Profile of Diane E. Mason-La Course

Diane E. Mason-La Course is the President and founder of HR Proactive Inc.

Diane has a wealth of experience in the field of human rights having practiced extensively as an investigator, fact finder and mediator. Diane has investigated and/or mediated well over a thousand cases since 1990 both for the Ontario Human Rights Commission and in private practice. Diane has handled cases involving all prohibited grounds of discrimination and harassment under the Human Rights Code. In the last two years, Diane has worked in the specialized area of intranet and e-mail investigations. Diane also investigates allegations of unprofessional conduct under Code of Professionalism Policies.

Diane’s fifteen years experience in various employment settings across Ontario assisting employers with workplace disputes and her commitments to work excellence and quick turn around time is why her firm is highly recommended by school boards across Ontario as being the best firm to train their employees and manage their workplace disputes.

Diane is a member in good standing with the ADR Institute of Ontario, and has a background in Social Services and has received a certificate in the field of Alternative Dispute Resolution.

Diane and her associates are responsible for investigating complaints of harassment and discrimination; developing and implementing human rights related training and supportive human resource management policies; conflict resolution; facilitation and mediation and for the design of conflict management systems. The HR Proactive team has developed a comprehensive line of human resource management training products for today’s diverse workplace with a focus on creating respectful workplaces.

Profile of David Griffin

For more than twenty years David Griffin has provided strategic leadership and guidance to Canadian organizations in a variety of sectors and roles. A proven leader with significant labour relations, governance, and management expertise, David provides dynamic training workshops for HR Proactive clients on their obligations under Bill 168.

A former police officer, over the course of his career David’s labour management experience has included collective bargaining, grievance administration, discipline tribunals, workplace complaint and dispute resolution, and presenting cases before boards of arbitration. He has extensive experience in the interpretation and application of legislation, government policies and directives in quasi-judicial environments and tribunals, representing persons and organizations presenting to boards of arbitration, disciplinary hearings, tribunals, and legislative and parliamentary committees.

David has served on advisory boards and committees for provincial and federal government departments and agencies for a variety of initiatives, including public safety, legislation and policy, police training, and employment equity. David served for over five years as a member of the Ontario Police Arbitration Commission, which oversees the dispute resolution process for Ontario’s police services, including conciliation, mediation and arbitration.

From 1999 to 2009, David served as the Executive Officer for the Canadian Police Association in Ottawa, where he established successful non-partisan public policy advocacy and public relations practices through effective relationship management and communication skills. David enjoys public speaking and has been a regular witness before committees of Parliament, as a passionate advocate for public safety and policing issues. He has authored numerous briefs, position papers and presentations, and is a frequent guest speaker at conferences and events.

David’s areas of expertise include pensions and retirement planning; having served as the Chair of the Board and Director with OMERS, one of Canada’s largest public sector pension funds. In addition to OMERS, David was also Chair of the Board and Director for two labour sponsored venture capital investment funds. His governance expertise has been developed through experience as a member of board governance, executive, audit, management, compensation, valuation, investment, pension, and constitution committees.

David holds a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Ottawa, and is currently completing the Directors Education Program of the Institute of Corporate Directors and Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto. He has completed numerous workshops and courses of study in labour relations and workplace issues, including collective bargaining, harassment and discrimination, employee discipline, pay equity, employment equity, pensions, governance, and retirement planning, David has attended and also presented at the Police Labour Seminar at Harvard Law School. David is a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD), the Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation (OCRI), and the Canadian Society of Association Executives (CSAE).

Profile of Susan Jostman

Susan Jostman has over twenty years of experience working exclusively in the human rights and employment fields in both the public sector (Ontario Human Rights Commission - OHRC, Ontario Ministry of Labour – MOL, Employment and Immigration) and the private sector as a consultant.

Susan has extensive experience in public speaking, education, training, policy development, investigations and mediation related to workplace discrimination, harassment and conflict resolution. She has investigated hundreds of human rights and employment complaints filed with the OHRC and MOL and managed a staff of Human Rights Officers with extensive investigation and mediation caseloads.

A graduate of the University of Toronto (honours B.A. Political Science), Susan has formally trained in mediation and investigation and has taught investigations at the Ontario Human Rights Commission and in conjunction with the Ontario Police College (Aylmer).

Profile of Dave Hagel

Dave Hagel is a professional coach and senior Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP) with more than twenty years of experience delivering value added human resources outcomes in both union and union-free private sector businesses across Canada. His demonstrated strengths are in change management, performance management, recruitment and selection, employee and labor relations and employee communications.

Dave has combined a passion for training with demonstrated skills in needs assessment, instructional design, coaching, consulting, facilitation and public speaking (a former radio announcer). He has delivered thousands of hours of training to hundreds of graduates. He teaches in the Continuing Education and Corporate Training programs at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario and Humber College in Toronto. Dave is also a certified trainer with Development Dimensions International (DDI) and Achieve Global.

Dave has completed the Co-Active Coaching program offered through the Coaches Training Institute in San Rafael, California and a certificate in Conflict Management Studies at Conrad Grebel College through the University of Waterloo.

Profile of Owen Mahoney

Owen assists employers with workplace investigations and also conducts training and develops customized training modules for HR Proactive clients.

Owen Mahoney served for sixteen years as a human rights investigator with the Ontario Human Rights Commission, specializing in complex cases in the area of disability and systemic discrimination. In addition to his duties as an investigator, Owen worked on a number of Commission policy initiatives, including AIDS, the impact of changes to credentials in the nursing profession, mandatory retirement, accommodation for post-secondary students with learning disabilities, and access for women to non-traditional work. He was also responsible for coordinating the Commission’s initiative that led to an agreement with the government to provide barrier-free access to the province’s courts for persons with disabilities. Owen also has extensive experience speaking to employer and other stakeholder groups on a wide range of human rights issues, and has written a number of articles and speeches on human rights.

