Speakers

Liz Stone, Niimin Mshiikehn Kwe, Mshiikehn Dodem, Aamjiwnaang nDoonjibaa miinwaa Nogojiwanong megwaa dodaa.

Indigenous Knowledge leader and Acting Academic Chair, Indigenous Perspectives at Fleming College, currently serving 4th term on the Indigenous Women Circle - Women and Gender Equality Canada.

Previous Associate Professor, Indigenous Governance at the University of Victoria. Liz is honoured to be a member of Colleges and Institutes Canada, National Planning Committee for Campus Green Buildings and Indigenous Land Management Approaches & moderator for the Global Affinity Group – Sustainability Development Goals and Intersections with Indigenous Knowledge. Her most important accomplishment & responsibility has been that as a mother to her son, Mkons Stone-Debassige.

An advisor to federal and provincial policymakers, Dr. Herb Emery focuses his research on the development of the Canadian economy and the persistence of long-standing regional disparities. Aside from understanding the economic fundamentals of growth in a small open economy, Dr. Emery’s work incorporates political, historical, cultural and other institutional factors that have shaped Canadian development processes.

Dr. Emery began as the Vaughan Chair in July, 2016. He holds an MA and PhD in Economics from the University of British Columbia. His academic career began at the University of Calgary where, from 1993 to 2016, he assembled a track record of demonstrated excellence in research, teaching and leadership.

At the University of Calgary, he served as Full Professor in Economics and Research Director for The School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary as well as the Svare Professor in Health Economics, a joint position in the Department of Community Health Science in the Faculty of Medicine and the Department of Economics. From 2010 to 2015, he served as Managing Editor of Canadian Public Policy/Analyse de politiques, Canada's foremost journal examining economic and social policy.

Starting in 2019, Herb has led a major initiative, the JDI Roundtable on Manufacturing Competitiveness in New Brunswick, aimed at exploring policies and strategies for invigorating the province’s longstanding economic engine of manufacturing exports. In a post-Coronavirus global economy, manufacturing is expected to be a critical sector in all advanced economies for economic recovery and growth. The Roundtable is a research program and forum through which we can explore how the province and region can benefit from re-regionalization of manufacturing supply chains with a policy focus on the competitiveness of our exporters.

As Vice President, Workforce Strategies, Kim plays a lead role in designing and implementing OTEC’s workforce development consulting solutions. Kim works closely with OTEC’s senior consulting team, network of associates, clients and partners to transition projects from concept to execution. She also leads OTEC’s research and data strategy ensuring OTEC’s workforce solutions are anchored in meaningful insights and evidence. Kim’s passion for workforce innovation and collaborative delivery models has resulted in impactful projects and partnerships that enhance workforce capacity and drive positive social and economic outcomes for people, businesses and destinations.

With over 10 years of leading pan-provincial and national workforce development strategies, Kim is driven to bridge theory to practice through OTEC’s dynamic tourism workforce development portfolio. She has led initiatives related to sector-specific employment and skills training, sectoral responses to labour market shifts and disruptions, diversity and inclusion strategies that leverage workforce technology and cutting-edge approaches to evidence generation and use within sector-based strategies.

In 2019, Kim was recognized as an Aspen Institute Economic Opportunity Fellow after completing the Toronto Sector Skills Academy. Kim holds an Honours Bachelor of Science degree from Queen’s University as well as a Master of Environmental Studies degree in Tourism Policy and Planning from the University of Waterloo.

Brock Dickinson is the Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the University of Waterloo, and the Director of the University’s Economic Development Program. He currently works in private equity, and advises communities, companies and organizations around the world on geopolitics, economic development and sustainability.