Parallel Session Speakers
Paula Fitzsimons
Founder, Fitzsimons Consulting (specializing in entrepreneurship and growth)
Paula Fitzsimons has been the national coordinator for the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) for Ireland since 2000. A recognized expert on entrepreneurship, she was an expert facilitator to the Small Business Forum and subsequently advised Forfás and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment on the development of a national entrepreneurship policy. She has recently developed an enterprise strategy for the Dublin region which is currently being implemented.
She is the national director of Going for Growth, a new pilot initiative, which is focused on peer support as a means of assisting women entrepreneurs who wish to grow their businesses. Going for Growth has recently been included in the 2009 Good Practice initiatives by the European Commission and voted into the Top 10 most beneficial to implement of those initiatives.
Paula Fitzsimons has also been actively involved in the design and development of Senior Enterprise, which seeks to increase the engagement of those in the older age group with entrepreneurship and with enterprise more generally. This initiative has recently received INTERREG IVB approval from the European Union and will be implemented and tested across regions in three European countries over a three year period with a view to its further implementation after the pilot.
Donald Shiner, PhD
Associate Professor
Mount Saint Vincent University
Dr. Shiner is an Associate Professor of Marketing at Mount Saint Vincent University. For nine years he worked as an associate of KPMG Consulting, Canada's largest professional services firm and in 1998 joined the Novus Consulting Group. In 2009 he became an independent consultant.
An experienced educator, he delivers marketing seminars on a wide range of topics and is sought as a speaker both within Canada and throughout the world. Dr. Shiner is also an accomplished author: He has published a number of articles, recently served as a contributing editor of four textbook chapters in "Marketing Today," and served on the founding editorial board of the "Journal of Strategic Marketing." He was the marketing columnist for CBC Radio One’s national program Business Network for three years and speaks regularly on the impact of marketing on everyday Canadian life.
Dr. Shiner is also the Principle Investigator of the Atlantic Seniors Housing Research Alliance (ASHRA), which features over 75 organizations and five universities.
Bruce Smith
Senior Manager, Staffing & Planning
Shared Services, Human Resources, Scotiabank
Originally from New Brunswick, Bruce began his career with Scotiabank over 30 years ago. He worked throughout New Brunswick and PEI until moving to Halifax in 1996 to become the Senior Manager, Human Resources, Atlantic Region.
Bruce is an active member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Council on Rehabilitation & Work (CCRW) and is currently First Vice-Chair.
Bruce also continues to work with a number of charitable and not for profit organizations that include: Immigrant Settlement & Integration Services, the Nova Scotia League for Equal Opportunities, the Scotiabank Bluenose Marathon, Feed Nova Scotia, and the Terry Fox Run.
Margaret Armour,
Founding Member, Aerobics First
Margaret’s passion for business is as strong today as in the beginning. In her 30 years of business, she credits the quality of outstanding staff that have participated in growing the business with fuelling her energy and her inspiration. She is younger in attitude, more active, and hopefully wiser, as a result of their contribution and example. She believes her greatest business achievement was helping to create the transfer of ownership to the next generation; She loves working in a team with her partners Luke and Dean, and the rest of the managing staff at Aerobics First. The thing is…retirement is not an option! For Margaret, work is play, and a lot of fun!
Chris Pelham
Associate, Former Executive Director
Acadia Centre for Social and Business Entrepreneurship
Chris Pelham is the former Executive Director of the Acadia Centre for Social and Business Entrepreneurship (ACSBE) and former Head of APEC-IBIZ (Canada). He has over thirty years of experience in community development and business advisory experience with the City Of Halifax, the Heritage Canada Foundation, the Windsor Business Improvement District Commission, and the Windsor West Hants Business Development Centre.
Chris was the founding chairman of the Professional Standards Committee and vice chair of the Coordinating Council for APEC-IBIZ. He is a director of the Canadian Council for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (CCSBE), and continues to serve on many not for profit boards and to provide strategic planning services to the not-for-profit sector.
As an entrepreneur Chris has owned small businesses in retail, construction, real estate, professional services, and agriculture. He was awarded the 2005 Life Achievement Award from the Canadian Council for Small Business and Entrepreneurship for his contribution to the development of entrepreneurial education in Canada and abroad. Chris is now semi-retired but remains a consultant, entrepreneur, and an associate with ACSBE.
Glen Hougan
Assistant Professor, NSCAD University
Principal, Wellspan Research and Design
Glen Hougan is an industrial designer with a background in human factors, user-centered design, ethnographic research methods and design for an aging population. He teaches product design at NSCAD University and has been focusing his classes on universal design and aging population design issues.
He is founder and principal of Wellspan Research and Design. This design consultancy offers product development and product evaluation, user trailing, user research, and workshops and training services in the areas of health and design for an aging population.
Over the last year his work on designing for an aging population and his development of an ‘aging suit’ has been profiled on CBC Radio Spark , PBS series Life Part 2: The Mechanics of Aging and Good Morning America Health Watch.
