Guelph & District Chapter

Amanda Stokes, CHRP, CHRL, MBA

Chapter Chair Elect

Amanda has been a member of the HRPA since 2011 and has been involved with her local chapter ever since. She enjoyed sharing her passion for the HR profession with students as the Chapter’s Student Liaison Chair for a few years and is now taking on the Chapter Programs Chair role.

Amanda has spent the last 10 years working in different HR/Business Management roles within the academic, retail and agriculture industries. Amanda is currently a part-time Faculty member at Conestoga College in their Human Resources Management program.

Amanda holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Fredericton, as well as her Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP) and Certified Human Resources Leader (CHRL) designations.

Catherine Phelps

Chair, Chapter Programs

Catherine is a labour, employment and human rights lawyer at Filion Wakely Thorup Angeletti LLP. Catherine provides advice and representation to employers and HR professionals on a variety of issues including terminations, grievances, human rights, employment agreements, and workplace policies. Catherine appears on behalf of employers at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, the Ontario Labour Relations Board, and grievance arbitrations. Catherine also conducts workplace investigations and has been retained as an independent third party investigator to conduct investigations into allegations of harassment, workplace violence, and discrimination.

Emma Marriott, BMMgt, CHRL

Chair, Chapter Student Liaison

Emma Marriott is passionate about people and believes the journey begins within. She recently led downsizing efforts with an empathetic and caring approach that left people feeling heard, valued, supported, and empowered. Emma’s vision is to model the way and foster authentic organizational cultures that support sustained personal and professional growth to elevate performance. By living true to her values of quality, vulnerability, continuous learning, genuine connections, and mindfulness, she cultivates deep connections and lasting partnerships with those she serves. Emma is passionate about her wellness journey and is intentional about disconnecting. She experiences joy through yoga, running, reading, writing, spending time in nature, and connecting with family and friends.

Zack MacPherson, CHRP

Chair, Chapter Communications

An experienced HR professional, Zack has held roles as a Recruitment Manager, HR Manager and is currently a Talent Partner. He is a University of Guelph alumni and is on track to obtain his CHRL shortly. Having been a part of the HRPA Guelph & District Chapter for over 10 years, Zack is excited to take the step to a Chapter Board role supporting the local chapter.

Eva Lane

Secretary/Treasurer

Eva Lane is a lawyer in SV Law’s Elora office, and Chair of the Employment Law Practice Group, with a practice in employment law and civil litigation. Prior to joining SV Law in 2020, Eva practiced with a local firm in Waterloo Region for several years and then at a large national firm. Eva has extensive experience in civil litigation and employment law. As an employment lawyer, Eva primarily advises employers on a broad range of employment and human rights matters, including employment contracts, terminations, wrongful dismissal claims, policies, accommodation, human rights claims and compliance, and other issues.

While in law school, Eva was actively involved with the University of Ottawa Law Review. In her third year of law school she was a Senior Editor and a member of the Law Review’s Editorial Board.

Eva has lived all over Ontario, but currently resides in Fergus with her husband, two kids and two eccentric cats. Outside of work, Eva enjoys hiking with her family, backcountry camping, reading and gardening. She plays soccer all year long and spends her winter evenings curling.

Riya Jana

Chair, Chapter Mentorship

Riya has been a global HR leader for 10 years, focusing on talent development, employee engagement, culture change, succession planning, diversity, equity and inclusion and employee experience.

She co-founded a not-for-profit organization named “Agami” in India that organized free medical treatment for children. This experience of motivating people to contribute to society willingly has transformed her both personally and professionally. The experience in the not-for-profit organization gave her the opportunity to organize camps in diverse localities. This enhanced her ability to work with people from diverse cultures.

For the last few years, Riya have been part of the Mentorship Program organized by Ryerson University, where she mentors HR Management students and guide them in building their HR careers.

Apart from her HR Management degree from McMaster University, she has also completed a specialized HR analytics course from AIHR, which helped to implement strategic HR decisions by leveraging the power of analytics. Her skills in making data-driven decisions have helped her to make HR a strategic business partner and set an example for her team on how HR can create an impact on revenue.