Nick Xenos, Executive Director, Centre for Greening Government, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
Nick Xenos is the Executive Director of the Centre for Greening Government within the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat. Previous to this position Nick worked at Natural Resources Canada on climate change impacts and adaptation and at Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada on Arctic science policy issues. Nick has a Master’s in Business Administration from Dalhousie University and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Ottawa.

This session will discuss the drivers and influencers affecting today's work places. Using examples from the United States General Services Administration’s (GSA) Federal government’s Workplace Program, the presentation will include practices and ideas around technology integration, wellness, distributed work, flexibility, and change management along with the design implications they manifest. In this ever changing workplace environment, this session will better prepare owners, designers and real estate professionals to effectively conduct the requirements development and design phase of a project while positioning them to provide continuing analytics of space functionality post project completion.

The session will describe how to engage clients in a conversation that broadens the client's perspective of workplace solutions and embeds change management in the process to make the conversation flow smoothly in to implementation. A look into GSA’s tools and publications focused on driving proper workplace solutions along with an overview of GSA’s’ workplace engagement process will be discussed. These elements include, sound, ROI, change management, lighting, work patterns, technology, and GSA’s Workplace Scorecard. The drivers behind the current changes in workplace will be explored and show how an effective workplace engagement can be conducted to achieve both tactical and strategic objectives.

How and when change management occurs; how do you develop and manage a distributed workforce; and, how do you embed and manage flexibility and sustainability in the workplace will all be shown. Workplace is an emerging topic and remains volatile in its direction and conclusions. Attendees from all levels can take away the current state of thought around this very pertinent topic.

Charles Hardy, Chief Workplace Officer, U.S. General Services Administration
Charles Hardy serves as Chief Workplace Officer of the U.S. General Services Administration. As executive in charge of workplace strategy, Hardy heads efforts across the country with support in areas such as design/construction, real estate, and procurement. He is responsible for research and development of innovative workplace solutions throughout the Federal government. Hardy is a licensed architect and certified construction manager with a Bachelor of Architecture and Bachelor of Environmental Design from the University of Minnesota and Executive certificates from Harvard and the University of Texas. Hardy speaks frequently on workplace transformation and is published in numerous books and magazines.

The future of work is already upon us. Automation and Artificial Intelligence are impacting where, when, and how we work. As more and more gets done by machine, we are experiencing rippling effects in organizational culture and physical workspace. In this revolutionary change, government workplaces have a unique opportunity to leverage their strengths to transform public service. This keynote focuses on how to use the workplace as a strategic enabler for organizational success. It looks at the interplay between culture, technology, and physical space, outlining how these can come together to attract talent, increase collaboration, and minimize costs. As the founders of Activity Based Working, Luc and his colleagues help organizations adapt to the dynamic forces that are causing major disruptions in the world of work. We will share the latest developments, trends, and best practices in workplace strategy, as well as insights about how Activity Based Working has helped government organizations transform their working culture, improve employee engagement, and reduce operating costs all at the same time.

Luc Kamperman, Managing Partner, Veldhoen + Company
Luc Kamperman is a Managing Partner at Veldhoen + Company, a Dutch consulting firm that originally developed the Activity Based Working (ABW) philosophy in the Netherlands in the early nineties.

Luc joined Veldhoen + Company in 2002. Between 2008 and 2013 he founded the office in Sydney to coach leading organizations in Australia and New Zealand on their own ABW journeys. Many of these transitions have been highly recognized as leading-edge ABW examples in the APAC market and include governmental organizations.

Mid-2013 Luc relocated back to the Netherlands, focusing on further business development in Europe and North America. He worked on projects for PwC, Merck/MSD, and Scotiabank in Canada. In 2017, he set up a Veldhoen office in New York, delivering ABW consulting services to the North American market.

Luc holds a Master in Business Management and focuses on effective transitions to future workstyles, with a strong focus on people and change perspective. He regularly speaks about how Activity Based Working has proven to be a very effective tool for organizational and human development.

