One Canada

Living in both Spain and Argentina before moving to Canada, David relocated to Calgary as an adult and became very active in organizations based in the city. He began his career in surveying, exploration, engineering procurement, and construction management, before taking on project management and corporate leadership.

David has worked at Encana and Cenovus in a variety of management and specialist roles, and served as advisor to several boards and sub-committees before transitioning to academia. He served as the Academic Chair for the B.Sc.in Construction Project Management at SAIT, the Chairman of the Canadian Coalition for Green Finance, and the Director of Strategic Centre Initiatives at the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary. In that time, he oversaw many entrepreneurial and sustainability initiatives and seminars, informed by more than 20 years of experience in oil, gas, and clean technology.

David holds dual undergraduate degrees, a technical diploma, and a dual M.BA focused in global energy management, sustainability, and project management. He is also a Certified Engineering Technologist under ASET.

Laura Weeden is a Professional Engineer, holding a B.Sc. in Civil Engineering from Dalhousie University. She is the VP of Operations at CanWhite Sands Corp., working on a new, more environmentally friendly mining methodology for a high purity silica sand mine. Her prior experience includes major management and leadership roles at Baker Hughes and Schulmberger & Pomerleau. A recipient of the 2020 International Society of Petroleum Engineers Young Member Outstanding Service award, the 2018 Young Women in Energy award, and an Oilweek 2016 Rising Star, she currently participates in several leadership roles and is the Past Chair of the Society of Petroleum Engineers’ Calgary section. Additionally, she leads community energy literacy initiatives through hands-on, science-based learning. Laura is currently pursuing a Project Management Certificate at the University of Calgary.

James Douglas McNeill (Doug) is the current President of JKT Resources Ltd., with a diverse and distinguished career in the energy sector since the early 1980s. His experience includes oil and gas fieldwork, design engineering, R&D in manufacturing, overseas, business development, joint ventures, and corporate strategy, where he has held several senior level positions. Taking a step back in December 2017 from equipment manufacturing, he has pursued projects supporting food, energy and community independence in geothermal, food production and energy storage innovation. He has served on multiple boards, like PSAC (Petroleum Services Association of Canada) and CPI (the Canadian Petroleum Institute) at presently serves on private company, professional and association Boards. Doug holds a degree in mechanical engineering from Oregon State University, several leadership development certifications. He is a Professional Engineer under APEGA with an Institute of Corporate Directors designation from the Rotman Directors Education Program through the Haskayne School of Business, U of C. Doug has also given his time to various community-based programs over the years like the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, the Calgary Petroleum Club, Canadian Petroleum Institute, Mustard Seed, Heart and Stroke, Diabetes, Alzheimer’s and several others.

Manpreet Dhillon holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Entrepreneurship and Masters of Environment and Business (Sustainable Development). Presently, Manpreet is a Juris Doctor (J.D.) candidate in her final semester at the University of Calgary. While completing her J.D., Manpreet interned with the Alberta Utilities Commission and the B.C. Securities Commission, was a research assistant for Bryce Tingle, Q.C. and was an editor for the Alberta Law Review. Upon graduating, Manpreet will complete her articling term at a national firm. Her primary areas of interest are corporate and administrative law, with a specific focus on energy regulation.

Prior to joining law school, Manpreet pursued a career in the energy sector, primarily supporting capital projects in progressively senior roles. In her most recent role as Manager, Supply Chain at TC Energy, she was accountable to the Canada Gas business unit for all supply chain matters relating to its capital facilities program.

In addition, Manpreet is Co-founder and President of the Energy Law Club at the University of Calgary and volunteers regularly with YWCA Calgary.

Lance is a Strategy Partner with Ernst & Young (EY), and has provided business consulting services for more than 130 projects spanning five continents. Lance has worked with leading energy and utility companies, regulators, governments, LNGs, and more, bringing a broad set of strategic skills and experiences to help clients solve some of their most complex problems. An expert in trends, his experience includes all aspects of corporate and business unit strategy and planning, market assessments, and integration and management, in areas such as finance, IT, supply chain, operations and capital projects. He has authored 27 articles and papers on a variety of business topics, with several published in industry magazines and newspapers, and has been the keynote presenter at numerous industry conferences.

Lance has an undergraduate degree with Hons from Exeter University and an MBA with Distinction from Cardiff Business School, and many other professional certifications. He has attended Stanford and MIT, is a guest lecturer for the Haskayne School of Business’s MBA program on strategy, relationship management and management consulting, and acts as an Executive Research Fellow for the school.

Katie leads Business Development for Industry Diversification for Spartan Controls, an industrial technology company with process automation, valve, measurement and control solutions in Western Canada.  In addition, Katie is the Executive Director of Young Women in Energy (YWE), a non-profit Alberta organization of more than 4,500 members that provides voice, presence, development, and leadership of women working in the energy industry. In this role, she has presented to the Senate of Canada’s ENEV Committee on Bill C-69 and was featured on ARC Energy Research Institute’s ARC Energy Ideas podcast. She is a founding board member of Axis Connect, a non-profit acting as a collaboration and resource hub for women-focused initiatives and organizations, and in 2019, she was recognized by She Innovates Alberta, UN Women’s first pilot chapter of its Global Innovation Coalition for Change (GICC). Katie is currently pursuing her MBA in Executive Management at Royal Roads University.

