The Central Planning Table is comprised of representatives from each of the local Workforce Committees, which have been in place for up to seven years and which cover the geographic area of the LEPC project area. Where possible, representatives were elected by their respective tables as representatives from the workforce committees and the designated Subject Matter Working Groups will elect future representatives to the Central Planning Table.
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Joe Preston
Joe is a Dad and Grandad, a community supporter in St.Thomas with many organizations and campaigns, an entrepreneur with Living Alive Granola, Wendy’s, and Boston Pizza. He has also served more than a decade as a Parliamentarian, Member of Parliament for Elgin Middlesex London.
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Jean-Pierre Cantin
Jean-Pierre Cantin is the executive-director of Centre Communautaire regional de London, a community organization whose mission is to represent and gather the Francophones of all origins in the London area. Jean-Pierre is involved in many community organizations such as the London Middlesex Local Immigration Partnership, l’Entité de Santé Erie St-Clair South West, la Table francophone de Concertation de London and many others. He was the Programs and Services Director for Ontario Central-South-West Region for Collège Boréal for many years and was in charge of the supervision and development of immigration and employment services.
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Tyler Sutton
Tyler is the Editor & Research Lead for the Public Sector Digest, a national research publication for public sector practitioners and municipal decision makers. Tyler received his honours bachelor’s degree from the University of Western Ontario and completed a master’s degree in Public Administration at Queen’s University. Tyler’s team of research analysts scans current and emerging trends in public policy and administration to produce the monthly digital and quarterly print versions of the Public Sector Digest, along with a monthly webinar series, and ongoing comprehensive research projects. Having presented at numerous public sector workshops and conferences, including the Municipal Finance Officers Association of Ontario and the Go Open Data Conference, Tyler is experienced in addressing senior public sector practitioners, providing timely and relevant analysis and recommendations. Tyler also serves as the moderator for PSD’s monthly webinar series, addressing hundreds of municipal staff members from across Canada, while moderating a panel of international subject matter experts.
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Debbie Uniac
Debbie is an HR professional with over 18 years of hands-on generalist experience in private Canadian organizations. Areas of particular interest include training program development and facilitation, employee communication, and organizational planning. Debbie served as a volunteer Board member with the Human Resources Professionals Association London & District Chapter for several years and currently sits on the volunteer Board of the Canadian Association for Disabled Skiing – Ontario Division.
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Dani Bartlett
Dani has been a labour activist since she joined the union in 1996. Before joining United Way she was a trained women’s advocate dealing with violence against women. She was an elected Trustee for her union and the Chair for the Women’s Committee and Vice-Chair for the Human Rights Committee. In her role as Labour Programs & Service Coordinator, Dani is able to utilize her skills in program development and facilitation by delivering courses such as the Labour Community Advocate Program. This program empowers participants to become trained referral agents for their coworkers. In this role, Dani works with both the United Way and the Labour movement.
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Krista Redling
Krista is the HR Manager at Armatec Survivability. Some past employers have been Western University, Agropur and Info Tech Research Group. She has volunteered with Tech Alliance and the London Economic Development Corporation, and most recently your Local Employment Planning Council. She has also been a Childreach Board member since March 2014 – Current President and member of the Executive Committee.
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Marney Kent
Marney was educated in Mechanical Engineering and Management Sciences at the University of Waterloo and has over 25 years of automotive experience. She has held various positions in Engineering, Production, and Quality at OEM’s and automotive parts suppliers. In her current role as General Manager of Autrans she oversees an operation that supplies front end modules (chassis and powertrain assemblies) for a high volume vehicle on a 3 shift basis, 6 days/week. She has worked both in Canada and the United States and has experience managing in unionized and non-union environments. Over her career, Marney has taught classes at Fanshawe College and served on the Board of Directors of the local ASHRAE chapter. She has also been a Warden of Camp 11, an organization that welcomes new engineers into the profession and promotes the ideals of social responsibility and high standards of professional conduct. While working at a major automotive manufacturer she served as Chair of the Woman’s Advisory Council. Amongst the accomplishments of this Council were projects to increase the participation rates of women in manufacturing careers and to retain high school aged girls in the study of science and mathematics.
