Past Speakers
CEEC’s speakers are leaders at the forefront of the green movement. The passion and expertise that speakers bring to the conference from their respective fields have engaged and inspires future leaders in the sustainability industry. If you are interested in speaking at CEEC 2025, we would love to hear your story. Please get in touch with one of our Speakers Coordinators for more information. Here are last years speakers:
CEEC 2024 SPEAKERS
CEEC 2024 SPEAKERS
Lucie Viciano
Position: Program Director
Organization: Canadian Space Agency
Lucie’s professional experience combines satellite remote sensing, consulting and sustainability. Having recently joined the Canadian Space Agency, she is a program officer within the SmartEarth team, aiming to support the democratization and capacity building of Earth observation. Previously, Lucie worked at Viresco Solutions Inc., a company that specializes in decarbonization consulting services through nature-based solutions, as a senior consultant and director supporting strategic development operations. In other sustainability-focused roles, she also held the climate protection officer position at McGill University, and was business development manager at NatureLab.World, a Quebec-based reforestation carbon offset developer start-up. She is also active as a board member, having served for local environmental non-profits GRAME for 4 years and the Quebec chapter of CPAWS (Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society) currently. Before that, the first decade of her career consisted in undertaking consulting mandates in both the space and infrastructure sectors, predominantly for clients in Europe and North America where she has lived. She holds a BSc Geography and a MSc Remote Sensing from University of London colleges.
Karen-Haugen-kozyra
Position: President
Organization: Viresco Solutions
Karen has over 25 years of experience in agricultural greenhouse gas measurement, modeling, and climate change/environmental policy development – spanning her tenure at the provincial Department of Agriculture in Alberta, then at the not-for-profit Climate Change Central, and now in the private sector. During her tenure with the province, Karen was part of the cross-governmental team that developed Alberta’s Bioenergy Policy Framework, which was approved by cabinet in 2008. This framework set the stage for Alberta’s Bioenergy Program administered by the Department of Energy. Karen also led ecosystem goods and service policy and program development, in concert with other federal, provincial, and territorial governments under Canada’s Agriculture Policy Frameworks.
Tom ogaranko
Position: Director
Organization: Viresco Solutions
Tom Ogaranko leads transformational change with high-performing teams focused on complex challenges. Over his 26-year career, he has founded, built and exited multiple technology companies in advanced technology industries. He has advised the Governments of Canada and France and several Canadian Provincial Governments on innovation policy and has been involved in structuring the three crown agencies involved in research, innovation and technology development. Tom has assembled and structured $1B of investment funds for stimulating and growing innovative capacity for public and private clients. Tom is a frequent advisor to the Government on policies to grow ICT, biotechnology, genomics and cleantech sectors. Tom has also actively advised some of the leading innovative companies in Canada’s pharmaceutical, energy, mining, telecommunications and technology sectors.
Nicole leite
Position: Principal
Organization: BDC
Nicole Leite serves as a Principal for the Climate Tech Fund at BDC, where she merges her venture capital expertise with a passion for sustainable development. Renowned in the fields of impact investing, investment banking, and renewable project financing, Nicole is dedicated to fostering financial strategies that support social and environmental progress, particularly in climate-tech and social finance. Her work at BDC is centered around empowering sustainable energy solutions and promoting social entrepreneurship, contributing significantly to poverty reduction and international development initiatives. Nicole's role in advancing climate tech initiatives underscores her commitment to aligning economic growth with environmental stewardship.
Jerry demchuck
Organization: SLR
Jerry has been leading sustainability and ESG strategy development for more than 30 years, working with clients to drive sustainable development within their capital projects and corporate business models, which includes identifying material impacts and developing ESG strategies. Jerry’s expertise is based on a proven track record of leading sustainability, regulatory approvals, environmental, and social aspects of ESG, including government relations and stakeholder engagement for companies.
