Peter Stantic is the Kelowna Fire Department Captain of Fire Mitigation and Structure Protection, a newly created position within the City of Kelowna. This new position is focused on supporting existing FireSmart initiatives and starting a Structure Protection program for the City of Kelowna. Peter has been a structural firefighter since 2000; a Captain since 2021. His on-duty experience includes Technical Rescue shift instructor, Fire Ground Survival shift instructor, Critical Incident Stress Management peer, and member of KFD’s Truck Fleet design committee. He has been on numerous Wildfire deployments around BC including the major local incidents in 2003 and 2023 in Kelowna.

As the Deputy Chief of Communications and Emergency Management, Sandra oversees the daily operations of the fire dispatch center, which serves 58 fire departments in the Interior regions. She also leads the coordination and planning of the Regional Emergency Program, which supports the local governments and First Nations in the RDCO to prepare for, respond to, and recover from emergencies and disasters. Sandra has been instrumental in enhancing the emergency management capabilities of the region, especially during the challenging events of 2017, 2021 and 2023, when the area faced unprecedented flooding and wildfires. Sandra is passionate about public safety and community resilience, and she strives to foster a collaborative and supportive work environment for her staff and partners.

Jason Bedell serves as the Emergency Support Services Supervisor with Kelowna Fire Department, where he manages a team of more than 80 volunteers dedicated to assisting evacuees during disasters. With a background spanning two decades in law enforcement and community safety across Australia and Canada, he joined the Kelowna Fire Department shortly before the extensive wildfire season of 2023. With a deep commitment to community service, he has actively contributed to various volunteer organizations, including serving on the Board of Directors for his local resident association, Central Okanagan Search and Rescue, and most recently as Vice-President of the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 338.

Elected as Mayor for the first time in 2022, Tom currently sits on the RDCO Board as a Director, Chair of the Airport Advisory Committee, Chair of the Mayor’s Task Force on Crime Reduction, Member of the BCUMC, as part of the RDCO board a representative on the Municipal Finance Committee, sits on the board of Uptown Rutland Business Association and a member of the Audit Committee.

Tom moved from Toronto to British Columbia in 1986 to be the executive sous chef at Expo. He then went on to be executive chef of Delta Hotels in Whistler. In May of 1987 Tom changed direction when he went into the insurance and financial industry creating his own company, TD Benefits, which he has proudly owned and operated ever since.  Over his 36 years in the insurance and financial industry, his company has won numerous awards for customer service, growth of business and client retention.

Tom has always been actively involved in the community, coaching local soccer clubs and sitting on the Boards of Kelowna Minor Hockey, the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce, the Okanagan College Advisory and the Child Advocacy Centre and chair of the 2020 Memorial Cup Host Committee.

Running a successful, respectful business has always been a primary focus for Tom, although to date he feels his greatest achievement has been raising his three children into adulthood. With his children now grown and his business a family enterprise with a strong team, Tom’s focus is now on serving our community.

Gemma Sim is an accomplished public sector professional with over 20 years of experience. She currently manages financial applications and water billing technology for the Region of Durham. Gemma has successfully led digital transformation projects and specializes in next-generation customer experience. Her qualifications include an MSc from Glasgow’s Strathclyde University, certification in Public Sector Leadership from the Chartered Management Institute, and she holds the Project Management Professional designation from the Project Management Institute. Additionally, Gemma is a Prosci Certified Change Practitioner.

Amanda Circelli is the Manager Customer Service for the Town of Tecumseh. Throughout her 17-year career in the municipal sector, customer service, communications and strategic planning have been significant areas of focus.  Whether being part of a team decentralizing social services or implementing recommendations from an organizational review, the constant throughout has been the customer perspective and how to foster an environment for the best experience possible. In her current position with Team Tecumseh, Amanda’s team consists of frontline customer service roles as well as the Town’s communication coordinator, which presents an amazing opportunity to ensure service delivery and information strategies are well aligned.  Amanda enjoys the opportunity to collaborate across all departments and truly understand what customer service means for municipal service delivery.

Keith Parker is the Executive Lead of Service Modernization with Service BC at the Ministry of Citizens’ Services.  Keith is responsible for leading a modernization strategy and implementation plan to support mission critical front-line services and multi-channel delivery in support of the 300+ unique services the provincial government provides to people in British Columbia.

