Jennefer Griffith
Executive Director
Food Processing Skills Canada
Ontario
Jennefer has been a leader in skills development and training for the Canadian food and beverage manufacturing sector for over 20 years. As Executive Director of Food Processing Skills Canada, she has led ground breaking initiatives including development of the Canadian Food Processors InstituteTM, FoodSkills LibraryTM and FoodCertTM – resources that support education and career pathways for businesses and people. Recently, Jennefer and her team finalized Canada’s first Learning Recognition Framework for the industry and are in the process of completing national labour market analysis and an accreditation process for colleges, universities and private trainers. Jennefer is passionate about supporting new Canadians, Indigenous People, women and youth in finding rewarding careers. Prior to joining Food Processing Skills Canada, she held roles in government and the non-profit sector.
Yonathan Negussie
Director of HR
JBS Food Canada
Alberta
Yonathan Negussi has been Human Resource Director for JBS Food Canada for the last 8 years. Yonathan has successfully managed the JBS acquisitions of XL Foods in Brooks, Alberta. He has done extensive work in the area of international labour mobility, by successfully recruiting international skilled and semi-skilled workers from UK, USA, Philippines, Mexico, El Salvador, and Brazil. Inaddition, Yonathan has been an active supporter of industry Initiatives to attach and retain talent, including an advisor at Succeeding at Work, a project spearheaded by FPSC.
Aliya Jiwani
Manager, Systems Training & Development
Aliya’s Foods Limited
Alberta
Aliya is an enthusiastic, creative, and seasoned educator with 10+ years of transforming learning into an exciting inquiry and critical thinking journey through a holistic approach. She is recognized for demonstrating a natural aptitude for designing curriculums with relevant and engaging content and implementing remote learning programs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Recently, Aliya was the Vice Principal and head of the Middle School at Blyth Academy. Under her leadership, the institute spearheaded the development of the first virtual middle school, including forming a curriculum that took a project-based approach to allow flexibility and mental wellness. She also cultivated a collaborative environment for educators to share best practices to overcome evolving obstacles. Aliya currently works at Aliya’s Food where she evaluates existing processes to identify limitations, research potential resources, and proposes strategic plans to implement a customized Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. During her over 10 years at the company, she also mentored and trained more than 200 employees to employ technology and best practices in production environments.
Suman Cocoran
Suman Cocoran is a multi-talented, strategic leader with a proven record of driving transformational change within organizations. She contributes to corporate strategy and results by ensuring the organization has the right people, processes, and tools necessary to meet client needs and corporate growth expectations. She has successfully managed organizations in periods of major business and personnel changes while translating strategic objectives into actionable plans, ensuring financial feasibility, and establishing internal systems and processes to ensure business continuity. Spanning a variety of industries, the value she brings is her strength in people leadership, operational excellence, and ability to galvanize organizational change to drive bottom-line results. Regardless of industry or company, Suman has a passion for progress. Coupled with her diverse industry and functional experience, she is a valuable fit for a variety of organizations.
Jeff Purcell
VP of Operations, Vice Chair
Champlain Seafood
Pending Update
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CHAIR
Mike Timani,
President
Fancy Pokket Corp.
New Brunswick
Mike Timani is a native of Lebanon and was born in Venezuela. He arrived in Toronto during the Lebanese civil war. He is president and CEO of Fancy Pokket Corporation in Moncton which was established in June 1989 in a 1,000 sq foot facility with three employees. Today, the bakery consists of 45,000 sq. ft. and employs 80 people. Fancy Pokket is the largest producer of pita bread, bagels, tortilla wraps and flatbread in Atlantic Canada.
Mike constructed a 58,000 sq. ft. dedicated Gluten Free facility in Lancaster County, South Carolina which produces a variety of gluten free products. The new facility began operations in August 2019.
TREASURER
Darlene Macdonald
Food Industry Expert
Ontario
Darlene brings more than 20 years experience in organizational development and change management, having worked in North America and Europe with food and research companies. She holds a Master’s Degree in Intercultural Communication and is a self-confessed “foodie”.
VICE CHAIR
Mark Pickard,
President
InfraReady Products Ltd
Saskatchewan
InfraReady Products was started in 1994 by the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool (SWP) in an attempt to add value to cereal grains before they left the province. With only the equipment, no products and no clients, Mark Pickard, the SWP’s project champion and 2 employees, started to carve out a unique niche in the food ingredients market, aiming to be the secret ingredient in many different food applications. In 1998, the company had grown to 13 employees, 100 products, and exported ingredients around the world. Accounting for a minute portion of the balance book, the SWP decided to divest itself of InfraReady, and offered Mark the opportunity to carry out a management buyout to ensure the company’s work would continue. With the help of 2 investors, Mark was able to continue his dream of offering wholesome food ingredients to the world’s food processors.