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Mike Newton
Mike Newton was educated in the United Kingdom and is formally trained as a Quantity Surveyor. With 13 years’ experience working for two large national contractors, he has a variety of Design-Build experience such as Commercial, Office Developments, Institutional Training Facilities, Manufacturing Facilities, Residential Developments, Healthcare Facilities and Hotel Refurbishments. Since immigrating to Canada, Mike’s experience includes a London based contractor operating in Southwestern Ontario. Starting as Senior Estimator Mike’s career evolved becoming Manager of Preconstruction Services & LEED, Chief Estimator until finally Manager of Design-Build. Among Mike’s certifications are Gold Seal Certified LEED Accredited Professional, Construction Estimator Certified and he is a member of the Canadian Institute of Quality Surveyors. In 2013 Mike, with business partner Nate, co-founded michael + clark construction offering Design-Build, Construction Management, Project Management and Preconstruction Services to clients across Southwestern Ontario.
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Jeff Surridge
Jeff is the Chief Executive Officer of Community Employment Services in Woodstock Ontario. Jeff has been in the Employment and Training field for the past 30 years. Much of Jeff’s time has been focused on Community Service Delivery Design, collaboration and innovative approaches to address employment issues at local, national and international levels. He has been recognized provincially and nationally for his leadership and his myriad of creative approaches that maximize the potential of all people.
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Jennifer Caughill
A graduate of Human Resources Management from Lambton College, Jennifer has been with Starwood Hotels since 2004, currently holding the role of HR Manager. She currently supports 900+ Associates for the busy contact centre in all aspects of their human resources needs, including talent acquisition, employee benefits, pension program and strategic planning for the local HR function. She also has previous HR experience in the call centre industry prior to joining Starwood Hotels.
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Wilma de Rond
Wilma began her career as an elementary school teacher in Northern Ontario and retired as the Director of Education with the London District Catholic School Board. During a 32 year career, she took on a variety of leadership roles including Principal and Superintendent of Education. She spent 17 years working within the Adult and Continuing Education program at the Centre for Lifelong Learning as a teacher, program leader for Adult Basic Education and Principal. During her career, Wilma has served on a variety of Boards within the London community including: member and President of the WIL Counselling and Training for Employment Board of Directors, member of the London Junior Achievement Board of Directors, chairing its Governance Committee, and she was also a member of the Brescia University College’s Council of Trustees as well as chaired the Employee Relations Committee. Currently she is the Executive Director of WIL Employment Connections and sits on the Board of Shareholders for St. Peter’s Seminary, is co chair of the Employment Sector Council London Middlesex, chair of the Employment Sub Council of the London Middlesex Local Immigration Partnership, and member of the action team for a Quality Workforce of the London Economic Road Map.
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Robert Collins
Robert brings significant experience from senior roles in provincial and municipal governments in South Western Ontario to this portfolio. More recently he was Vice President of Workforce Development for a leading community employment agency. Robert is active in a number of initiatives designed to address the anticipated labour market shortages and close the gaps between supply and demand-an identified cornerstone of community economic resilience and sustainability. Robert has taken a leading role in the development of a number of broad based collaborative initiatives (Employment Sector Council of London and Middlesex, United Way’s Young Leaders of Tomorrow, Founder’s Day of the University of Western Ontario among many). Robert has made full use of London’s fine educational opportunities graduating from the University of Western Ontario, Teacher’s College and Fanshawe College after originally coming from London, England. Robert continues to be an active volunteer and is currently a member of Western University’s Senate.
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Elisabeth White
As Manager of Employment & Strategic Initiatives with Housing, Social Services & Dearness Home at the City of London, Elisabeth White focused on employment, workforce development, social assistance and immigration. Her work includes developing contracts with community partners related to all aspects of employment and supports for individuals and for the broader systems, working as the City lead on community integration of employment and labour market services and also related to the impact and opportunities of different government initiatives, and leading Ontario Works Employment. As the City of London lead on immigration, she co-led the submission and development of the Local Immigration Partnership in London and Middlesex and, along with active involvement in several immigration related initiatives, was co-chair of the LMLIP Central Council. Elisabeth has been active on both local and provincial committees and working groups. Prior to joining the City, Elisabeth led Rehabilitation and Human Resources services for Goodwill.
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Bill Pigram
Bill is the Manager of Community Employment Choices, an agency delivering Employment Ontario programs to the residents of Middlesex County. He has worked with diverse populations and has a special interest in adult learning. He has facilitated courses in Prior Learning at Fanshawe College and is an advocate for the recognition of experiential learning as an important tool to help individuals navigate their working lives.
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Vicki Luke
Vicki has worked with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) since 2009 and is currently an Agriculture and Rural Economic Development Advisor working with municipalities, community groups, businesses, the agriculture and food sectors and individuals to help with initiatives and projects that improve our local economy. She works out of the London OMAFRA office and serves Middlesex and Lambton Counties. Previous to Vicki’s work at OMAFRA, she was a community economic development officer for the Oxford Small Business Support Centre for 5 years and operated her own retail business in several rural locations in the 7 years prior to this.
