Our Facilitators

Chief Executive Officer, Habitat for Humanity Manitoba 

Jamie recently became the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Habitat for Humanity Manitoba. Following a distinguished career with Manitoba Hydro in a variety of leadership roles, Jamie served for the last nine years as the Chief Operating Officer of SAFE Work Manitoba, a division of the Workers Compensation Board.

Jamie has also served on the Board of Directors of Safety Services Manitoba and is a sessional instructor in the University of Manitoba's Asper MBA program delivering a course on executive responsibility and ethics. Jamie holds a B.SC. in Electrical Engineering and an MBA with a specialty in Human Resources.

Partner, Thompson Dorfman Sweatman LLP 

Jarrod’s practice is focused in the areas of civil and commercial litigation, with a primary emphasis on construction litigation and dispute resolution.

Jarrod was a summer student at Thompson Dorfman Sweatman LLP in 2018 and 2019, and returned as an articling student in 2020. Jarrod joined the firm as an associate in 2021.

Principal, MCW Hemisphere Ltd.

Jeff has been involved in Healthcare and Medical Gas Projects for the past 30 years in roles relating to consultant, sales, product management/marketing, business development, and installation services relating to medical gas systems, specialty gases, and cryogenics. He has been active in the CSA Standards relating to Medical Gas Systems since the early 1990’s and currently participates as a member of the TSC for Z7396.1.

Presently, Jeff works for MCW Hemisphere Ltd, a mechanical and electrical engineering consulting firm with offices across Canada, as a Partner who remains focused on medical gas designs and specialty healthcare systems. In addition, Jeff has developed training courses and presentations focusing on medical gases designed to provide a better understanding and heighten the education for those who either design, install, or are involved with this important life safety delivery system. 

Partner, Thompson Dorfman Sweatman LLP 

Jen is a Partner at TDS who practises primarily in the areas of municipal law and planning, development and zoning law.

She has particular experience in relation to governance and municipal councils, municipal finance, by-laws and by-law enforcement, municipal commercial law and contracting, municipal infrastructure and utilities, environmental law, and municipal reorganizations (annexation, amalgamation, formation). Jennifer also has experience in municipal labour and employment law, municipal arbitration and mediation, access to information and privacy law, expropriations and municipal real property.

Jen was called to the bar in 2012 and since that time has practised in the areas of corporate commercial law and municipal governance in Winnipeg.  She graduated with a Juris Doctor (en français) from La Faculté de droit de l’Université d’Ottawa in 2011 and obtained a Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) from the University of Manitoba in 2008. She is fluently bilingual and practices in both French and English.

Dr. Frye, P.Eng, spent 26 years with the City of Winnipeg Building Inspections Depart­ment, retiring in 2000. Dr. Frye held several senior positions in the Building Inspection Department, including Manager of the Plan Examination Branch and Assis­tant to the Manager of Building Inspections.

During his career with the City of Winnipeg, Dr. Frye served on several provincial, national and international professional committees related to building codes and stan­dards and continues to today. In 1992, he re­ceived an Adjunct Professor appointment from the University of Manitoba Department of Civil Engineering. In 2000, he became an Engineer-In-Residence at the university and continues to teach in the Department of Civil Engineering.

Dr. Frye has published papers related to the application of expert systems for the fire protection requirements of the National Building Code of Canada. He has lectured ex­tensively to architects, professional engineers, interior designers and building technolo­gists on building codes, particularly in the area of fire protection.

President, Suderman Estimating Systems Inc.

John has been in the construction industry for 50 years, starting as a labourer with his dad’s construction company in Waterloo, Ontario, then changing trades and apprenticing with one of the oldest electrical companies in the area. He grew with the company as a journeyman and foreman, before moving into a design/estimator role as the company developed into the modern era. John then moved to, Roberts Onsite Inc., a larger multi-trade electrical/mechanical company where he became Lead Electrical Estimator, and later Vice President of Sales, Estimating, Engineering and Project Management.

In 2002, John bought Suderman Estimating from Peter Suderman. Peter had developed an electrical estimating training course and taught it across Canada to more than 2,500 contractors, including John. Since then, John has brought the course up to today’s level with a revised and updated labour manual, training methods and nationally-accredited Gold Seal Certification. John has worked on projects in the field and in estimating from residential, commercial, light and heavy industrial and now he enjoys passing this experience and knowledge to others.

Partner, Thompson Dorfman Sweatman LLP

Jon’s practice is focused primarily on construction law and civil litigation, providing advice to owners, architects, engineers, general contractors, subcontractors and suppliers in all aspects of construction law. Jon has experience in the drafting and negotiation of construction agreements, procurement matters, tendering issues, construction insurance issues and builders’ liens, as well as providing advocacy services for mediations, arbitrations, regulatory proceedings and litigation. Jon also provides general commercial litigation and dispute resolution services with respect to insurance, landlord and tenant and environmental matters.

President, Constructing Minds Inc.

Lee Kelly M.A.A.T.O., P.GSC is Founder and President of Constructing Minds Inc., a company dedicated to providing relevant and applicable training to the construction industry.

Lee has boots on the ground experience. With over 35 years of construction management/general contracting experience under her belt she has gained extensive knowledge and a solid foundation in construction practices, processes and procedures in all contract delivery formats. Lee knows construction because she has built it.

Lee has been a member on the National Gold Seal Committee, has won the Construction Institute of Canada (TCIC) Chancellor’s Award of Excellence and has earned certificates in Teaching and Training Adults and Instructional Design. Her enthusiasm for training makes her a highly informative, interactive, motivated and sought-after trainer from coast-to-coast.

Partner, Thompson Dorfman Sweatman LLP

Lisa Stiver’s practice focuses on corporate and commercial law, with an emphasis on tendering and procurement. Lisa has significant experience in providing procurement advice in the area of information technology systems and construction projects. She has acted as lead external counsel in providing strategic advice throughout all stages of procurement processes for major capital acquisitions and projects, including developing the legal framework for the procurement process, drafting tender documents and contracts and contract negotiations in negotiated-RFP scenarios.

Mark recently retired from the University of Calgary where he was responsible for the delivery of capital projects across the organization. The annual workload entailed approximately 400 capital and renovation projects per year with an annual project spend of approximately $150M. During his 12- year tenure as Director, the Project Management Office delivered   9 new buildings including multiple teaching and applied research buildings, major infrastructure renewals, new residence halls and a new main library. Mark was actively engaged with procuring design and construction teams and negotiating and overseeing a wide variety of contracts including Design Build, Construction Management at Risk, Lump Sum and performance-based engagements.

Mark brings 30 plus years of public sector experience with both post-secondary and health organizations including the Calgary Health Region and Age Care Senior Communities. Mark takes pride in building strong teams, mentoring the next generation of project professionals and engaging diverse stakeholders in achieving outstanding results.