This conference aims to connect our L&D community around the shared space where people, practice, and AI converge. By exploring core skills, leadership and inclusive engagement, we’re empowering practitioners at all levels to elevate their craft and confidently integrate AI into the future of learning.
KEYNOTE
Mary Ann Baynton
Why Human Capacity is Still the Competitive Advantage in the World of AI
AI can generate learning at extraordinary speed. But are we building real capability or simply accelerating content development? In this provocative keynote, discover why human judgement psychological safety, and ethical courage are still the true drivers of performance in an AI-enabled workplace. Explore how AI can amplify clarity and growth or quietly increase pressure, bias, and risk.
If you are ready to move beyond developing tools and position L&D as a strategic force shaping culture, governance, and leadership capacity, this session will challenge and equip you to lead differently.
About Mary Ann:
Mary Ann has been called the "godmother of psychological health and safety". She served as co-chair of the Technical Committee for the Canadian Standard on Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace, was a member of the Employment Standards Committee and director for Workplace Strategies for Mental Health. As a consultant, Mary Ann supports employers, governments, unions, teams and associations to resolve issues involving mental health, psychological safety, conflict or performance concerns. Mary Ann has a Masters in Social Work and a certificate in Adult Education. With two decades of experience in curriculum design and workplace mental health, Mary Ann bridges the gap between technological efficiency and human performance.
AGENDA
DAY ONE | THURSDAY, MAY 14, 2026
8:00AM
Registration, Breakfast & Networking
8:45 AM
Welcome & Opening Remarks
9:30 AM
Engaging in Education Using Traditional Circles & Talking Sticks | Marilyn Dykstra
10:30 AM
Educational Spotlight | Rare Leadership
10:45 AM
Break
11:00 AM
KEYNOTE: Why Human Capacity is Still the Competitive Advantage in the World of AI | Mary Ann Baynton
12:00 PM
Lunch
1:00 PM
Educational Spotlight | Neovation
1:30 PM
Session #1 | Designing Relevant Adult Learning Experiences with AI: Using COSTAR and NotebookLM | Alberto Caballero
Session #1 | Building Coaching Capability in Leaders: The Role of L&D | Loïe Gervais
2:30 PM
Break
2:45 PM
Session #2 | A New Take on Evaluation: Easy and Practical Ways to Evaluate at All Levels | Marie Antaya
Session #2 | Facilitating Change: Teaching Your Teams to Lead Transitions | Tracy Lamoureux
3:45 PM
Faciliated Round Table
Topic TBD | Birchwood
Topic TBD | Rare Leadership
4:40 PM
Debrief & Closing
5:00 PM
Networking Mixer
DAY TWO | FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2026
8:00AM
Registration, Breakfast & Networking
8:30 AM
Welcome & Opening Remarks
8:45 AM
Educational Spotlight | Birchwood
9:00 AM
Break
9:15 AM
Session #3 | The "Team of One" Upgrade: Cloning Yourself with Practical AI | Philip Giles
Session #3 | The Art of Difficult Conversations: Designing Training for Performance Management & Accountability | Dr. Shade
Session #3 | Designing Strengths-Based New Manager Programs | Trevor Hubert
10:15 AM
Break
10:30 AM
Inclusive Engagement in Action: Designing Participation That Includes Everyone | Valerie McInnes
11:30 AM
Debrief & Closing
ABOUT SESSIONS & FACILITATORS
CORE PRINCIPLES
Alberto Caballero
Designing Relevant Adult Learning Experiences with AI: Using COSTAR for Smarter Lesson Planning
Adults learn best when they understand the relevance of what they’re learning. This session explores practical strategies for making lessons meaningful by connecting content to real-world applications. Participants will also learn how to use the COSTAR framework (Context, Objective, Style, Tone, Audience, Response) to design effective AI prompts for lesson planning. Through interactive activities, attendees will practice creating relevance-based learning objectives and AI-assisted lesson plans they can apply immediately.
Faciltator: Alberto Caballero, Seven Oaks Immigrant Services & Adult Center
An experienced English teacher, over the last 10 years Alberto has been helping learners achieve the scores they need on English exams. Through analyzing countless tests, he has developed strategies and tools that have helped more than a thousand people reach their goals. Currently, he supports individuals in Winnipeg, Manitoba, improving their English skills and assisting with job search opportunities. Passionate about helping others succeed, Alberto is also focused on exploring the use of AI to enhance language learning and career development.
