Brian is a post-secondary educator and researcher focused on both pre-service and in-service teacher training in the area of physical education and coordinates the Graduate Diploma in Physical Education at Douglas College in New Westminster, British Columbia. Brian holds degrees in Human Kinetics (BHK, UBC), Elementary Education (BEd, UBC), Educational Psychology and Special Ed. (MA, UBC), and Curriculum Theory and Implementation (PhD, SFU).

Brian approaches health and physical education holistically, combining his experiences as a participant, volunteer, educator, and researcher. As a participant, Brian represented Canada in the 1996 Olympics (sailing) and continues to enjoy all flow sports, with a recreational focus on skiing and biking. As an educator, Brian has worked as an elementary school teacher, a recreational and performance coach, and as post-secondary faculty. Brian volunteers as President of the largest bike racing development club in British Columbia and gained valuable experience sitting on the Board of the Critical Thinking Consortium from 2008-2012.

Lori Munro-Sigfridson currently holds the position of Active Healthy Living (AHL) Consultant for the Tri-County Regional School Board in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. In this role, she has worked with other departments and community agencies to create the first integrated adaptive physical education program in Nova Scotia. Lori holds her Masters of Arts in Education in both Leadership Foundations and Curriculum studies and her Masters of Science in Therapeutic Recreation.

Lori began her career teaching at schools in both Nova Scotia and Florida. It was her experience working with students with disabilities at this school that made Lori turn her attention to therapeutic recreation and adaptive sport. She worked for over 10 years in the area of adaptive sport and recreation, in both a clinical and community settings.

Jennifer is a Physical Education and English teacher (grades 9-12) at Edward Milne Community School in Sooke, British Columbia. She created a Physical Education course called Women’s Active Living, which has greatly increased the number of girls enrolled in elective Physical Education in her school. The course is now being offered at 2 of the 3 high schools in the Sooke School District.

She holds a Bachelors of Education in Physical Education and English from the University of Victoria. She also holds a Master of Arts in Physical Education from the University of Victoria. In 2006 she was the winner of the Maxwell Cameron Medal in Education at the Secondary School level. She was also awarded the Dr. Andy Anderson Young Professional Award in 2009 for her outstanding contribution to the Physical Education profession in British Columbia. She is a frequent contributor of articles to the Physical and Health Education Journal. Her research interests involve girls in PE, the use of teambuilding exercises, teaching dance, and using technology in PE.

Brent Bradford is an Assistant Professor (Faculty of Education) at Concordia University of Edmonton and the Co-Chair of Concordia’s Interdisciplinary Research Cluster on Wellness. After being a school teacher at the K-9 levels, coaching school sports, being recognized for Physical and Health Education teaching (HPEC Award, 2001; CAHPERD Young Professional Award, 2003), Brent returned to the University of Alberta to pursue graduate work (MEd, PhD) and to teach pre-service teachers (2009-2014). In 2011, he was recognized as an award-winning Teacher Educator (Graduate Student Teaching Award). Brent has presented and published extensively on Physical and Health Education, and has recently co-authored a textbook (Teaching for Health & Wellness in Children and Youth, 2017). In 2016, Brent was the recipient of the Erasmus+ Programme Award (University of the Basque Country, Spain; Visiting Professor).

As a former school teacher turned Assistant Professor, Brent has always cared passionately about physical education programming and the health of children and youth in Canada. Brent also enjoys swimming, cycling, hockey, and mentoring aspiring hockey goaltenders.

Cole Wilson recently retired from Saskatoon Public Schools where he was serving as the Curriculum Consultant for Physical Education and Health. He is currently at the University of Saskatchewan serving as an instructor in the Department of Curriculum Studies, teaching Methods in Elementary Physical Education and Elementary Health Methods.

Cole left grade twelve in Ladner, BC vowing to never set foot in a school again and promptly got a job at Kentucky Fried Chicken. After 6 days at KFC, attitude sufficiently adjusted, Cole began a journey that saw him spend the next 39 years in schools, including 25 teaching K-12 PE. He made the wise decision to move to Saskatoon and attend the University of Saskatchewan where he received a BSPE, B.Ed. and M.Ed. in Curriculum Studies/Kinesiology. Cole’s love of free swag and passion for attending Phys. Ed. Conferences led him to sit on the Board of Directors of the Saskatchewan Physical Education Association (SPEA) for 15 years, serving in many capacities, including President.
 
Cole’s amazing wife and two sons have joined him in many physically active adventures and supported his passion for the power of quality physical education in meeting the learning needs of students.

David Bard is currently the K–12 Physical Education Consultant with the Winnipeg School Division, with a focus on curriculum implementation, assessment practices, and teaching pedagogy. Dave also administers grades 4–12 interschool athletic programs. He is the current chair of the Manitoba Physical Education Supervisors’ Association, and an active member of committees advocating for inclusive physical activity and facility access for indigenous youth, newcomers, and community groups in financial need.

Dave previously co-chaired the 2013 PHE Canada National Conference in Winnipeg and the 2012 MPETA Provincial Physical/Health Educators’ Conference. Dave was a member of the Manitoba Education’s development team for both the grades 9 and 10, and grades 11 and 12 Physical Education/Health Education Curriculum Framework of Outcomes and Implementation documents.

