Conference Speakers
Join us in empowering established and aspiring leaders at the Elevate Her Conference. Let's elevate together!
Dr. Yabome Gilpin-Jackson
Keynote Speaker
Dr. Yabome Gilpin-Jackson (she/her/hers) is a global citizen born in Germany, raised in Sierra Leone, and educated in Canada and the U.S. and is a multi-award-winning scholar-practitioner in human & organization development. Among other awards in Canada, UK and the United States, she has been named International African Woman of the Year by UK-based Women4AFrica, and received the prestigious Harry Jerome Professional Excellence Award given in recognition of Black-Canadian achievements as well as is a 2024 100 Accomplished Black Women honoree. She is an executive leader, consultant and educator in academia and across the private, public and nonprofit sectors. Her background and areas of expertise include Leadership, Organization Development, social change consulting, executive & Board coaching, facilitation and subject matter expertise in social change and justice work related to systemic equity, diversity and belonging. Dr Gilpin-Jackson holds a Ph.D. in Human and Organizational Systems from Fielding Graduate University where she is a post-doctoral Institute for Social Innovation Fellow. In addition to being Founder and Principal at SLD consulting, she has served in Executive Leadership roles within the British Columbia Public Sector, in healthcare and a Crown corporation and is Simon Fraser University’s first Vice-President, People, Equity and Inclusion. She is currently a Beedie School of Business Advisory Board member. Yabome is community-engaged and has served on a variety of non-profit Boards and is past Chair of her international professional association, the Organization Development Network. Her inspiring talk at TEDxSFU is about how to get past disconnection to social change. Her publications include, Transformation After Trauma, The Power of Resonance, co-editor for the 2022 Palgrave Handbook of Learning for Transformation, the We Will Lead Africa book series and short story collections about global African experiences: Identities, Ancestries, Destinies. When asked about her work in the world, Yabome describes it as “developing our human capacity to be, think and do things differently and better.” If you ask what she is best known for, she will tell you, her wicked laugh!
Rohene Bouajram
Panelist - Honing Your Leadership Skills
Rohene Bouajram is a renowned international speaker whose impassioned advocacy has stamped the hearts of her audiences worldwide. Zimbabwe-born and raised Canadian, Rohene believes in the importance of doing one’s inner work to defy the odds of a pre-set future that are upheld by systems that have not been designed for everyone to succeed.
Rohene studied several disciplines in Finland, China, and Canada, and spent over two decades as an educator and leader in higher education/academia - scaling areas of strategic program development, EDI, transformational systemic change, leadership, and student affairs. Rohene serves on panels, taskforces, advisory committees and hosts a weekly podcast, Unspeakable Leadership, exploring the leadership of women of colour. On a mission to redefine leadership, Rohene’s captivating dialogues and writing echo a push for breaking generational/cultural biases to transform family trees, and ultimately motivate the leaders of tomorrow to become the very change they want to see and what the world needs.
Off stage, Rohene enjoys collecting passport stamps (traveled to 4 different continents and counting), running, reading, and holding her most cherished title – mum.
Connect with Rohene here: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rohenebouajram/ Website: https://www.rohenebouajram.com/ Podcast: https://unspeakable-leadership.captivate.fm/listen
Esther Ofori
Panelist - Mental Health for the Modern Woman
Esther is a clinical counsellor at the Fraser Health - Primary Care Network and the founder of Hope For Today Counseling Service. As a therapist, Esther works from a person centered, trauma-informed, and specialism includes Solution Focused Brief Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), AEDP Level 2, Gottman Couples' Therapy (levels 1 and 2), Emotional Focus Family Therapy (EFFT), Somatic processing, and Motivational Interview (MI).
Esther holds a Masters Degree in Educational Psychology from the Simon Fraser University, Canada, a member of the BC Association of Clinical Counselors (BCACC), and a Registered Clinical Counselor (RCC). Esther’s Masters research focused on social and emotional development in young adults. Esther aims in creating a safe, non-judgmental, and kind space in supporting clients within their healing journey.
Esther brings years of experience working with adults, youths, and couples using a dynamic culturally sensitive approach within the therapeutic space.
