Ruvi believes we all have what it takes to make the world a better place and proudly advocates for what it takes to get there. As a poised public speaker, Ruvi passionately communicates her knowledge with others of all ages and backgrounds.

Ruvi is an expert at identifying opportunities in the realm of energy efficiency. She talks about the experiences she’s gained from working with youth and adults with disabilities and shares how this helps her to communicate the importance of strengthening sustainability efforts and behaviour for all.

Ruvi believes that guidance and encouragement go a long way in creating change for the better. As a Manager at Thinkwell Shift, Ruvi explains how she uses this approach to connect with her team and shares techniques and strategies that help her to put her team first.

With the trust of her manager, Ruvi has been able to continuously develop and manage two programs on behalf of Efficiency Nova Scotia. One aimed to teach kids about energy efficiency, and the other to help adults save money on power bills.

Ruvi’s ability to speak is what she believes made her so successful. She shares her strategies and the importance of navigating life with curiosity and an open mind.

Fatima has always been passionate about the environment, but her interest in the energy efficiency field accelerated during her university years while studying human impact on the environment. Since then, Fatima has gained leadership experience with organizations and corporations, including ecobee and The Atmospheric Fund (TAF), which she accredits to her well-rounded stance on environmental topics. Fatima is also an active volunteer, valuing community engagement and participation.

Fatima proudly shares her knowledge and experience with others as an expert on social and environmental impact. Her work is known to open minds and change perspectives, fueling her optimism about the future of the energy efficiency sector and the world!

Fatima emphasizes the importance of a net-zero future and shares her firsthand experience working in a role committed to reaching ambitious net-zero goals. She advocates the importance of energy efficiency in everyday life and finds joy in sharing strategies to help others to embark on their own energy efficiency journey.

Fatima has participated in many speaking engagements as a media spokesperson, a panel host at the Association of Energy Services Professionals (AESP), and a host for lunch learning sessions, staff events and workshops.

As a senior sustainability executive with over 20 years of experience, Kirk is well-positioned to share his insights as a leader in the field. Throughout his career, Kirk has been invited to speak at a number of events and conferences—most recently, ULI-Toronto, CACEA, and Conservation Ontario.

Kirk was an early adopter of decarbonization and energy efficiency. After graduating, he developed commercial energy management projects and guaranteed school board energy retrofits for Johnson Controls and Toronto Hydro. Since then, he’s worked with leading Canadian private and public sector organizations, where he was responsible for designing and delivering sustainability policies and programs. Kirk has created low-carbon building standards like the energy section of the Toronto Green Standard (TGS) and ENERGY STAR multi-family standard. He’s also developed over 10 provincial/municipal incentive programs across Ontario, data visualization tools/courses for CaGBC, Humber College, and many recent residential capacity-building initiatives for home builders, Energy Advisors, NGOs, and homeowners.

Today, Kirk is President of Eco-Efficiency Consulting, responsible for decarbonization program design, workforce development, and post-secondary teaching/course development for the government, private sector, and post-secondary clients. He emphasizes integrating ESG/DEI practices, leveraging agile strategies, and conducting inclusive stakeholder engagement to stay ahead of the curve in a post-COVID Green Economy. Kirk is also the former Chair of Earth Day Canada!

As a hands-on problem solver, Nikki Muswaggon allows her curiosity to guide her career path. After testing the waters of many potential careers, including studying to become a doctor and working as a project manager, Nikki felt inspired by her brother’s choice to take on a trade and is now an apprentice electrician. 

As a young woman working in a male-dominated industry, Nikki knows what it’s like to experience discrimination in the workplace. She shares valuable insight on navigating and overcoming these challenges safely and effectively. 

Nikki is an advocate for community support and understands the influence of the people around us. She believes we thrive when we can rely on others and encourages reaching out to others for support in times of need. 

Mentorship has also played a pivotal role in Nikki’s life. As a newcomer to the field, she shares highlights from her experience of working closely with a mentor that she truly connects with and talks about how mentorship can help to accelerate your role and career.

Gonell found a job with Stantec, and began working his way up the corporate ladder. One day, he found himself as a project manager with the company, after years of learning the fundamental and advanced tools of his new trade.

Around 2013, he began his own business, where he works to this day. Gonell Homes now employs three other people, and has made a name for itself as a reliable and innovative company in Toronto.

From the earliest days of this new path, Gonell has sought out new techniques to build and renovate homes in an environmentally friendly fashion — and one that will save homeowners money when it comes time to pay the power bill.

At Stantec, he learned the ins and outs of insulated concrete forms (ICF) construction, a practice that he’s carried with him ever since. Throughout his self-education, he travelled to Europe to learn about the advanced green and energy efficient building practices and standards there. 

Gonell is proud of the work his company puts into every house and every retrofit. Though his career has taken him in a vastly different direction from where he started, he still sees it as a way to help people.

Afaf Azzouz has gone around the world with her career in construction. She’s learned about — or employed — her skills in green and efficient building on three continents: Africa, Europe and North America.

Then, eight years ago, she moved to Canada, and began working for Stantec’s Winnipeg office, and cut her teeth thereby bringing energy efficiency to new buildings. From there, she moved to Ottawa, where her work saw her planning high-performance, energy efficient and carbon-neutral retrofits for older structures, including some heritage buildings. Ultimately, she moved to Montreal, and — while working at both it and the Ottawa office — found herself tackling both new and existing construction.

Today, Afaf leads the Net Zero Implementation offering at Deloitte, focusing on sustainable real estate, building technology assessments/modelling, low-carbon construction materials, ESG strategy, GHG inventories, decarbonization strategy and GHG scenario modelling. Afaf has served clients in the energy & resources, financial, government and TMT sectors. As an engineer, she has been involved in the design, implementation and performance measurement of hundreds of buildings across Canada, as well as multiple infrastructure projects aligned with the Envision framework.

Afaf has a great many titles attached to her name and is helping steer a big team of rising sustainability professionals. Besides being a professional engineer, she’s LEED-certified, and is a building energy modelling professional (BEMP). She has also recently won three awards acknowledging her efforts, including the Association of Energy Engineers Young Energy Engineer and two Canadian Green Building Council (CaGBC) Emerging Green Leader Awards.