Lawlor Diarmaid is a designer, educator and communicator. He helps clients make well-informed decisions about place-based policy and investment challenges. With a multidisciplinary background, and over 20 years’ experience working across sectors in the UK and Europe, Lawlor Diarmaid champions creative approaches to making better places. 

Scottish Futures Trust (SFT) is at the forefront of improving public sector infrastructure across Scotland. The Trust was established by the Scottish Government as a centre of infrastructure expertise to help plan, fund, deliver and manage construction projects and buildings better.

Leslie Baird was first nominated and elected as Councillor of the Village of Cumberland in 1990 and has run successfully in each following election. Leslie was elected by acclamation as mayor in 2011 and 2014 and re-elected in 2018.

Leslie was born in Comox and raised in Cumberland. She began her working career when her youngest son started school full time and she received her certificate as a long term care aid. Leslie worked for Comox Valley Home Support for eighteen years. During that time Leslie was the shop steward and represented the union on the provincial negotiating team.

Leslie has been an active member of the Cumberland Empire Events Society for 26 years where she now helps coordinate the May Queen luncheon and assists with February’s heritage fair and lantern festival. More recently, Leslie has become an active member of the Rotary Club of Cumberland Centennial and a supporter of its literacy program. Leslie is also a long serving member of the Royal Canadian Legion, Branch #28.

With her husband John, Leslie raised two sons in Cumberland, now grown and both living in Grande Prairie, Alberta with their families. John worked at the Campbell River pulp and paper mill for forty two years, and was a member of the Cumberland Volunteer Fire Department for twenty five years, the last eight years as chief. Leslie and John are now both retired.

Julie is the founder of EcoSpex Inc. and brings 25 years of sustainability, green building expertise to support new ideas, project leadership and a commitment to innovation to clients. She provides strategic expertise, community sustainability development and has deep knowledge in age-in-place, sustainable buildings, and low carbon materials and technologies. She works with multi-interdisciplinary teams to deliver out-of-the-box projects. Prior to EcoSpex, Julie was Managing Director for BRE Canada Inc. where she was instrumental in starting-up the Canadian operations of Building Research Establishment (BRE) UK, an established international company in building science and sustainability. She is currently working on her B Corp Certification and establishing a South Georgian Bay Regional Not-for-Profit Housing Initiative.

Marilyn’s work focuses on organizational development, and strategic initiatives that support sustainability and leadership in social change organizations. She was the Inaugural John C. Eaton Chair in Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Ryerson University. Before joining the University she spent 14 years as a funder with the Ontario Trillium Foundation, making provincial investments in change-the-world organizations enabling new approaches, networks and collaboration to build the social sector’s capacity to innovate. Using the “landscape view” that her work in the social sector has afforded over the last 45 years, Marilyn is a facilitator, researcher, writer and coach to the social sector working from her home in Grey County.

Andrea Nemtin has spent her career leading complex organizations and initiatives focused on creating positive social and environmental progress through strategic philanthropy, media and arts, social innovation and impact investing.  Currently the Executive Director of Social Innovation Canada, Andrea has served as the founding CEO of the Inspirit Foundation, Executive Director at Rally Assets, and President of PTV Productions, as well as a board member and advisor to numerous organizations. Andrea is committed to finding innovative ways to support cohesive and prosperous communities and was recognized in 2017 with a Governor General’s Meritorious Service Award for her contribution to inclusion in Canada.

Ms. Michaela Kauer is the director of the Brussels Liaison Office of the City of Vienna (“Vienna House”) started her professional career with the city administration in 1992 as a press officer to the city councillor for housing and urban renewal and held several posts, including as head of cabinet of city councillors for integration, women´s issues, consumer protection and personnel as well as health and social affairs. After being appointed director of the Brussels Office in 2009 she stepped in the arena of urban EU affairs. Since 2010 she is the official representative of the city of Vienna in the Executive Committee of EUROCITIES on officer´s level as well as in its working group on the EU Urban Agenda.

Ms. Kauer holds a master degree in International Public Management and regularly gives lectures European Public Management at the Professional Business University of Burgenland. She serves as visiting lecturer occasionally in other academic institutions, as Lille University, and regularly publishes on urban, housing and gender equality issues.

Anne Marie Shaw is the Director of Housing for Grey County. Grey County Housing has 997 units of housing throughout the County. Grey County Housing provides the property management, capital asset management and tenant services for approximately 1600 tenants. Grey County has a 10 Year Housing and Homelessness Plan and a recently adopted Affordable Housing Development Plan.

Anne Marie is a Board Member of the Housing Service Corporation (HSC). HSC is a non-profit organization committed to ensuring that Ontario residents have access to safe and affordable housing that improves their quality of life. HSC supports this vision by focusing on the long-term health and sustainability of Ontario’s social housing properties.

As a lifelong community activist and advocate for social justice, Marg was the inaugural chairperson of the South Georgian Bay Out of The Cold program. She is retired from a 32-year career as a local real estate Broker and is currently the Chairperson of the regional housing committee of the Simcoe County Alliance to End Homelessness and is the Vice-chair of the Town of Collingwood Affordable Housing task force.

Geoffrey Payne is a housing and urban development consultant with five decades of experience covering all regions of the world. He has undertaken research, consultancy and capacity building assignments for international development agencies, governments and academic institutions, published widely and contributed to numerous international conferences. His main focus is on reviewing and developing innovative approaches for providing secure land tenure and property rights, advising on urban planning and land management and promoting public-private partnerships. In all this work, a major consideration is increasing local capability and supporting future generations of professionals in the fields of housing and urban development. His report on ‘The Role of Land in Achieving Adequate and Affordable Housing has just been published by UN-Habitat and his new book, ‘Somewhere to Live: Rising to the global urban land and housing challenge’ will be published shortly.