President and CEO Old Brewery Mission

James Hughes

James Hughes is the volunteer President and Chair of the Provincial Employment Roundtable (“PERT”). His full time job is in the homelessness sector as the President and CEO of the Old Mission Brewery. Previous roles include Executive Lead at the McConnell Foundation, President of the Graham Boeckh Foundation, Deputy Minister of Social Development for the Province of New Brunswick and Director-General of the Old Brewery Mission. His two books, both published by James Lorimer Canada, are Early Intervention (2015) and Beyond Shelters (2018). He is proudly the founding President of YES Montreal.

Founder and Coordinator, Community Service Initiative at John Molson School of Business

Dave McKenzie

Dave McKenzie is the Secretary/ Treasurer of the Provincial Employment Round Table (PERT). He is the founder and coordinator of the Community Service Initiative (CSI) at the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University. He builds relationships with community partners and creates opportunities for students, faculty and staff to share their expertise by providing relevant service to organizations while engaging in experiential learning. 

Dave leads through influence rather than authority. He created the CSI Round Table, where 25 – 30 executive directors and managers of local non-profits come together to find solutions to community issues. His positive attitude and tireless energy encouraging others to succeed are infectious. He created the CSI Starting Your Own Business Entrepreneur-Training Program to train community entrepreneurs on how to set up and run their own businesses successfully. It was also an opportunity to take the Business school directly into the community and help level the playing field for those with limited access.

A married father of three, Dave is passionate about supporting and empowering young people with the resources to succeed. He seeks to instill a lifelong value for community involvement with business students. Through his young CEO program, he welcomes high school students from across Montreal to Concordia each summer, to participate in business and leadership development workshops facilitated by students, staff and faculty who share their expertise while learning and planting the seed in the young people that university is possible. 

Dave is a recipient of the 2021 Montreal Community Cares Foundation (MCCF), Community Leadership Award. He believes that you earn the right to lead through your actions and by example.  He is a director of The Federation of African-Canadian Economics (FACE) Coalition – A coalition of Black-led organizations dedicated to stimulating economic growth and creating generational wealth for Canadians of African descent. He is a member of the Union Council of the Concordia University Professional Employees Union (CUPEU) and a member of the Future Concordia – University Outreach Working Group. Dave has a BA in Sociology from McGill University, a Graduate Diploma in Institutional Administration and a Masters in Educational Technology from Concordia University.

Executive Director Regional Development Network

Cathy Brown

Cathy Brown is the current Executive Director of the Regional Development Network (RCN), a provincial organization which represents English-speaking community groups in the regions of Québec. Previously, Cathy was the Executive Director for the Committee for Anglophone Social Action (CASA), which represents the English-speaking population of the Gaspésie at the regional, provincial and national levels with an aim to build community vitality.

President and CEO - Community Economic Development and Employability Corporation

John Buck

John Buck is proud to be part of the English-speaking Community of Quebec. He is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Community Economic Development and Employability Corporation (CEDEC). CEDEC is an economic and labour force development organization working to improve the economic well-being of communities in a time of rapid and far-reaching economic change.

John has served as President and Chief Executive Officer at CEDEC since 2006. John

has been involved with CEDEC since the organization was created in 1999. As a founding member, John served on the Board of Directors and then went on to serve as Treasurer and Secretary, and as Chair of the Board of Directors in 2002-2004. John has previously served in various capacities on several boards of directors including on the Board of Directors at Townshippers’ Association. Prior to working at CEDEC, John worked in the field of finance with one of Canada’s leading consulting firms.

John has studied at Bishop’s University, McGill University and Laurier University and holds degrees both in sciences and in business administration. John also holds a Certified Association Executive (CAE) professional designation and certificates in governance from The Institute for Corporate Directors (ICD). John is currently a Board Director on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Local Employment and Economic Development (LEED) Forum. John is the Vice-Chair of the Canadian Society of Association Executives (CSAE) where he has served as a Board Director since 2018. John is also a member of the Government Relations Institute of Canada and the Public Affairs Association of Canada (PAAC).

CEO BEAVER TAILS CANADA INC. & MOOZOO CREMERY

Pino Di Ioia

Pino Di Ioia (McGill MBA ’93) was 11 when he started his first venture; selling soft drinks and salvaged golf balls at a neighborhood course. At the age of 19, his passion for entrepreneurialism landed him a position as manager with BeaverTails Pastry ( www.beavertails.com ). Shortly afterwards, while completing his MBA, Pino bought the store he was managing as the chain’s first franchise. Pino and his twin brother Anthony eventually went on to become the first Master Franchisees for the company, opening a total of 48 stores within the province of Quebec. In 2009 they bought out the majority of the company from the founder and are now overseeing worldwide growth. Pino is CEO and co-owner for BeaverTails Canada inc., franchisor of 160+ shops throughout Canada in the US, UAE, Mexico, and France. Along with his wife and twin brother he has also launched moozoo creamery ( www.moozoo.com ). Pino lives in Montreal with his wife Tina, and their three adopted children: daughter Lucca and their sons Kai and Max… as well as their dog Milo. Work continues to be an adventure between fun walks and lots of cooking experiments with the kids…

Revenue Generation and Grant Writing Officer at Quebec Community Newspaper Association

Linton Garner

Linton Garner is a bilingual community leader and an expert in community and economic development, intercultural relations and governance, and organizational development. Linton’s 25 years of experience in the community sector, has given him exposure to both administrative and hands-on roles in community organizations, public institutions, and government. His board-level involvement with multiple community organizations and public entities, have also given him a sound knowledge of governance best practices and organizational development tools.

