Collaborative Leadership for Climate Action – Meet the Guest Speakers

Nadine Gudz, Instructor & Learning Partner, Academy for Sustainable Innovation   
Course Instructor

A seasoned sustainability leader and Clean50 honouree, Nadine led corporate sustainability strategy, partnership development and employee engagement initiatives for sustainable business pioneer, Interface Inc. for over ten years. Currently completing her Ph.D. in sustainability education and organizational change, she’s Faculty for the Graduate Certificate program in Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability at St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto.

Nadine is a LEED accredited professional who has served on the Boards of the National Zero Waste Council, US Green Building Council Education Advisory Committee and Canadian Business for Social Responsibility.

Dr. Alexandra Stubbings, DProf MSc CMI FRSA, Managing Director & Founder, Talik & Co
Module 1: Creating the Conditions for Collaborative Leadership

Alexandra consults and teaches on purpose-driven leadership and culture change. She has worked internationally with business, government, civil society, and networks, often facilitating dialogue and learning between them in pursuit of systems change. Highlights include integrating sustainability into the UAE’s national schools curriculum, facilitating dialogue on climate change with UK Members of Parliament, facilitating a systems-wide collaboration in the UK food sector to reduce environmental impacts of packaging, and leading learning conferences for low carbon development policy makers and experts.

From an early career in change consulting in the City of London, she moved to Ashridge Business school in 2005, where she helped build the successful Sustainability Consulting practice. Since 2013 she has led Talik & Company, a sustainability-focused Organisation Development consultancy. Notable clients include UK Central Government, UAE Ministry of Education, Microsoft, Barclays, Renewable Energy Systems, Rockefeller Foundation, UK Green Building Council, Low Emissions Development Strategies Global Partnership, Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership.

Her doctoral research into organisational engagement with sustainability produced a values-based systemic change model, now widely applied and taught in business schools, and due to be published in 2023 in a book chapter on relational team coaching. 

Anne-Marie Daniel, Biomimic and Mediator
Module 2: Nature as Model, Mentor & Collaborator

Over a career as a mediator and years of life experience highlighting the problems facing people and the planet, Anne-Marie is inviting all ages and talents to learn from nature’s time-tested strategies to re-design the way we live on this planet. She has a deep belief in people’s creative spirit and desire to have a lifestyle that is in sync with Nature.  With some extra help in the form of teamwork, talent, and tools, she believes we can design our way out of this planetary mess if everyone brings their piece of the puzzle.

Anne-Marie is a co-Founder and a long-term partner in Roy Group, a Canadian coaching and training firm cultivating transformational leadership in business, government, and social impact organizations. NatuR&D is the innovation arm focused on supporting interdisciplinary teams to transform everyday problems, from packaging to energy use, into designs that work with Nature.

Anne-Marie’s specialty is in facilitating the innovation process so that everyone can play. Anne-Marie holds a BFA in Theatre Design, a Graduate Certificate in Mediation, a Masters in Biomimicry and is a Certified Biomimicry Professional.

Marie Jurcevic, Sustainability Lead, Arc Resources
Module 3: What is a Just Transition? Leading with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Marie is Sustainability Lead at ARC Resources (formerly Seven Generations Energy). Marie leads ARC Resources’ ESG reporting and disclosure efforts and she supports the development and integration of sustainability strategy within the organization. Marie has been a corporate sustainability practitioner for over 10 years. She has held sustainability roles at Enbridge and Canadian Business for Social Responsibility. Prior to working in the energy industry, Marie worked in the non-profit sector. She specialized in youth engagement and empowerment. Marie supported youth in various capacities, most notably she was involved in a youth-led anti-racism initiative called Youth Reach Out Against Racism.  

Marie has a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from the University of Calgary and a Masters of Science in Responsibility & Business Practice from the Faculty of Management at the University of Bath. When she is not working or volunteering, Marie loves to travel, and as a self-proclaimed foodie, she is always keen to try new recipes or the latest restaurant. As an avid collector of vintage and antiques, she also spends a lot of time hunting for unique items from days gone by.

Zahra Ebrahim, Co-Founder at Monumental
Module 4: Collaboration Beyond Consultation

Zahra is a public interest designer and urbanist, focused on shifting power to people who are underrepresented in decision-making processes. Her work has focused on participatory and community-led approaches to policy, infrastructure, and service design. Prior to Monumental, she built and led Doblin Canada (Deloitte’s Human-Centred Design practice), focusing on engaging diverse sets of stakeholders to use human-centred design to address complex organizational challenges.

Zahra built and led one of Canada’s first social design studios, working with communities to co-design towards better social outcomes and leading some of Canada’s most ambitious participatory infrastructure and policy programs. She has taught at OCADU, MoMA, and is currently an Adjunct Professor and Urbanist-in-Residence at the School of Cities at the University of Toronto. She is the Board Chair for Park People, and a board member for the Canadian Urban Institute and the Toronto Arts Council. She has been recognized as a Next City Vanguard “40 under 40 Civic Leader”, Ascend Canada Mentor of the Year, one of “Tomorrow’s Titans” in Toronto Life, and one of WXN’s Top 100 Women in Canadian Business.