2026 Speakers

Assessing & Effectively Managing Safety & Security Risks at Today’s Farmers’ Markets

Aaron is a nationally recognized and respected leader in security and crowd safety management, bringing over three decades of combined public and private sector experience from his work with the Correctional Service of Canada and at over 1,200 live events. His event portfolio includes some of the country’s most significant and complex operations, including the 2007 FIFA U20 World Cup, 2010 Winter Olympics, 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup, 2018 G7 Finance and Development Ministers and Central Bank Governors meetings, BMO Marathon – Vancouver, Canada Day – Vancouver, 2024 Grey Cup Festival, Live Nation festivals and stadium concerts in western Canada, and various other special events ranging from small street festivals to largescale events.

He currently serves on the Event Safety Alliance of Canada Board of Directors. He is the Senior Manager, Safety & Security – Vancouver for the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup; a position he accepted after taking leave from his position as Senior Director of Special Projects & Training with Guardteck Security Co.

As a long-standing advocate for creating safer event spaces, Aaron brings a deep commitment to collaboration, education, and evidence-based practice. He has worked extensively with multidisciplinary teams to improve site design, operational planning, incident and emergency response and recovery across the live-events sector. As a recognized educator and speaker, he has presented at several major industry conferences, helping strengthen safety literacy and shared learning.

Aaron is dedicated to advancing safety standards, fostering local, regional and national collaboration, and helping shape a more resilient, informed, and proactive event safety culture.

Vendors Are from Mars, Managers Are from Venus

Chris Quinlan served his passion for regional economic and food security as the manager of the Whistler Farmers’ Market for 8 years, a role that gave rise to his development of Marketwurks.com.

His experience as a business owner taught Chris to find practical solutions to everyday challenges, such as being presented with four, 4-inch binders of paper applications to the market.

The existing technical solution was cost prohibitive, so over time, he developed an intuitive market management software program with the goal of making market managers’ lives easier. MarketWurks currently provides market management solutions for nearly 200 farmers’ market locations across North America, Australia and Europe.

Email Lists & Automation: Grow Your Audience, Save Time, Drive Results

Darian is the Metis founder of Vancouver based PR, digital ads & SEO company Jelly Digital Marketing & PR and digital marketing school, Jelly Academy. He is the host of the podcast Marketing News Canada, loves doing workshops, and volunteers on the board of the Digital Marketing Sector Council and NPower Canada and his local charter community – Waceya.

He is the editor of IndigenousSME, and freelances with publications like BCBusiness, Future Economy, Globe & Mail, Forbes and Entrepreneur magazine. His recent book Marketing Mentors featuring interviews with Seth Godin, Guy Kawasaki and marketing leads from LEGO, Lululemon and Starbucks is available now wherever you purchase your books. Darian lives in Fort Langley, BC with his wife and four children and likes to mountain bike, swim, grow dahlias and watercolour and read YA novels in his free time.

Opening Plenary

Des Sobool is the Director, Economics and Deputy Chief Economist at FCC. His insights help support strategy and monitor risk throughout the corporation. In addition to acting as an FCC spokesperson on economic matters, Des provides commentary on the agri-food industry through economic reports and the FCC Economics blog.

Prior to joining FCC in 2006, Des was a professional research associate at the University of Saskatchewan. He was also a relationship manager at another financial institution. Des earned his master of agricultural economics degree from the University of Saskatchewan in 2005.

Savour the Story: Crafting Your Community Culinary Destination Experience

As Destination Development Manager at Tourism Richmond, Gareth leads the creation and growth of programs that elevate Richmond’s profile and enhance the visitor experience. He collaborates closely with key partners on initiatives such as The Dumpling Trail, the Steveston Spot Prawn & Seafood Celebration, the Richmond Discovery Shuttle, and Winter in the Village. Through innovation and strong partnerships, his role helps ensure Richmond’s visitor economy thrives while seizing new opportunities that showcase the city as a vibrant, must‑visit destination.

Making Space For Farmers’ Markets

Heather brings over 15 years of leadership experience in non-profit, social enterprise and social innovation to her role as Executive Director at BC Farmers’ Markets. A creative thinker and doer, Heather is passionate about all things farm and food, along with entrepreneurship, small business and empowering the local economy in communities of all shapes and sizes, small and large, rural and urban in all corners of BC.

Heather is an innovative leader and elevator who brings organizations and initiatives to the next level. Prior to joining BC Association of Farmers’ Markets, Heather served as Executive Director with the award winning social enterprise Potluck Café & Catering, which creates jobs and provides healthy, fresh food for people living in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, along with a brief role as Executive Producer with CityStudio.

FIFA Ready for Kickoff: Capitalizing on the World’s Largest Event

Imran Gill (he/him) has spent over a decade working in leadership roles across economic development, tourism promotion, public assembly facilities, and major events.