Marie Antaya
A New Take on Evaluation: Easy and Practical Ways to Evaluate at All Levels
Learning events take time, resources, and organizational energy. Yet many programs are still evaluated only at the “smile sheet” level. This session re-introduces the Kirkpatrick Four Levels of Evaluation in a practical, accessible way that helps L&D professionals meaningfully assess whether their learning initiatives are achieving the results their organizations expect.
We will explore how to answer key questions such as:
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Why are we delivering learning programs in the workplace?
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What should you measure to determine whether a learning experience is successful?
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How can evaluation be done realistically, simply, and consistently?
Facilitator: Marie Antaya, Eclectic Communications
Marie brings more than 25 years of experience in education, communication, and leadership development. She leads complex program and workshop design projects and works with clients across the private, non-profit, and public sectors throughout Canada. As Owner of Eclectic Communications, Marie designs and facilitates practical, audience-centered learning experiences delivered both in person and online. Her work focuses on strengthening communication, critical thinking, and workplace effectiveness. In addition to instructional design and facilitation, Marie provides consulting services in program development, policy and procedure design, curriculum architecture, and organizational capacity building. She works closely with teams to clarify expectations, strengthen systems, and align learning initiatives with operational and governance requirements.
Philip Giles
The "Team of One" Upgrade: Cloning Yourself with Practical AI
The promise of AI isn’t just about generating text; it’s about cloning your capacity. In this practical, hands-on session, we will treat AI not as a tool, but as your new "Junior Teammate." We will move beyond basic ChatGPT prompts to demonstrate a live "Workflow Learning" approach—ingesting your raw policy documents into a secure AI environment to automate the repetitive 80% of your workload.
Facilitator: Philip Giles, Neovation
Philip Giles is a veteran strategist in the digital learning and knowledge management space, serving as a Senior Sales Director at Neovation. With a career spanning over two decades, Philip specializes in helping complex organizations—from manufacturing to franchising—transition from traditional training methods to data-driven, AI-enhanced learning ecosystems. A frequent speaker at industry events like the Canadian Franchise Association (CFA) and various L&D summits, Philip is known for his "consultative challenger" approach. He focuses on solving high-stakes business problems—such as scalability bottlenecks and knowledge retention—rather than simply selling software. At Neovation, he leads the charge in applying Artificial Intelligence to operational challenges, helping leadership teams de-risk their digital transformations and capture their organization's most valuable asset: its institutional knowledge.
LEADERSHIP
Trevor Hubert
Designing Strengths-Based New Manager Programs
New managers don’t just need skills—they need better conversations. Gallup’s research on engagement and performance consistently points to one thing: people leaders who have frequent, meaningful, strengths-focused conversations with their teams drive better results.
This session is designed for L&D professionals who build or support new manager programs. We’ll explore how to weave strengths-based management into your designs without needing everyone to complete a specific assessment first. You’ll experience a simple “strengths discovery conversation” first-hand, practice it using a set of high-quality questions, and then see how the same structure can become a powerful onboarding icebreaker and cohort-building activity in your next new manager program. We’ll also use AI to expand and tailor the question set for different roles and contexts. You’ll leave with a conversation template, sample prompts, and clear ideas on where to plug this into your own new leader journeys.
Facilitator: Trevor Hubert, Elevate Strengths
Trevor Hubert is the founder of Elevate Strengths, a Manitoba-based talent and team development company that helps leaders and teams build strengths-based, high-collaboration workplaces. A certified talent development professional (CTDP, CPHR) and coach (ICF and Gallup), Trevor brings over 25 years’ experience in learning and leadership, including serving as Director of Talent Development & Engagement at a large Canadian financial services organization. He specializes in practical tools that help people managers and teams have better conversations, break silos, and improve day-to-day performance.
Tracy Lamoureux
Facilitating Change: Teaching Your Teams to Lead Transitions
This session empowers L&D professionals to facilitate high impact change
training within their own organizations. Moving beyond theory, we dedicate 60% of our time to modeling facilitator techniques. You will learn how to guide your teams through deconstructing change failures using John Kotter’s Model and how to coach others to draft compelling Cases for Change. Leave with facilitator ready templates and strategies to teach Kotter’s first four steps effectively. Be prepared to practice and lead facilitation of these activities for real world scenarios.
