2020 Speaker Biographies

Christine Cameron, PhD, is the President and Principal researcher at the Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute (CFLRI), a not-for-profit research organization. She has 30 years of knowledge and experience in physical activity and sport research and surveillance among the Canadian population. Christine has successfully developed and implemented the CFLRI’s current research strategy which includes qualitative studies and quantitative research such as: population-based studies; surveys of key settings including municipalities, workplaces, and schools; surveys of organizations and governments. She participates on a federal, provincial, and territorial government-led surveillance and monitoring workgroup, on sector-driven workgroups, and has presented at governmental and sector meetings, Minister and Senate meetings, and research conferences. She has also served in several capacities on local Boards and on local community committees.

Jason deVos is the Canada Soccer Director of Development.

The former Men’s National Team member and professional player is responsible for the overall management, direction and development of coaching and grassroots development programs across Canada.

From his retirement from professional play in 2008 to joining Canada Soccer in his current role in 2016, deVos provided expert soccer analysis for CBC, Gol TV and most recently for TSN. deVos served as an assistant coach for the bronze medal winning 2016 Olympic Women’s Soccer team and holds both the UEFA Pro Licence and the Canada Soccer A Licence.

An honoured member of The Soccer Hall of Fame and the Ipswich Town FC Hall of Fame, deVos is a product of Canada’s development system and a decorated Canadian international and professional player. His nearly 20 years of experience as a player included leadership roles as the captain of Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team, Dundee United, Wigan Athletic and Ipswich Town FC. Notably, deVos captained the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup winning squad and was named to the Canada Soccer All-Time Canada XI in 2012.

President & CEO, YMCA Canada

Peter Dinsdale has worked and volunteered for service delivery and political advocacy organizations on a local, regional and national level. Peter obtained a Bachelor of Arts – Political Science and Native Studies and a Master of Arts – Interdisciplinary Humanities in 1997 from Laurentian University.

He previously was the Chief Executive Officer for the Assembly of First Nations, the past Executive Director of the National Association of Friendship Centres and previously a member of the YMCA Canada Board of Directors.

In 2018, Peter became a recipient of the Order to Ontario.  Peter is married with two children.

Photo credit to Alex Law. 

Athlete. Coach. Leader. Mentor. Broadcaster: 19-time Paralympic Games medallist Stephanie Dixon is an elite resource when it comes to Para sport and one Canada’s most accomplished Paralympians in history.

At 16 she made her Paralympic Games debut at Sydney 2000 where she collected five gold medals, three of which were in world record time. She would ultimately compete in three Paralympic Games.

Retired from competitive swimming, Stephanie has now been inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame and is a member of the Order of Canada. She remains a strong presence in the Para sport community in a number of roles. She was Canada’s chef de mission at the Lima 2019 Parapan Am Games last summer and will also lead the Canadian team in the same role at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

Charlene Krepiakevich, M.A. (she/hers) is the Chief Executive is the Chief Executive Officer at viaSport British Columbia, a non-profit society formed as a legacy of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games to foster the growth of amateur sport in British Columbia. Funded by the government of British Columbia, viaSport supports the BC amateur sport ecosystem with public awareness, education, training, and funding.

Professionally, Charlene has held leadership roles in the private and non-profit sectors, in national and international markets, and in complex systems, to delivered pragmatic and functional vision-driven strategies that has built trust, delivered results, and generated impact. Her leadership ethos is focused on community impact, social good, and inclusivity that has helped champion causes, enable change, and reimagine organizations.

Personally, Charlene is an avid sport enthusiast and has experienced all levels of the Canadian sport ecosystem. She has participated, competed, coached, volunteered, and lead sports organizations, and experienced first-hand the powerful role sport plays in our families and communities.  While recognizing the very important mental and physical health benefits sport delivers, Charlene also sees sport as a catalyst for greater community connectivity, economic growth, and social development.

Catriona Le May Doan was the fastest woman on ice. After carrying the Canadian flag into the 2002 Olympic Winter Games opening ceremony (her fourth Olympics), Catriona defended her Olympic title with a Gold medal performance in the 500 metre event, becoming the first Canadian individual to defend a gold medal at any Olympic games. She held the World Record in the 500m for 10 years. During her career Catriona broke 13 World Records.

In 1998, at the Nagano Olympic Winter Games, Catriona won her first Olympic Gold medal in the 500m in Olympic record time, then added an Olympic Bronze Medal in the 1000m event. She finished the 1998 season first overall in the World Cup standings in both the 500m and 1000m events. In 1999 Catriona’s domination in the speed skating world continued when she finished first overall in the World Cup standings for the 500m event.

Catriona’s accomplishments have earned her the 2002 Lou Marsh Award as Canada’s Athlete of the Year and she is a three-time recipient (1998, 2001, 2002) of the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award for Canadian Female Athlete of the Year award.

