Celebrating the Women of Calian – International Women’s Day 2021

International Women’s Day is March 8, a time to celebrate women’s achievements, raise awareness, and empower women around the world.

Meet some of the women from Calian who continue to play an extraordinary role in advancing workplace equality.

Together, we can all help to build a gender equal world.

“Don’t ever let anyone tell you that you cannot go through a particular door. Always be prepared to go through a door that leads to your goal.” - Ann Saddlemyer, scholar

Meet some of the women behind Calian

Sandy Lavigne, Senior Emergency Management Analyst - Learning

Sandy works in the emergency management business unit within the Calian Learning division as an EM Specialist and Technical Writer. Her day-to-day activities involve working closely with organizations to improve their emergency preparedness and response capability. This involves developing response and recovery plans, training and exercising, and conducting after action reviews following real world emergencies to identify opportunities for improvement at every level of government.

Alexandra McCabe, Senior Health Account Executive - Health

Alexandra is a senior health services client executive who ensures that Calian is viewed as a trusted partner that will respond quickly with practical solutions to the rapidly changing needs in today’s health care environment. Alexandra works with several Canadian government federal and provincial agencies to deliver impactful primary care, public health and mental health services. Alexandra is currently managing highly skilled teams across Canada in support of northern and Indigenous communities including supporting the response to Covid-19.

Michele Bedford, Chief Commercial Officer

Michele joined Calian in November, as Chief Commercial Officer (CCO). One of her first priorities was to establish the commercial rhythm of the business and to ensure the extended commercial team and Calian stakeholders have a common set of expectations. Michele partners with every business unit on their go-to-market demand generation and customer success plans. Leading a team of creative and analytical professionals who touch on every aspect of the customer journey – from initial awareness, through deal pursuit and ultimately deployment.

Carisa Gordon, General Counsel

Carisa is General Counsel for Calian. She is a trusted advisor to both the executive and business units. Carisa provides strategic and practical legal advice in all areas of the company’s operations. She advises on risk management, corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, contract negotiations, intellectual property, insurance, dispute resolution, and privacy and regulatory compliance.

Maniza Khan, Human Resource Generalist at Alio Health (A Calian Company)

Maniza is an HR Generalist at Alio Health (A Calian Company). Maniza executes strategies to attract and retain top talent in the industry, achieve employee satisfaction, and initiate open communication between the organization and employees. In 2020, Maniza achieved a record high of on-boarding nearly 300 Alio personnel.

Amanda DeCosta, Marketing Specialist and Regional Coordinator at Primacy (A Calian Company)

Amanda is the Marketing Specialist and Regional Coordinator at Primacy; her day to day job is very dynamic. Her role as a Marketing Specialist includes defining the Primacy brand, generating new marketing initiatives and campaigns, and managing Primacy's website. Amanda is a Regional Coordinator, and the main point of contact for the Primacy medical clinic operators in the province of BC. Amanda's role involves maintaining relationships with current operators, developing marketing strategies for clinics, maintaining the Primacy clinic webpages and facilitating clinic maintenance. One of Amanda's greatest achievements while working at Primacy is the redesign of their website. After a year-long process, she was able to upgrade the look and capabilities of the Primacy website to successfully boost website traffic and transform the Primacy online presence. Amanda’s efforts continue to develop the Primacy brand!

Tiana Robinson, Recruitment Specialist - ITCS

Tiana is a Recruitment Specialist for the Calian ITCS division. She assists in IT recruitment with a focus on SAP, Cyber and other consulting needs for Ottawa and Greater Toronto Area markets.

Brittany Staines, Marketing and Communications Manager at IntraGrain (A Calian Company)

Brittany joined IntraGrain, (A Calian Company) in 2019 as the Manager of Marketing and Communications. Her early work involved establishing process and the communications channels needed to accommodate a business facing tremendous growth. Today she works to understand the customer experience as they purchase IntraGrain products, BIN-SENSE® and Fuel Lock®, and find new ways to support market expansion. She feels honoured to support IoT technologies in an industry so vital to the economies of Saskatchewan and Canada.

Kim Vuong Manager, Project Management Office - Advanced Technologies

Kim joined the project management office at Calian AT in 2008 after spending several years in the financial services industry. She is an alumnus of the University of Saskatchewan and holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Finance.

Kim successfully leads the project control team with her extensive knowledge of project management. Her team works closely with project managers from the proposal initiation phase to project execution. They are responsible for planning, forecasting and monitoring various financial analyses while ensuring high performing cost control standards are met.

Leigha Gabel, Human Resources Coordinator - Advanced Technologies

Leigha is a part of Calian, Advanced Technologies’ small, but mighty HR team. She has been with Calian AT for three and a half years and has enjoyed seeing the company grow in so many ways. When she first started out in her role, she focused on recruiting for an assortment of positions, attending career fairs, leading orientations and administering payroll. Her position has grown within the organization to include scholarships, designing career fair media, organizing internal and external events and more recently, assisting in the implementation of the new SAP system. As an active member of the social committee, she continues to enjoy planning events, particularly the company Christmas party.

Lisa Huynh, Assembler - Advanced Technologies

Lisa started her career at what was then known as Calian SED Systems in 2007. With her hard work and attention to detail, it was not long before she received her accreditation in electronics assembly as a Journeyperson. With extra education through IPC certification and her expanding skills, she soon advanced to the position of main inspector of the SMT (surface-mount technology) line. Lisa's responsibilities at Calian, Advanced Technologies center around visually inspecting printed wiring assemblies as they come off of the SMT line. In addition, she takes care of rework, repairs as well as applying modifications to completed printed wiring assemblies. The aspect of her role that she enjoys the most is taking pride in her finished work and knowing that her team always has her back

Ruth Dyck Manager, Administrative Support - Advanced Technologies

Ruth is a long-term employee with Calian. Ruth has seen many changes and has filled several positions/roles throughout the organization as well as two of its subsidiary companies. She Worked in the executive office as assistant to Ray Basler (former CEO of Calian) and was administratively involved when Calian purchased SED Systems in 1990. Currently Ruth manages the administrative support team at Calian, Advanced Technologies in Saskatoon, and also enjoys assisting Human Resources and Finance with various administrative duties.

Debbie Werezak, Marketing Specialist - Advanced Technologies

Debbie is the Marketing Specialist for Calian, Advanced Technologies. She is responsible for marketing their products and solutions, tradeshow promotion and driving brand awareness. Debbie also maintains website content for Calian, Advanced Technologies and their social media channels. Most recently she worked with team members on the Calian Advanced Technologies rebranding plan and the new Calian website. Debbie has over 10 years of marketing experience, including three years with the company.

Desiree McCarthy, Executive Assistant to the CEO, Office Manager

Desiree has been an indispensable support to the Calian leadership team for the past five years. Desiree often serves as a first point of contact at Calian and is passionate for our Calian team and culture. Desiree’s role has been very diverse in nature in her time at Calian. She is a key HQ member that ensures the smooth day-to-day operations of our offices. Desiree is always ready to tackle whatever comes her way with a bright smile and positive energy.