Facilitator: Tracy Lamoureux, Birchwood
Tracy Lamoureux is an experienced Learning and Development professional currently serving as the Learning and Development Manager for Birchwood. With a deep-rooted commitment to professional growth and organizational excellence, Tracy focuses on creating impactful learning experiences that drive performance and employee engagement. Beyond her corporate role, Tracy is an active contributor with United Way and in her community. She is dedicated to fostering connection and continuous improvement among L&D practitioners across the province.
Loïe Gervais
Building Coaching Capability in Leaders: The Role of L&D
Coaching is no longer a “nice to have” but a core leadership skill in
today’s fast-changing workplace. This session is designed for L&D professionals who support leadership development and want to strengthen their ability to teach coaching skills to managers. Participants will explore why coaching matters, how it differs from mentoring and consulting, and how it can be integrated into leadership. Through practice and reflection, attendees will experience coaching in action and gain practical tips for designing and facilitating coach training that fits their context.
Facilitator: Loïe Gervais, University of Manitoba
Loïe Gervais is a learning and development professional with 10+ years of experience designing and facilitating programs that strengthen leadership and workplace culture in complex environments. Her work integrates research, coaching, and practical application to create meaningful learning experiences across a diverse range of learners and backgrounds. At the University of Manitoba, she leads the design and delivery of management, HR, and career development programs that equip individuals and teams to navigate evolving roles, build capability, and lead with greater clarity and impact. Loïe holds a Master’s degree in Organizational Behaviour from the Asper School of Business and is a Certified Executive Coach and Associate Certified Coach with the International Coaching Federation.
Dr. Shade Kolade
The Art of Difficult Conversations: Designing Training for Performance Management & Accountability
Performance management training typically teaches frameworks and scripts, such as "use the SBI model" or "follow these five steps," but often fails to prepare managers for the psychological reality of difficult conversations. Managers typically leave trainings knowing what to say but not how to navigate the emotional complexity, defensiveness, silence, or tears that arise in real performance discussions.
This session explores how to design leadership training that builds both tactical skill AND emotional resilience. Participants will examine what makes performance conversations psychologically difficult (and why typical training misses this) and will learn to create practice experiences that expose managers to productive discomfort in safe, structured ways.
Facilitator: Dr. Shade Kolade, The Leadership Synergy Institute
Dr. Shade is a leadership consultant, keynote speaker, author, and professor who helps professionals move from “doing leadership” to truly being leaders. She works with high-performing technical experts and emerging leaders to strengthen confidence, influence, and accountability as they step into greater responsibility. Bridging academia and organizational leadership practice, Dr. Shade designs experiential programs that translate research into real-world leadership capability. Her work enables leaders to navigate difficult conversations, drive performance, and build cultures defined by clarity, ownership, and sustained impact.
INCLUSIVE ENGAGEMENT
Marilyn Dykstra
Engaging in Education Using Traditional Circles and Talking Sticks
With a focus on using talking sticks and Indigenous circles in education, Marilyn will share two Natural Laws-Which come before all other laws while participants create their own talking stick to use in their practice. Participants will discover and reflect on their own learning and development practices while connecting them to Indigenous ways of being and thinking.
Facilitator: Knowledge Keeper Marilyn Dykstra, Canadian Museum for Human Rights
Marilyn Dykstra is a status Bill C31 First Nations woman from northern Manitoba. She has been immersed in a working matriarchal system that practiced Indigenous ways of thinking and being since she was born. Alongside her family, she has participated in many peaceful social justice movements. Marilyn uses her matriarchal knowledge as a foundation for her work in the Indigenous community, which has been ongoing for over thirty years. She still follows her matriarchal teachings, but she has also spent her life learning traditional knowledge and passing the teachings on. She is a pow wow dancer, Knowledge Keeper at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, and she carries the responsibility of a bundle. She happily participates in naming ceremonies, sweats, pipe ceremonies, moon teachings and more.