Catriona has covered five Olympic Games and co-hosted the primetime show Countdown to Beijing. She joined the CTV Olympic broadcast team for the Vancouver 2010 Games, which earned her a Gemini for Best Sports Analyst. Catriona continued her work with CTV, as co-host of Olympic Morning for the London 2012 Games.  She was one of four athletes to light the cauldron at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games Opening Ceremony.  She was the position of Lead, Athlete Mentor for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games working closely with the Olympic team.

Catriona was given three honorary degrees, and was inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame and the Canadian Olympic Committee’s Sports Hall of Fame and appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada – one of Canada’s highest honours.

Catriona has been a board member with VANOC, Winsport, Calgary 2026 BidCo, Red Deer 2019, and still actively involved in the Canada Games Council as Vice Chair, Special Olympics Canada, Canadian Sport Institute Calgary, Winsport, and various other charity organizations.

Catriona is President and CEO of Sport Calgary in helping to advance amateur sport in Calgary.

Catriona lives in Calgary with two children, Greta and Easton.

Dr Andrew Marshall is fellowship trained in orthopaedics and sports medicine and specializing in arthroscopic surgery and surgery of the knee. He works at the Montfort Hospital as well as Kemptville District Hospital and is active in the Canadian Academy of Sports and Exercise Medicine as chair of the CPD Committee and on the board of directors. He has attended many games as part of the medical team including Canada Games in Whitehorse and PEI, Pan Am games in Rio and in 2011 he acted as CMO of the Canadian Pan Am medical team and assistant CMO of the Canadian Medical team at London 2012. He was also the assistant CMO at Para PanAms in Toronto and as CMO at the Paralympics in Rio in 2016 and Pyeongchang 2018 as well as upcoming Tokyo 2020. He is the lead physician for the National Mens Volleyball Team and Canadian Wheelchair rugby teams. He is active in caring for Carleton Ravens football and Ottawa RedBlacks as well as other local teams. He is involved in training residents and students at the University of Ottawa in orthopaedics and sports medicine. He has worked in and for the military for over 30 years.

Bob McDonald is one of Canada’s best-known science journalists, bringing science to the public for more than 40 years. In addition to hosting Quirks & Quarks, the award-winning science program with a national audience of nearly 500,000 people, McDonald is also a science correspondent for CBC Television’s The National and Gemini-winning host and writer of the children’s series Head’s Up. He also hosted The Great Canadian Invention, Wonderstruck, and the seven-part series, Water Under Fire.

The host and writer of numerous television documentaries and more than 100 educational videos in Canada and the United States, McDonald has also authored five bestselling science books, with his latest being An Earthling’s Guide to Space. He has also contributed to numerous textbooks, magazines, and newspapers, including The Globe and Mail.

An Officer of the Order of Canada and a recipient of the Queen’s Jubilee Medal, McDonald has been honoured for his outstanding contribution to the promotion of science with the Michael Smith Award from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, the Sir Sanford Fleming Medal from the Royal Canadian Institute, and the McNeil Medal from The Royal Society of Canada. In 2008, he won a Gemini Award for best host in a pre-school, children’s or youth program or series.

McDonald holds twelve honorary doctorates from Canadian universities and two honourary College degrees. He also currently sits on the board of Friends of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory. In 2014, asteroid 2006 XN67 was officially named “bobmcdonald” in his honour.

Tricia McGuire-Adams (from Bingwi Neyaashi Anishinaabek) holds a Tier II Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Ganandawisiwin Sovereignties and is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Ottawa. Dr. McGuire-Adams’ research challenges deficit-based narratives within Indigenous health research by centering Indigenous dibaajimowinan (stories) of physical activity, health, and wellbeing. As a community-driven researcher, it is important for Dr. McGuire-Adams to foster reciprocal and accountable research relationships with Indigenous communities. Her current program of research looks to Anishinaabeg land-based learning, physical activities, and gikendaasowin (knowledge) about Indigenous sport and disabilities, to further amplify Indigenous peoples’ practices of health and well-being.

Former Scottish rugby international Lisa O’Keefe joined Sport England following a career in the Financial Sector. During her time at Sport England she has held a variety of roles including Regional Director and Director of Sport where she was responsible for Sport England’s investment in National Governing Bodies of Sport.

Following the creation of a new Directorate, Lisa was appointed Director of Insight in 2013 where she has led work to better understand behaviours and motivations behind the sporting and physical activity habits of adults and children in England, and the social and economic impact of the nation being more active.

During her playing career, Lisa won 45 Scotland international rugby caps between 1994 and 2006 and competed in numerous World Cups, European Championship and Six Nations.  She also enjoyed great success domestically, winning league and cup titles with Richmond Rugby Club.

