SPEAKERS
Loreli Buenaventura
Head of Development (Learning, Talent and Diversity & Inclusion) for HSBC Canada
Loreli Buenaventura has advanced the inclusion goals of leading Canadian organizations at the community, national and global levels, including KPMG, Scotiabank and RBC. She also helped launch TRIEC’s Mentoring Partnership Program – recipient of the Canadian Urban Institute Award for Leadership in City Initiatives, and often draws from her seasoned early career in media and public relations. Currently, Loreli is Head of Development (Learning, Talent and Diversity & Inclusion) for HSBC Canada and an Associate with the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion (CCDI), working with HR and business leaders to integrate inclusion, innovation and diversity of thought as a strategic advantage. Originally from Winnipeg, Loreli currently resides in Toronto where she also supports the overall health, life and career goals of students and clients alike through her private practice in Yoga, Ayurveda and professional coaching.
Monica Adair
Principal Architect, Acre Architects
Monica Adair co-founded the award-winning firm Acre Architects with her partner Stephen Kopp in Saint John, New Brunswick in 2010. Monica was recent winner of the 2019 Van Houtte Masters’ Fund, the 2015 recipient of the honored Royal Architecture Institute of Canada’s Young Architect Award, and is featured in the book Canada 150 Women - Conversations with leaders, champions and luminaries.
Awarded the 2018 Professional Prix de Rome in Architecture, the 2017 Lieutenant-Governor’s Award of Excellence in Architecture in New Brunswick, Canadian Architect Magazine’s Top Emerging Designers in 2017, and selected for Wallpaper* magazine’s 2016 Architects’ Directory of rising-star and breakthrough practices from around the globe, Acre Architects’ unique practice of Storied Architecture champions more meaningful ways of living, and through narrative, helps shape a vision that inspires people to embark on a process of discovery, defying convention and ultimately creating their own myth.
Acre Architects has been twice named one of the top emerging design firms in Canada by Twenty + Change, having garnered national and international exposure as a recipient of the prestigious Sheff Visiting Chair in Architecture at McGill University, sessional lecturers at the Daniels School of Architecture, Landscape, and Design at the University of Toronto, as members of ‘Team Canada’ for the 2012 Venice Biennale in Architecture, as well as with their role in the television series ‘Majumder Manor’ on the W Network and the National CBC documentary ‘City on Fire’.
Jason Syvixay
Urban Planner, City of Edmonton
Jason Syvixay is an urban planner and public relations professional currently completing his PhD in Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Alberta. He holds a Master of City Planning from the University of Manitoba, in addition to a Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts from the University of Winnipeg. Over the last decade, Jason has worked as the managing director of the Downtown Winnipeg BIZ, a land use/community planner with HTFC Planning & Design, and more recently, joined the City of Edmonton to lead and support the implementation of its Infill Roadmap. He has a passion for people and places, and engages in city building that listens to and empowers the community, builds knowledge and capacity, and works towards equity in urban places. As a queer person of colour, the experience of the “other” plays a significant role in Jason's practice ㅡ in how he perceives people and the skills/perspectives they offer; and how cities can become tools toward inclusion and representation. Through media platforms such as the Winnipeg Free Press, Plan Canada, Canadian Architect, and Style Manitoba, Jason has and continues to shape and inform dialogue around pressing urban issues. jasonsyvixay.com.
Eddie Ayoub
Artistic Director, Art City
Eddie Ayoub is an artist and 25-year participant in Winnipeg's art community. He is Artistic Director of Wanda Koop's community art organization, Art City. Ayoub has directed Art City programming for more than a decade, and is co-chair of the Manitoba Artist-Run Centres Coalition (MARCC), representing Manitoba on the national Artist-Run Centre and Collectives Conference Board. Ayoub is also a member of the Youth Agencies Alliance (YAA) Executive Committee and a member of the City of Winnipeg’s OurWinnipeg Community Advisory Committee, helping to shape the foundation of Winnipeg's future development priorities.
Dee Barsy
Visual Artist
Dee is a local painter and Visual Arts Facilitator. In 2013, She graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree from the University of Manitoba. In 2016, she completed an Educational Assistant Diploma at the University of Winnipeg’s Professional, Applied and Continuing Education. In 2016, she completed the Indigenous Women in Leadership course at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.
Dee is involved with local and national youth-serving organizations, including locally-based Art City Inc. and Montreal-based N’we Jinan/Mikw Chiyâm/inPath. In her work as a Professional Artist, Dee holds equal importance and value to both her personal art practice as a painter and her collaboration with educators for youth visual arts programming and engagement in the visual arts.
