Instructors

Women are actively involved at an ever-increasing rate within agriculture and agri-food across Canada taking on leadership, ownership, and management on farms and in businesses. Our instructors are respected leaders in their fields to help you learn both theory and practical lessons in a supportive environment.

	Alanna Koch Former Deputy Minister of Agriculture, SK Government - KoHert Agri Inc. Alanna Koch is a farmer, a consultant, and an influential leader in the agricultural industry. She works with farmers and industry stakeholders through her consulting company, KoHert Agri Inc. and prior to this, she served as Deputy Minister to Premier Brad Wall and Cabinet Secretary and was the Saskatchewan Deputy Minister of Agriculture for nine years. Before joining government, she was President of the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance, a Director with Agricore United, and Executive Director of the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association. She has been widely recognized for her contributions but her greatest honour was her induction into the Saskatchewan Agriculture Hall of Fame in 2011.
	AnneMarie Dorland Assistant Professor - Bissett School of Business at Mount Royal University creative-capacity.com Dr. AnneMarie Dorland is an Assistant Professor in the Bissett School of Business at Mount Royal University, where she teaches marketing, branding and creative strategy. As well, she is an Associate Director with the Mount Royal University Institute for Community Prosperity’s CityXLab, where she leads a team of researchers curious about the changing nature of Canada’s creative and cultural future. Dr. Dorland is a contributor to several international publications on how we might adopt the practices of creative thinkers to help organizations develop and enhance their creative capacity to become better problem solvers and more innovative thinkers.
	Bruce Geiger Partner - Miller Thomson Bruce Geiger is a corporate commercial lawyer with expertise in intellectual property. Bruce advises businesses at all stages of development in relation to startups, shareholder and loan capitalizations, shareholder and partnership agreements, employee and shareholder compensation and equity plans, acquisitions, family transition and restructurings (both within estate plans and during ownership or generational transitions), debt and equity financings, and sales and divestitures. Bruce takes a pragmatic, holistic, and solution-based approach that addresses his client’s goals, and draws on his broad experience to provide a complete, multifaceted solution to best achieve those goals.
	Cherilyn Jolly-Nagel Farmer, Speaker, Advocate - CJN cherilynjolly-nagel.com Elected as the first female President for the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association, Cherilyn challenged government policies that affected the business of agriculture and is a leader on important issues that impact farmers on grain transportation, governance, trade and public trust. As an International Director for the Global Farmer Network, Cherilyn advocates for strong global trade relations and for farmers use of technological advancements. Cherilyn holds her ICD.D designation through the Rotman School of Management and the Institute of Corporate Directors. She was appointed to the board of the Saskatchewan Bus Company in 2016 and now sits on the board of SaskPower.
	Colleen Stewart Media Consultant - Perfect Pitch For more than a decade, Colleen Stewart has helped businesses across North America connect with investors, customers, and employees. Her work has helped founders and CEOs clarify what they do and why. She has helped scientists, data analysts, and sales professionals sell their ideas and change the way their audiences see the world. Colleen holds a Bachelor of Journalism degree and has more than 20 years sales experience, two years of improv theatre, and three years of world travel under her belt. Storytelling is her passion and she is often amazed that every business, no matter how technical, has a captivating story just waiting to be told.
	Cynthia Beck Master's Candidate - University of Regina Cynthia Beck is a Master’s candidate in the Clinical Psychology program at the University of Regina. She works in rural mental health and provides volunteer suicide intervention response services to south east Saskatchewan. Cynthia and her husband, Wade, along with their two children, farm in partnership with Wade’s family. The Becks operate a multi-generational mixed cattle and grain farm near Milestone, SK, consisting of purebred Charolais and a commercial beef herd.
	Elaine Kub Author of Mastering the Grain Markets, and Writer for DTN/Progressive Farmer Elaine Kub is the author of Mastering the Grain Markets: How Profits Are Really Made – a 360-degree look at all aspects of grain trading, which draws on her experiences as a commodity market analyst, futures broker, grain merchandiser, and farmer. Elaine grew up on a family farm in South Dakota, where she’s returned to operate the grain and livestock business. Her market analysis can be found on DTN The Progressive Farmer and on various radio and television programs, including Market to Market, U.S. Farm Report, AgDay, and Market Journal.