1. https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/therapists/hope-for-today-surrey-bc/427753
2. https://bcacc.ca/counsellors/
Sosa Eweka-Valentine
Moderator - Mental Health for the Modern Woman Panel
Sosa Eweka-Valentine, is a journalist and registered nurse. She is also the founder of Talks with Sosa, a public speaking platform, seeks to bring experts to discuss various issues, from social justice to mental health. Her hobbies include biking and reading.
Lystra Sam
Moderator - The Entrepreneurship Journey Panel
Lystra Sam is a multi-preneur and a lifelong learner. She is the creator and architect and facilitator of “The World When Black” Anti-Racism and Allyship workshops that center on the disruption and dismantling of white supremacy culture in the Travel, Tourism & Hospitality and Wellness industry.
She cut her teeth in the events curation industry over 2 decades ago with the co-curation of the opening event for International Village Mall in Vancouver’s Chinatown and facilitated a celebrity tennis tournament fundraiser that raised over $10k for the David Foster Foundation and BC Children's Hospital. She has curated memorable events in Vancouver for over 25 years and is a vocal activist and advocate in many communities.
Recently completing studies in Gender-Based Analysis, Ethics in Research, The Trauma of Money Method and SFU Community Container Building Program [certifications 2021-22] all of which continued her trauma informed decolonizing education. Lystra also has an undergraduate degree in Business Management, BA in Psychology and Women’s Studies. And is not slowing down her learnings anytime soon. Currently she is in an accelerated MBA program and proudly sits on the faculty of The Trauma of Money Method program where she facilitates connecting indigeneity and ancestral traumas to “belongingness” in our current climate. She sits on the board of BIPOC.ca and is Founder & Program Director for her own community initiative called Sisters Leading Sisters while she is also
involved in other social justice committees, and she is the founder, owner and operator of a trailblazing Travel & Events company called Qmooniti Travel & Lifestyle. Lystra started Qmooniti (pronounced: community) in 2017 to be bolder and more intentional about taking up space in an industry that she is passionate about and is just as passionate about changing. She identified several gaps in the industry that lead to inequity, lack of safety and underrepresentation on the basis of racialization when viewed from an intersectional lens.
Lystra has worked in several areas of the travel and events industry for over 2 decades. She has lived in Mexico, Honduras, Belize, Tahiti, Japan, the Mediterranean, and the Caribbean. She has visited over 100 countries and is (sort of) still counting. She is a global citizen! Her travel experiences inform her decisions for the travel business that focuses on people and culture with a decolonizing lens while centering Black, Indigenous, people of colour, 2SLGBTQIA+, people with disabilities and the solo female/femme traveler as she bridges the gaps in the industry that have been created by systemic oppression.
Her goal is to continue to be instrumental in the dismantling of Canada’s culture of systemic oppression by adding her anti-racism skills where she is called to do so. At times this will be inside of the systems she means to dismantle and more often it will be outside of those harmful systems but no matter inside or out, her work will lead to unapologetic disruption.
.Lystra is a truth-seeker and a truth speaker so, she can be heard espousing her ideas and thoughts on the current socio-political climate and ways which she implements the use of JOY as resistance to oppression within her community on several podcasts including the Authentic Tantra Institute podcast with Devi Ward Erickson, Intentifiers Podcast by Harjit Jodi Rai and others. She has been spotlighted in several publications and is regularly invited to community panels to speak on many topics regarding community capacity building and the nuances of dismantling systems of oppression as an entrepreneur and community connector.
If she looks familiar perhaps you’ve seen her on television interviewing (or taking to task) Prime Minister Trudeau or you’ve seen her in one commercial or the other as she is also a busy working actor.
Socials:
Instagram or Facebook - Qmooniti and Sisters Leading Sisters
QmooniTi – Best in Retreats & Travel Curation to keep up on blog topics and the Qmooniti newsletter.
Also connect with Lystra for community retreats here Home - Sisters Leading Sisters powered by Qmooniti and LinkedIn Lystra Germaine Sam | LinkedIn
Cicely Belle Blain
Workshop Facilitator - Conflict Resolution & Leadership
Cicely Belle Blain (they/them) is a Black, mixed, queer non-binary femme from London, United Kingdom now living on the lands of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh people. Their ancestry is a mix of Gambian (Wolof), Jamaican and English.
