Our presenters

Izzy is an administrative professional with 20+ years of experience working with Microsoft Office. Her experience in various paralegal, corporate, and government office gives her differing perspectives to engage and develop both her knowledge and her students' knowledge. Izzy is a Microsoft Certified Trainer and a Learning Facilitator and Coach Evaluator with the Coaching Association of Canada.

James Johnston, P. Eng., CM-Lean is an Industrial Engineer, Lean Construction coach, an Approved Trainer with the Associated General Contractors of America, and one of the authors of the newest version of the Lean Construction Education Program. He is a construction, operations, and quality specialist with over 30 years of experience focusing on business process analysis & improvement, Lean implementation, strategic planning, and business development. He has worked extensively as a Management Consultant and educator, leading organizations through lean transformations, quality system implementation, and process optimization projects. He has coached & facilitated the implementation of Lean Construction tools and methodologies on projects of all sizes, has trained thousands of construction professionals internationally, and continues to develop programs that improve project outcomes industry-wide.

Jaysen Palangio has 35 years of knowledge and experience in the construction industry. He began his career as a young scaffold apprentice and eventually became a certified Journeyman scaffolder.

While working at Canada Scaffold Supply Co. Ltd for the last 25 years, Jaysen has acquired a strong background in Health and Safety and has a passion for sharing his knowledge and experience within a classroom environment.

His goal is to provide every student with a better understanding of how to recognize, build and dismantle a safer scaffolding.

Expert Witness, Claims, ADR and Commercial Contracts specialist with over 30 years career in construction in a broad field of infrastructure industries including oil & gas, process plants, airports, rail, civil engineering and nuclear. Represented a variety of Owners and Contractors and assisted legal counsel in contract negotiations and a variety of ADR forums worldwide. Successfully worked on a variety of projects and files with responsibility for the commercial management of major infrastructure projects with a value of in excess of $1BN. Operating and managing at the executive level of a project structure in a PPP/PFI environment, representing companies in preliminary and delivery of live projects. Extensive experience on a variety of bespoke and standard form contracts including CCDC, FIDIC, New Engineering Contract (NEC), ICE and JCT Contracts. Managed both contentious and non-contentious contractual matters and key concerns within organisations by providing legal and contractual insight and representation in contract negotiations in Europe, South America, Australia, the Middle East and the Far East; with major owners and contracting companies. Advised on contractual obligations in order to ensure legal compliance and to manage contractual risk. Responsibility for both the production and review of project claims, the development and implementation of strategies for risk and opportunity management, together with the evaluation and determination of contractor submitted claims to project and business management and counsel. Personally, responsible for contract drafting and administration, claims identification, evaluation, preparation and management, dispute resolution and litigation support. Barrister at Law, Call July 2010. Certified ODACC Adjudicator, Member of The Honorable Society of the Inner Temple, The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and Canadian Institute of Quantity Surveyors. Published written work, with contributions to 'Introduction to Construction Contract Management' Routledge. Training as a Mediator and Arbitrator and committed to personal and professional development.

Jessica is chair of Clark Wilson LLP’s Forestry Law practice group and a member of the firm’s Business Law, Indigenous Law, and Energy & Natural Resources groups. Before joining Clark Wilson, Jessica worked as in-house counsel for two of North America’s largest forest products companies and now gives business-focused, practical advice to a wide range of clients. She regularly works across the table from and with First Nations on various matters related to forestry and natural resources and provides external general counsel services to business clients. Jessica’s recent work has involved the purchase and sale of forest tenure and the negotiation of long-term agreements between Indigenous and non-Indigenous businesses for the management of forest tenure.   

 Jessica Coulthard is a trained Strategic Interventionist from Robbins Madanes, an NLP Practitioner, and a multi-time author.  

With over 20 years of experience in construction, manufacturing, and the oil and gas industries , Jessica brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to her work

She is the founder of the Women Who Inspire Conference and hosts two podcasts: "The Examined Life" and "Ignited Entrepreneurs." 

Jessica utilizes Human Needs Psychology to guide her clients in understanding the motivations behind their actions, helping them create more dynamic and fulfilling lives. 

Jessica practices in all areas of labour and employment law, with a focus on employee management and discipline, employment litigation, labour relations, human rights proceedings and workplace investigations.   

Prior to joining PCM, Jessica was a joint venture partner of a nationally recognized management-side legal services boutique firm in Alberta. Jessica is known to provide strategic advice and representation regarding the interpretation of workplace policies, collective agreements, rights and interest arbitration, mediation and other dispute resolution processes. She has extensive litigation experience and has established herself as a strong advocate when litigating matters involving labour relations board proceedings and arbitrations, employment standards tribunal complaints, wrongful dismissal litigation, human rights complaints and disciplinary proceedings.   

Jessica also has a keen interest in the handling of complaints of workplace misconduct including allegations of bullying and harassment. She has conducted numerous complex workplace investigations in highly sensitive circumstances and is committed to ensuring due process and procedural fairness.   

From 2008 to 2014, Jessica served as a Crown Prosecutor for the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service and established herself as an effective litigator, handling a high volume of cases and successfully managing the expectations of various stakeholders. In this role, Jessica gained experience working with victims of trauma, including those affected by sexual and domestic violence. Prior to joining the Crown Prosecution Service, Jessica worked as criminal defence counsel.