JJ is the manager for emergency preparedness – projects and planning for Nova Scotia Health. He also has worked as an advanced care paramedic, paramedic educator, and as a sessional instructor teaching emergency management principles for the Healthcare Administration program at Cape Breton University. His Master of Education is in progress and he is working toward the CEM designation.

Carolyn is a special project lead with Emergency/Disaster Management at Alberta Health Services (AHS). In her role, Carolyn develops emergency response plans that are utilized across AHS’ hospitals, clinics, and corporate sites. Carolyn is also AHS’ CBRN/HazMat First Receiver Program coordinator. During high-impact events, including the 2016 Fort McMurray wildfires and the COVID-19 response, Carolyn was deployed to support AHS’ major incident response. Her roles included; planning section chief, liaison officer, and project manager for Operations Public Health Branch. Prior to her current role, Carolyn worked as an advanced care paramedic and firefighter. She is a graduate of Charles Sturt University’s Masters in Emergency Management program. Carolyn is a long-standing member IAEM and holds her Certified Emergency Manager (CEM) certification. She also serves on the IAEM-Canada Core Competency Working Group, and the IAEM-USA Healthcare Caucus. Follow her on LinkedIn.

Lorri Laface is a Certified Emergency Manager (IAEM) and Deputy Director of Emergency Management with the City of Airdrie, Alberta. In her role with Airdrie, she manages the City’s overall Municipal Emergency Management Program and has developed and coordinates its Business Continuity Plans. As an ICS Canada instructor, she delivers the City’s emergency management training, instructing ICS 100-400 courses for emergency services personnel.

Recently completing her Masters in Disaster and Emergency Management with Royal Roads University, Lorri has a passion for learning and expanding her knowledge in the field. With a background in community services and social planning, the human aspects of disaster are of special interest to her. Volunteering as a disaster specialist with Canada Task Force 2, one of six federal “all hazard” disaster response teams, Lorri spends a lot of time training and preparing for deployment to large-scale incidents. She has had the opportunity to fill key emergency coordination and incident management roles in the 2013 Southern Alberta Floods, the 2016 Ft. McMurray Wildfire, the 2018 Saint John Floods, the 2019 Chuckegg Creek Wildfire, 2020 COVID-19, and the 2021 Yukon Flood Response.

Rick is a Certified Emergency Manager (CEM) who works for Nova Scotia Health as an Emergency Preparedness Manager. An experienced and focused emergency and operations management professional with qualifications and experience from the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the United Kingdom, and recently Canada, specifically Nova Scotia. Experience with business continuity planning including COVID-19 mitigation measures across a military garrison with a population of approximately 10,000 military, civilian, contract personnel and service families. A background in both civilian and military maritime and transport logistics, training design and coordination, who has acquired extensive experience within diverse logistics environments. Follow him on LinkedIn.

Mariyam Syed is an Emergency Management and Business Continuity professional. As part of her job, Mariyam has worked on creating plans, resources, training materials and exercises for an organization; as well as exploring how the organization relates to its key partners and stakeholders before, during and after emergency events. She has a passion for continuous improvement and evaluation in emergency management.

She has been involved in response and recovery efforts for numerous emergency events, highlights include: the 2009 H1N1 Influenza Pandemic, 2013 Southern Alberta Floods, 2016 Fort McMurray Wildfire, and the 2020 COVID-19 Response. She was recognized by the Alberta Provincial Operations Center with the 2019 Tim Kirk Exemplary Performance Award for her work in the development of a government wide exercise series that explored the business continuity impacts of an influenza pandemic. Follow her on LinkedIn.

Richard is works for Emergency Management Ontario as a training and development officer. In this role Richard designs and delivers IMS training to internal stakeholders such as government ministries, as well as external stakeholders such as municipalities, police, fire, paramedics, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and private sector partners as well. Richard’s training takes place across Ontario and virtually as well. Recently Richard has been working with additional partners in the Canadian Armed Forces and the Canadian Public Health Agency and is exploring opportunities to collaborate in training and education. Richard’s career includes EM and operational experience with the Toronto Transit Commission, the City of Toronto’s Emergency Operations Center as well as time within municipal and federal law enforcement. He will finish his Masters of Disaster and Emergency Management degree at York University in the spring of 2023 and is working on a private sector endeavor to enrich the field of emergency management. Follow him on LinkedIn.