Cheryl Gray, CPM, is the immediate past president of IREM (Institute of Real Estate Management). Cheryl served as Executive Vice President at QuadReal Property Group when she joined QuadReal in January 2017 and most recently as Head of Special Projects. During Cheryl’s tenure at QuadReal she led the Enterprise Innovation teams that provide expertise on sustainability, environmental health & safety and property management best practices. In 2018 she launched QuadReal’s Digital Innovation initiative to implement innovative technology in QuadReal’s property portfolio in Canada.

Prior to QuadReal, Cheryl held executive roles in Bentall Kennedy, launching their residential property management platform, their sustainability program and strategic resources teams. Before that, she held senior roles with many leading Canadian real estate firms with responsibility for office, industrial, retail and residential portfolios.

Gray is currently engaged in the industry as a Real Estate Strategist. She speaks extensively on sustainability, prop tech, smart buildings, pandemic response planning, cyber security and real estate management best practices. She has been acknowledged by the industry for her expertise and contributions, having received recognition and awards for her work by many associations and organizations throughout her career.

Cheryl earned her Certified Property Manager (CPM) designation from IREM in 1990 and holds a degree in Economics from the University of Waterloo. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of REIC (Real Estate Institute of Canada) and on the Executive Committee of IREM as the immediate past president.

Thomas Mueller is a Founding Director of the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) and became President & CEO of the Council in 2005. As Chief Executive, he leads the Council’s national green building strategy, programs and standards along with advocacy and policy initiatives.

As a member of the Board of Directors of the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI) and the Cornerstone Standards Council (CSC), and as a past Board member of the World Green Building Council (WGBC), he supports the transition toward green building, neighbourhoods and cities at home and globally.

Thomas is a well-known advocate for green buildings and sustainable community development. He participates frequently in government and industry consultations on green development and is a nationally and internationally recognized authority and speaker on green buildings.

He is currently participating in a number of initiatives and groups including the WorldGBC Global CEO Network, the Advisory Board of CIRS (Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability), and the Advisory Committee of Energy Efficiency in BC’s Built Environment Research Project at UBC.

Thomas has an Undergraduate Degree in Geography, Planning and Applied Ecology from the Ludwig-Maximilian University in Munich, Germany; and holds a Master’s Degree in Regional Planning & Resource Development from the University of Waterloo, Ontario.

For his green building work, Thomas has received numerous awards. Most recently, he became a recipient of Canada’s 2015 Clean50 Award and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) in 2016.

Benjamin L. Shinewald is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Building Owners and Managers Association of Canada (BOMA Canada). Under Benjamin’s leadership, the organization’s flagship sustainability program, BOMA BEST, has grown dramatically, with over 3,000 certifications in Canada alone. BOMA BEST is now broadening its focus while also expanding around the world.

A sought after commercial real estate though leader, Benjamin frequently writes op-ed pieces in major newspapers, gives keynote addresses to industry leaders and represents the BOMA membership on Parliament Hill.

Prior to joining BOMA Canada in 2012, Benjamin served as the CEO of Canadian Jewish Congress. Earlier, he worked in the Privy Council Office and practiced law at Torys LLP. Benjamin previously served as a Law Clerk to the Chief Justice of Israel, as an Adjoint-aux-Programmes in the Canadian Mission to the OECD in Paris and worked for the Winnipeg Jets Hockey Club.

Caroline Bordeaux is the Director, Sustainability, Impact & Engagement Practice at Canderel. In this role, Caroline acts as the company’s national expert on sustainability and corporate social responsibility, overseeing corporate strategy and providing support to property management and development teams. In 2018, she was elected to Canada Green Building Council’s Board of Directors to represent real estate owners and developers.

Caroline has earned a Master’s degree in Business and an Advanced Master degree in Environmental Management and Engineering and is a LEED Accredited Professional.

Helle Bank Jorgensen is the CEO of Competent Boards, which offers the global online ESG Competent Boards Certificate Program with a faculty of over 100 renowned international board members, executives and experts.

She has a 30-year track record in turning Environment, Social, Governance (ESG), Climate and Sustainability risks into innovative and profitable business opportunities and has worked with many global Fortune 500 board members and executives.

Besides being a board member, she serves on His Royal Highness Prince of Wales A4S Global Expert Panel; The Non-financial Digitisation Working Group of the Impact Management Project (IMP); the Reuters Panel of Expert Judges for the Responsible Business Awards; and the Canadian Climate Governance Experts - a Commonwealth Climate & Law Initiative.

She is a business lawyer and state-authorized public accountant (CPA) by training and designed the world's first Integrated Report and the first integrated responsible supply chain management system. In 2020 she was awarded the Global Impact Award and named one of "5 people in ESG to look out for".

She is a former PwC audit and advisory partner in Denmark and the US leading Sustainability & Climate Practices.