COORD. OF COMMUNITY & BUSINESS, NEW FRONTIERS SCHOOL BOARD

Chuck Halliday

Chuck Halliday is the Coordinator of Community and Business for the Continuing Education Department of the New Frontiers School Board, located in the Monteregie-West. His professional duties have him part of multiple dossiers and committees. Whether it be supporting adult learners to succeed with their post-secondary goals, especially in one of his school board’s three vocational and adult education Centres (NOVA, CVCEC, HAECC) to the development and improvement of the quality of life for English speaking communities. Chuck is a strong believer in the power of networking, collaboration, and partnerships. When stakeholders across multiple sectors (education, health, employability, social services, etc) create sustainable best practices and holistic strategies to better support our citizens, better results are achieved. This is why he fully supports the goal of PERT (Provincial Employment Roundtable) to become a valuable tool with the ultimate goal of improving the employment for Quebec’s English Community across the province.

Manager of Regional Development

Rachel Hunting

Rachel has expertise in the youth sector, access to and the governance of health and social services, as well as official languages issues as they pertain Quebec’s English-speaking minority community; she has been the Executive Director of Townshippers’ Association since 2012. In 2015 Rachel was appointed to the Board of Directors of the CIUSSS de l’Estrie-CHUS where she was renewed for a second mandate as an Independent Director, is president of its Governance and Ethics Committee and is an active member of its Human Resources and Communications Committee.

Executive Director YES Employment + Entrepreneurship

Aki Tchitacov

Aki P. Tchitacov began his mandate as Executive Director of YES in August of 2018 following a diverse career in community development. Raised in Montreal, he holds a Master of Arts degree in public administration and public policy from Concordia University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from McGill University. He started his community work in 1989 as director of community development at the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce (NDG) YMCA, before eventually becoming the executive director of the NDG YMCA, and later the Point Saint-Charles YMCA.  Subsequently, he has held leadership positions with Le Bon Dieu Dans la rue (Dans la rue), including Executive Director, and with the city of Montreal, where he served as Chief of Staff to the borough mayor of  Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce (CDN-NDG).  

Senior Officer: Political Action and Engagement

Malcolm Lewis-Richmond

Malcolm Lewis-Richmond holds a Bachelor’s degree from Université du Québec à Montréal with a major in linguistics and a certificate in industrial relations. He works on collective bargaining and social justice campaigns as a senior political action officer at The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, Canada’s largest union of public service professionals. He is the founding president of Youth 4 Youth Québec, a group that represents the interest of Quebec’s English-speaking linguistic minority youth community. He previously worked as a campaign organizer for a Member of Parliament and in political parties. He is also a founding executive member of a CEGEP student union and a municipal political party youth wing.

Lawyer

Lina Aristeo, LL.B.

Me Aristeo has been involved in all levels of the labor movement, both in Canada and in the United States, before founding Plūme. As VP of an international union, VP in the FTQ board and executive VP of one of the largest unions in the private sector, she has been exposed to all facets of the Canadian and American labor movement.

Over a ten-year period at the helm of a Quebec union, she also served as co-president of several insurance and pension funds, led the negotiation of industrial collective agreements and ended a culture of strike that prevailed among union members.

Since leaving the labour movement in 2012, Me Aristeo has now focused exclusively on employers. Her practice focuses primarily on labor relations, but she also has a strong track record in employment and labour law. Her direct and transparent approach benefits SMEs and large companies, both public and private, in Quebec, Ontario, British Columbia and the United States.

As an employer representative, Me Aristeo keeps the legal obligations of her clients well in sight without ever forgetting their rights. When developing and executing a strategy, she always does so with the objective of maintaining or creating harmonious working relationships.

Coordinator for the Centre de recherche d'emploi de Pointe-Claire (CREPC).

Trina Belanger

Trina Belanger is the coordinator for the Centre de recherche d’emploi de Pointe-Claire (CREPC). She works hard with her staff to provide job search services with personalized and flexible support to ensure that they meet the current needs of the participants. Before becoming the coordinator for the CREPC, Trina had worked in different provinces in Canada, as well as, different countries such as the United States and Germany. Throughout her travels, she was involved in several projects with many different schools and employment centers. Some of her achievements have been: creating new English language curriculum for the Commission scolaire des Draveurs in Gatineau, developing a site base plan for a rural school in Nova Scotia, coordinating physical education program for a British school in Germany, and working on a new youth employment strategy in Ontario. She is very passionate about helping others through teaching, counselling and guidance to reach their full potential.

Center Director for Vocational Training at the Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board

Heather Halman

Heather Halman is an educational leader with over 27 years of experience in the Quebec public anglophone education system. Heather has several university degrees including: a Bachelor of Commerce- Honors Economics, Bachelor of Arts- Specialization in Early Childhood Education; a Master of Arts in Child Studies, a Graduate Certificate in Educational Leadership and a Project Development Certification.

Heather has been a teacher, youth sector Principal, School Board Educational and Complementary Services Department Director, Strategic Plan Advisor, Adult Education and Vocational Training Services Director, Center Director for Adult Education and most recently holds the position of Center Director for Vocational Training at the Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board. Heather is also the President of the Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board Chapter of L ’Association Quebecoise des Cadres Scolaires.

Heather has served on many Boards including the Advisory Board of English Education in Quebec and  La Commission de l ’education prescolaire et de l’enseignment primaire du Conseil Superieur du Quebec. She has also served as a member of the Board of Directors of LEARN, has held the position of Vice Chair of DEEN- directors of English Education Network, was the 2022 Chairperson of the Procede Annual Conference, and has been an active member of the LCEEQ- Leadership Committee on English Education in Quebec Board of Directors.

Heather is a published author, educational conference presenter, consultant, mentor as well as a passionate pedagogical leader. She is a role model in the adult educational and vocational training sector in Quebec public anglophone education.