He currently serves as Director, Industry Partnerships and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Accessibility with Destination BC; a provincially funded, industry-led Crown corporation that supports a strong and competitive future for British Columbia’s tourism industry. Imran is fortunate to work alongside an exceptional team at Destination BC, where he provides oversight across three cross-functional business units: Visitor Services, Co-op Marketing and Municipal & Regional District Tax, and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Accessibility.

Outside of work, Imran loves spending time with his wife and their two‑year‑old son, exploring British Columbia through his son’s eyes and discovering new ways to experience the province’s natural and cultural richness.

FIFA Ready for Kickoff: Capitalizing on the World’s Largest Event

Jasmine is a marketing and communications professional and holds a bachelor’s degree in Communication from Simon Fraser University. She has been in her role as Marketing & Stakeholder Engagement Coordinator at BCAFM  since 2024. Her love of gardening and passion for local food systems inspired her to move from her home town of Vancouver to Maple Ridge and establish her own small regenerative farm almost a decade ago.  She balances her time working for BCAFM, operating her farm, and raising two daughters. 

Honey 101 for Farmers’ Market Managers

Jeff Lee is the BC director for the Canadian Honey Council and a commercial beekeeper and co-owner of Honey Bee Zen Apiaries Ltd and Swan Valley Honey Ltd. He and his wife, Amanda Goodman Lee, are regular fixtures at farmers’ markets in the Kootenays, and Amanda is also the chair of the Creston Valley Food Action Coalition, which operates the Creston Farmers’ Market. They are passionate advocates for producing authentic local Canadian honey and are supporters of the Buy BC program. They operate a CFIA-licensed food processing facility and recently won several international awards for their honey. Jeff is also the chair of the Fields Forward Society, which operates Creston’s Food Innovation Centre for agricultural producer startups.

Savour the Story: Crafting Your Community Culinary Destination Experience

With a bachelor’s degree in international relations and international law, as well as a graduate diploma in Integrated Rural Development, Jean-Nick Trudel has been fully involved in Quebec’s agri-food sector for nearly 15 years. Before becoming Executive Director of the Quebec Farmers’ Markets Association (AMPQ), Jean-Nick gained extensive field experience as Coordinator of the Yamachiche Farmers’ Market, by establishing the Saint-Élie-de-Caxton Farmers’ Market, and by serving as Director of the Shawinigan Farmers’ Market.

Committed to the vitality of the Mauricie region, he also coordinated his food identity, agritourism, and culinary tourism initiatives for the region. Proud to contribute to the AMPQ for the past 8 years, Jean-Nick relies on mobilization, teamwork, fruitful partnerships and innovative projects to promote Quebec’s Farmers’ markets and local agriculture in Quebec.

Cooking as Storytelling: Inspiring Connections at Farmers’ Markets 

With over 40 years experience in the food industry, Karen Curtis sees herself as a connector. She connects people with food in meaningful ways. As a community kitchen facilitator Karen believes her role is to work with people’s abilities, budgets, and needs to create relevant and useful meals. She is passionate about food security and supporting local farmers and producers. Karen’s adaptive and accessible teaching style means that toddlers through seniors can participate in the creation of beautiful, healthy food. Karen is a past member of Les Dames d’Escoffier. She has experience as a food manufacturer and recipe developer, and is veteran of the farmers market world, successfully running KICS Lemonade for 24 years.

From Overwhelmed to Organized: Smart AI Solutions for Farmers’ Market Teams

Kate Poirier embarked on her journey as a Communications Specialist, bringing a wealth of skills to the table, with a focus on small business development and a passion for technology-driven innovation. Transitioning from this role, she ventured into farm labour, gaining hands-on experience in the field. Now, as the Executive Director of the Cedar Farmers Market, Kate has merged her diverse background in market management, marketing, and data analytics, effectively steering the organization through both turbulent and transformative change. Her mission centres on inclusivity, utilizing technology, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), to simplify and automate processes for the benefit of all. Join her in exploring the potential of AI in farmers’ markets.

Minimizing Waste at Your Farmers Market

Kayla Siefried is a settler in Lekwungen Territory, the steward of the Compost Education Centre demonstration gardens and the curator and main educator of the Adult Education Program. She can be found growing seedlings for plant sales, working with volunteers to keep gardens healthy, flipping hot compost, arranging expert instructors to teach workshops, or out in the community teaching about soil health, organic gardening, waste reduction, and Do-It-Yourself tasks that increase our climate resilience. Kayla holds a Bachelor of Environmental Studies from the University of Waterloo, has a Permaculture Design Certificate, has completed various gardening and soil science courses, and has completed the NuMethod Facilitation Training. She can be found zipping around on her bicycle and cooking wildly in her kitchen, while laughing with friends.

Tomat – Simplifying Coupon Transactions at Farmers’ Markets

Kerri has worked in community development for over 18 years and joined the BC Association of Farmers’ Markets in 2024. She is passionate about building strong, connected communities and supporting local food systems. Kerri enjoys canning, gardening, and spending time outdoors. She lives in Saanich and brings her experience and energy to supporting markets, farmers, and community partners.

