Our Team

Stefan is the Director of the Indigenous and Northern Communities (INC) practice area at the Conference Board of Canada. In this role, Stefan oversees INC's various lines of business, including its multi-stakeholder, custom and field-based research initiatives. He is also responsible for fulfilling the mandates and convening activities of the Council on Corporate Aboriginal Relations (CCAR) and the Centre for the North (CFN). Prior to this, Stefan spent over a decade in a variety of roles, including as an executive network manager, researcher and policy analyst with the Conference Board of Canada, and as the principal of a research consultancy. His work has focussed on a wide-range of issues, such as the agreement/partnership landscape surrounding corporate-Indigenous relations; economic and infrastructure development; northern and rural housing; and community capacity development. He holds a Masters in International Affairs from the Norman Patterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University, and a Bachelors in Political Science from the University of British Columbia. Stefan is passionate about working with others to collectively address the challenges and opportunities facing northern and remote Canada.

Dr. Adam Fiser (Ph.D. University of Toronto) co-leads the Indigenous and Northern Communities group, where he manages our lines of custom research. Adam has over 15 years of experience working with Indigenous and territorial partners on a variety of issues including information technology and telecom policy, entrepreneurship, education and human resources development, health and wellness, and governance. He provides technical expertise in participatory and mixed methods research approaches, and contributes a practical knowledge of public policy, strategic development, and evaluation in cross-cultural settings. As an independent research consultant, Adam has worked with Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC), the Assembly of First Nations Economic Partnerships Unit, and a variety of First Nations Regional Management Organizations.

Jane Cooper, BA, MSc, is a Senior Research Associate at the Conference Board of Canada. She holds an MSc in Human Resource Management and Development from the University of Manchester, and a Certificate in Intercultural Studies from the University of British Columbia. Jane has expertise as a policy analyst specializing in human resource development issues in Canada and internationally and is a Credentialed Evaluator (Canadian Evaluation Society). She has twenty-five years' experience in research and management on a variety of learning and development initiatives.

Jane is currently a lead researcher on two projects looking at learning and development for Indigenous populations: exploring cross-cultural STEM initiatives for Indigenous learners, and examining the impact of Indigenous Institutes across Canada.

Over the past three years, Jane has published 12 reports for the Conference Board eLibrary, delivered training workshops, and presented research at a number of meetings and conferences.

Oana is an interdisciplinary social scientist with 15 years of experience in Arctic and Indigenous issues covering a wide range of policy areas, including telecommunications, renewable energy, environment and climate change, food security, poverty reduction, and infrastructure. She holds a MA in Sustainable Energy Policy from Carleton University, a Graduate Diploma in Communication Studies from Concordia University, and a BSc with Distinction in Biology and Environmental Science from McGill University. Oana's work has spanned the private sector, the public sector, and national Indigenous organizations. She served as the Senior Advisor, Innovation and Technology, for the Government of Nunavut, the Executive Director of the Nunavut Broadband Development Corporation, and as a Senior Policy Advisor at Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami. Oana is a Senior Research Associate with the Indigenous and Northern Communities Division and is leading the Future Skills Centre project examining northern livelihoods.

Erin Macpherson (MSc.) is a Research Associate II in the Indigenous and Northern Communities group. She earned a BSc. at the University of Toronto and a MSc. from McMaster University. She has experience coordinating Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) outreach programs at the regional and national level. At Let's Talk Science's national office, she coordinated outreach initiatives engaging Indigenous youth and facilitated training opportunities for volunteers and staff to learn more about working in a culturally responsive way. Erin also has experience at the Council of Canadian Academies as a researcher on a project that is assessing the potential impacts and opportunities of Connected and Autonomous Vehicles for Canadians, industry, and government. At the Conference Board, she is contributing to research projects within the Centre for the North and the Future Skills Centre.

Jo-Leen is Network Officer for the Council on Corporate Aboriginal Relations, Centre for the North and National Immigration Centre. Jo-Leen works closely with the Directors of each Centre in key functions such as business development, client relationship management, website maintenance, agenda building and coordination of research Centre meetings. In addition to her roles within the three Centre's, Jo-Leen is an active member of the Health and Wellness Committee, Human Resources Committee and on the Steering Committee for the Council Community of Practice at The Conference Board.

Jo-Leen is married with 2 daughters and loves to play volleyball, downhill ski and go camping with her family in the summer months.

Jo-Leen is a college graduate with over 15 years of work experience in office administration and project coordination.