Keith moved to Service BC as Executive Director Procurement & Finance in 2022 and, since that time, has successfully led the redesign of a multi-year strategic outsourcing strategy for Service BC and also led the division’s emergency response to BC Wildfires.

Jana Miller is the Director of Corporate Customer Service for the City of Kitchener. She’s a seasoned communicator and culture champion who, about a decade ago, unexpectedly found herself falling in love with service improvement and strategy. Her team works alongside staff and citizens each day to transform service delivery and create great customer experiences – via Kitchener’s new City Hall Service Centre, the 24-7 contact centre, and the Mykitchener online portal.

Christine Baker is the Manager of Customer Experience and Solutions at the City of Kitchener – a role that combines both her passion for customer experience and process improvement. Focused on in-person and online service delivery channels, Christine and her team are continuously learning from customers about their experiences through the City’s successful Customer Satisfaction Program, and finding creative solutions to improve service delivery.

Mason has been with the City of Kelowna since 2019 and is currently working as an Innovation Consultant on the Intelligent Cities team. Prior to this, Mason worked as the Digital Communications Consultant in the Communications department overseeing the City’s websites and social media channels. With a degree in journalism from Thompson Rivers University, certificates in user experience and conversation design, and background in public relations and marketing at multiple ski resorts across British Columbia, Mason bring a unique perspective to the team.

Summer Effray is an Innovation Consultant at the City of Kelowna, where she works on the Intelligent Cities team, focusing on collaborative problem-solving, technological innovation, and driving improvements to service delivery. She started at the City in 2009, as part of the Communications team and moved into her current role in 2019.

Summer is life-long learner and passionate user advocate. She spends most days working on growing, maintaining and improving the City’s chatbots, advancing Intelligent City projects, and learning about artificial intelligence and other emerging tech. Currently, she is taking a course on Conversation Design to make sure that the City’s bots are conversational, likeable and useful. She enjoys sharing her knowledge and insights with her colleagues to help grow the capacity for user-centred design, and serves on the Municipal Service Delivery Officers’ Board of Directors.

Gemma Sim is an accomplished public sector professional with over 20 years of experience. She currently manages financial applications and water billing technology for the Region of Durham. Gemma has successfully led digital transformation projects and specializes in next-generation customer experience. Her qualifications include an MSc from Glasgow’s Strathclyde University, certification in Public Sector Leadership from the Chartered Management Institute, and she holds the Project Management Professional designation from the Project Management Institute. Additionally, Gemma is a Prosci Certified Change Practitioner.

Carla has been with the City of Saskatoon for 25 years with an extensive background in operations. When she became the Manager of Service Saskatoon in 2017 she finally had the opportunity to help make organizational wide changes to improve customer service. Over the past seven years she has launched the City’s Service Ambassador program (High 5) that focuses on recognizing co-workers for exceptional service, created the 24/7 Corporate Customer Care Centre, created a one-stop-shop at the Customer Care Kiosk in City Hall lobby for all in-person services, lead the procurement and implementation of the organizations cloud-based telephony solution, developed and facilitates multiple in-house customer service training courses and is currently leading the procurement and implementations of a new CRM System. She is passionate about CX and is excited to see it taking a front seat in municipal government.  

Nelson Loureiro, the Assistant Deputy Minister (ADM) of the Customer Care Division in ServiceOntario, within the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery (MPBSD), has been at the forefront of the continuity of service excellence for Ontarians who access government services at ServiceOntario. He has over 15 years in the Ontario Public Service and has over 10 years’ experience in municipal government in various capacities. Nelson is keen on innovation and modernization to revitalize government programs and services. Nelson has led the planning and implementation of major technology and service modernization initiatives province-wide. He continues to explore opportunities to reform public services within ServiceOntario across all channels (in-person, telephone and online). He is committed to operational excellence within government and has a track record of implementing best practices to optimize service delivery.