PREVIOUS SPEAKERS
PREVIOUS SPEAKERS
Chris Heysel
Environmental Impact Lead, Arc’teryx
Chris is an unrelenting optimist, passionate about solving the complex problems of our ever-changing world. After completing his Master’s to avoid getting a “real job” Chris went on to work in corporate sustainability consulting, helping some of Canada’s largest financial and real estate businesses understand their climate risk and plan for the future. From there Chris became the Canadian National Practice Manager for both Sustainable Infrastructure and Life Cycle Analysis for the global engineering firm WSP. And now as the Environmental Impact Lead for Arc’teryx Chris manages the company’s environmental strategies and advocacy work. Chris will take any opportunity to chat about rock climbing, snowboarding, fishing, or anything outside for that matter. Chris dreams of a world where businesses operating 100% sustainably are simply status quo so he can retire to a cabin in the woods knowing all is well in the world.
Dr. James Orbinski
Dahdaleh Institute Director, York University
As a medical doctor, a humanitarian practitioner and advocate, best-selling author, and a leading scholar in global health, Dr. James Orbinski believes in actively engaging and shaping our world so that it is more just, fair, and humane. Dr. Orbinski is full professor and inaugural Director of York University’s Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research. The Dahdaleh Institute takes a critical problem-solving approach to achieve greater equity, effectiveness, and excellence in global health. Dr. Orbinski leads a rapidly growing institute that fosters scientific, technological, and social science research and innovation to improve Planetary Health, the clinical public health effectiveness of humanitarian responses, and capacity in Global Health For-sighting.
He is the author of an award-winning and best-selling book, An Imperfect Offering: Humanitarianism in the 21st Century, and the subject of the International Award-Winning documentary film, “Triage”. In 2016-2017, as a Fulbright visiting professor to the University of California-Irvine, he worked in California and Malawi on modeling the health impacts of climate change.
Dr. Orbinski holds a BSc from Trent University, an MD degree from McMaster University, and an MA in international relations from the University of Toronto. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada and has received the Meritorious Service Cross for his leadership in providing direct medical relief in Kigali during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Dr. Orbinski is an avid canoeist and lives in Guelph Ontario with his wife and their three children aged 17, 15, and 12.
Jill Tymchak
Energy Systems Engineer, J.L. Richards and Associates Limited
Jill Tymchak is an Energy Systems Engineer with 15 years of experience in engineering systems including sustainable technology, electrical renewable energy systems, and energy efficiency. She has specialized expertise in the evaluation of electricity costs for facility operation considering Ontario electricity rate structures, including the potential role of renewable energy systems and battery energy storage systems (BESS). She also has expertise in the design, execution, and monitoring of photovoltaic (PV) systems ranging from 10 kW projects to multi-megawatt projects.
Mark Mattson
President, Swim Drink Fish Canada
Mark Mattson is one of Canada’s most seasoned environmental lawyers and the founder of several water charities, including Swim Drink Fish. In addition to being Swim Drink Fish’s President, he is the Waterkeeper for Lake Ontario, a water quality advisor to the International Joint Commission, a board member for the US-based Waterkeeper Alliance, and a member of Ontario’s Great Lakes Guardians Council.
Matthew Hoffman
Political Science Professor, University of Toronto
Matthew Hoffmann is a Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto Scarborough and co-director of the Environmental Governance Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. He is also co-editor of the journal Global Environmental Politics. His research on decarbonization, climate change, and environmental politics has been published in 4 books and over 50 journal articles and book chapters. Professor Hoffmann is also the chair of the board of directors for the environmental NGO, Green Economy Canada.
Steve Oldham
Chief Executive Officer, Carbon Engineering Ltd.
Steve Oldham is Chief Executive Officer of BC-based Carbon Engineering Ltd. (CE), a leading developer of Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology. Recently selected as the North American CleanTech Company of the Year, CE captures carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere at a large scale so it can be permanently put back underground or turned into clean transportation fuels. DAC technology enables the elimination of any carbon dioxide emission of any type, from anywhere and any moment in time.
Steve will talk about the de-carbonization challenge, the economics of de-carbonization, CE’s technology, and its business plan. He will also talk about his career journey and the lessons he learned along the way.
Steve has been the CEO of CE for 3 years. He brings more than 20 years of executive experience to CE’s team, stemming from previous positions in technology, robotics, and aerospace sectors. He has played a lead role in a number of ‘Canada firsts’ in technology commercialization, including the first robot performing brain surgery, the first commercial radar satellite, robots that clean the inside of nuclear reactors, and satellites that service and repair other satellites. Steve holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and computer science from the University of Birmingham in England.