The HRPA 2021 Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Summit

Kris Tierney

CHRP, CHRL, Vice-President, HR and Learning, Human Resources Professionals Association

Kris’s approach as an executive leader is to achieve results by creating outstanding workplaces where people & culture are strategic priorities. She is a passionate and skilled business executive with 15 years’ experience leading HR in hi tech, high growth companies in automotive and financial services where she served as a trusted people and culture strategist, advisor and business partner to the C-Suite.

Kris started her career in hospitality where she held various leadership and management positions. For more than 20-years, Kris has served as a valued member of senior and executive leadership teams, where her skills in HR, leadership, strategy, and culture were honed and her passion for business and human resources were developed. She is periodically called upon by media, conferences and academia to contribute her experience and perspectives as an HR and business leader.

Kris has achieved the Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP) and Certified Human Resources Leader (CHRL) designations as awarded by the Human Resources Professionals Association in Ontario, Canada. As a lifelong learner, Kris is thrilled to bring professional development and learning opportunities to the HR community in her role as Vice-President, Human Resources and Learning at the HRPA.

Michael Bach

CCDP/AP, Founder and CEO, Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion

Michael Bach is the founder and CEO of the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion (CCDI). He is highly recognized as a thought leader and diversity, inclusion, equity and accessibility expert, with vast knowledge of related leading practices. Under Michael’s leadership, CCDI has received numerous awards, including winning Canadian HR Reporter’s Readers’ Choice Award in the category of Diversity/Employment Equity Consultant in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020. 

Prior to CCDI, he was National Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for KPMG Canada, a role he created and held for the seven years.  Additionally, Michael completed a 2½ year secondment as Deputy Chief Diversity Officer for KPMG International. 

Throughout his career, Michael has been lauded for his work, including recognition from organizations like Women of Influence, Catalyst Canada, Inspire, TRIEC, and Canadian HR Reporter. 

Michael has a Post Graduate Certificate in Diversity Management from Cornell University and holds the Cornell Certified Diversity Professional, Advanced Practitioner (CCDP/AP) designation. 

His book “Birds of All Feathers- Doing Diversity and Inclusion Right” is currently available online and at bookstores everywhere. 

Deborah Gillis

President & CEO , Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Foundation

Deborah Gillis is President and CEO of CAMH Foundation. A recognized thought leader on gender equality, diversity and inclusion, Deborah has dedicated her career to driving social change. Deborah’s unique blend of passion, strategic vision and entrepreneurial spirit is helping her lead CAMH Foundation in transforming how Canadians understand and address mental illness, in the workplace and in society.  

Deborah’s early work in the public sector focused on employment equity, anti-racism and LGBTQI rights. She went on to become a consultant and practice leader with two global professional service firms. Deborah also worked in the Nova Scotia government, and stood as a candidate for elected office. During her time in politics, she first truly understood the power of role models—and the urgent need for more of them—to inspire girls and young women.  

In her previous role as President & CEO of Catalyst, a global non-profit, Deborah advised some of the world’s most powerful CEOs and leading companies on how to accelerate and advance women into leadership.  

In 2016, Deborah was named as one of Canadian Business magazine’s 10 Most Powerful Business People and was awarded the Foreign Policy Association Medal. In 2017, she was appointed to the Canada-United States Council for Advancement of Women Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders. 

Kaneez Jaffer

HRIS Director, Business and Product Development, Jungo HR

Kaneez is a Certified Human Resources Leader (CHRL) with extensive experience in moving HR from a transactional model to a transformational one, having worked in the investment banking, group insurance, and legal industries. She has an advanced knowledge of employee engagement, total rewards, HRIS technology, HR marketing and communications and is passionate about creating an employee centric experience in order to further organizational objectives. Kaneez also serves on the Board of Directors of the HRPA, York Region Chapter, as the Chair Elect.

Kaneez is also a regular webinar host, panelist and public speaker on a range of HR issues, both with the HRPA and JungoHR and has been featured in Canadian HR Reporter Magazine.

Kaneez graduated with Honors in the UK from the University of West London, and also has a Graduate Certificate in Human Resources Management as well as a Certificate in HR Law for HR Professionals from Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto.

Dr. Notisha Massaquoi

Founder and Principal Consultant Nyanda Consulting

Dr. Notisha Massaquoi is the Founder and Principal Consultant for Nyanda Consulting.  She holds a BA in psychology from Western University, an MSW from the University of Toronto and a PhD in Sociology and Equity Studies from University of Toronto/OISE.  Her research and publications have focused on equity in health systems and anti-oppression practices within organizational settings.  She has consulted globally for UNAIDS, WHO, and the United Nations Social Development Council on the subject of racism and its impact on health outcomes and workforces. Notisha is one of Canada’s leading experts in developing equity responsive organizations.  Most notably she spearheaded the development and served as the Executive Director of Women’s Health in Women’s Hands Community Health Centre in Toronto, Canada – the only Community Health Centre in North America, which provides specialized primary healthcare for Black and racialized women.