Valerie McInnes
Inclusive Engagement in Action: A Liberating Structures Experience
This highly interactive session invites participants into a dynamic, whole-group learning experience using Liberating Structures, a facilitation approach designed to ensure every voice is heard and valued. Through a series of structured activities, participants will reflect on where engagement unintentionally excludes people, explore underlying assumptions and patterns, and identify practical ways to foster more inclusive participation in learning and leadership environments. Rather than listening to a presentation, attendees will actively contribute their insights, engage in meaningful dialogue with peers, and leave with concrete ideas they can apply immediately in their own practice. This session models inclusive engagement in real time while generating shared learning across the conference community.
Facilitator: Valerie McInnes, RARE Leadership
Valerie McInnes is a Manitoba-based learning and development strategist with over 35 years of experience spanning education, nonprofit leadership, and organizational consulting. As co-founder of RARE Leadership, she works with organizations to design learning strategies, leadership pathways, and capability-building initiatives that strengthen both people and performance. Her expertise includes adult learning design, facilitation, leadership development, and aligning learning with organizational strategy and culture. Valerie also brings an entrepreneurial perspective to her work as a business owner in the Parkland region, where she has built and led multiple service-based ventures. This experience grounds her approach in operational reality, ensuring learning solutions are practical, relevant, and directly connected to organizational outcomes. A long-standing member of the Manitoba Learning and Development Network, and the current Chair of the MLD Network Inc. Board of Directors, Valerie is passionate about advancing the field of L&D and supporting leaders in navigating complexity, fostering meaningful engagement, and creating learning cultures where people and organizations can thrive.
PARTNERING TO ADVANCE THE PRACTICE OF L&D
We are building more than a conference - we are strengthening the Learning & Development profession by connecting Learning Partners with the professionals shaping the future of workplace learning and influencing organizational capability.
When you partner with us, you:
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Invest in the growth and capability of L&D, HR and Talent professionals
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Demonstrate thought leadership through value driven engagement
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Contribute insight, tools and experiences that genuinely support L&D professionals
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Build trusted relationships with professionals influencing strategy within their organizations
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Align your brand with curated, high-quality learning environment rooted in credibility and integrity
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Engage in a trusted learning first environment
Could this be YOU or YOUR ORGANIZATION? View our sponsor package for more information.
While we may seem like we are in the CAR business, we are actually in the CARE business – caring for each other, our community, and our guests. We know that experience is everything!
We’re here to provide the expertise, mentorship, and tools that enable your business to thrive without sacrificing your well-being or personal life. Whether it’s supporting entrepreneurs and small businesses or partnering with mid-sized companies, we believe in building Canada’s true economy from the ground up by helping you succeed sustainably. We have been helping others reach their full potential for over 10 years.
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Be Powered By Knowledge™
At Neovation, we are committed to being your reliable and trusted partner for digital knowledge management. Our mission is to empower your organization's success by enhancing your operational knowledge through our comprehensive range of products and services.
We are experts in communication skills training. We show you practical ways to transform your communication skills so that you can share information quickly, improve decision making and build stronger workplace relationships.
In a world of constant change, lifelong learning is a means to success. Since 1972, The University of Winnipeg Professional, Applied and Continuing Education (PACE) has been nurturing minds and advancing careers with high quality, dynamic and innovative programs.
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The Winnipeg Transition Centre was founded in 1989 by Ron Bartlette with a powerful vision: to empower individuals in their career transitions. This legacy is built on a deep commitment to excellence in career development and provides Career Development Professionals with practical, hands-on skills for guiding others to success.
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Most organizations already have data. What's often missing is confidence in how to interpret it and discernment about what follows. Bridge Team Development works with leaders and teams to notice information that formal processes often miss. Our focus is on sense-making: interpreting recurring pressures and strengths in context so decisions are grounded in reality, not assumptions.
ADDITIONAL DETAILS
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Your ticket includes:
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access to the full 1.5 day conference
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engaging keynote and choice of breakout sessions
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refreshments throughout conference, lunch on Day 1 and breakfast on Day 2
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networking and appetizers at the evening mix and mingle event
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meet L&D professionals from across industries, conference sponsors and facilitators
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a welcome gift
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special add-ons that will be announced closer to the conference
A conference activities registration link will be sent to ticket holders. This will include selection of breakout sessions, request for accessibility and dietary needs, and RSVP for breakfast and the evening networking event.