Lara Paterson has been teaching Health and Physical Education for over 22 years in both the Toronto and Kingston area. She is a Physical Activity Specialist in partnership between the school board and the local public health unit and serves as a community liaison. Lara has been an integral part of the writing and release of the 2015 Ontario HPE Curriculum, worked as an OPHEA Master Trainer and Safety Guidelines Consultant, been part of the leadership Canadian Sport for Life Kingston, written and facilitated HPE Additional Qualification courses for Queen’s University, served on the Ontario Ministry of Education Physical Activity Advisory group and served two terms as President of OASPHE.

Lara received her Bachelor of Physical and Health Education, with a minor in Health from Queen’s University in 1990.  She was the recipient of the Oasphe Teacher Advocacy Award (2005) and Victor Angelosante Award (2011), Supervisor Advocacy Award 2012.

Steve Dunn is a Physical Education specialist and department head at Alexander Galt Regional High School in Sherbrooke, Quebec. He began his career in the elementary sector in 1998, moving to the secondary sector in 2001. He has been instrumental in developing healthy lifestyle programs, including innovative projects and studies striving for adolescent sport participation. He also helped develop curriculum and lobby for a “sports concentration” program allowing high school students to pursue a specialized academic path in PHE. The program now represents a growing percentage of his school’s population.

Steve completed his Master’s degree from McGill in 2013. He is the recipient of a 2010-11 Physical Education Teaching Excellence Award sponsored by the Association of Physical Educators of Quebec. Steve is the lead assistant coach for Bishop’s University’s Men’s Basketball team and actively researches and writes.

Joëlle LeGresley holds a Bachelor and Masters of Arts in Education, with concentrations in Physical Education, from the University of Moncton. Joëlle has worked as a Physical Education teacher for over 11 years. She has worked closely with Fran Harris, President of PHE Canada’s Board of Directors. She also has experience providing teacher training in her region. Joëlle has been a member of the Association of Physical Education Professionals in her province for over 5 years.

Steve Machat is the Director of Personal Development and Wellness with the Nova Scotia Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. Steve is responsible for building partnerships and collaborations that develop a ‘culture of wellness’ for school-aged children and youth in Nova Scotia. Recently, Steve was Manager of the Healthy Development team within the Public Health Branch at the Nova Scotia Department of Health and Wellness and was responsible for providing strategic leadership on a range of public health issues related to children, youth and families. Within the provincial government, he has held other leadership positions related to disease and addiction prevention policy and tobacco control policy. 

Before joining the Government of Nova Scotia, Steve directed advocacy and government relations efforts with the Canadian Cancer Society in Nova Scotia and was the Executive Director of the Clean Nova Scotia Foundation. He has served on a number of Canadian delegations focused on the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, the World Health Organization’s first global treaty focused on health. Steve is a former secondary school educator having taught in the Arctic, northern Manitoba and Nova Scotia. Steve currently is a part-time faculty member with the Dalhousie University School of Health and Human Performance where he teaches health promotion policy. He holds degrees in political science and education.

Cheryl is a Physical Education Teacher at Colonel Gray High School. She has also been the Health and Physical Education curriculum specialist at the Department of Education, Early Learning and Culture. She has over 26 years of experience in the public education sector, including physical education and health at various levels. She has researched, designed, developed, piloted and implemented provincial curricula, frameworks, policies, and advocacy.

Cheryl is currently a Board member of Parasport/Recreation and the PEI School Milk Foundation. She has served as the President of the Prince Edward Island Physical Education Association, Council of Provinces PEI representative, and PHE Canada Board of Directors representing Prince Edward Island. Cheryl was the race director for the first Canada Games triathlon event in 2009, and the PEI co-chair of the first PEI Inclusion Summit for physical education teachers. She is an active executive member of the PEI School Athletic Association, and has collaborated with partners to develop PEI Sport External Credit.

Mike Pittman has been a Physical Education teacher with the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District since 2004. A graduate of Memorial University’s School of Human Kinetics and Recreation, Mike has long been an advocate for Physical Education in the K-12 school system. He builds school culture through physical education programming and offering a wide variety of extra-curricular activities.

For the past several years, Mike has been involved as an executive member with the Physical Education Special Interest Council in Newfoundland and Labrador and serves on the Planning Committee for the 2017 PHE Canada National Conference. Mike resides in St. John''s with his partner Krista and their son Xavier.

Giang Nguyen is currently a Financial Business Partner at the Bank of Canada. She is responsible for providing strategic and financial advice to enable sound decision making that supports corporate and business objectives. She contributes to effective corporate planning, management of financial resources and management of enterprise risks. She has her Chartered Accountant (CA) designation, and a Bachelor of Commerce from the Telfer School of Management.

Giang is passionate about living a healthy and active lifestyle, and stays active by running, spinning, hiking, and spending time outdoors. She also volunteers with Big Brothers Big Sisters Ottawa as a Mentor for their Go Girls Program to help girls in grades 6-8 to promote active living, balanced eating and feeling good.

Paul Mlodzik is Vice-President of Marketing and Communications for The Co-operators Group of companies, one of Canada’s largest insurance and financial services organizations. His responsibilities include client research, client experience, brand management, advertising, sales promotion, digital strategy and corporate communications. His previous career experience includes banking, investments and strategic consulting.
In addition to university degrees in Economics and Communications, Paul has also earned several professional designations, including Certified Financial Planner (CFP). He is active in the community, particularly with the United Way. Paul lives in the country just outside of Guelph, Ontario with his wife and two daughters.