Alison holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree and Masters in Employment Relations from Memorial University and has 17 years of experience as a trainer and speaker for workplaces.

She spent the first part of her career in the non profit sector training on safety, prevention, wellness and disability awareness and is now a business owner with a training focus on mental health, wellbeing, stress management, burnout prevention and work-life balance. She is a Certified Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Trainer through the Mental Health Commission of Canada and teaches courses virtually and in person across Canada.

Alison has experience working with a wide-variety of workplaces and sectors including  Government, manufacturing, mining, agriculture, community organizations, energy, construction, aerospace, healthcare and more. She works primarily with leaders, managers, human resources teams and occupational health and safety professionals to coordinate and deliver learning opportunities for their teams.

She also holds another important working role as a mom of two young children and is very familiar with the demands of parenting and career in today's workplace.

Alison is passionate about talking about mental health and wellness in a way that everyone can understand and speaks openly about her own mental health experiences as a working professional. She loves engaging with audiences and sharing ideas.

Dr. Alyson Byrne is an assistant professor in organizational behaviour and human resource management at the Faculty of Business Administration at Memorial University. She received her PhD in organizational behaviour from Queen’s University in 2013. Prior to arriving at Memorial, Dr. Byrne also worked at the University of Manitoba and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in leadership at the Ivey Business School at Western University.

 Dr. Byrne’s research interests lie primarily in leadership, status, gender and relational outcomes. She has been published in journals such as The Leadership Quarterly and the Journal of Business Ethics and has presented her research at numerous international conferences. She has also been the keynote speaker for a number of public events concerning her research on leadership and gender.

Blair Pritchett manages Intact Insurance’s legal teams in Newfoundland & Labrador and New Brunswick.  Prior to taking on that role, Blair was a practicing lawyer for almost two (2) decades.  Most of Blair’s time in private practice was with McInnes Cooper, where he was a partner and a member of the firm’s Board of Directors.

Blair is a frequent instructor and lecturer on legal topics relevant to the workplace, including employment, human rights, occupational health and safety, employee discipline and the legalization of cannabis.  Blair’s background, which combines legal expertise and hands-on management experience, offers students a unique perspective on the law of the workplace.

Dr. Ford is a Professor at the Faculty of Business Administration with a Bachelors in Psychology, and double major in management information systems and organizational behaviour with her PhD. She conducts research on knowledge management, social media, and cyber deviance, in particular virtual harassment and cyber-incivility. She teaches organizations on how to create respectful workplaces to prevent harassment and bullying through the Gardiner Centre, and has also provided consultation work on remote work and its implications for employees and organizations. 

With twenty years of experience in leadership, Gail has attuned her skill and knowledge of the management of workplace conflict. A coach approach sets Gail apart as an excellent facilitator, which she combines with her passion for creating and contributing to healthy workplaces.  Her areas of expertise include conflict management, leadership, group and team development as well as civility and respect.  A focus on psychologically safe workplaces positions her to assess the current culture and offer developmental solutions through training as well as conflict coaching, facilitation, mediation and restoration.  Gail has a view of conflict both from an organizational leadership position and as an individual practitioner in a career that has spanned private, non-profit, healthcare and government agencies.

Gail holds a Master of Arts in Leadership from Royal Roads University, a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a Diploma in Business Administration from Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador.  Gail also obtained a Graduate Certificate in Executive Coaching from Royal Roads University.  She is a Qualified Mediator through the Alternative Dispute Resolution Institute of Canada, a Workplace Fairness Analyst (Workplace Fairness Institute) and offers individual conflict and executive coaching. 

Stephanie (Pronouns: She/Her/Hers) is a proud member of the 2SLGBTQ+ community and her pronouns are she, her, and hers. Stephanie is CEO of DiversityNL which she started in 2020 following her passion as an innovator who helps organizations implement inclusive policies and strategies for Two-spirited, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, + inclusion in organizations. Her mantra is that high performance teams have 3 secret ingredients - diversity, inclusivity and belonging. These teams outperform by 20%, creating work cultures and breaking down silos enhancing productivity, idea generation and revenue growth. 

Stephanie provides training for diversity professionals. She organizes and provides DEI Panels for organizations representing the historically excluded groups which includes women, indigenous, racialized persons, persons with disabilities and 2SLGBTQ+. Stephanie is experienced with strategic planning, needs assessments, benchmarking and workforce training and development sessions to organizations on topics related to 2SLGBTQ+ 101, Unconscious Bias, Gender Inclusive Language and Pronouns, Business Case and Effective DEI Strategies and much more. She coaches CEO's, individuals and organizations helping them progress their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion so everyone feels like they belong and can be their true authentic selves in the workplace. This shows up through culture and design, review and implementation of policies and procedures, guidance, systems and design, sustainability and capacity building as well as leadership and innovation.

Stephanie has a Master of Social Work degree from Memorial and contributes success to following your passion. She is a proud fur momma of 2 fur babies and loves getting out in nature for walks with her wife and 4 legged treasures.