Cicely Belle spent their formative years between London, the Netherlands, and a small Catholic village in France - each home presenting a pivotal opportunity for awakening and growth. Cicely Belle is descended from a long line of feminist educators and developed a passion for justice from a young age. They moved to Vancouver in 2012 and completed a Bachelor of Arts in Modern European Studies and Russian at the University of British Columbia.
Cicely Belle is noted for founding Black Lives Matter Vancouver and subsequently being listed as one of Vancouver's 50 most powerful people by Vancouver Magazine twice, BC Business's 30 under 30, and one of Refinery29's Powerhouses of 2020. They were also nominated for a Multiculturalism and Anti-Racism BC award in 2023.
Cicely Belle founded Bakau Consulting Inc. in 2018 and has grown the company to serve thousands of clients worldwide - their public speaking, equity consulting, and literary prowess has impacted people in Canada, the USA, the UK, South Korea, Netherlands, Poland, Germany, Ecuador, Senegal, South Africa, Eswatini and many more.
Some of their most notable professional achievements include speaking at the United Nations Summit in Quito, Ecuador, developing an Intersectionality Toolkit for the City of Vancouver and presenting the keynote address for the 2020 graduating ceremony at the University of British Columbia, their alma mater.
Cicely Belle is also an instructor in Executive Leadership at Simon Fraser University, the Editorial Director of Ripple of Change Magazine and the author of Burning Sugar (Arsenal Pulp Press and VS Books, 2020). Cicely Belle also serves on the board of the Tegan and Sara Foundation.
Burning Sugar was shortlisted for the 2021 Pat Lowther Memorial Award and longlisted for the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award. Their debut book also garnered them spots at some of Canada's top literary festivals, including Vancouver Writer's Festival, Word of the Street Toronto, and FOLD, as well as features in CBC Books, Autostraddle, Indigo and Essence Mag.
Email: cicely@bakauconsulting.com
Twitter/IG: @cicelybelle_xo
Haeley Williams
Workshop Facilitator - Empower Your Path: The Self-Leadership and Decision Making Journey
Haeley Mariah is a passionate and dedicated Holistic Health Coach, Author and Workshop Facilitator specializing in mind-body development. With a mission to empower individuals to take control of their health and discover their innate capacity for healing and growth. Haeley uses a unique holistic approach and creates a supportive and nurturing environment where her clients can thrive physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Whether you're seeking to reach your personal fitness goals, improve your nutrition, manage your stress, enhance your overall well-being or unite your team of individuals for increased performance. Haeley is there to guide you on your transformative journey towards a vibrant and successful life.
Shelley-Ann Vidal
Workshop Facilitator - Leading with Power
With over 15 years of coaching, leadership, facilitation, teaching and community-building experience Shelley-Anne Vidal approaches life with curiosity, kindness, and an open mind. Shelley considers herself a lifelong learner and knowledge seeker who enjoys learning about intercultural leadership, social justice, anti-racism and how to bring communities together. She is the author of a best-selling book on Amazon, "You Only Need One Good Egg, Manifesting A Miracle.”
Shelley earned a Master of Higher Education Administration and Leadership, and a Certificate in Executive Coaching from Royal Roads University. She has been working as an educator in higher education for nearly a decade where she motivates and inspires students in their career journeys. As a coach who is passionate about leadership, and anti-oppression, Shelley works with leaders who are continuing their EDI journey and are committed to fostering more inclusive organizations. She brings a compassionate, safe and at times humours experience to coaching sessions. She works in partnership to hold space for leaders to be held capable and accountable to make bold and confident moves.
Shelley understands the value of community building and she works collectively to unite community members and amplify the great work that often goes unnoticed through her company, Affirming Community Together (ACT) by Vidal.
