Shelina Musaji studied Medicine at the University of Toronto with a subsequent residency in Family Medicine at the University of Western Ontario and a Master of Public Health Degree from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She has worked internationally with Médecins sans Frontières in many countries overseas. She currently works as a Family Physician in Kaslo, BC. She is married to a Biologist and has two amazing children. They enjoy travelling and volunteering  internationally whenever possible.

Michelle Spencer is a data analyst with the BC Centre for Disease Control, where she spends her days wrangling large datasets and contributing to health research. She has a Bachelors of Arts and Sciences, focusing in Mathematics from Quest University Canada, and a Master of Science in Operations Research from Simon Fraser University, where her thesis topic was the Quadratic Traveling Salesman Problem. During her degree from SFU, Michelle also worked for the Ministry of Education as a data analyst coop student, which led her to pursue analytics as a career after graduating. She is also passionate about data literacy and math education, working and volunteering as a tutor and teaching assistant throughout her two degrees. In her free time, Michelle enjoys running, hiking and drinking coffee.

Jennifer is a Senior Associate Scientist in the Immuno-Oncology Discovery group at Amgen. She received her Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Washington University in St. Louis, where she developed novel macrophage-targeted immunotherapies for the treatment of a blood cancer called multiple myeloma. She received her B.S. in Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering from the Johns Hopkins University where she worked on biodegradable hydrogels to reduce relapses after brain tumor resections. Jennifer comes from a multicultural background and calls both Beijing and Chicago as home. In her spare time, Jennifer loves baking, working out, and exploring new restaurants.

Aura attended SAE institute in Mexico, where she got her degree in Video Game Programming. She enjoys participating in game jams, and has even showcased one of her games in Berlin, Germany. After graduating, she worked as a Producer for an indie video game company in Mexico, making the puzzle-adventure game; Lonesome Village. Now, she works at EA Games, where she helps teams working on FIFA, NHL, UFC and other secret projects. Passionate about programming, horror games, and bunnies. Aura is always looking forward to creating and being part of video game development.

On the side, Aura teaches kids and teenagers programming using the Unity game editor, showing them how to create their own gaming adventures.

Takaia Larsen holds a Masters degree in History from the University of Victoria. She has been teaching History and Peace and Justice Studies courses at Selkirk College for the past 15 years. As a historian, she is most interested in how global events affect people and social structures on a local level. Most recently, she has also become Co-Coordinator and an instructor in the Rural Pre-Medicine Program at Selkirk. Her work in this program builds on her communication skills as a historian and her understanding of the unique challenges which face rural populations and professionals as they struggle with inequities and access to services.

Community, Socials, and Support, Jae has been a public-facing developer for nearly a decade. Their focus is on building communities that not only survive without as much hand-holding and policing but thrive and grow alongside their games and studios, to have communities that support its members. She has experience in all types of studios, from Startups all the way to AAA.

Emily is a Design Quality Engineer with Verathon Medical. After a rocky start as a jazz musician, she made a major pivot to the med tech industry, studying both biomedical and electrical engineering. She has been working in R&D and quality for the last 5 years for various medical device companies in Vancouver. In her spare time, you can find Emily in the mountains running, rock climbing, skiing, mountaineering, or eating hard-earned brownies (and sometimes doing all at once).

Cindy Lazenby, founding President of Foot Canada Training, lead author of Art and Science of Foot Care: A Clinical Resource for Nurses in Canada and lead developer of Foot Canada Training’s curriculum, has an extensive history of providing nursing foot care education and advocating for improvements in nursing foot care in Canada and health care entrepreneurship.

In addition to being a Registered Nurse since 1981, a Foot Care Nurse provider and Educator since 1993, she is currently Foot Canada Training’s Director of Nursing. Since 1993, Cindy and her associates have trained over 4500 Foot Care Nurses and over 2 dozen Educators across the country. In 2016, Cindy’s passion to transfer her knowledge to other nurses and educators, was the driving force for opening access to Foot Canada Training’s standardized and peer-reviewed curriculum to Foot Care Nurse Educators, health agencies, community colleges, universities in Canada.

In 2010, Cindy was a founding contributor and the first Chair of the CAFCN (Canadian Association of Foot Care Nurses), which aims to standardize best clinical and educational practices across the nation, and has held numerous other volunteer committee positions since, including her current roles as Provincial Advisor for BC and on the Nominating Committee.

Aside from being accused of being “obsessed with feet” since 1991 by some of her friends and family, there are 4 important aspects of her life that give her a constant stream of joy: family, community, nature and health & wellness.

Gabrielle is a Journey Carpenter with a certificate in Occupational Health & Safety. She currently works at Teck Trail Operations as a Health & Safety Coordinator. She enjoys helping all under represented members in her community with ascertaining the skills and confidence to succeed and lead a joyful life. She sits on the board of directors for the BC Tradeswomen Society, the executive board of CMAW Local 2300, and chairs the CMAW Local 2300 Diversity committee. She also sits on the Diversity & Inclusion Committee at Teck Trail Operations.

Nicole Wiet is a journey level IUEC elevator constructor and only the fourth woman to achieve this distinction in her local, in which she served two terms on the IUEC Executive Board. She is a founding member and currently the President of the BC Tradeswomen Society, a partner in obtaining government funding to improve the culture and retention for tradeswomen. She sits on the governance board for the BCCWITT and was on the planning committee and attended as a speaker at the inaugural Women Build BC Conference for tradeswomen in 2021. She spends her free time adventuring with her partner and attending Whitecaps FC matches where she aided the creation of an inclusive and safe supporters group named the South Sisters.