Learning to Act: The Power of Systems Change

Speakers

Eve Langelier has been an engineering professor at Université de Sherbrooke since 2004 doing research in the biomedical field. In addition, she is currently finishing her second term as Chair for Women in Science and Engineering for the Quebec region. She is actively involved in the recruitment, retention and professional development of women in these fields. With her team, she creates resources, leads workshops, organizes symposiums and delivers speeches on topics such as women in STEM, equity, diversity, and inclusion in higher education and research, as well as inclusive teaching and design. Together, they also conduct research on the experiences of female students during work placements and on career choices in CEGEP. In addition, Eve Langelier participates in various EDI committees, such as the regional organizing committee for Gender Summit 11 and the NSERC EDI Committee.

Jamie Carnegie (she/her) is a consultant, community builder, and former senior public servant whose work centers on advancing equity and systems change through collaboration with non-profits, governments, and grassroots leaders. She brings decades of experience in policy, workforce development, and gender-based violence prevention, with a strong focus on Indigenous reconciliation and feminist public policy.

As the former Executive Director of Gender Equity Manitoba, Jamie led provincial investments in the National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence and secured more than $2.7M in training initiatives for women and 2SLGBTQI+ individuals in trades, aerospace, ICT, and social services. Today, she works alongside organizations such as YMCA-YWCA of Winnipeg, Clan Mothers Healing Village, the Islamic Social Services Association, Velma’s House, and Tunngasugit Inc., helping to design and implement programs that are equitable, responsive, and rooted in community priorities.

Jamie is a trusted convener who builds capacity through relationships—with boards, Elders, and those with lived experience—to co-create services that make a measurable impact. Raised as a settler, Jamie is reconnecting with her maternal roots in Missanabie Cree First Nation (Treaty 9) while living and working on Treaty 1 Territory in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Jennifer Petrela (she/her) is the executive director of Mentorat Québec and an expert in inclusive mentoring. Jennifer writes publications, hosts events, and speaks publicly in French and English about the theory and practice of mentoring in various settings and sectors. She speaks regularly on the intersection of mentorship and inclusion and has launched national and international partnerships to make inclusive mentoring more accessible to women and members of equity-deserving groups. She co-directed a study on women in engineering and engineering-adjacent positions in Quebec and collaborated on a book detailing the study’s findings and recommendations.

Jennifer holds a bachelor’s degree in history from McGill University, a graduate certificate in environmental health from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, and a master’s degree in population health from the Université de Montréal. She is a member of the boards of directors of the Association de la francophonie à propos des femmes en sciences, technologies, ingénierie et mathématiques and the Canadian Coalition of Women in Engineering, Science, Trades and Technology.

Lyne Laperrière embodies inspiring female leadership, actively committed to defending and representing women’s interests, while being a prominent figure in male-dominated sectors such as construction. With strategic experience in management, labor relations, health and safety at work (HSW), and human resources, she stands out for her ability to mobilize, transform, and valorize talents, fostering a culture of inclusion and equity.

Dedicated and resilient, she has been working for over 25 years to change mentalities, improve working conditions, and promote diversity, particularly by empowering women.

As a member of the board of directors of Elles de la construction from its early days, she has contributed to increasing the percentage of women tradespeople in the industry through programs that facilitate the integration and retention of these talents. Currently, she is the president of Business Professional Women Montréal.

As the first woman to hold the position of national director of a construction union, Lyne broke traditional barriers, embodying the aspiration for a more balanced and equitable representation in a key sector.

In 2025, she founded LAPERRIERE CONSEILS ET STRATÉGIES INC, a firm specializing in strategic support for organizations undergoing transformation, growth, and crisis management, bringing over 30 years of experience in construction, the public sector, parapublic, manufacturing, and non-profit sectors.

Margrét Vilborg Bjarnadóttir, is an Associate Professor of Management Science and Statistics at the Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland. Dr. Bjarnadóttir’s research focuses on data-informed decision-making, using optimization and machine learning. A part of her research agenda focuses on pay equity, where her work focuses on how to close demographic pay gaps, fair application of AI and the impact of AI on the labour market. Her work has been published in leading academic journals and has been covered by outlets such as HBR, Forbes, BBC, HR magazine and others. She teaches data analytics and has received multiple teaching awards, including being named the best MBA professor by Poets & Quants. She founded PayAnalytics, a workplace and pay equity platform that is closing pay gaps worldwide. Dr. Bjarnadóttir holds a B.Sc. degree in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering from the University of Iceland and a Ph.D. in Operations Research from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 

Myriam Bérubé is passionate about community innovation and development and brings her understanding of the diversity of experiences from francophone communities into Tamarack’s five interconnected areas of practices (collective impact, community engagement, collaborative leadership, community innovation and evaluating impact) leading to community change. She believes that we can accelerate our effectiveness by learning from one another, thus increasing our social impact and even inspiring others beyond our borders.

