.

With over 15 years of experience in government-funded programs and community organizations, Myles is committed to fostering partnerships and bridging gaps in employment for marginalized groups through innovative, client-centered strategies.

Paul Sharman
Councillor Ward 5, City of Burlington and Region of Halton
Deputy Mayor Strategy, BUdgets, Process Management and Performance Measurement
President, Halton Community Housing Corporation 

Paul Sharman was first elected to serve on Burlington City Council as the Ward 5 representative in October 2010. Paul was re-elected in 2014 and again on October 22, 2018 and and 2022. He is now serving his fourth term in office. He is thankful and honoured to have been given the opportunity to represent citizens' interests and serve members of his community.

Paul is a cost and performance management specialist. As a consultant for over 30 years, he has facilitated change initiatives in organizations around the world such as the US Army, DuPont, AT&T and Toyota Motor Credit Corp. He is sought after as a thought leader in the field of Enterprise Performance Management. Paul led the New Jersey based global Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) as its President and CEO. He was named as one of the Top 100 Most Influential People in the US accounting world in 2005, 2006 and 2007 by Accounting Today. He served as Editor-in-Chief of the Thomson Reuters publication Cost Management for ten years. One hundred of his articles have been published in professional journals around the world.

Since 2012, Paul Sharman’s quest to bring better care to seniors began when his mother had to be moved to a long-term care (LTC) facility from a retirement home. He and his colleagues have dedicated much time and effort in establishing the Coalition of the Willing in Halton and the City of Burlington to implement and demonstrate there is a better solution to providing older Canadians with a dramatically better quality of life. This was accomplished by adapting the practices and philosophy of the inspiring US Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) to produce the now proven and successful Community Wellness Hub (CWH). CWH projects to date include:  

• 410 John Street Burlington, implemented in Dec 2019! 100+ Members and growing (Halton Community Housing Corporation - HCHC)
  
• Wellness Hub Expansion at 410 John Street Burlington to service people in their own homes in the surrounding, area in process
  
• 271 Kerr Street, Oakville (HCHC) 2023
  
• 5250 Pinedale, Burlington (HCHC) 2024
  
• 500 Claridge Place, Burlington (HCHC) 2024
  
• In Construction: 265 Kerr,  Oakville (HCHC)
  
• New communities in process: Hamilton (2)
  
• New communities Considering: Milton, Oshawa, Ajax, Scugog, Peterborough

There is complete lack of a well-designed, systematic, preventative care service across service across Canada to keep all older people out of hospitals and long-term care.  Couple that with an annual 4% increase in the number of people over the age of 75 for the next twenty years and that people over the age of 85 are the primary driver of patient load in hospital and long term care. In addition, during Covid Canada experienced 90,000 excess deaths due to lack of capacity of hospitals.

Based on these facts, there is a burning platform to provide a 1 million person capacity PACE inspired Community Wellness service across Canada in the next ten years, increased to 2 million at the 20-year mark, to which, Paul is committed to building.  

Aaron Stauch
Director, Government Relations, Bruce County

Aaron is currently the Director, Government Relations at Bruce County, where he also oversees the Stratford-Bruce Peninsula SSM. Aaron is a seasoned social purpose sector leader with extensive experience in the start-up and turnaround of human service organizations. Over the past 15+ years, Aaron has led projects and service transformations across the environmental, employment, mental health, and social assistance sectors

Rosanna Wilcox
Interim Director, London Regional Employment Services

Rosanna Wilcox is the Interim Director, London Regional Employment Services. An expert in strategic and organizational management, Rosanna has spent nearly two decades in local government, having led the development and implementation of an enterprise-wide continuous improvement and innovation program, and the City of London’s work to create a safe community for women, girls, gender-diverse and trans people. As the Service System Manager, London Regional Employment Services is responsible for implementing Integrated Employment Services in the London Economic Region.

Nickey Wiles
Manager, Child Care, YMCA of Three Rivers

Nickey Wiles is the Manager of Child Care at the YMCA of Three Rivers, where she has dedicated 20 years to the organization. Throughout her career, Nickey has specialized in child care, spending much of that time in a supervisory role. In her current position, she collaborates closely with the J.A.I.D.E (Justice, Access, Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity) Manager, focusing on enhancing access and inclusion in child care services across the Waterloo Region.

Christine Wilmot
Manager, Employment Services System, Durham Region

Christine Wilmot is the Employment Service System Manager with the Municipality of Durham Region. Christine has over 25 years of experience in community employment services working in the not-for-profit and public sector. Christine has extensive leadership experience with system transformation, start-up and delivery of innovative programming. Her true passion is supporting individuals furthest from the labour market. Christine is looking forward to building a strong integrated employment services system in Durham which launched January 2024.