Ready, Set, Network!

Laura is a community organizer and changemaker, focused on delivering positive environmental and social change. She holds a Magisteriate in Environmental Studies from York University specialized in environmental education and community arts. She has worked in gardens, galleries, and along river banks to connect people with a strong sense of place.

An adept non-profit leader, Laura founded Toronto’s Not Far From The Tree, an award-winning charitable initiative to pick fruit growing in backyards and transform it into a shared public good. While at the helm of Food For All New Brunswick, she built a robust network to activate and amplify food security.

Laura lives near the Ottawa River in Orléans with her partner and their two children. Originally from Sackville, New Brunswick, Laura grew up very connected to water: canoeing on the lake in her backyard, swimming on the beaches of the Northumberland Strait, and mudsliding on the Bay of Fundy mudflats. She speaks four languages and loves to cross-country ski.

Kalpna Solanki is a leader with a passion for building high performance teams. Focusing on strategy, culture, and purpose, she believes that all organizations have the potential of going from ‘good’ to ‘great’.

Currently, she is President and CEO of the Environmental Operators Certification Program, Canada’s first water and wastewater facility classification and Environmental Operator certification program.

Kalpna also has significant board experience, and currently sits on two boards.

With a focus on her own well-being, in her spare time, you will find Kalpna kayaking, cycling, or hiking with her three dogs, and on the slopes in the winter.

A recognized expert in water sustainability who excels in helping clients develop strategies to identify and mitigate water risk, and to translate those strategies into actions. Leveraging over 30 years of experience in the water industry, including 17 years leading Coca-Cola North America’s water stewardship program, to assist clients in setting realistic targets and achieving meaningful outcomes that reduce material risks and enhance social license to operate.

A proven subject matter expert in the areas of water risk assessment, water replenishment, stakeholder engagement, water optimization in operations and agricultural supply chains, with a keen ability to engage internal and external stakeholders to drive innovative collaborative solutions.

Melissa is Director, Policy & Programs at Pollution Probe, a national not-for-profit, charitable organization that seeks to improve the health and well-being of Canadians by advancing policy that achieves positive, tangible, environmental change. She is responsible for leading the organization’s Circular Economy and Great Lakes Programs and also contributes to its transportation file. Since joining Pollution Probe in 2010, Melissa has worked in partnership with a wide range of stakeholders to find common solutions to challenging environmental issues. She has led a variety of research and development initiatives and public outreach and education campaigns related to environmental health, the Great Lakes, plastic waste, chemicals management and consumer engagement.

Dr. Ryan Sorichetti is a Great Lakes Ecologist and Research Scientist for the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks. His work is focused on Great Lakes nearshore water quality and leads special focus projects and scientific reporting on shoreline areas undergoing changes, or with impairments, in water quality. Ryan completed his PhD at Western University in aquatic sciences with a focus on trace metals (iron) limitation on cyanobacterial growth in lakes and has continued research interest in biogeochemical nutrient cycling, algal physiology and taxonomy, lake physical processes and climate change science.