Jacqueline-Pelletier
Directrice générale chez Comité sectoriel de main-d’oeuvre en
Transformation alimentaire-CSMOTA
Pending Update
Elliott J Gauthier
Senior Vice President
Hill + Knowlton Strategies
Ontario
Elliott Gauthier has a close connection to Food Processing Skills Canada and the broader sector. For many years he has worked with FPSC on many strategic initiatives, from representation at industry events, to authoring and strategically communicating FPSC’s cornerstone Labour Market Information Studies (LMI’s), moderating Board growth and strategic initiative sessions, refining the membership strategy and emceeing and presenting at the annual FPSC industry conference. Elliott a Senior Vice-President at Hill+Knowlton Strategies (H+K), one of world’s leading communications firms. He is a member of H+K’s Canadian Leadership Team, leads the reputation measurement practice in the Global Corporate Affairs + Advisory group, sits on H+K’s Global Technology Solutions Committee and is a senior leader in the Global Data + Analytics group. With more than 15 years’ experience in senior-level research positions in the communications industry Elliott leads the Canadian Data + Analytics team, a team of skilled researchers and measurement experts located in Ottawa, Toronto, and Vancouver.
Lynn Rayner
Operations Manager
Acadian Supreme Inc.
Prince Edward Island
After graduating from the Holland College Fisheries Technology Program Lynn has worked in the seafood industry for over 25 years in various positions. Lynn has spent most of her career with Acadian Fishermen’s Co-operative as Quality Manager and then moving into Production. In 2016 Acadian Fishermen’s Co-operative was bought by Acadian Supreme and at this time she moved to the position of Operation’s Manager for the company. She is directly involved with Quality, Production, HR and Financing within the company. Lynn works closely with members of the Federal and Provincial governments on issue to do with HR, TFW as well as product development and automation. She also works with Holland College, UPEI and other industry members to develop products and equipment to help with staffing issues in the seafood industry. Both to keep plants producing for a longer period of time by extending our season as well development of automation to help with staff shortages.
PARTNER
Amy Proulx, PhD.
Professor and Coordinator
Culinary Innovation & Food Technology, Niagara College
Ontario
Amy Proulx, is a professor at Niagara College, Canada, and coordinator of the Culinary Innovation and Food Technology Program at the Canadian Food and Wine Institute. She acts as research leader at the Niagara College Food Innovation Centre, where she and her colleagues provide technical, regulatory and product development support to the food and beverage manufacturing sector, and conduct research in culinary, food science, brewing and winemaking.
Steve Martin
Retail Sales Manager
Martin’s Family Fruit Farm
Ontario
Steve Martin is the retail manager at Martin’s Family Fruit Farm – a family run ‘labour of love’ for almost two centuries. While apples are their main product and are shipped Canada-wide, Martin’s also works with other local producers to provide additional fruits and vegetables in its retail store, and for customers. The Martin family has farmed these Ontario lands since 1820. The apple growing part of our history began with a suggestion from Branko Premlec, a Yugoslavian exchange student with a background in horticulture. Branko and Leighton Martin agreed that the region’s combination of warm summer sunshine, adequate rainfall, rich soil and cool autumn nights would be perfect for producing the sweet, juicy apples that the Martin’s Family has become famous for. With a future full of fine apple varieties in mind, they planted their first trees and waited patiently for them to mature.
Brad McKay
President of McKay Consulting
Ontario
Brad McKay is President of McKay Consulting. Prior to this, he was President of Wholesome Kids Catering, a leading supplier of nutritious meals to day care centers, and before that was Chief Executive Officer of Healthcare Food Services, a leading marketer of meals for the healthcare sector. Prior to this Brad was Vice President Ingredients and Export for Parmalat Canada and before that held progressively senior marketing positions at Procter & Gamble, Kraft/Nabisco, and Novartis Pharmaceuticals. Brad is a Board member of Food Processing Skills Canada and has been a Board member of the Yves Landry Foundation, the International Union of Food Science and Technology, and the Canadian Institute of Food Science and Technology where he was also President. He is a graduate of the University of Waterloo in Systems Engineering.