Lee Anna Osei is a Ghanaian-Canadian university varsity athletic basketball coach and educator at St. Francis Xavier University (StFX). Lee Anna was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario and credits basketball as the vehicle that inspired her towards educational pursuits as a first-generation Canadian citizen. After a notable HS career at Eastern Commerce C.I, Lee Anna went on to play at the University of Miami, Trinity Valley C.C, and finally at Wilfrid Laurier University, where she was finished her career as a 3-time Academic All Canadian, an OUA All Star, and was the recipient of the prestigious OWL Award in 2015. She graduated with an Honours BA in 2015 and went on to complete her Master of Arts in History at Laurier.

Lee Anna is a 2-time Team Ontario U17 Provincial Coach and has spent countless hours volunteering as a community basketball coach, particularly as a player development coach for men’s and women’s basketball teams and players at the grassroots, high performance, and professional levels. In 2012 she founded Canletes Basketball, an organization devoted to supporting the Ontario basketball sport community, and specifically females through running showcase events, tournaments, and offering mentorship and recruitment consulting services.

In 2017 Lee Anna coached at TRC Academy (OSBA), a high-performance program located in Brantford Ontario, where she led her team to the Championship title game. In 2018-2019, Coach Lee was hired as the first female Head Coach in StFX university’s athletic history. Lee Anna is the first Ghanaian – Canadian Head Coach at the Canadian University level, and the only Black female Head Coach in the history of the Maritimes. In addition, Lee Anna is a member of StFX’s Professional Teaching Staff, instructing in the skills component of the Human Kinetics Department.

In June 2020, Lee Anna founded The Black Canadian Coaches Association, a not-for-profit organization devoted to supporting and empowering Black, Indigenous and People of Colour through 3 objectives: celebration, advocacy through allyship, and networking.

Jill Sadler conceived of her first business at the age of 12. It was a woodworking business and despite not knowing anything about woodworking nor owning any required equipment, her passion for generating ideas and building a plan was evident. Jill went on to lead Marketing, Sales and Operations teams in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors for over 20 years, including roles with Maple Leaf Foods, Atlantic Lottery, The National Arts Centre, and La-Z-Boy

Jill is currently the VP of Learning & Development for Blueprint North America – an organization committed to building confidence in individuals, teams and organizations on both sides of the border. This means she spends half of her time studying, and developing, adult learning strategies and the other half of her time in large rooms with thousands of sticky notes. Whether it’s a negotiation workshop, a creative thinking webinar, or a strategic planning session, Jill is always looking to help individuals stretch beyond their perceived capabilities

Jill holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Mount Allison University (2000), a Master’s of Science in Business degree from Queen’s University (2007) and hopes to one day complete a PhD in Organizational Psychology.

When Jill doesn’t have her nose in a leadership book or a strategic plan, she can be found playing volleyball, swimming with her two kids, losing crib matches to her husband, having a glass of wine with friends or enjoying the performing arts in Ottawa.

Stephanie Simpson has been a member of the Human Rights Office at Queen’s University since 1996, starting in the portfolios of anti-racism advisor and education coordinator and increasing in responsibility since. She was most recently appointed in November 2018 as the Associate Vice Principal (Human Rights, Equity and Inclusion). In this role, Stephanie leads the Human Rights and Equity Office and plays a key role in fostering both legislative compliance and transformative dialogue and action on issues of inclusivity, diversity, accessibility, human rights, and equity on Queen’s campus.

Stephanie holds a BA (Honours), B.Ed. MEd and LLM from Queen’s. During her academic career she was active as a student in the African Caribbean Students Association, the Southern Africa Solidarity Group, and was a founding member of the Queen’s Black History Collective. An engaged community member, she is a co-founder and past Co-ordinator of Black History Month Kingston and a longstanding member of the Black Inmates and Friends Assembly. Stephanie currently represents Queen’s on the Kingston Immigration Partnership Operations Committee as Co-Chair and is past Chair of the Board of Directors of Kingston Employment and Youth Services.

Stephanie is a sought after speaker on issues related to anti-racism, anti-oppression, social justice and human rights. She has provided consultation and education services to a wide range of community partners including Interval House, Limestone District School Board, Kingston General Hospital, and the United Church of Canada and has been a well-respected leader on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at Queen’s for many years.

Photo credit to Alain Wong.

Fabrice Vil is a certified integral development coach, participative agility practitioner, lawyer and former basketball coach. In 2011, he founded Pour 3 Points, an organization which transforms sports coaches so that they also play the role of life coaches with young sportspeople in disadvantaged areas. Driven by equal opportunities, he regularly speaks on issues that concern this ideal, notably as a contributor in different media outlets, as a speaker and facilitator of business workshops.

Fabrice is fascinated by the question of human conscience. He wishes that people were curious about the invisible violence in which they participate and that they respond with more kindness to themselves and to others.