Dr. Dionne Pohler is an associate professor at the University of Saskatchewan Edwards School of Business and head of the Edwards human resources and organizational behaviour department. She also serves as senior grievance officer for the University of Saskatchewan Faculty Association. She holds the Co-operative Retailing System Chair in Co-operative Governance with the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy and the Canadian Centre for the Study of Co-operatives and is a research fellow with the Rotman Institute for Gender and the Economy. She was previously a faculty member and Acting Director at the University of Toronto Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources and vice-chair of a federal independent taskforce responsible for making recommendations on modernizing the Employment Equity Act. Dionne holds a PhD in Human Resources and Industrial Relations from the University of Alberta School of Business, a Bachelor of Commerce from Dalhousie University, and a Chartered Professional in Human Resources designation from CPHR Saskatchewan. She has been the recipient of four international research awards and her work covers topics on unions and labour relations, organizational governance, labour and social policy, gender earnings gaps, and rural co-operative development. She edited the Labor and Employment Relations Association’s 2020 research volume Reimagining the Governance of Work and Employment, and co-edited Building Inclusive Communities in Rural Canada (2023).

Kristin Anderson

Kristin has been the Executive Director of Labour Relations and Mediation at the Ministry of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety and has been with LRWS since 2011. She holds over 20 years of experience working with conflict and developing programs to prevent or address conflict and leading teams of professionals. Kristin’s areas of expertise are restorative justice, peacebuilding, human rights, civil conflict, cross cultural conflict, reconciliation, labour disputes and labour negotiations.  As an experienced negotiator and mediator. Kristin has been involved in effectively resolving high conflict disputes in South Africa, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Namibia and Canada, helping people come to agreements in desperate situations. Kristin holds a Master’s Degree in Transitional Justice and a Post-Graduate Degree in Social Development, from The University of Cape Town, as well as a Bachelors of Arts Degree in Social Anthropology from the University of Saskatchewan.   She is a Chartered Mediator with ADR Canada.