The Energy Futures Lab support team brings forth wide-ranging expertise, though it is the team’s passion and devotion that truly fuels our work helping to accelerate Canada’s energy transition.
Design & Delivery Team
Alison Cretney
Managing Director
Alison has managed the operations of the Energy Futures Lab for the past 4 years and during that period has overseen its rapid expansion and success. Her career has been at the cross section of energy, environment and collaboration. Moving from oil and gas engineer, to climate and sustainability consultant, to social innovator, her focus is on forging collaborative solutions to our biggest challenges.
Erin Romanchuk
Director of Partnerships
Erin is the Director of Partnerships for the Energy Futures Lab and an Associate with The Natural Step Canada. Erin supports the development of role model organizations as leaders in sustainable business and sustainable communities. Her specialties include sustainability planning processes and indicator development.
Keren Perla
Director, Energy Futures Policy Collaborative
Keren Perla directs and stewards the Energy Futures Policy Collaborative - a multi-leader partnership diving into the future of energy attraction and investment. Keren’s career and specialties have focused on pioneering new ways to solve messy challenges through the use of disciplines such as systemic design, foresight, and design facilitation. She is Co-founder and former Director of the Alberta CoLab – the first public sector social innovation lab to launch at a provincial level - and alumni of Avenue Magazine's Top 40 under 40.
Pong Leung
Lead Strategist
Pong is a founding member of The Natural Step Canada and Senior Associate. Pong has worked with a wide range of clients to share his expertise on sustainability, governance and organizational learning with a range of Albertan stakeholders.
Emma Gammans
Communications Lead
Emma works with Energy Futures Lab as their Communications Lead. Emma's professional experience ranges from educational programming and public speaking to historical research and strategic communications. As a communications professional, she is focused on exploring the relationship between energy literacy and storytelling. She believes that stories are a powerful tool in helping us tackle important issues with curiosity and empathy.
Kelley Thompson
Lab Operations Manager
Kelley has a passion for connecting people and is sensitive and adaptive to changes in needs and priorities, while seeking opportunities to understand, empathize, and problem-solve. These skills have positioned Kelley as a leader in advocating for workplace diversity and have helped her deliver numerous opportunities for inclusivity training in professional settings.
Juli Rohl
Lead Animator
Juli is the Lead Animator for the Energy Futures Lab. After 3 years as an EFL Fellow, Juli works with the Lab to support the initiatives, help deliver community roadshows, and acts as liaison between the EFL and the Circular Economy Leadership Coalition. With deep roots in petroleum geology and experience in business strategy and systems thinking, Juli knows that Alberta can be a leader in the global energy transition. Juli earned both a B.Sc. in Geology and an MBA from the University of Calgary.
Matt Mayer
Lead, Special Projects
Matt is the Lead, Special Projects with the Energy Futures Lab and an Associate at The Natural Step Canada and has extensive experience applying systems-thinking, facilitating sustainability strategy and advancing leadership in all sectors across North America. He both advises and supports the design and delivery of the Energy Futures Lab as well as the Circular Economy Lab.
Emily Blocksom
Administration & Logistics Coordinator
Emily has always been fascinated by the natural world. Growing up on a small island off the west coast of British Columbia, she learned early in life of the important connection between healthy communities, economies, and the environment. She is passionate about working collaboratively across sectors to support the implementation of sustainable environmental practices. Emily is a recent graduate of the Master of Environmental Management program at the University of New Brunswick, and holds an undergraduate degree in Geography from the University of Calgary.
Dewly Nelson
Community Mobilizer
Dewly brings a background of 20 years of business and entrepreneurship, government as a Councillor in the Town of Hinton, and community action to his role as Community Mobilizer. He has been involved in energy and environment within his community as well as both provincially and federally. He has been involved with the Lab through Roadshow and Accelerator events and was a member of the Fellowship. He brings a unique perspective and background to the EFL Team.
Steve Williams
Developmental Evaluator
Steve specializes in Corporate Social Responsibility design, evaluation, impact measurement, and data visualization for sustainability. He is a technology strategist designing and facilitating participant-driven public engagement events with over 20 years experience in the software industry.
Mark Cabaj
Developmental Evaluation Advisor
Mark is President From Here to There Consulting and Associate of Tamarack – An Institute for Community Engagement. Mark’s current focus is building the practice of Developmental Evaluation integrating real-time feedback and learning in emerging, complex, and fast-moving environments.
The Steering Committee
System thinkers and practitioners to support the Fellows in development of a fit for the future energy system
Mike Gerbis
The Delphi Group
Mike Gerbis is CEO of The Delphi Group, a strategic consultancy providing innovative solutions in the areas of climate change, corporate sustainability, clean technology solutions and environmental policy. Mike is also CEO of GLOBE Series of Conferences (2016.globeseries.com).
George Greene
Stratos
George’s professional work is in environment and sustainable development governance and management focusing on energy and natural resources in Alberta and across Canada. He has held positions in government, international organizations, resource companies, consultancies, universities and NGOs. His joy is outdoor activities of all kinds.