When Shelley is not working, or building community she enjoys travelling and walking in nature with her daughter. To learn more about her work check out: www.actbyvidal.com or https://www.linkedin.com/in/shelleyannevidal/
Firina Achor Beamish
Panelist - The Entrepreneurship Journey
Born in South Sudan, I spent parts of my childhood in Cairo before moving to Ottawa. I've called Vancouver home for the last 10 years. I am the founder of Firina Achor Creative - a multi-dimensional Public Relations and Marketing agency specializing in building brand communities in the health, wellness and lifestyle industries. I see PR work as a collaborative process to define and execute the overall communication strategy. and ensure consistent messaging and values through all channels to drive brand awareness. By taking ownership of the brand marketing and community calendar, I provide consistent planning and scheduling, ensuring deliverables while maintaining a budget.
Nadia Tchoumi
Workshop Facilitator - Mastering the Art of Strategic Storytelling: a Communication and PR Workshop
Founder, New Hope Media
Nadia is a storyteller, entrepreneur, community leader & humanitarian. She understands the power of words, the importance of giving voice to those often misrepresented or unheard, and the value of sharing life-giving stories. She spent 17 years travelling across Canada as a journalist. Today, you can find her helping nonprofits across Canada engage with the media helping nonprofit leaders become effective storytellers for the causes they support.
Lesley-Anne Parris
Panelist - Mental Health for the Modern Woman
Lesley-Ann Parris is a wellness guide, content creator & social entrepreneur. She is the founder of Empathy + Me, a social enterprise focused on helping people heal through storytelling, community events and wellness products. With a foundation of compassion, she leads a variety of wellness offerings (breathwork, meditation, yoga and sound healing), providing a holistic approach to well-being and self-care. As a survivor herself, she knows the importance of prioritizing healing - introspection, rest and joy - and that's what she hopes Empathy + me encourages others to do too.
Socials:
Wellness events | @empathyand.me & www.empathyand.me
Personal Content | @lesleyannparris & www.lesleyannparris.com
Giselle Blackman
Panelist - Honing Your Leadership Skills
Giselle Blackman is an award-winning, certified Human Resources Executive currently serving as the Vice President of People Culture at Fit-Foods Ltd, a consumer packaging firm that manufactures and sells protein powders internationally. Her experience, education and unique perspective enable her to operationalize the firm’s strategy and drive organizational culture.
She holds an Executive MBA and Bachelor of Arts from Simon Fraser University, a Diploma in Arts from Douglas College, and a Diploma in Human Resources from the British Columbia Institute of Technology.
With a background encompassing HR leadership across diverse industries such as Financial Services, Real Estate, Manufacturing, and Consumer Products, Giselle's contributions have left lasting impacts. Notably, she played a pivotal role in leading HR for TransLink’s Olympic Transportation Project Team during the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
Giselle's proficiency extends across HR strategy, operations, talent development, DEI initiatives, health and wellness, payroll, and employee relations.
In addition to her role as a dedicated mother to Kenny Jr. and a loving partner to Kenny Sr., Giselle is deeply committed to community service. In addition to her role as Board Chair at Pacifica, Giselle volunteers with CPHR BC & Yukon HR Association. She also serves as a Board Member for Cultch and is the Vice-Chair of the DE&I Strategy Committee for the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade.
Giselle enjoys giving back and strives to make an impact in her relationships, projects and society as whole.
Marielle de Vassoigne
Panelist - Honing Your Leadership Skills
ACC, COC, Prosci ®
Marielle de Vassoigne is a bilingual coach specializing in people change management.
As an Associate Certified Coach (ACC) member of the International Coaching Federation, UBC Certified Organizational Coach, Prosci® certified organizational change management specialist, and author, Marielle will challenge you with kindness.
She has more than twenty years of experience leading change for major corporate transformations.
Combining pragmatism and creativity (she is also a novelist), she will help you take a step back required to write a new chapter that will propel you forward. Driven by benevolence, humility, and efficiency, she commits to creating a safe space to generate together new possibilities centered on your goals and roadmap to success.
LinkedIn Marielle de Vassoigne
Bio site | Marielle de Vassoigne
Carla Mays
Panelist - The Entrepreneurship Journey
Carla Mays is the Co-Founder and Head of Global Policy and Research at #SmartCohort and a Founding Principal at Mays Civic Innovation.