Prior to joining Tamarack, she was the lead on the Collective Impact Project (CIP), Montréal’s neighbourhood-based strategy to reduce poverty, an initiative operated by Centraide of Greater Montreal and supported by a major philanthropic, public and community collaboration. This experience gives Myriam practical knowledge of what it takes to navigate complex partnerships and engage with different types of stakeholders in city-wide change.

With 15 years of experience as a project manager in the field of social impact, she loves to explore new and creative pathways to collaboration across sectors. She contributes her experience in philanthropy to changemakers aiming to support collective impact, capacity building, and transformative community change.

Nahomie Jn Baptiste Millien is a passionate advocate for gender equality and systems transformation, with over 15 years of experience in women’s empowerment and social inclusion in international development. She has worked across various sectors, including trade, climate change, and governance. Founder of Centre Kaizen—Haiti’s first consulting firm dedicated to gender equity—she also created Femmes en Croissance/Womengrowth, a platform supporting women’s personal development and entrepreneurship. A member of BPW International’s Advocacy Committee, she proposed a national resolution on the professional integration of migrant women. She serves on the board of the Association des Mamans Haïtiennes du Québec and is pursuing doctoral studies on women’s empowerment in the workplace.

Rosheeka Parahoo, is a researcher, equity strategist, and founder of RP Research & Consulting, a boutique firm advancing systemic equity through research, policy evaluation, and strategic advisory. They work with leading organizations across the nonprofit, corporate, and public sectors to embed equity into strategy, leadership, and workplace culture.

Previously, Ro served as Director of Research and Advocacy at VersaFi, a national nonprofit accelerating equity for women and gender-diverse professionals in Canada’s finance industry. They have authored several flagship reports in partnership with Canada’s top financial institutions, including Intersectionality in Action: A Guide on Understanding & Practicing Intersectionality, a nationally recognized toolkit that helped shape sector-wide conversations on inclusive policy design. Ro also collaborated with the Canadian Coalition of Women in Engineering, Science, Trades and Technology (CCWESTT) on the WAGE-funded Gap Analysis Report, examining systemic barriers for women in STEM and trades.

Through their consultancy, Ro continues to collaborate with Canada’s top revenue-generating firms and sector leaders, offering strategic guidance on EDI, inclusive leadership, and workplace transformation. Ro’s thought leadership has been featured in The Conversation, Canadian Business, and The Future Economy. They hold a BA from the University of Guelph, an MA from Western University, where their thesis explored queerness as lived and performed identity, and a certificate in Applied DEI Strategies from Brown University. Their PhD research introduces a new framework for understanding EDI in Canadian workplaces, with a focus on the arts and cultural sectors.

Known for their engaging presentations and ability to translate complex research into clear strategies, Ro is a sought-after voice on EDI and gender equity, and a champion for systemic change.

Suzanne is the Director of legal affairs for the National Association of Women and the Law, a not-for-profit organization that works to advance the rights of all women in Canada through feminist law reform, particularly at the federal level. Suzanne recently completed her doctorate degree at Oxford University. She is a researcher, writer and public speaker interested in ending violence against women and against animals. Her recent books include “La fabrique du viol” and “Pourquoi Trump ne mange pas de tofu”.

Sylvia Cheuy is the Consulting Director of Collaboration at Tamarack.  She has spent more than 25 years as a changemaker and champions of multi-sector, citizen-led change efforts.  She has both practical knowledge and first-hand experience in the work of community and systems change using the framework of Collective Impact.  She has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto and completed her Graduate Diploma in Social Innovation at the University of Waterloo in 2013 where she explored opportunities to create change within regional food systems.

Sylvia is a skilled and seasoned community change facilitator whose work has included designing and delivering capacity-building sessions, both in person and virtually, to clients across North America as well as in Singapore, New Zealand, the UK, and Singapore. An active volunteer in her community, Sylvia served as a member of HCIA’s Leadership Council. She also served for nine years on the Board of Community Living Dufferin where she was instrumental in securing $2.8 million in funding for CLD’s shared home with Theatre Orangeville, the community’s professional theatre company. Sylvia lives in Caledon, Ontario.