Regional Business Forum

green economy north regional business forum 2023: building the future

The Green Economy North Regional Business Forum 2023: Building the Future was held on November 23rd, 2023! The forum featured experts in the low-carbon building industry sharing their expertise with realistic, science-based solutions to the challenges businesses face when building a green future. We also hosted roundtables, panel discussions, and keynote presentations.

Throughout the day, we enjoyed several opportunities to learn from and network with peers and colleagues from Northeastern Ontario.

Thank you for joining us this year! We will see you again in November 2024.

SPEAKERS

2023 schedule

Gallery

special thanks to

regional business forum speakers

special presentation: building towards net zero

michael cullen | habitat for humanity

Currently, Michael Cullen represents Habitat for Humanity Ontario Gateway North in the capacity of Director of Community Partnerships. This role was developed in consultation with the Habitat Board of Directors, and the office of the CEO while being able to leverage Michael’s experience in consensus-based governance, community development, and project management.

Formerly the CEO of United Way Northeast Ontario for over a decade, Michael was able to lead the organization to a regional structure serving the Cochrane, Nipissing, and Sudbury Districts. This growth was based on a successful transition from being a charity reliant on both individual and corporate giving to a model of partnership and business development that offered a more sustainable model of community impact and innovation.

Prior to his career shift into the non-profit sector, Michael was fortunate to have worked in international hotel/hospitality development. Leading international projects in Eastern and Western Europe while also freelancing to provide leadership on projects with NASA and the Canadian Space Agency, NHL Hockey, 211 Ontario, international sporting events, and many other local and regional projects.

In addition, Michael has also always had a keen interest in patent/trademark development having developed several patents and trademarks through his deep interest in innovation and creative solution-based thinking and planning.

Habitat for Humanity Ontario Gateway North is eager to expand its affordable housing agenda to meet the needs of its service area of Northern and Southern Ontario.

“The concept of Affordable Housing must be revolutionized by changing the way homes are designed, built, and financed as equal priorities for transformational change to take place.”

Portrait of Domenic Idone from Metaligna

domenic idone | metaligna

paul girard | polar maxima

panel discussion: building sustainability in practice

Our panellists share their experience fostering change by utilizing sustainable building operations.

Portrait of Carly Gasparini from Community Builders

Carly Gasparini is the Managing Director of Community Builders in Sudbury Ontario. She was born and raised in Sudbury but was introduced to the world of Social Enterprise when she moved to Brandon Manitoba where she was the Executive Director of a Community Renewal Organization and an Immigrant Settlement Services agency.
She got the opportunity to come home almost 2 years ago to do the work she had fallen in love with and is honoured to bring a social enterprise construction company to Greater Sudbury and to be a vocal advocate for affordable housing. Carly believes strongly in harnessing the effective business practices that make the private sector profitable and employing them to create sustainability in the non-profit sector.

Portrait of Benjamin John from the Georgian Bay Mnidoo Gamii Biosphere

Having worked in the municipal and non-profit sectors, Benjamin has a wide range of experience in delivering strategies and projects that improve energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
As Climate & Energy Programs Manager at the Georgian Bay Mnidoo Gamii Biosphere, Ben supports local First Nations and municipalities with climate and energy planning in a collaborative partnership called ICECAP.
His professional mantra is that all decisions should be informed and based on sound data. In applying this mantra, Ben supports ICECAP partners in planning and developing business cases for energy efficiency and fuel-switching initiatives in the areas of buildings, transportation, and waste.
Through his work, Ben hopes to help organizations achieve cost-savings, boost profitability, while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Portrait of Steven Beites from McEwan School of architecture

Steven Beites is an Assistant Professor at the Laurentian University McEwen School of Architecture. Steven’s research explores the integration of digital technologies, computational design and robotic systems as a means to unlock innovative solutions for addressing the housing supply challenge with emphasis placed on decarbonizing the built environment.
As an educator, researcher and practitioner, his work is cross-disciplinary, operating at the intersection of technology and ecology through the development of novel automated construction processes, prefabricated assemblies and bio-based materials, all within a circular low-carbon construction framework.