Mays Co-Founded #SmartCohort in 2016 while attending StartupFest Montreal during the $100M Smart Cities Fund launch. #SmartCohort’s mission is to enable an equitable, smart and disaster-resilient world through applied research, curated programs and international educational exchanges, with a specific focus on UN Sustainable Development Goal 11 “Sustainable Cities and Communities”, SDG 13 “Climate Action” and SDG 17 “Partnerships for the Goals.”
Grounded in the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals, #SmartCohort has curated, facilitated and delivered over 150+ knowledge sharing and learning sessions, programs and dialogues and provided 50+ technical assistance programs for over 250+ government, corporate and nonprofit leaders since 2016. Mays often is invited to Consulates to provide expertise on equitable smart cities and transportation. International presentations and subject matter expert participation have included Canada, Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands, Japan and Singapore. Mays has served as a UN Global Climate Action Summit delegate with her work. She has held fellowships at Clean Energy Leadership Institute (CELI), Urban Land Institute San Francisco Pathway to Inclusion, and CORO San Francisco Resiliency Fellow. Mays lectured at University of Quebec during her Next City Vanguard 40 under 40 Cities Fellowship in Montreal (2017) and completed the District 3 Social Impact Incubator at Concordia University Montreal during the pandemic.
Mays was selected to be part of the inaugural cohort of the Environmental Leadership Initiative (ELI) Fellowship empowering California environmental justice leaders through support from Liberty Hill, Hewlett, and Packard Foundations.
Mays is currently in the WeBC Vancouver Incubator program and participated as an Official United States CleanTech Alliance Delegate to the 2024 Globe Forum.
Mays received both Bachelor and Master of Public Administration from San Francisco State University, is an alumna of UC Berkeley - Haas School of Business Executive Program, and the Executive Global Cities and Future Cities Programs at the London School of Economics and Harvard Graduate School of Design.
Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cmays/
Chantel Riley
Host
Chantel RIley is a Canadian-Jamaican singer, songwriter and actress known for her lead role as “Trudy Clarke” in the Canadian hit series, “Frankie Drake Mysteries”. She also starred as “Angela Cooke” alongside “Suites” veteran Gina Torres in the “Suits” spin off series “Pearson”.
In 2023, Chantel was a panelist for CMPA’s (Canadian Media Producers Association) Prime Time and ReelWorld Canada’s events discussing authentic depictions of diverse women on screen. She was also a panelist discussing Black Representation in entertainment with Gavin Bridge presented by Variety, and a guest for the Monaco Streaming Film Festival to talk about diversity in entertainment. She was also a host for NextPlay events, a company focused on helping Black and Latinx professionals find their dream job.
Karla Laird
Moderator - Honing Your Leadership Skills
Karla A. Laird, LL.B (Hons.), L.E.C, MA (Hons.)
Born on the beautiful island of Jamaica, Karla is a dynamic, senior communications specialist and accomplished c-suite professional committed to operational efficiency and excellence. With over a decade working in various sectors, she has honed her craft as a strategic thinker and relationship builder with a flair for innovation and finding creative solutions to challenging business problems. She currently serves as the Executive Director at the Union of BC Performers (UBCP/ACTRA), the provincial organization representing over 8500 professional performers working in the English language recorded media sector and is also an attorney-at-law under the jurisdiction of Jamaica.
An advocate in every sense of the word, Karla is also Vice President of the Jamaican Canadian Cultural Association of BC, serving as an ambassador for her home country, by actively supporting the Jamaican immigrant community in the province. She particularly enjoys supporting her community as a mentor to women and girls, providing insight and guidance in areas including career development, finding your voice in and outside of the workplace, building confidence, and leveraging your unique qualities.
Karla holds a Bachelor of Laws degree with honours and a graduate diploma with distinction in public relations from the University of the West Indies and a Masters in Intercultural & International Communication at Royal Roads University.
Latasha Haynes
Panelist - The Entrepreneurship Journey
I'm half of "Ike and Tash," the heart-and-soul photography team from Tacoma, Washington.