Yazmine Laroche, Deputy Minister, Public Service Accessibility
Yazmine Laroche was appointed Deputy Minister, Public Service Accessibility on August 7, 2018. She was previously the Associate Deputy Minister, Infrastructure and Communities.

She began her public service career at Transport Canada and has held progressive leadership responsibilities in areas such as public policy, program design and delivery, communications, strategic planning and corporate management. She has served in a number of federal departments, including Communications, Canadian Heritage, the Canada Information Office, Privy Council Office and the Treasury Board Secretariat.

Ms. Laroche is the Deputy Minister Champion for Federal Employees with Disabilities. She is also the Deputy Minister Champion for her alma mater, Carleton University and is the past Chair of the Board of Muscular Dystrophy Canada.

Collinda Joseph, of Employment and Social Development Canada’s Accessibility Task Force, will provide delegates with a brief overview of disability in Canada. She will discuss the shift from the medical model of disability to the social model and what that has meant to the development of accessibility standards in today's society. She will also show some accessibility features in the built environment that would be considered fails and some that would be best practices.

Collinda Joseph, Senior Policy Analyst, Accessibility Task Team, Employment and Social Development Canada
Collinda Joseph has over 30 years’ experience working in the area of accessibility for the built environment. She currently provides her built environment expertise in her work on Employment and Social Development Canada’s Accessibility Task Team, which is responsible for creating federal accessibility legislation. Prior to that, she worked as a technical advisor with the National Research Council Canada, where she was involved with the development and enhancement of accessibility elements within the national model building code. From 2003 to 2007, she worked as a senior researcher at Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, focusing on housing options for Canadians with disabilities.

Collinda Joseph has also been involved as a volunteer in several committees involved in accessibility. Since 2002, she has been a member of the Canadian Standards Association B-651 Technical Committee on Accessibility of the Built Environment, and she is currently a board member (since September 2015) of the Abilities Centre Ottawa. Previously, she was a member of the Consumer Advisory Committee at The Ottawa Hospital Rehabilitation Centre and a member of the Government of Ontario’s Built Environment Standards Development Committee. She served as an external board member for the Algonquin College Board of Governors (1995–2001) and as co-chair of the Celebration of People Steering Committee (2003–2007) and, in 2014, received that organization’s Community Leader Award in Memory of Cathy Kerr. In 2010, she received the Human Resources and Skills Development Canada Deputy Minister’s Award for Outstanding Achievement in Excellence in Service to Canadians. In 2013, she received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal and in 2015 Collinda was recognized as a Petro-Canada FACE (Fuelling Athlete and Coaching Excellence) athlete along with her coach, Carl Rennick. Collinda is a graduate of Political Science at Carleton University and Public Relations at Algonquin College.

Collinda is currently a member of Team Canada’s wheelchair curling team and she is working towards her goal of becoming a member of the 2022 Paralympic team that will be competing in Beijing.

NADINE HUGGINS Executive Director of People Management and Community Engagement, Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer, Treasury Board Secretariat

Nadine Huggins is the Executive Director of People Management and Community Engagement with the Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer (OCHRO) at Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS). She is responsible for public service people management policies including the policies on Interchange Canada, Learning, Training and Development, Student Employment, Performance Management and Harassment Prevention and Resolution. She is also responsible for engagement with the human resources management community, Employment Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.

Prior to joining TBS, Nadine enjoyed a successful career in various executive roles across a number of organizations within the public service including the Department of Justice Canada, the Public Service Commission and Labour Program. Most recently, she was honoured to serve as the Executive Secretary and Director for the Interdepartmental Circles on Indigenous Representation, and as a key member and co-chair of the Joint Taskforce on Diversity and Inclusion technical committee.

As a leader, Nadine emphasizes and values integrity, collaboration, values and ethics and achieving results. Nadine consistently works toward building a healthy, respectful, diverse and inclusive public service.