Ms. Archibald (HBSc (Geology), Lakehead University; Masters of Management Science, University of Waterloo), is the Director of the Extractive Resource Government Program (ERGP) at The School of Public Policy, University of Calgary. After graduation from Lakehead, she spent 10 years in the private sector working as an exploration geologist and mine geologist in the Yukon, Ontario and the Northwest Territories. In 1997, Ms. Archibald began her public sector career as a geologist with the Government of the Northwest Territories. She spent the next 20 years in positions of increasing responsibility – Senior Mining Advisor, Director – Minerals, Oil and Gas Division, Director – Policy, Legislation and Communications. In 2013, Ms. Archibald accepted the position of Assistant Deputy Minister (ADM) – Devolution Implementation to facilitate the transfer of legislative responsibility for minerals and petroleum from the Government of Canada to the GNWT. After one year in this position, she was appointed to the position of ADM – Mineral and Petroleum Resources to manage that portfolio once the responsibilities were devolved to the GNWT. In April 2017, Ms. Archibald left the GNWT to establish her own consulting firm to provide strategic advice to all levels of government on the development of their mineral and petroleum resources. She joined The School of Public Policy as the Director of the ERGP in November of 2017.

Matt holds a BComm, M.Sc. in Strategic Leadership towards Sustainability and is a Doctor of Business Administration student at University of Calgary. He works in the field of corporate strategy, innovation, and organizational development as a Founder and “atypical” CEO of Arete Initiative. He has extensive experience coordinating multi-stakeholder and multi-interest groups that are working on some of the most difficult questions of our time. For example, as Lead, Special Projects for the Energy Futures Lab, Matt works on strategic projects that foster collaboration between energy leaders to create the energy system that the future requires of us. Other such initiatives include: accelerating a circular economy, increasing regenerative agriculture, galvanizing climate leadership and more.

Matt is a sessional instructor at Mount Royal University and University of Calgary on courses pertaining to sustainable development.

Julie West is the Vice President of Nuclear Safety & Licensing and Corporate Safety, Quality and Human Performance at Kinectrics.  Kinectrics provides life cycle management solutions to the electricity industry, working with customers to fight climate change and save lives through clean electricity generation and medical isotope production.

Julie has held diverse technical and management positions for more than 25 years, specializing in developing regulatory strategies for novel nuclear projects including advanced reactors, tritium processing, hot cells and waste facilities.  Julie currently leads a team of over 150 scientists and engineers, providing a centre of excellence for safety and licensing services for the nuclear industry in Canada and abroad.

Julie also serves as an Executive Board member and Chair of the Regulatory Affairs Advisory Committee for the Canadian Nuclear Association.  Julie is a licensed professional engineer in the province of Ontario and is a graduate of Chemical Engineering from the University of New Brunswick.

Stan Johnson is the Bras d’Or Lakes Collaborative Environmental Planning Initiative (CEPI) coordinator from the Eskasoni First Nation in Cape Breton. The CEPI is a unique organization where four levels of government come together to work on economic, environmental, and sustainability issues for the people of the Bras d’Or Lake.
Stan also worked as a Senior Researcher for the Verschuren Centre for Sustainability in Energy and the Environment at Cape Breton University. Stan is also on the Board of Directors for the Bras d’Or Lakes Biosphere Reserve Association (BLBRA) and the Atlantic Coastal Action Program (ACAP). Stan is also a Graduate of the Energy Sustainability Engineering and Technology program at NSCC and is currently finalizing his MBA in Community Economic Development at Cape Breton University. Stan is also the president of Nakuset Energy, specializing in new home construction, new home design, energy efficiency retrofits and upgrades, renewable energy recommendations, and residential and commercial energy audits.

Living in both Spain and Argentina before moving to Canada, David relocated to Calgary as an adult and became very active in organizations based in the city. He began his career in surveying, exploration, engineering procurement, and construction management, before taking on project management and corporate leadership.

David has worked at Encana and Cenovus in a variety of management and specialist roles, and served as advisor to several boards and sub-committees before transitioning to academia. He served as the Academic Chair for the B.Sc.in Construction Project Management at SAIT, the Chairman of the Canadian Coalition for Green Finance, and the Director of Strategic Centre Initiatives at the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary. In that time, he oversaw many entrepreneurial and sustainability initiatives and seminars, informed by more than 20 years of experience in oil, gas, and clean technology.

David holds dual undergraduate degrees, a technical diploma, and a dual M.BA focused in global energy management, sustainability, and project management. He is also a Certified Engineering Technologist under ASET.

An accomplished and resourceful professional in the technical and business realms, Alejandro is the Director of Strategic Development for the CECN. With more than 20 years of experience in international multidisciplinary teams, working in office and field environments, Alejandro has vast knowledge in full-cycle energy systems – both petroleum and alternative energy – and a proven ability to guide groups and manage complex projects. Alejandro’s skills in effectively identifying and evaluating technical data related to analysis, cost, forecasts, scheduling and execution are strong, and he has a deep expertise in development strategy for energy systems while integrating the application of practical engineering principles and entrepreneurial thinking for risk-managed value creation. Alejandro holds a B.Sc. in Petroleum Engineering and a M.Sc. In Chemical and Petroleum Engineering.

A deeply passionate individual as it pertains to the Canadian energy landscape, Christina is the Director of Operations for the CECN. Christina has applied herself within the energy efficiency industry for many years, focusing primarily on program implementation with utilities, government, and municipalities.   She has also worked on a variety of research projects from financing clean technology to municipal emission reduction through alternative work strategies.  She completed a BA in Linguistics from the University of Alberta, an MBA at University of Calgary specializing in Energy Management and Sustainable Development, and has also proceeded to earn her Project Management Professional designation.

An enthusiastic and experienced digital media strategist, Honor is the Social Media and Branding Consultant for the CECN. Honor has worked for a variety of small businesses and provided them with effective and successful social media strategies to increase their online footprint. With a personal interest in Canada’s energy landscape, she is passionate about creating content that strengthens awareness and builds relationships among fellow Canadians. Honor has  completed her BA in Communication and Media Studies at the University of Calgary.