	Gurprasad Green Former Producer and Reporter for CBC and Global In Gurprasad Green’s 15 years in the media, she produced and reported for some of Canada’s top broadcasters, including CBC and Global. She has interviewed hundreds of fascinating and influential personalities in her private and public life, and has shared these experiences by advising and training businesses and national organizations on media strategy and interview techniques. Today, with a unique voice in the media, Gurprasad continues to inspire audiences. Gurprasad’s skill as a great interviewer and her passion for teaching her clients to be great interview subjects provides her with some of her most rewarding work.
	Heather Broughton Agri-Food Management Excellence Inc. & SWG Farms Ltd. Heather has always seen the value in education and providing the forum and opportunity for others to learn, and in promote development both professionally and personally. As a President of Agri-Food Management Excellence, Heather, in addition to creating the ELLE program, manages the operations of the company along with instructing in AME’s management programs, and leading AME’s international agri-tours. In addition, together with her husband Greg, they operate a family grain farm in Central Alberta, fulfilling the role of the business manager for the farm. Heather also served on the planning committee for Fall Focus – A Conference for Farm Women, serving as chairman for eight years. This event provided a forum to inform and educate over 350 farm women each year; providing skill development opportunities and a networking opportunity to learn from each other. Her interest in farm business management, education and leadership skills led her to complete the Canadian Total Excellence in Agricultural Management Program (CTEAM), The Executive Program for Agricultural Producers (TEPAP), and to also be involved with Options & Opportunities, a producer conference, that brought local individuals, together with national and international entrepreneurs and industry experts who offer innovative agricultural strategies and share successes, challenges and ideas to help producers become better business people and rural leaders. Heather was a member of the Agriculture and Food Council Board for 8 years, serving as Chair of for four years; taking a role in encouraging growth, sustainability, competitiveness and profitability in the agri-food industry. She most recently managed the Success for Women in Agri-Food program, designing a program to increase confidence through increasing knowledge base, skill development, and better resource and information management, build capacity through mentorship, networking and to encourage and develop capacity and understanding for need to be involved in policy.
	Heather Watson Executive Director - Farm Management Canada For the past 12 years, Heather Watson has served as the Executive Director of Farm Management Canada, a national non-profit organization dedicated to increasing the awareness and adoption of beneficial business management practices on Canada’s farms. Heather’s passionate about education and committed to enhancing efforts to encourage better business management practices for a sustainable and truly remarkable agricultural industry in Canada. She serves as the Canadian representative to the International Farm Management Association Council. Heather obtained her Bachelor’s from the University of Guelph, as well as a Master’s degree from the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom.
	Hugh Evans CEO - Culture Dynamics, Former Director of Executive Education, U of C - Haskayne School of Business Hugh Evans is a co-founder and CEO of Cultural Dynamics Canada, a values and culture research consultancy that applies personal values insight to enable the development of cohesive and high performing cultures. Born in East Africa and raised in South America and the UK, Hugh has accumulated a diversity of work experience from global businesses (IBM, Xerox Corp, CSC) to post-secondary education (Henley Business School UK, University of Calgary). Hugh has held senior positions in which he has led teams and operations that have delivered executive development and learning programs to a wide variety of organizations from private, government and not-for-profit sectors.
	Julia Amelio Associate - Miller Thomson Julia Amelio maintains general solicitors practice. She has experience in corporate law, financial services, mergers and acquisitions, and wills and estates. Before joining Miller Thomson as an associate in 2021, Julia summered and articled with the firm Prior to attending law school, Julia obtained her Bachelor of Commerce degree in Finance at the University of British Columbia. After completing her Bachelor of Commerce degree and before commencing her legal studies, Julia worked in Human Resources at a large oil and gas company.
	Kelly Dobson Leadershift Kelly Dobson is the Founder and Chief Performance Coach of LeaderShift Inc. a leader support and development firm specializing in small and medium sized enterprises. Kelly has turned a lifelong fascination with leadership and its connection to personal and organizational success into a practice that supports farms and businesses related to agriculture. Kelly is also the current leader of a fourth-generation farm at Fairfax, Manitoba. Kelly has served agriculture for over a decade, chairing groups provincially and federally. Kelly is a Certified Executive Coach and holds an MA in Leadership from Royal Roads University.
