Aaron Tan

Shafak's Bio

With over a decade of experience at the intersection of industry, government, and communities, Shafak Sajid is dedicated to building meaningful relationships and driving impactful change.

A recipient of the Young Women in Energy Award, Shafak excels in strategic planning, and relationship building. Currently she is the interim Director, Engagement at the Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corporation.

AIOC  

Vittoria's Bio

Vittoria Bellissimo is President & CEO of the Canadian Renewable Energy Association (CanREA). Vittoria leads a member association focused on ensuring that wind energy, solar energy and energy storage play a central role in transforming Canada’s energy mix.

Vittoria was previously the Executive Director of the Industrial Power Consumers Association of Alberta and worked in renewable energy procurement at both the Ontario Ministry of Energy and the Ontario Power Authority (now the IESO).

Vittoria served on the Board of Emissions Reduction Alberta, as Vice Chair of Energy Efficiency Alberta, and was a founding Board member of Women+Power. She holds a M.Sc. in Environmental Sustainability from the University of Edinburgh and is a licensed professional engineer (B.Sc. Queen’s University). Vittoria is based in Calgary.

CanREA

Janelle's Bio

Janelle Watson has over 15 years of experience from the energy sector across various locations in Alberta, and with exposure to international operations in California, Texas, Colorado, Oman and Holland.

She received an Associate SME designation in Thermal Recovery while at Royal Dutch Shell. Ms. Watson is an entrepreneurial minded leader that is passionate about new business ideas and uses a collaborative, inquisitive approach to solving problems. She spent the past six years launching two startup organisations as Business Development Lead and VP Operations. Notably, she won the Energy New Ventures pitch competition in 2019 worth $125,000 and audience choice award.

Ms. Watson has extensive experience in technical and business operational roles while in energy, tech and the insurance sectors. She has also pursued certifications in data science and analytics, machine learning, and cybersecurity to bolster her knowledge in leading edge technologies to enAlbertale efficient business operations. While new to the renewable energy sector, she has worked with LV and MV power systems, electrical and instrumentation specialists for wellsite and facilities requirements throughout her career and is a strong advocate for sustainability practices.

BBA Engineering

Natalie's Bio

Natalie Darrah is a project assistant in the Climate Change and Global Health research group in the University of Alberta’s School of Public Health. In this role, she facilitates events, community outreach, and advocacy for climate-health action.

She also works to expand the Climate Change and Health Hub, newly launched at the University of Alberta to advance research to address the health challenges of climate change. With a bachelors degree in environmental studies, she has an interdisciplinary background in ecology, economics, and public policy.

She is concurrently an academic visitor in the School of Urban and Regional Planning’s Climate Adaptation and Resilience Lab, where she supports research on localized climate change adaptation in British Columbia.

Climate Change & Global Health Research Group