Owen’s formal education includes a B.A Hons. from Concordia University in Montreal, and an M.A. from McMaster University in Hamilton, in English and a Ph.D (all but dissertation). He also taught English for three years at the University of British Columbia, before moving on to work in curriculum development with the Hamilton Board of Education prior to his work with the Commission. While at the Commission, Owen completed studies in investigation at the Ontario Police College in Aylmer and mediation at Stitt Feld Handy Houston, affiliated with the University of Windsor.

Profile of Anne Bulstrode

Anne is a Training and Development specialist, who brings to her work over 13 years experience in the Adult Education field and over 25 years experience in the corporate, government, and not-for-profit sectors. She has a strong record of accomplishments in providing excellent classroom results through thorough needs analysis; logical course design using both traditional classroom based training and newer e-learning technologies, and course facilitation with flexible platform skills. Anne takes pride in creating a continuous learning environment by linking employee development and the business strategies.

She specializes in the custom design and delivery of workplace-related training and consulting services. Anne has designed and/or delivered a wide range of programs including: Leadership and Management skills, Orientation programs, Respect in the Workplace, Time and Stress Management, Problem Solving, and Conflict Resolution. Most recently, Anne has developed a new Workplace Violence Prevention Program for HR Proactive. All training was custom-modified on an on going basis to meet the ever-evolving needs of various target groups.

Anne believes learning is a life long joy, after graduating from Ryerson Polytechnic University with her Bachelor of Business Management (BBM) she went on to complete her Fellow of the Institute of Canadian Bankers (F.I.C.B) and Human Resources Certificate. When she made the move into Training and Development Anne completed St. Francis Xavier University's Certificate in Adult Education. She has continued her studies with courses in Web Site design and development at Sheridan College and becoming certified to administer the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator®, Personality Dimension®, and the Strong Interest Inventory®.

Profile of Mark Hertzberger

Mark has over 15 years of Human Resources experience and has provided services to municipalities, school boards, private manufacturers, and restaurants. His areas of expertise include workplace communication, interpersonal conduct, harassment prevention, performance management, leadership development and policy research and development. Mark has designed and delivered workshops for management and staff on these topics and has developed and coordinated workplace harassment investigation procedures. In addition, he has provided conflict mediation services as well as team facilitation, coaching and planning services to assist managers in addressing performance, interpersonal, and teamwork issues.

Mark also has experience in developing and implementing accommodation plans for staff who are returning to work after illness or injury and has been involved in the development of initiatives under the Ontarians With Disabilities Act.

Mark has his Human Resources Management Certificate from the University of Guelph as well as a BA in psychology from the University of Waterloo. He is a member of the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Institute of Ontario and a volunteer mediator for Community Justice Initiatives of Waterloo Region.

Profile of Danielle Gault

Danielle has worked in the management development field for over 20 years and has acquired a wealth of experience presenting training programs to a wide range of organizations including companies such as: Sprint, Cigna Insurance Company, London Life Insurance Company, Home Depot, AT&T, Unilever, and Connex (Romania) to name a few. She has organized and delivered workshops, seminars, special events, strategic planning, and lectures to small businesses, non-profit organizations, and Fortune 500 companies in Canada and New Zealand.

Danielle has a BA in Psychology and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Human Resources Management. She is trained and qualified in the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator, holistic health practices, Neuro-Linguistic Programming, and the Dimensional Training System.

Profile of John Curtis

John graduated from Queen’s University Law School in 1995. He was called to the Ontario Bar in 1998, following which he practiced civil litigation, primarily in the areas of Personal Injury, Long Term Disability Insurance, Employment and Landlord/ Tennant.

John’s career has been anything but conventional, although successful in multiple dimensions. After earning a degree in philosophy and prior to attending Law School he was a Member of the Canadian Sailing Team for 4 years. During this time, he set his sights on representing Canada in sailing at the Olympics, and only narrowly missed qualification for the Barcelona Games in 1992.

After two years in the practice of law, it became clear for John that mediation was frequently a much better way to manage conflict than the traditional legal approach. In 1998 John completed his formal mediation training with courses offered by CDR Associates of Boulder Colorado and The Conflict Consensus Institute in Barrie, Ontario.

In parallel with this new career direction, John felt the call to give the Olympic dream another chance. With several years of sustained high-level effort and training he got that opportunity, representing Canada in Sailing at the Olympic Games in Athens in 2004.

After the Olympics, John accepted a one year position as High Performance Manager and General Counsel to the Canadian Yachting Association – the national governing body for the sport of Sailing. This was an excellent window into the world of Sport Administration, allowing him to develop a specialization in that area of Sport Law. He has continued his work in this field as a legal consultant for several National Sport Organizations and the Canadian Olympic Committee.

John has recently added the practice of Conflict Coaching to his ADR repertoire. He now applies many of the same conflict resolution skills and his mediation experience to the one-to-one context of Conflict Coaching.

John has delivered a course on Conflict Resolution at the Canadian Forces Base Kingston, and many workshops for teachers and students in the local high schools and University Clubs. He continues his teaching activities as one of the regular instructors for the Courses in Negotiation and Mediation Skills offered by The Mediation Centre of Southeastern Ontario. John is currently teaching a Course in Negotiation at the Queen’s University Law School.

Combining his skills as a lawyer, mediator and coach with the discipline, dedication and passion that established him as an Olympian, John now helps organizations enhance their own success through training, mediation, coaching and legal consulting.