Lori Hewson
Suncor Energy Foundation
Lori is manager of community investment, Suncor Energy Foundation, focused on social innovation. She works with inspiring people shaping new dialogue about the energy future, what it will take to get there, and how to achieve this collectively.
David Hughes
The Natural Step Canada
David is President & CEO of The Natural Step Canada, the host organization for the Energy Futures Lab and other innovative multi-stakeholder initiatives working to advance a strong economy and a healthy environment. He is former CEO of Habitat for Humanity Canada and Pathways to Education Canada. He holds an economics degree from the University of Western Ontario and a postgraduate degree in social policy and non-profit management from the London School of Economics.
Almas Kassam
Cenovus Energy
Almas has more than 20 years of experience in various roles in the oil and gas industry. Prior to her current role, Director, Strategic Engagement for Cenovus Energy, she has worked in communications, stakeholder relations & Indigenous engagement, supply chain management, corporate planning, and sustainability. Almas has a Bachelor of Arts in Communications with a minor in Travel and Leisure.
Simon Knight
PURE Reserve
Simon is a partner in PURE Reserve, a company focused on technology solutions to Alberta's issues that are both financially and environmentally viable. We are currently working on implementing a biocoal facility in Alberta with the support of a CCEMC grant.
Kevin Krausert
Beaver Drilling
Kevin is the President & CEO of Beaver Drilling. Kevin’s 20-year career in the drilling industry has seen him work in almost all aspects of the drilling business, from field operations to marketing to executive leadership. Kevin is the co-founder of the Avatar Program, the ground-breaking collaboration accelerating the adoption and commercialization of new technologies in the energy industry. Kevin is also the Drilling Executive Chair of the Canadian Association for Oilwell Drilling Contractors (CAODC).
David Layzell
Canadian Energy Systems Analysis Research
David is the Director of the Canadian Energy Systems Analysis Research (CESAR) Initiative and a Professor at the University of Calgary. In CESAR he studies Canada’s past and present energy systems to model and analyze the options and implications for the next energy systems transformation.
Tonja Leach
QUEST
As Executive Director of QUEST, Tonja has over 15 years of experience working in the energy industry. Having been with QUEST since its inception in 2007, Tonja has played an instrumental role in establishing QUEST's extensive national network and ensuring QUEST is known in the industry as a leading thinker on the energy transition and implementer of Smart Energy Communities.
Pat Letizia
Alberta Ecotrust
Pat’s work as Executive Director of Alberta Ecotrust is to create solution space with industry, environmental organizations and others to share ideas and implement strategies that protect the environment and build healthier, stronger communities. Important priorities for Pat include a clean energy future.
Steve Macdonald
Emissions Reduction Alberta
Steve MacDonald is CEO of Emissions Reduction Alberta. He played a central role in the development of Alberta’s renewed climate change policy framework that establishes a comprehensive vision, strategies and outcomes to support environmental sustainability and economic growth for Alberta.
Lexi McKinnon
Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity
Lexi McKinnon is the Associate Director of Indigenous Leadership at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Lexi has also led the institution’s Truth and Reconciliation Framework. Lexi is passionate about systems change, social innovation and design thinking from the teachings learned through an Indigenous worldview. Lexi received her Bachelor of Arts in Canadian Studies and MBA in Aboriginal Business and Leadership.
Chad Park
The Co-operators
Chad is Vice President, Sustainability and Citizenship with The Co-operators. Chad has played a leadership role on several business sustainability and social innovation initiatives including having served as Executive Director of The Natural Step Canada. He was also the founding Director of the Energy Futures Lab.
Alex Ryan
MaRS
Alex Ryan is VP Systems Innovation and Director of MaRS Solutions Lab. He is the co-founder of Synthetikos - a boutique strategy consulting firm dedicated to helping large organizations and collectives to navigate complexity with agility. He was a former Senior Systems Design Advisor with the Department of Energy in the Government of Alberta. Dr. Ryan co-founded and leads Alberta CoLab, a cross-ministry strategic foresight and systemic design lab focused on energy and resource development.
Kali Taylor
Student Energy
Kali Taylor is the co-founder and Executive Director of Student Energy – a global not-for-profit that works to create the next generation of leaders who will transition the world to a sustainable energy future.
Dan Woynillowicz
Clean Energy Canada
Dan Woynillowicz is the Policy Director of Clean Energy Canada, an initiative of the Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. Clean Energy Canada works to accelerate Canada’s transition to clean and renewable energy systems. They do so by telling the story of the global shift to clean and low-carbon energy sources and conducting original research, hosting dialogues, and inspiring and informing policy leadership.
Bill Whitelaw
JWN Energy
Bill Whitelaw is the chief executive officer of JuneWarren-Nickle’s Energy Group (JWN). He has expanded the company’s product portfolio, developed new frontiers within the industry and ensured JWN remains progressive and industry-focused through the products and services it for provides for insight and intelligence. Bill also holds positions of executive vice-president, business information group, at Glacier Inc. and managing director of Evaluate Energy, an affiliated energy analytics and research company based in London, UK.