Don Lapierre
Director of Programs and Voluntary Sector Relations
Volunteer Canada
Volunteer Canada is Canada’s national voice for volunteerism. Don Lapierre brings over 25 years of experience both in the voluntary and public sectors to the organization. Prior to starting at Volunteer Canada in 2007, he spent six years at the National Office of St. John Ambulance where he was Director of Community Services. He thrives on having learned from and worked with many experts while playing a role in promoting volunteerism across the country. His volunteer management background has been very community- and client-oriented as he established and convened several national and local networks and committees.
Ron Swan
Founder & President
Home Safe Living Inc.
Prior to starting his own company, Ron held regional and national management positions in the information technology and telecommunication industries.
Today, Ron is the founder and President of Home Safe Living Incorporated, a Nova Scotia company devoted to helping seniors and persons with physical disabilities live safely and independently in their homes and communities. A true entrepreneur, Ron recently announced his plans to franchise Home Safe Living. The company has raised capital through a recent investment offering and plans to launch the first phase of its franchise system in Nova Scotia in 2010.
Together with his business partner Lynde Harding, Ron has also made Home Safe Living a family business. His daughter Trisha is also part of the Home Safe Living team.
Ron is Chair of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Paraplegic Association (CPA) of Nova Scotia as well as Treasurer of the National Board of Directors of CPA. He is a member of the Halifax Northwest Rotary Club and is on the Advisory Board for the Centre for Aging at Mount Saint Vincent University.
Elisabeth Veenema (MSW)
Research Associate
Wellspan Research and Design
Elisabeth has twenty years of social work experience. She currently works in the areas of ageism, stereotypes, and empathetic models of learning.
Wellspan Research and Design is a design consulting company in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Wellspan focuses on healthcare issues, user-centered research, and workshops and empathy training in the areas of aging and ageism.
Shawn Levangie
Owner
Trail Blazer Products Ltd.
Shawn spent his youth as a sea cadet with R.C.S.C.C. Magnificent in Dartmouth and continued into the Naval Reserves Cadet Instructor list, finishing as an officer with the Nova Scotia International Tattoo and the Commanding Officer of R.C.S.C.C. Bonaventure in Shubenacadie. He was the youngest individual to receive the rank of lieutenant commander in Maritime Command.
After completing a Commerce Degree in 1995, Shawn started working with his father in the family company; Trail Blazer Products Ltd., a Canadian-based manufacturer of quality outdoor products for the Lawn & Garden and Sporting Good markets. Trail Blazer Products Ltd. headquarters is in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, and has warehouses in the United States and Germany.
Shawn Levangie started with a one-product company, no distribution, no brand and no sales support. In fourteen years, Shawn has taken his company from a one-man operation to one that currently has 250 distributors and 60 recognized sales associates. Trail Blazer Products Ltd has experienced an average annual 54% increase in sales and spreading to a total distribution in over 40 countries, with sales reaching millions of dollars.
Eileen Clarke
Mayor, Gladstone, Manitoba
A lifelong resident of Gladstone, at age 18 Ms. Gladstone became the owner and manager of a jewellery, gift and flower shop that later became known as “Manitoba’s Largest Gift Shop”. She was awarded the Manitoba Woman Entrepreneur of the Year in 1998 and Woman of Distinction Award in 2000. She has been an active member of the Gladstone Chamber of Commerce for 37 years as well as many other community organizations.
After selling her business and retiring for one year, she became the Mayor of Gladstone in 2006. In 2007 she was elected Midwestern Urban Director of the Association of Manitoba Municipalities. She represents the Association on the Advisory Committee of the Healthy Living and Aging Secretariat of Manitoba, is the co-chair of Gladstone’s Age Friendly Committee, and was co-chair of the Healthy Living Conference held in Gladstone April 2009.
She is a Committee Member of the Canadian Age Friendly Reference Group has presented at Age Friendly Workshops at The Canadian Association of Gerontology Conference in London, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities Convention at Whistler, and other conferences in her home province of Manitoba.
Bruce W. Phinney, C.A.
President, Phinney Consulting Limited
A graduate of Acadia University, Bruce obtained his Chartered Accountant designation in 1984. During a 14-year career with Deloitte & Touche, he worked on international finance and insolvency assignments in the Cayman Islands, the United Kingdom and Abu Dhabi. He left public accounting to manage companies for the Irving group. In addition to Phinney Consulting, Bruce is involved as an owner and/or director of nine businesses, including Scotia Plastics Inc. Atlantic Flushing and Testing Inc., and Acadia Mobile Steam Inc.
Bruce’s current volunteer activities include acting as President of the Associated Alumni of Acadia University, as Director on the Board of Governors for Acadia University, as Past President of the Waegwoltic Club, and as President of the Halifax Junior Bengal Lancers. In these roles, Bruce enthusiastically participates in all aspects of these organizations’ initiatives with an emphasis on the financial, strategic, governance and facilities aspects. Bruce has also organized and managed successful fund raising events and projects for these organizations.