	Kellie Garrett Executive Coach - Former Farm Credit Corporation Executive Kellie Garrett is an executive coach, speaker and certified director who consults on leadership, high performance, culture change, group dynamics, board governance and business strategy. A Certified Dare to LeadTM Facilitator, Kellie also teaches the work of Brené Brown. A former senior VP at Farm Credit Canada, she was responsible for business strategy, enterprise risk management, the customer experience, and reputation management. She was named Master Communicator and Fellow by the International Association of Business Communicators and a few other honours include Canada’s 100 Most Powerful Women and Top 25 Women of Influence, and the Red Cross (SK) Humanitarian Award for autism advocacy.
	Ken Larson Executive Coach - Champion Performance Systems Ken Larson has owned and operated Champion Performance Systems since 1996, and is considered an expert in high-performance executive coaching, strategic thinking, execution planning, executive leadership & team development, and overall business growth. He delivers high-impact keynote presentations on human high performance, strategic thinking / execution planning, leadership, authentic living, and inspiration. Ken has delivered successful executive coaching experiences and growth to organizations with top line revenues ranging from millions to billions.
	Kim Armstrong Deputy City Manager - City of Edmonton, Former ADM Gov't of AB Kim holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Political Studies, a Bachelor of Law, and has also completed a Police Management Certificate. She worked with the Edmonton Police Service for nine years and has had many Government of Alberta positions, including: Deputy Clerk of Executive Council and Deputy Secretary to Cabinet; Deputy Attorney General; Deputy Minister, Status of Women; and Deputy Minister, Seniors and Housing. Currently, Kim is the Deputy City Manager of the Employee Services Department at the City of Edmonton, leading a team dedicated to creating a positive, vibrant and safe workplace culture for the City’s employees.
	Kimberly Shipley CPA, CA - MNP Kimberly Shipley, CPA, CA, is a Partner in MNP’s Red Deer office and has worked with MNP since 2004. Specializing in serving producers, Kimberly works with over 80 dairy farms on an annual basis to meet their tax and accounting needs and as well as assisting some of these farms with planning to bring in the next generation of dairy farmers, starting or expanding their operations, or exiting the industry. She has also gained insight into the industry serving as a data collector for the Canadian Dairy Commission in Alberta and was appointed to the Agricultural Products Marketing Council in Alberta in 2017 to 2020.
	Muriel Garven President - Garven & Associates Consulting Muriel Garven is a management consultant with over thirty years of experience. She specializes in the agricultural sector, supporting her clients through business planning, feasibility analysis, market development and strategic growth. On behalf of the Government of Canada, she established Women Entrepreneurs of Saskatchewan and in 2019, created the AWESOME Program for women entrepreneurs in the food processing sector. Muriel has conducted national research studies on the training and business development needs of farm women in Canada from which she has written and delivered customized training programs for women and farm families on numerous business development topics.
	Nicole Davis Certified Human Resources Executive & Executive Coach - Nicole Davis Consulting Nicole Davis’ career spans over 25 years of experience in aligning business goals with HR best practice resulting in high performance workplaces and for the past 5 years has run Nicole Davis Consulting, providing Human Resources expertise. Nicole has spent the majority of her career working in the agricultural industry and has broad experience working with family enterprises, both on farms and in agriculture and manufacturing environments. Aside from being a certified Human Resources Professional, Nicole has been a certified coach through Lee Hecht Harrison and has both her Royal Roads Executive Coaching and International Federation Coaching Certification.
	Nicole Marenick Managing Director - Maren Marcoux Marketing Nicole Marenick has 15 years experience supporting agricultural, food and lifestyle brands operating in the Canadian market. Clients include businesses, industry associations, as well as non-profits and government. Previously based in the UK, she has worked with some of the world’s most popular franchises from film and TV.
	Sue Wazny Cert. ConRes. Msc., Dip. Leadership Sue Wazny has worked extensively as a workplace educator and intervener for over 15 years. Her practice includes educational programs, workplace mediation, organizational facilitation, executive performance coaching, formal harassment investigation, and critical incident stress debriefing and management.