Team Category: Presenter

Rukhsana Syed is the Diversity & Inclusion Acceleration leader for IBM Canada, responsible for making sure IBM meets and exceeds corporate & government standards for equity, diversity & accessibility. In her current role, she is utilizing data to predict trends that uncover actionable insights and building Analytic and AI processes, best practices, and technology that powers solutions used to cultivate a more inclusive environment. She spearheaded IBM efforts to become AODA & AMA compliant nationwide while maintaining the corporate accountability framework. She is IBM Canada’s Employment Equity Officer and played a vital role in creating a global model for IBM to roll out Transgender Benefits. IBM Canada is 1^stTechnology Company in Canada to announce this coverage.

Two decades of experience include leading IBM’s flagship programs specific to Indigenous People, Women, & People with Diverse Abilities. Rukhsana is a proud certified LGBT+ Ally since May 2014. She takes pride in creating and delivering 100+ IGN.I.T.E. Technology camps for Aboriginal students from coast to coast to coast (Halifax to Vancouver to Resolute Bay) for past 14 years.

Rukhsana has led over 300 Women In Technology (K-12) sessions, reaching more than 18,000 female elementary students. She is Civilian Co-chair of the Muslim Consultative Committee and on Chief’s advisory Committee with Toronto Police Services. She mentors within & outside her community globally and works closely to promote education & women rights. She also works as the Treasurer at her local religious by the Women for the women mosque/community center.

Her efforts were acknowledged by the former Lieutenant governor of Ontario, Honorable James K. Bartleman for her contributions to his Aboriginal Literacy program. She also received the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal from the Honorable David Onley in 2012.

Rukhsana was born and raised in Pakistan, she graduated from The Institute of Business Administration at University of Karachi. She immigrated to Canada in 1993 where she now lives with her three children.

Jody Spiegel is the Director of the Holocaust Survivor Memoirs Program at the Azrieli Foundation.

Hired at the inception of the Toronto office in 2005, Jody launched several exceptional projects. In her current role, Jody has worked with her team to produce over 123 survivor stories. She is the Executive Producer of Re:Collection, an interactive experience that invites users to explore the first-hand accounts of Holocaust survivors and the Azrieli Series of Short Films, which features stories and animatereat d excerpts from memoirs written by Canadian Holocaust survivors.

Across Canada and internationally, Jody is a guest speaker and panelist on the role of best practices in Holocaust education, memory and storytelling, Holocaust distortion and the future of Holocaust education without survivors.

Jody is a Canadian delegate of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) representing Canadian expertise in areas of pedagogy, first person accounts and the Holocaust distortion in the classroom. Jody sits on the Committee on Antisemitism and Holocaust Denial. In 2022, she chaired the Education Working Group of the IHRA.

A Chartered Architect, by profession, her values are curious, kind and creative. With global experience across Europe, North America and the United Kingdom Gillian has worked as an Architect, organizational design consultant, workplace strategist and change consultant.

She specializes in neurodiversity, well-being and inclusive environments (physical, cultural and organizational).

She has a lived experience of neurodiversity, having being diagnosed neurogenerative in 2019.

In 2020, she started research into inclusive environments and founded Strawberry Leopard Limited to leave a legacy of inclusive experiences. She also collaborated with the Cambridge University on their Inclusive, Diverse, Equity and Accessibility (IDEA) toolkit.

In 2023, she was selected as the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) core CPD speaker for inclusive environments.

Trevor Smith is a Human Resources Business Partner with BHP Canada, and has been involved with Inclusion and Diversity since his start there in 2012.

Trevor has participated in and lead the Inclusion and Diversity Council for Potash, and was responsible for developing the updated ID framework and strategy for a future Potash business in Saskatchewan which would allow BHP to make a step change in these areas and meet (among other goals) BHP’s stated objective of a gender balanced workforce across the globe.

Trevor is a Graduate of the University of Saskatchewan College of Education, a former high school teacher with Edmonton Public Schools, and a Certified Human Resources Professional.He lives in Saskatoon with his family of 5.