Dee’s work is included in the Global Affairs Visual Art Collection, the collection of the Winnipeg Art Gallery, and many private collections. Additionally, Dee’s artwork is showcased locally through various business and organizations. Her work is also displayed at the Consulate General of Canada in New York and the Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations in New York.
Kalen Taylor
Executive Director, Purpose Construction Founder
Kalen Taylor is the Executive Director of Purpose Construction, a social enterprise trades training program and commercial contracting company. Purpose Construction provides targeted training and employment to people with barriers to employment, including recent immigrants, refugees and people transitioning out of the justice department, while offering market-rate commercial contracting services.
Prior to this role, Kalen co-founded Aki Energy Inc. a nationally award-winning social enterprise that works with First Nations to build community-owned renewable energy systems, training and employing 100% local installation labour. Kalen Taylor is also a co-founder of Aki Foods, an Indigenous-owned social enterprise that works with First Nations to strengthen healthy local community food systems. Through Aki Foods, Kalen led the development of the Meechim Farm, Canada’s largest remote First Nations community farming project.
Kalen has an Executive Masters in Project Management from the Schulich School of Business at York University, is LEAN Green Belt certified through the Desautels School of Management at McGill University, and is a graduate of Oxford University’s Social Finance program.
Diane Roussin
Project Manager, Winnipeg Boldness Project
Diane is a dedicated community leader and a proud member of the Skownan First Nation. Diane has worked tirelessly for over two decades with organizations and projects that respect the ability and the rights of Indigenous families, children and individuals to care for themselves and thrive. Diane holds Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Social Work degrees. She is a cherished member of a large extended family and a loving mother of two daughters whom she adores.
Matt Schaubroeck
Director of Programming, North Forge Technology Exchange & Fab Lab / ioAirFlow
Matt Schaubroeck is the Programming Director at North Forge Technology Exchange. He is a graduate of the Asper School of Business with a focus on entrepreneurship and international business. He works closely with North Forge members to help them commercialize their startups, identify useful resources, and provide coaching to help them achieve their innovation goals.
Matt is also an entrepreneur working in the clean technology and artificial intelligence sectors. His startup company, ioAirFlow, is helping improve the energy efficiency of commercial buildings.
Jennifer Fix
Urban Planner and Associate, Dialog
Jennifer works with communities of all shapes and sizes on plans for Main Streets, transit streets, waterfronts, neighbourhoods, and entire cities and regions. The common threads tying these projects together are inclusive public engagement, and evidence-based design strategies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and create places for people.
Jennifer’s projects are diverse and have taken her from small town main streets in Western Canada to the National Capital Region in Ottawa-Gatineau. She feels privileged to be invited to work with people in shaping the future of their town and cities, where she learns how to continually question her preconceived notions about what constitutes a good plan and a good planning process.
Jennifer is passionate about the intersection of feminism and city-building, and frequently presents on this topic. She recently served on the Canadian Institute of Planners’ Social Equity Committee, which was tasked with writing a gender equity policy. Jennifer has co-chaired and serves on the Steering Committee for the Province of BC’s Healthy Built Environment Alliance, which brings together professionals in the health and planning fields to research and educate on the links between well-being and urban environments.
Her projects have been honoured with planning excellence awards from the Canadian Institute of Planners, Planning Institute of BC, Union of BC Municipalities, and the Canadian Brownfield Network.
Allan Mankewich
Public Policy and Communications Coordinator, SEED Winnipeg Inc.
Allen has a wide range of experience developing policy and programs in the public and non-profit sectors. One of his interests is building equity into planning processes. He has spoken various conferences including the British Columbia Active Transportation Summit and ModeShift.
Liz Wreford
Principal Landscape Architect, Public City Architecture
Liz is the co-founder and principal landscape architect of PUBLIC CITY, and has worked for two decades as a landscape architect and designer in Canada, the United States and Australia. Her work contributes to public spaces that are expressive, engaging, accessible to all, and that help to create a better sense of Canada's identity.
PUBLIC CITY is a trans-disciplinary landscape architecture, architecture, and urban design studio practicing in Manitoba, Ontario and Alberta. With local and national awards, the firm is committed to design excellence that emerges from collaboration, playfulness, and innovation. The firm is known for its pursuit of winter urbanism, pleasure, and a driving commitment to the quality of multi-seasonal public realms. With a portfolio of work that is colourful, ecological, joyful, and disciplined, Public City has been identified by Azure and the Globe & Mail as one of Canada’s most exciting and distinct emerging design practices. In 2018, Public City was shortlisted alongside Snøhetta, WHY Architecture, Scape, and Stoss in Toronto’s international Rees Street Park design competition, positioning the studio as a national firm. Public City has led two of Winnipeg’s most important urban design studies in recent years that are continuing to shape the city – the Manitoba Centennial Centre District Plan and the Market Lands Urban Design Framework Plan.