Engineering Means Community Forum

John Savoia is the Director of Health and Safety at RSG International, a leading North American road safety company with operations across Ontario and the United States. With a career spanning over a decade in occupational health and safety, John brings extensive expertise to his role.

Before joining RSG International, John operated as a self-employed safety consultant, offering specialized advice and solutions in health and safety management. His consultancy work allowed him to further develop his skills and apply his in-depth industry knowledge to various projects and organizations.

Candice Zhang is a policy advisor at the Ontario Nonprofit Network, working to create an enabling policy environment for inclusive economic development and nonprofit sustainability. Her work focuses on community wealth building, social purpose real estate and volunteerism. Candice  has pursued various opportunities in policy analysis, research, and project management with a number of organizations, including the Daily Bread Food Bank, Toronto Youth Cabinet, the HIV Legal Network, and the Simon Fraser University Morris J Wosk Centre for Dialogue.

Michael S. Jacobs is the Chief Executive Officer for Cambium Indigenous Professional Services (CIPS) Inc. He is a proud Anishinaabe from the Curve Lake First Nation. With a career spanning over 30 years in the Indigenous consulting industry, Mike’s experience and leadership has been focused on developing and delivering management and advisory services for projects connected to Indigenous communities.

Mark Tulloch is the Chief Executive Officer of TULLOCH. He is an Ontario Land Surveyor and Professional engineer and is ultimately responsible for the corporate performance of TULLOCH.  Mark believes in a people-first culture.  TULLOCH staff are well-rounded experts who embrace freedom and responsibility, going where others will not for work, working hard until the job is done, and being willing to try something new.

Mark is currently the Chair of the 2024-2025 ACEC-Ontario Board of Directors.

Priya Shastri is presently the Director of Programs at WomanACT a charitable organization focused on advancing gender-equity and addressing gender-based violence. She has 15 years of experience working in the anti-violence against women sector in various systems and communities, including in Nunavut and the United Kingdom. Her work experiences include front-line delivery in anti-violence services, program management, research, community coordination, and system advocacy.

Jason Wilhelm has been the Manager, Procurement for the City of Waterloo since 2019.  Prior to that, Jason worked as the Procurement Manager at the County of Dufferin and Listowel Wingham Hospitals Alliance after starting his career in procurement in the tech and manufacturing sectors with companies such as IMAX and Blackberry (RIM).  He is a member of the Board of Directors for the Ontario Public Buyers Association and past Chair of both the Grand River Cooperative Procurement Group and Conestoga College SCOM/PUR/SCM-G Program Advisory Committee.

Valery Woloshyn, P.Eng., is Regional Delivery Leader for the Water business at Stantec in Toronto. She has been a consultant for her entire 20+ year career and specializes in project management for all phases of municipal water infrastructure projects. Her leadership approach is rooted in her core values of advancing equity and inclusion. She started volunteering with ACEC-Ontario in 2010 to help establish the Young Professionals Group and is currently part of the Women’s Network as well as a Director of the Board.

Professor Janusz Koziński is currently Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at Lakehead University leading a new trans-disciplinary initiative applying key driving forces in the 21st century science and engineering to create a novel type of academic programs. He has enjoyed a distinguished academic career in leading institutions in the USA, Europe, and Canada. He is an internationally-renowned higher education leader, researcher and entrepreneur, and one of the world’s most widely acknowledged experts in sustainable energy systems.

Steve Dyck is the Vice President for Ontario Government Relations for AtkinsRealis Inc. For the past ten years he has spearheaded the company’s approach for building stronger and more effective relationships with key public sector clients in the Ontario market. For the last 5 years, he has also helped lead the company’s Indigenous Relations strategy and efforts to build partnerships across Canada.

Steve has also served as a senior advisor to the Premier of Ontario, the Minister of National Defence, and Chief of Staff to the Ontario Government House Leader, supporting the development and implementation of key public policies.

Jeff Provost, B.A., PAED is Leader, Indigenous Relations at MCW Consultants Ltd. He is a proud member of the Red River Métis and has over 20 years of experience in Indigenous Relations working with First Nation, Métis, and Inuit groups across Canada. With his extensive knowledge in Indigenous history, culture, and awareness, Jeff’s role is wide-reaching – engaging with all MCW offices and Divisions to lead our continued work towards reconciliation as a firm, and collaboration with Indigenous groups across Canada.
Jeff has led MCW to join the Canadian Council for Indigenous Business and has begun our PAIR (Partnership Accreditation in Indigenous Relations) certification journey.

Montana Wilson is a highly experienced Engineer with a strong background in project management, geotechnical and civil engineering.

Montana is a licensed Professional Engineer in Ontario and a Project Management Professional. She  has been actively involved in professional associations and community leadership, including the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers and the Association of Consulting Engineers of Canada – Ontario.

She is the CEO & Lead Professional Engineer at GRIT, a multidisciplinary firm that offers services in land surveying, civil, and environmental geotechnical engineering, and materials testing. Under her leadership, GRIT is rapidly growing and has recently built concrete and aggregate laboratories to support their expanding operations.

Karen Freund is the Regional Executive Vice President, Ontario at CIMA+, where she is responsible for providing strategic direction of the business, overseeing operations and driving organizational growth. Karen comes with more than 30 years of experience in the engineering consulting industry. She has worked for large multidisciplinary organizations including CIMA+, Jacobs, and HDR, developing and leading regional and national growth strategies. Having worked in many different markets, she has a diverse background in the industry. Karen has held different vice presidency roles in the last decade that have helped her build in-depth knowledge and expertise as well as an extensive network in the Ontario market. Karen has held and continues to hold positions on various committees and boards in relation to her role. She was one of the founding members of the WTS Toronto Area Chapter (President in 2015), and Chair of ACEC-Ontario Board of Directors (2022–2023). She has also sat on several committees of the Toronto Region Board of Trade.

Chief Gauthier is currently serving his fourth term as Chief of Missanabie Cree First Nation. An honors graduate in sociology, he brings extensive experience from his work with the Mushkegowuk Council and currently serves as President of Missanabie Cree Business Limited Partnership. Notably, in 2018, Chief Gauthier led the historic settlement of a 100-year-old Treaty 9 land claim between the federal government and Missanabie Cree First Nation. He has also successfully negotiated two Impact Benefit Agreements with gold mines on Missanabie Cree traditional territory.

Chief Gauthier’s vision focuses on economic sustainability and the well-being of his Nation, with a deep commitment to fostering relationships and advancing reconciliation.