Notisha has served as an expert advisor in many sectors such as the Ontario Premier’s Advisory Council on Violence Against Women and the City of Toronto Anti-Black Racism Strategy Work Group on Race-Based Data Collection. Notisha is the Co-Chair of the Anti-Racism Advisory Panel of the Toronto Police Services Board, which was recently responsible for producing the first mandatory race-based data collection policy for a police service in Canada.  She also serves as Board trustee for the Centre for Addictions and Mental Health (CAMH) and The Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research (CANFAR).  As we all do our part to address the impact of COVID -19 globally, Notisha serves on the Ontario Health System Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and Implementation Working Group to ensure equitable distribution of PPE across the province.   

Michelle Grocholsky (she/her)

Founder, Empowered Equity Diversity & Inclusion Consulting

Michelle Grocholsky (she/her) is the founder and owner of Empowered, a boutique consulting firm on a mission to make equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) an integral part of how organizations and their people operate. 

Empowered was born out of Michelle Grocholsky’s 15 years of experience designing and leading global EDI strategies across industries including Financial Services, High Tech, and Land, Property and Construction. Driven by the slow rate of global progress and a tendency for companies to focus on surface-level initiatives that fail to elicit behavioural or cultural change, Michelle designed Empowered with the intention of making change where it matters most – in our decision making, people systems and practices. She draws extensively on her graduate training in Organizational Psychology and experience as an International Coach Federation Associate Certified Coach to address both the systems and mindsets crucial to meaningful progress. 

Her work has been recognized in Canada, the U.K and U.S in the areas of inclusion & diversity, women’s advancement, employee engagement and empowerment. 

Rob Catalano (he/him)

Chief Engagement Officer, WorkTango

Rob is the Chief Engagement Officer at WorkTango, and has spent the last 18 years consulting organizations from an HR perspective while building HR technology and advisory companies… all with a lifelong passion to “improve (work) lives.”  He is the Canadian Chairperson for The Enterprise Engagement Alliance, with a mandate to lead and help educate corporate, government and not-for-profit management on a formal process for implementing engagement across the enterprise community, and he was named one of the 100 Top Global Employee Engagement Influencers in 2020. He is an avid hockey and volleyball player, traveler, used to play guitar in a metal band, and in his own terms a ‘pointaholic’ – he collects loyalty points  for everything and anything! You can reach him at rob@worktango.com or @RobCatalano on twitter. 

Anna Klimbovskaia

COO and Co-Founder of Diversio

Anna Klimbovskaia is the COO & co-founder of Diversio, a technology company that leverages data to analyze, improve, and track diversity and inclusion in the workplace. She was formerly Director of Research for the Office of the CEO at the Royal Bank of Canada, where she led RBC’s thought leadership on the Future of Work and developed RBCUpSkill, a digital tool helping Canadians build resiliency in an age of AI and workplace automation. Anna is and Advisor for the Pan-Canadian K-12 Computer Science Education Framework, a joint initiative between Canada Learning Code, Amazon and the Government of Canada. 

Jason Murray

President and Managing Partner, BIPOC Executive Search

Over the course of his career, Jason has worked on 300+ executive searches as well as a range of EDI services in partnership with client companies. Prior to founding BIPOC Executive Search Inc., Jason worked at a multinational executive search firm as well as a boutique search firm before that. For part of his career, he worked in the Consulting Division of Deloitte & Touche as the Human Capital and Strategy & Operations Supervisor. In this position he provided organizational management and HR services to the 994 individuals in the division, and was a respected voice around matters of equity, diversity, and inclusion and increasing representation throughout the organization.

Jason has a community-facing orientation, and currently serves as Chair of the Board for the Toronto Fringe Festival. He has done work with a number of organizations that have a deep and abiding commitment to representation in the workforce, including the Canadian Board Diversity Council, G(irls)20, and Pride at Work Canada. He has facilitated EDI workshops and talks for a number of organizations and initiatives, including the African Canadian Women in the Public Service Network (ACWPS), Business for the Arts, Innovators Alliance, National Dialogues and Action for Inclusive Higher Education and Communities, Supply Chain Canada, Social Value Matters, and The Walrus. He has been a roundtable panelist with the likes of the Hon. Kathleen Wynne, CNN’s Van Jones, and so forth.

Jason holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto, and a Master’s degree in Management from Boston University. He is certified in unconscious-bias decision making and iOS app development, and has completed courses on predicative data analytics and the use of artificial intelligence in recruitment and retention.