I've got a good 20 years under my belt working with local non-profits in youth development. After nabbing my Master's in Public Action, it hit me hard: I live for leadership development and community connections. I've turned those passions into speaking and coaching gigs, weaving in my life stories and a fresh take on tackling challenges.
Community? It's everything. Our shared stories? They're the glue.
Knowing someone else "gets it" makes our own paths feel a little less rocky.
When I'm not working? Parks, charcuterie boards, scribbling thoughts, exploring new places, and soaking up time with family and friends fill my days. Oh, and if there's ice cream or tacos on the menu, I'm all in.
Life threw me some curveballs early on, but look where we are now! I'm here to share, inspire, and let you in on my journey through business, faith, motherhood, and travel.
Roxanne Challenger
Workshop Facilitator - Navigating a Toxic Work Culture
Roxanne Challenger is a strategic planning and leadership development expert who specializes in guiding organizations across various industries in the private, public, and non-profit sectors. With a passion for social impact and effective culture building, Roxanne is dedicated to partnering with clients to design and implement innovative and practical solutions to a wide range of challenges.
As a visionary leader, Roxanne's goal is to connect leaders globally and enhance their leadership capabilities. They achieve this by designing and delivering training, development, and capacity building programs that inspire leaders to take action towards shared goals. Roxanne's expertise extends to conducting purposeful market analyses, gathering relevant data, and utilizing evidence-informed practices. They offer services in program evaluation, survey design, implementation, interview guide development, focus group facilitation, and data analysis (both qualitative and quantitative).
In addition to their consultancy work, Roxanne is the driving force behind the launch of the Network For Teaching Entrepreneurship Canada (NFTE). NFTE's mission is to prepare the next generation of youth entrepreneurs for the future of work. By activating entrepreneurial mindsets and equipping youth from under-resourced communities with startup skills, NFTE aims to enable their success and contribute to building a more vibrant and inclusive society.
With Roxanne's guidance and expertise, organizations and individuals can navigate challenges, develop effective strategies, and make a positive impact in their communities and beyond.
Annie Laurenson
Workshop Facilitator - Governance
Annie is an experienced Corporate Governance professional and Corporate Secretary with extensive experience in business administration within the mining industry including 15+ years working with Boards of public companies. Annie is currently the Director, Governance and Corporate Secretary of Lundin Mining Corporation, a Canadian public company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario with operations in six global jurisdictions. Annie is a member of and sits on the Board of Directors for Governance Professionals of Canada and is an active member of Femina Collective.
Annie is also current Chair of Lundin Mining’s Diversity, Inclusion, Anti Racism and Discrimination Committee (“DIARD”). DIARD is a multi-disciplinary working group established to further the Corporation’s diversity and inclusion agenda, which aims to create and foster a workplace that reflects and contributes to the diverse, global communities in which Lundin Mining operates do business, and provide recommendations to address institutional and systemic inequalities and biases that may exist.
Prior to joining Lundin Mining, Annie was Assistant Corporate Secretary of Bank of Montreal, Corporate Secretary of Chieftain Metals Corp., and held progressively senior administration roles with several TSX and TSXV listed mining companies. She has been involved in all aspects of the administration of publicly listed companies including legal and regulatory compliance, corporate governance, board and committee matters, continuous disclosure requirements, corporate transactions, shareholder communications and corporate records.
Annie is passionate about promoting voices in the BIPOC community within the resource industry. She sees a need for members of the BIPOC community, to connect, build a community together and promote each other within the industry. Annie is dedicated to creating safer, more inclusive spaces for the BIPOC community and works tirelessly to advocate for change.
Operine Banton
Panelist - Mental Health for the Modern Woman
RMeet Operine Banton, Registered Clinical Counsellor with over 30 years of counselling and coaching experience, education, and life wisdom. Have you been feeling depressed, anxious, or stuck in old behaviours and mindsets that no longer serve you? Operine, owner of Mandala Counselling and Consulting Services, values compassion, safety, and hope as she walks with you on your journey of self-discovery and healing.
With a background in General Nursing, Psychology, and a MA in Clinical Counselling, Operine brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to support you in finding the courage to open your heart and understand yourself better.