Aisha Sinclair is a seasoned business consultant with over 25+ years across public, private and non-profit sectors. Aisha seeks to understand the needs of the community and key stakeholders and integrates those needs with business strategy. Her focus is on results and making a difference for the organizations she supports. Aisha is able to draw on her extensive background in the public sector to identify key stakeholder groups, facilitate divergent input and make strategic recommendations that drive organizations forward. She is responsive to client and customer needs and provides recommendations that enhance an organization’s brand and reputation. Her innovative and creative methods enrich stakeholder engagement from a person-centered lens, while being cost-effective.

Aisha’s experience spans three sectors – public, private and non-profit. Most recently, Aisha is leading Brand & Marketing for Interior Health, which provides health and wellness to over 800,000 people in the Interior region. Prior to that, Aisha led public and employee communications for The City of Calgary. Through her time in Calgary, she led significant programs and projects that spearheaded innovation and thought leadership in government. Aisha is a skilled practitioner who draws from her background in communications and marketing to engage stakeholders and drive results. Aisha was awarded a Gold Quill for her work on a marketing strategy targeted to multicultural communities and has been awarded several Transforming Government awards.

CEO – Diversity Works NZ

Maretha has a background and qualifications inbehaviouraland business sciences and has held three transformational Chief Executive roles in South Africa, prior to her immigration to New Zealand about seven years ago – in the disability sector, localgovernmentand healthsectorrespectively. She has also recently completed a six-year term as Trustee of Belong Aotearoa, a specialist settlement agency that focuses on addressing the barriers to successful integration of newcomers in New Zealand.Maretha has a strong commitment to issues of social justice and a deep understanding of the way in which intersectional layers of prejudice have an impact on societal and employment outcomes.

Gayathri Shukla is the Founder ofCampfire Kinship, a social enterprise building inclusive cultures through story-based solutions. She holds an electrical engineering degree from the University of Calgary and an MBA from Queen’s University. Her professional background includes over 17 years of engineering and leadership experience in the energy sector. She is certified in an evidence-based storytelling method called guided autobiography and recently served as theFellowfor Economic and Financial inclusion at Public Policy Forum, contributing to research and policy development for f youth across Canada. In addition, Gayathri is the author of bestselling anthology,Landed: Transformative Stories of Canadian Immigrant Women,and podcast host ofHearth 2 Heartat radio station CJSW 90.9. She is a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee medal in recognition of her community contributions.

As theTalent Strategy Lead for Accenture Canada, Heather Shenton has over 20 years of experience in HR and Talent Management, including consulting work with some of Canada’s largest businesses focusing on driving HR excellence. She is passionate about the workforce of the future and how HR will evolve to support the digital organization. Heather is also part of the core Inclusion & Diversity team at Accenture and is a strong advocate for Mental Health in the workplace.

Heather graduated from McMaster University and is married with two daughters. In her spare time, she enjoys taking on new challenges through dancing, running & hiking.

Andi Shi is the Executive Director of CPAC, a multi-dimensional organization that is a professionals association, a career and skills development service provider, and a think tank that provides research-based support for the understanding and elimination of systemic barriers to equity, diversity and inclusion in Canadian society. Andi has a diverse range of leadership experience in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. He has been involved in equity, diversity and social justice initiatives throughout his career. He is a founding member of the Asian Canadians Together to End Racism (ACT2endracism) coalition and has been on the boards of a number of organizations, including Across Boundaries, People for Education and the College of Opticians of Ontario.

Jay Shea is James Bay Cree, Wolf Clan, and a member of Albany First Nation. Jay comes from a corporate background, with twenty years of experience in business development, client relations management, recruitment, and more. Since 2019, he has been passionately shaping policy and bylaws on the municipal level to positively impact the lives of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous community members. It was also in 2019 when Jay founded the organization Odeiwin, an Indigenous-led, not-for-profit organization that supports Indigenous people through a combination of innovative programs and traditional ways of knowing. Odeiwin seeks to improve the education, employment, and socioeconomic gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities while ensuring a continued connection to community and culture. Through Odeiwin, and his other community-based work, Jay is on a mission to impact a million Indigenous lives in the next 40 years of his life.