David Lippert
Vice President of Human Resources
Ontario
With six manufacturing plants, over 1,300 employees and after 125 years in operation, Dare has become part of the fabric of Canada. Following is a chronological history of Dare starting with our humble origins as a grocery store, tracing all the way up to our current, exciting times. After over 125 years, Dare remains dedicated to producing innovative, high-quality food. Manufactured in Canada and the U.S., our range of cookies, crackers, fine breads and candy is available throughout North America and in more than 50 other countries around the world.
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Is there a fee to engaging a Food Processing Skills Canada presenter?
There is no fee, but we ask that travel expenses related to in person events be covered.
What kind of events will speakers present at?
Conferences, member workshops, Annual General Meetings, Board of Director meetings, webinars, and live social media events.
Can speakers talk about workforce and skills development outside of the food and beverage manufacturing industry?
Food Processing Skills Canada presenters are experts in the food and beverage processing industry but can speak to most workforce and skills development issues across the food supply chain. Please ask us.
Can I meet with the speaker in advance to review our presentation requests?
Yes, the Food Processing Skills Canada communications team will coordinate a meeting with you and the speaker to review your presentation requirements.
Who should I connect with to answer additional questions?
Please contact Isabel Dopta, Sr Communications Advisor idopta@fpsc-ctac.com
Sr Communications Advisor
idopta@fpsc-ctac.com
Food Processing Skills Canada is the leader in skills and workforce development for Canada’s food and beverage manufacturers, and the champion of all the people involved in this incredible industry. It’s our pleasure to share labour market research, insights from programs and resources, and future workforce trends with audiences in Canada and around the globe. For specific details on presentation topics and areas of expertise, please visit each of our speaker bios. We are available to present at virtual and in person events.
Interested in engaging a Food Processing Skills Canada expert speaker for your next event? Check out our speaker bios and topic expertise to help narrow down your selection and then connect with us. We will schedule an initial session with your speaker, or speakers, of choice to review presentation details and event logistics. Following the event, we are pleased to provide you with a copy of the presentation and meet for related follow up.
The course reviews regulatory responsibilities for employees and employers, and the many proactive strategies employed to identify hazards, mitigate their impact and the associated Canadian federal and provincial regulatory requirements.
This course provides guideline for Lock out-Tag out (LOTO) or lock and tag. LOTO is a safety procedure which is used in industry and research settings to ensure that dangerous machines are properly shut off and not able to be started up again prior to the completion of maintenance or servicing work.
This course covers the background and understanding of what a standard operating procedure and sanitation standard operating procedure are. Participants will be able to learn and identify how these are set up and why they are important to the food industry. This course is applicable to all industry personnel in a food processing plant: owners, supervisors, production personnel, sanitation team, labelling and packaging, plant manager, health and safety team, food safety team, etc.
This course will provide you with the knowledge and skills to understand how GMPs support the safe manufacturing of food and how to implement GMPs.
This topic provides food processing industry workers with the basic knowledge related to cleaning and sanitation. It defines the terms used; introduces how to handle, prepare and store chemicals; describes briefly the cleaning and sanitizing steps; and highlights the importance of complying with regulations and policies.
This course describes the components of food safety, how food spoilage occurs, and how to prevent it. The course is designed to help new food workers understand their role and responsibilities in prevention and management of food spoilage and food safety. This knowledge is key to a successful career in the food industry. Knowing what causes food spoilage, when food is bad, how to prevent economic loss due to food spoilage and learning about employee’s role in keeping food safe is the most important skill to have when working with food.
After completing Canadian Workplace Cultures, you will be able to identify basic Canadian facts, identify appropriate etiquette in the Canadian workplace, identify qualities employers expect in the workplace, identify stages, symptoms and solutions of culture shock. By using what you have learned in this course, you will enhance your skills as a partner or team player in the workplace.
This course provides guidelines for oral and general communication, active listening, providing feedback, fostering teamwork, and promoting a positive work environment. Lifelong learning and workplace skills training are closely linked to productivity, adaptability and innovation.
This course has 6 modules of information that will help you be prepared to integrate into Canada comfortably as a worker during Covid-19.
We will review the effects Covid-19 has had across Canada and how it may also affect you as a worker in the Food and Beverage Industry.
We will take a closer look at new procedures and best practices put into place by the Canadian government and Canadian employers to keep workers safe during this pandemic. Every worker in the F&B Industry in Canada will experience extra security and health checks during Covid-19.
We will take a closer look at the effect Covid-19 has on our normal daily routines at work and at home we will also provide you with helpful tips on staying safe, and discover ways to protect yourself and your coworkers from getting sick. When you finish this course, you will be an expert.
This course will cover how digital technology involves using digital tools and software; applying security measures to protect the hardware, software and personal data; and understanding using digital information. By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
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