Andy Delisi, WELL AP, FitWel Ambassador and member of the WELL Faculty, works with architects, designers and business owners and teaches how to integrate wellness and sustainability into the office environment. Andy is the Business Development Manager for Envirotech Office Systems. Under Mr. Delisi's guidance, Envirotech was the furniture dealer of choice for Canada's first FitWel certified office and continues to be an industry leader in both sustainability and wellness in the workplace. Mr. Delisi currently teaches his course on Smart Buildings: The Bridge Between Wellness and Sustainability across Ontario and has been a guest speaker at Seattle's Healthy Worksite Summit, IIDEX Toronto, IFMA's Wellness in the Workplace and the Unwired Worktech conference.

James McNeil RPA, LEED AP is the president of JJ McNeil Commercial Inc, a boutique CRE brokerage specializing in green buildings and sustainable workplaces. JJ McNeil provides the full spectrum of commercial real estate advisory services.

In a world struggling with climate change, companies need to have their environmental house in order like never before. They need to minimize their carbon footprint in every way possible, especially when it comes to the buildings they occupy. That's where JJMcNeil Commercial comes in.

We have the expertise to pull together innovative real estate solutions that balance ecological responsibility with economic viability, setting the stage for a healthy, sustainable workplace for employees and the greater good.

Lisa Bate is the Immediate Past Chair of the World Green Building Council and is regarded as one of Canada’s global ambassadors for sustainable design. Lisa was a representative to the United Nations’ Environmental Protection—Sustainable Buildings and Climate Initiative and is a former Director and Board Chair of the Canada Green Building Council. In 2018, Lisa was named the winner of Canada’s Clean16 as the top contributor for the previous two years for the Building – Design, Development & Management sector at the Clean50 awards celebration. In her role as Global Sustainability Lead at B+H Architects, she oversaw the design teams responsible for the 1st CaGBC Net Zero Carbon Certified Design Retrofit at Humber College Building Nx and the new Net Zero Carbon Design and Operational Certified Joyce Centre for Partnership and Innovation at Mohawk College in Hamilton, Ontario, and a Canadian pilot project for the CaGBC Zero Carbon Buildings. Both projects are on the WorldGBC most sustainable buildings website. Lisa has demonstrated her management abilities and sustainability leadership globally, leading important projects in the Caribbean, China, India, Singapore, Malaysia, the US, and Canada across a variety of sectors and scopes.

As Director of Programs, Mark leads the project and program delivery teams at Electricity Human Resources Canada. Mark has managed research and programs to transfer skills from regulated occupations into unregulated occupations while minimizing jobseeker retraining. This program development relied on a strong staff team as well as reliance on meaningful partnerships with industry. Mark is very familiar with labour market research projects. Once research has been completed, he works to secure federal and provincial funding to support strategic labour market interventions to better integrate under-represented groups in entering the labour market. This work has included programming to support new graduates, newcomers to Canada, indigenous persons and people with disabilities. Mark has also worked in the international development field in sub-Saharan Africa where he focused on local economic development initiatives and judicial reform. He began his international development journey with a livelihood development research project in Uganda. His work has also taken him to Asia, where he taught English and developed curricula at local schools in Taiwan, experience he has applied in Canada in the development of an online, industry-specific English language course.

In his spare time Mark volunteers with organizations such as the Canadian Academy of Health Science, QuickStart Autism and he Chairs the Autism Family Advisory Committee at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario.

Mark holds a BA in Government from St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY and an MA in Human Security and Peacebuilding from Royal Roads University in Victoria, BC.

Oscar Espinosa is a Senior Advisor of Low Carbon Cities Canada, within the national office at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM). He has a multidisciplinary background in managing transformational projects and programs within the public, private and not-for-profit sector spanning infrastructure, economic development and urban regeneration projects at the Greater London Authority in London, England, capacity-building and smart cities initiatives within Canadian communities, and continuous improvement efforts within Crown corporations. He continuously seeks to build bridges across stakeholders and areas of expertise to enable durable solutions for the benefit of all communities

Steve Winkelman is Executive Director of the Ottawa Climate Action Fund. He has 30 years of experience in climate change, sustainable transportation, urban planning, clean energy, clean air, infrastructure resilience and climate finance. He has supported government officials, researchers, development banks, private companies and NGOs in more than 25 countries with policy and project development, finance, implementation, evaluation and capacity building. He thrives in bridging silos and building partnerships across sectors, agencies and organizations to unlock economic, environmental and community benefits and advance holistic, lasting solutions.

Jonathan (Jon) Frank serves as Head of Clean Energy at Vancity Community Investment Bank (VCIB). Jon joined VCIB through the acquisition of CoPower, Canada’s first sustainable investment platform and a leading provider of clean energy and efficiency project financing, where he served as a Managing Director and Head of Project Financing. Jon has been involved in a wide range of clean energy technologies across Canada that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and generate strong financial returns including solar and wind energy, energy efficiency retrofits, geothermal heating and cooling, bio-energy, combined heat and power and energy storage. Jon has served on a number of advisory committees on low carbon strategies for the Canadian Green Building Council, the City of Toronto, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities Green Municipal Fund, MaRS Discovery District, and has an ongoing role on the Executive Committee of Low Carbon Cities Canada (LC3).

