RR DEV ---- Leveraging Employee Talent

Speakers

Ph. D., P.Eng

Over the past 11 years, Lionel Laroche has provided cross-cultural training, coaching and consulting services to over 20,000 people in nine countries (Canada, the U.S., Bermuda, Mexico, Peru, France, Belgium, Switzerland and China). Lionel specializes in helping professionals and organizations reap the benefits of cultural differences in their work. His clients include several Fortune 500 organizations such as PwC, CP Rail, Sun Life, Total, Microsoft, and Deloitte. He has presented at over 200 conferences; his presentations are usually described as thought-provoking, dynamic and entertaining. He has written two books, “Managing cultural diversity in technical professions” and “Recruiting, retaining and promoting culturally different employees” that have sold approximately 3,000 copies each. He has taught courses in several universities (UBC, U of T, Waterloo, Western, SDSU, Sankt Gallen University, etc.). He was recently featured in a CBC documentary that will air in the fall of 2009.

Founder, VELOX Consulting Inc.

Mr. Larose is an innovator and entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience in Management and in the HR world. Throughout his career, he has occupied several important positions with major and minor private and public organizations as well. In 2005, Mr. Larose has founded Groupe-conseil VELOX Consulting Inc. in order to pursue his journey into Change Management.

Mr. Larose holds a B.A. degree in Industrial Relations from Université Laval and is a CHRP (Certified Human Resources Professional).  He has also sat on several HR Boards, namely L’Ordre des CRHA (ORHRI-QC-Montréal, Vice-President, Corporate affairs), HR Professionals Association,  Ottawa Chapter and is currently on the Industrial Relations Module of UQO (Université du Québec en Outaouais) and the Outaouais Regional Committee of L’Ordre des CRHA.  Mr. Larose also founded and co-chaired the Joint HR Golf Tournament in Ottawa and Gatineau for the past 5 years.

Mr. Larose is particularly interested in People Management (HR),  Transformation (Process optimization) and Labour Relations (Collective Bargaining and mediation). His diverse background both in private and public organizations enables him to have a unique perspective on resources management (& human capital), its importance and its real value in the success of today’s organizations.

Senior Manager, Human Resources with Teva Novopharm

Teva Novopharm is the Canadian division of Teva Pharmaceuticals, the world's largest generic pharmaceutical company. In his role, Richard has accountability for various Employee and Compliance Programs, and is responsible for the organization's Workforce Diversity initiatives. Richard also oversees Internal Communications, Talent Acquisition and Occupational Health & Wellness functions for Teva Novopharm.

Richard has been a practicing Human Resources professional for more than fifteen years, the past eight in progressive roles with Teva Novopharm. Richard has BA in History from the University of Western Ontario, and has studied Human Resources Management at Niagara College and George Brown College.

Founder/Publisher, Canadian Immigrant Magazine
Author Arrival Survival Canada

Naeem ‘Nick’ Noorani is living the dream, literally. Dubbed a social entrepreneur and an immigrant advocate, Nick Noorani, author of best seller Arrival Survival Canada and founder/publisher of the award winning Canadian Immigrant magazine (www.canadianimmigrant.ca), takes his work to a higher level through extensive community involvement.

A sought-after speaker and member of the Dominion Institute's speakers' bureau, his frank and humorous presentations bring in stories from his own immigrant journey as he discusses the importance of diversity in business and the successful integration of immigrants in Canada. Nick enjoys touring the country delivering his ‘Seven Success Secrets for Canadian immigrants’ talk and is a radio host with Radio Canada International (RCI) for the popular show for immigrants called The Link where he answers questions from potential and existing immigrants.

He is also an active community volunteer and leader. He is President of the Vancouver Multicultural Society, Advisory member Vancouver 2010 Olympics Advisory Committee (BACSP), RCMP - Commissioner's Advisory Committee on Visible Minorities and is a member of the Ethno Business Council, the Greater Vancouver Citizenship Council and committee member for the Institute for Canadian Citizenship.

Nick received the Inspiration Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2005 and was a finalist for the 2005 Spirit of Vancouver Award, the Ethics in Action award in 2006 and the Burnaby Board of Trade award for Entrepreneurship among others. In 2007 he was honoured by the North American Association of Asian Professionals (NAAAP) as Vancouver’s leading business professional and in 2008 he received the award for best editorial from the Canadian Ethnic Media Association.

MBA, Manager, Training and Workshop Development, Employer Initiatives, Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council (TRIEC)

Navpreet is the manager of training and workshop development for TRIEC’s employer initiatives.  She is responsible for creating and managing the workshop content development and design, managing the delivery of the workshops across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), and creating simulation-based learning tools (videos) that are offered to hiring managers and HR professionals.  From April 2007 to January 2009, Navpreet managed the workshops pilot program – Talent Development for Organizational Effectiveness (TDOE) – through TRIEC’s partnership with Ryerson University.  Previously, Navpreet worked in the financial services industry in retail banking and wealth management where she held successive managerial roles.  Navpreet earned her undergraduate degree in Business Administration (BBA) from the University of Toronto and graduated with a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the University of Windsor.  She is currently pursuing the CHRP (Certified Human Resources Professional) designation.

Director of the Foreign Credential Recognition (FCR) Division at Human Resources and Skills Development Canada

Silvano Tocchi is the Director of the Foreign Credential Recognition (FCR) Division at Human Resources and Skills Development Canada where he is responsible for the FCR Program, the Going to Canada Immigration Portal – Working in Canada section (www.workingincanada.gc.ca), as well as other initiatives that contribute to improving the integration of immigrants into the Canadian labour market. He has previously held various positions related to labour market policy and programming within the Federal Government.

Silvano holds a "Diplôme d’études supérieures" (masters) in international relations from the "Institut universitaire de hautes études internationales" in Geneva, Switzerland and a Bachelor degree in History from the University of Ottawa.