Communications and Leadership Learning – Wednesday, October 29

The Road to Calamity for Major Capital Projects: How to Ensure Failure!

10:30 AM – 11:30 AM

From historic infrastructure projects like bridges and canals to modern developments such as airports, hospitals, dams, pipelines, and industrial facilities, cost overruns, delays, contract claims and disputes remain a recurring challenge. These conflicts—arising between owners, engineers, and contractors—often lead to costly and adversarial resolution processes. This session examines the root causes of claims and disputes and introduces the golden rules for ignoring them. Attendees will explore a curated list of bad practices guaranteed to hinder effective resolution of contract claims. Developed for professionals in engineering and construction, these practical missteps serve as a reliable guide to ensuring project failure. Through insightful discussion, the speaker will present the pitfalls of poor contract management and dispute resolution, offering a cautionary look at what not to do when navigating major capital projects. 

Speakers

Dr. George Jergeas 

Beating Burnout: Without Quitting Your Job 

12:30 PM – 1:30 PM

The demanding nature of engineering and geoscience can lead to burnout, impacting decision-making, collaboration, and professional integrity. Constant pressure doesn’t just drain energy—it can compromise safety, innovation, and regulatory compliance. But quitting isn’t the only solution. This session provides a structured approach to recognizing and mitigating burnout, using the S-O-S Principle™ to strengthen resilience, enhance focus, and protect well-being. Leaders will gain actionable strategies to manage stress, support their teams, and sustain high performance. By prioritizing resilience, professionals can maintain ethical leadership, ensure public safety, and drive innovation—without sacrificing their health or careers.  

Speakers

Beverly Beuermann-King

With an impressive track record spanning over 25 years, Beverly has been guiding individuals and organizations toward mastering their reactions to stress, cultivating resilience, and achieving thriving, successful lives through her innovative S-O-S Principle™. As the driving force behind WorkSmartLiveSmart.com since 1995, Beverly has been at the forefront of transforming teams across diverse industries, including healthcare, education, government agencies, finance, and not-for-profit sectors, from overwhelmed to resilient powerhouses. Her presentations, rooted in extensive research and drawing from her background in psychology, sociology, management, and adult education, are both enlightening and inspirational, offering audiences the precise strategies needed to improve mental health, tackle workplace challenges, and amplify overall life satisfaction.   

Breaking Barriers, Developing Leaders in Today's Engineering Landscape  

2:00 PM – 3:00 PM

Engaging the next generation of talent means creating a dynamic and socially appealing workplace - one that offers meaningful work and prioritizes inclusion. To explore this, Minerva’s CEO will sit with two accomplished senior leaders who will share their leadership journey and reflect on some of the visible and invisible barriers that they experienced in their careers. The panel will discuss how organizations can address these barriers through policies, practices, and leadership - leaving attendees with a renewed, actionable toolkit on fostering a culture of leadership impact - and what it means, in today’s era, to be a leader.

Speakers

Tina Strehlke 

Tina Strehlke is an experienced senior leader with 20 years of experience in the social impact sector. She has knowledge and expertise in gender equality, inclusive leadership, career development, and creating equitable workplaces. Tina has a BA in International Relations from UBC and an MA in Communications from Royal Roads University. She recently completed the Certified Leadership Coach program at Essential Impact. Tina has lived and worked in Germany, Costa Rica, Guyana, and Taiwan. She currently volunteers with Young Women in Business UBC and is a member of the Prosperity Project’s Rosie Initiative Advisory Group. 

Shezana Hassko, P.Eng.

Shezana is a proven transportation leader with over 15 years of industry experience who leads the Engineering Division at TransLink with 140 staff and overseeing a $3 billion annual capital portfolio. Shezana was responsible for the implementation of TransLink's multimodal mandate on cycling, walking, roads, bridges and goods movement initiatives and oversees the delivery teams of over 150 projects. Her area of focus in the field of transportation includes transit facility design, infrastructure planning, design and program management. Shezana’s inclusive and positive approach has helped establish strong relationships with TransLink’s stakeholders and partners which supports her commitment to delivering transportation excellence to this region.

Jasmine Maini

Jasmine is a project management professional with over 15 years of experience in the public, private, and not-for-profit sectors. After leading vendor management capacity within TELUS’s fibre optic infrastructure build program, she spearheaded the growth and development of EV chargers at Tesla in Western Canada. Prior to her career as an engineer, Jasmine spent a decade as a management consultant thriving in both corporate and start-up environments focused on strategy planning, change management and operations improvement solutions. Her work has spanned multiple geographies, including Canada, the United States, India, and Kuwait and multi-disciplinary industries such as Oil & Gas, Retail, Hospitality, Education, etc. She holds a Bachelor of Engineering (with Distinction) from Ryerson University and is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP). Jasmine is a keen advocate for humanitarian projects, continuously strives to lift her community, and has been an avid volunteer for various non-profits for 10+ years.