Dave is an environmental economist with a twenty-five-year track record in helping solve policy challenges for sustainable development. His work can be found in very public reports on Canadian carbon and energy transitions and buried deep in regulatory impact analysis.

His work often cuts across many dimensions of sustainable development.

Dave holds a B.A. in Economics from McMaster University and a Master of Development Economics from Dalhousie University.

Dave has held positions with Environment Canada, Canada's Commissioner of Environment and Sustainable Development and leading Canadian consultancies. He was the International Institute for Sustainable Development's Vice-president for Climate, Energy and Partnerships.

He is the Chief Economist with Canadian Institute for Climate Choices, an Executive in Residence with the University of Ottawa's Smart Prosperity Institute and a School Fellow at Carleton University's School of Public Policy. He has operated EnviroEconomics Inc. since grad school.

Tonja Leach became Executive Director of QUEST in October of 2018. Working with all three levels of government, utilities & energy providers, the development community, and solution providers to help Canada become a nation of Smart Energy Communities. Prior to her role as Executive Director, Tonja held a number of roles at QUEST, including as the founding Coordinator of the organization starting in 2007.

Through collaboration, Tonja supports and advises Canada’s energy sector, governments and community builders in the transition to a sustainable energy future. Tonja is currently an active advisor on a number of committees including the Energy Futures Lab Partners Council and Steering Committee, National Coherence Working Group, Clean Resource Innovation Network Steering Committee, Positive Energy Advisory Council, and the Low Carbon Community Energy System project steering committee.

Dana Hurst is the Director of Wellness for BGIS and brings 15 years of progressive experience in the area of Health and Wellness, having worked for Buffet & Company Worksite Wellness Inc., one of the founding Health and Wellness consulting firms in Canada, as well as SunLife Financial and most recently, People Corporation. Adept at helping improve the health of employees, she has demonstrated success in implementing strategic health and wellness programs for organizations of all sizes.

Dana has a Bachelor of Health Sciences from the University of Western Ontario and a Post-Graduate Certificate in Workplace Wellness and Health Promotion from Centennial College. She has completed the Mindful Employee Training, as well as Mental Health First Aid Certification from the Mental Health Commission of Canada and the Mental Health Leadership in the Workplace Certification through Shepell and Queen's University.

Dana is a frequent speaker, is passionate when it comes to health and wellness and is committed to bringing this concept to others.

Andrea Flowers is the Section Manager of Climate Change & Resiliency Team at the City of Ottawa. Andrea is responsible is responsible for developing and coordinating strategic policies, programs and plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and build resiliency to climate change in Ottawa. As the City’s centre of expertise for climate change and resiliency, the Team provides technical expertise on corporate projects and supports community initiatives. She has more than 15 years of experience in the public, private, and not-for-profit sectors.

Mike Fletcher is a City of Ottawa project manager. Mike started his work at the City seven years ago doing energy conservation and energy management work for the Building Engineering and Energy Management group. After a recent period of split responsibilities between the conservation group and planning, Mike joined the planning, infrastructure and economic development department in April 2019 to work full time on Ottawa’s Community Energy Transmission Strategy, Energy Evolution.

Prior to join the City Mike had a variety of industrial experience in Brewing, Citric Acid Manufacturing and Biofuels. Mike keep busy in non-work hours enjoying gardening, white water kayaking and a variety of volunteering pursuits.

Charles is the Manager, Grid Technology for Hydro Ottawa Limited. He holds a B.Eng and a MASc in Electrical Engineering from Carleton University. He has been with Hydro Ottawa since 2013 working in the area of Smart Grid and Operational technology. In this role, Charles oversees the support and administration of the back-office systems used by the Control Room to run the Grid including SCADA, Distribution Management, and Outage Management systems. Since joining Hydro Ottawa, Charles has supported a variety of innovation and technology initiatives including District Energy as well as the deployment of Telecommunications infrastructure. Prior to joining Hydro Ottawa, Charles held a variety of engineering roles within Ottawa’s high-tech sector where he cultivated expertise in the design and development of new and emerging technology.

As Director, System Operations and Grid Automation, Joseph Muglia is responsible for the system office system control, oversight of over 90 substations and the metering services department of Hydro Ottawa. Joseph is also involved with creating a strategic plan regarding grid automation for Hydro Ottawa going forward. Joseph has more than 25 years of experience in the utilities industry in the areas of natural gas and electrical distribution systems as well as telecom and construction. He has held a number of senior leadership positions throughout his career and is a licenced Professional Engineer.