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Mary Joe Freire
Mary Joe has been employed with the Ontario Government for over 25 years, and has been Regional Director with the Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development (formerly Training, Colleges and Universities) for the past four years. Mary Joe has a BA from Wilfrid Laurier University and Masters of Public Administration from Queens University. While not at work, Mary Joe enjoys family, travel and golf.
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Shelly Harris
Shelley Harris is the Director of Education and Settlement at the YWCA St. Thomas-Elgin with the responsibility of directing Adult Education, Settlement Services, English Language Classes, the St. Thomas-Elgin Local Immigration Partnership (STELIP), as well as the new Immigration Portal for St Thomas-Elgin.
She began her career in Northern Ontario working with Aboriginal learners and continues to work with newcomers, individuals living in poverty, and women’s groups. She was the province’s 2013 winner of the Council of the Federation Literacy Award and consistently focuses on client-centred programming. The YWCA has a long and solid history of leadership in community building, and Shelley embeds this spirit in her work.
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Julie Matheson
Julie is the Program Director of Community Employment Services in Oxford County. Julie has been working in the Employment field for over 20 years in various positions. She is a results driven, forward thinking individual who has invested her time and efforts in creating an organization that consistently sees positive results while working with and developing strong community partnerships and providing outstanding services for community members.
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Lise Béland
Lise Béland in an expert in leadership, training, employment and strategic planning. She has a vast knowledge of organizing teams and developing well evaluated program delivery geared towards vulnerable youths and women. Lise has developed a strong network and partnership with municipal, provincial and federal governments, community, and employers in both the French and English public and private sector. Lise Béland is a recent 2014 MBA graduate with a specialty track in innovation and leadership. Her passion is helping vulnerable people live their best life. Lise chairs on the Executive Committee of Addition Services for Thames Valley and the Executive Committee for the College Sector Employment Services. Lise Béland was awarded a municipal contract with the City of London Ontario Works called Put Your Best Foot Forward. The goal of the specialized individual support is to assist OW participants, French and English speaking women normally between the age of 21 and 45, in need of overall health and financial literacy. This support is given in a form of a specialized program to OW participants to develop a healthy mind and a healthy body to ensure their ability to enter/re-enter, progress and thrive in the workplace. In her current role as Director of Employment Services for sixteen MTCU EO sites, Lise Béland ensures that the highest level of quality is provided to internal and external customers in the delivery of employment programs and services. Lise is a seasoned key note speaker on innovation, leadership and ideation and bring 25 years of experience in Marketing in the private sector. She is also the Chair of the Steering Committee for the Ontario Center for Workforce Innovation.
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Nancy McQuillan
Nancy has been with the London Employment Help Centre (LEHC) for over 28 years. During that time she has worked to ensure the agency has grown to become a vital and integral part of the employment and Job Placement community – growing from 5 employees in 1988 to the current 29 employees. The London Employment Help Centre (LEHC) offers a full range of Job Search Programs to meet the needs of individuals re-entering the workforce, from 3 hour workshops to 4 day programs, to Job Placement services, and full Resource Centre services for individuals who wish to job search independently. Services are provided at a downtown location at 150 Dufferin Avenue. As well, LEHC also provides advocacy services for individuals denied social benefits. LEHC has also been very active over the years in providing adjustment services to displaced workers affected by plant closures and downsizings. These services continue on a one-to-one basis. Nancy attended the University of Western Ontario and throughout the years has continued her education to acquire her CIM designation. She is fully trained in Personality Dimensions and is a Master Facilitator of TRAFFIC and a member of the Human Resources Professionals Association (HRPA). She is an advocate for life-long learning and believes in practicing what she preaches. Nancy believes strongly in community partnerships and works endless hours in her community to further opportunities for the disadvantaged. She is a member of and involved on many committees and councils aimed at assisting the unemployed, underemployed, new Canadians, and older workers, and youth around issues of unemployment, training, poverty, literacy, diversity, and mental health.
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Lisa Wells
Lisa has been at the Woodstock/ Oxford Regional Campus of Fanshawe College for the past 12 years. As the Manager of Continuing Education and Contract Training, Lisa has had the pleasure of working with many local employers. As a member of the Oxford Workforce Development Committee Lisa is committed to enhancing service, programs and access to resources for local employers and community members. Lisa is a proud Rotarian who is also active in many different community projects and serves on the Board of Directors for the Woodstock Rotary Club. Lisa also volunteers with United Way and the Canadian Cancer society.