Douglas McGuire is a dedicated leader with a profound commitment to enhancing the citizen experience in Grande Prairie, Alberta. His professional journey began in the transportation sector, where he led several ambitious projects, including becoming the pioneer of Canada’s first classified carrier, integrating cutting-edge enterprise technology solutions, and managing extensive business processes across multiple locations. As he transitioned into the nonprofit sector, Douglas demonstrated his growing expertise in leadership, developing his ability to lead with limited authority yet substantial influence through significant contributions to various boards and organizations. With over ten years of dedicated service to the city of Grande Prairie, he has honed his skills in LEAN methodology and has earned certifications as an asset management professional (CAMP) a project management professional (PMP) and a Certified Service Manager (CSM) through the Institute for Citizen-Centred Service. Douglas continues to evolve as a leader, actively transforming service delivery from a functional to a process and knowledge-driven, citizen-centric approach.

Scott Montgomery oversees sales and strategy related to Public Sector within State, Provincial and local US and Canada at Verint. He holds dual degrees in Business Accounting and Economic and a master’s in business administration. Scott has over 20 years’ experience in sales, marketing, delivery, and support in public and commercial sectors at a global level.

Robbie Beyer, Director of Data and AI at RSM, specializes in analytics and AI solutions, with expertise in both the Public and Private sectors. With over 10 years of experience serving clients at RSM, he drives results and collaboration, delivering tailored strategies that exceed client expectations.

Sawan Dhaliwal is a Director at RSM Canada and leads the Public Sector industry for RSM Canada nationally. He is also an artificial intelligence (AI) leader and a seasoned digital strategist, with experience in the strategic planning and implementation of complex technology transformation projects in both the public and private sectors.

Beth is an international speaker, coach, and writer who teaches people the art of life mastery. She has shared the stage with some of the world’s top speakers including Jack Canfield, Robin Sharma, Lisa Nichols, and Mike Dooley in Australia, the U.S., and Canada.

She has a degree in Sociology, is a Certified Life coach from Results Coaching Sytems out of New York, and is a member of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers. For over twenty-five years she has been providing guidance to people from every walk of life to improve their lives and their relationships.

Beth has been called “the swiss army knife of coaches” with a knack for simplifying the most complex workplace and personal problems into small doable steps.

She shares her life with her husband, two children, two dogs, two cats and five chickens in Kelowna, BC Canada.

Trish Cardwell provides oversight to the Customer Experience and Communications division at Haldimand County since 2021. Her role is to oversee the development and implementation of proactive corporate communications and customer service strategies ensuring that these are designed to enhance the customer experience. Trish is passionate about providing good customer service, and making it easy for people to navigate government services. She aims to empower employees to share their opinions and ideas for making improvements to the customer experience. Outside of work, Trish enjoys being outdoors, photography, travel, and spending quality time with family and friends.

Michal Dziong is the Director of Research at the Institute for Citizen-Centred Service (ICCS) and has been with the Institute since 2007. He is responsible for managing national research studies that include Citizens First and Business First, as well as the Common Measurements Tool (CMT) and Citizen First Analytics portfolio. Michal’s role is to oversee all aspects of ICCS research and work with a broad range of stakeholders representing the public and non-profit sectors, as well as consultants and members of the academic community.

Gemma Sim is an accomplished public sector professional with over 20 years of experience. She currently manages financial applications and water billing technology for the Region of Durham. Gemma has successfully led digital transformation projects and specializes in next-generation customer experience. Her qualifications include an MSc from Glasgow’s Strathclyde University, certification in Public Sector Leadership from the Chartered Management Institute, and she holds the Project Management Professional designation from the Project Management Institute. Additionally, Gemma is a Prosci Certified Change Practitioner.

Andy is a customer experience professional with Peel Region. Leading the Service Experience office, he works to understand and improve the customer experience through policy, education, measurement, and process improvement. His career has included extensive work with both contact centre and digital service delivery in customer-focused organizations like Peel Region, including HP and the Walt Disney Company. He holds Project Management Professional and Certified Customer Experience Professional designations.

Mike McGreer helps public sector and non-profit organizations plan for the future, communicate their vision, and measure and report on performance. Mike joined the City of Kelowna in 2018 and before that held roles with the BC Dental Assocation, City of Surrey, Vancouver Economic Commission and the BC Ministry of Environment. He is currently a Board Director with the Canadian Mental Health Association Kelowna branch and holds an MBA from Simon Fraser University. Outside of work you’ll find Mike with his wife and two boys spending as much time as possible outdoors.