From Purpose to Plan: Building a Fundraising Strategy

Kim Peterson (she/her) is an independent fundraising consultant (Cedar Fundraising) specializing in strategy and implementation of core fund development activities for small nonprofits.

Kim has 14 years of experience working both in-house and as a consulting partner with organizations representing a variety of cause areas including STEM education, community services, mental health and the environment. Through Cedar Fundraising she applies her expertise in the “whole” fundraising process, operations and communications to help clients develop and implement strategic annual giving programs through a combination of tactics suited for small shops including integrated campaigns, monthly giving programs and grant writing. In addition to 1:1 consulting work, Kim also delivers training and workshops for board members, volunteers and other fundraisers on the donor journey, fundraising campaigns and monthly giving.

Outside of work Kim enjoys exploring the beautiful Pacific Northwest with her family, and carving out time for herself (between kids’ activities and cohousing meetings) to be artistic and creative.
www.cedarfundraising.ca
kim@cedarfundraising.ca

Keynote: Food, Land, and Responsibility

Keynote: Food, Land, and Responsibility

Tomat – Simplifying Coupon Transactions at Farmers’ Markets

Mandy has been with the BC Association of Farmers’ Markets for four years as a Regional Coordinator, supporting markets and community partners across the province. Passionate about accessibility and community, Mandy loves helping markets grow as welcoming spaces for all. Outside of work, she runs a small hobby farm with chickens and goats, bakes, enjoys the outdoors, and keeps busy with her three kids.

Building Strong Foundations: Compliance & Policy Essentials 

Megan is an intuitive and highly driven Human Resources professional who brings in depth expertise and a strategic mindset to every client partnership. As a Senior Consultant, People and Culture at Pivot HR Services, she is committed to empowering organizations and professionals through thoughtful HR strategy, inclusive practices, and practical solutions tailored to each client’s unique goals.

With extensive experience across the public, private, and non-profit sectors, Megan specializes in full-cycle talent acquisition, employee engagement, performance management, learning and development, DEI, workplace investigations, and conflict resolution. Her work is grounded in a strong foundation of employment legislation and HR best practices, allowing her to advise with clarity and confidence. Megan has held senior HR roles within both consulting and public sector environments, where she provided strategic level support across HR operations, client service delivery, and organizational development.

She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Human Resources Management from Kwantlen Polytechnic University and holds her designation as a Chartered Professional in Human Resources (CPHR). Megan is certified in Emotional Intelligence to administer and interpret the EQ-i 2.0/EQ 360 assessments and has completed the Workplace Investigation Fundamentals program through Rubin Thomlinson Workplace Training. Megan considers herself a lifelong learner who prioritizes ongoing educational opportunities and continuously invests in expanding her expertise, staying at the forefront of evolving HR trends and best practices.

Well regarded for her professionalism, warmth, and analytical thinking, Megan is passionate about fostering inclusive, high-performing workplaces and delivering HR solutions that create meaningful impact.

Counting More Than Carrots: How Market Data Can Grow Your Market

Meghan Railton began her farmers market journey in 2020, quickly discovering her passion for connecting local farmers with their communities. Since then, Meghan has dedicated her career to fostering strong relationships between farmers, market organizations and customers, ensuring transparency and trust in the local food supply chain. With a focus on supporting sustainable food systems, Meghan currently works with The Collective Markets, where she oversees multiple vibrant local farmers markets and artisan events. Her work highlights the importance of local food sources while providing opportunities for farmers, artisans, and communities to thrive together. 

Keynote: Food, Land, and Responsibility

MPowerED People – Creating Positive Relationships & Community

Michelle Tremblay, a founder of MPowerLives Company, is located in the Tri-Cities area in Vancouver’s Lower Mainland. She has worked with over 20,000 participants nationwide and is highly recognized as a powerful speaker, great motivator, and compassionate leader. She is dedicated, committed, and inspired to mpower change in the workplace, schools, and community at large through mental and physical health and wellness strategies, mindfulness, and social and emotional learning.

She believes each individual can feel valued, confident, and responsible through the proper tools, support and workplace conditions. Her corporate work has led her to present to clients such as Work Safe BC, Van-Cities, Fraser Valley Child Development Centres, CPHR, School Districts and Non-for-Profit Agencies.

Michelle holds a 2nd Degree Black Belt with 20 years of Karate training and uses qigong and yoga practices to support mental health and physical wellness for children, adults, and seniors. For over the last 10 years her work has also consisted of teaching, mentoring and coaching children and youth with bully prevention training in school and after school programs, non-for- profit agencies, recreation centres, private organizations, personal and group coaching clients.

Keynote: Food, Land, and Responsibility

Savour the Story: Crafting Your Community Culinary Destination Experience

Rebecca Gordon is the Destination Development Officer at the Culinary Tourism Alliance, where she delivers training and development programs for tourism organizations and businesses. She has played a key role in initiatives such as Culinary & Agritourism READI, Canada’s Culinary & Agritourism Action Plan, and Destination Canada’s Field to Fork Corridor. A passionate advocate for local food, Rebecca loves discovering hidden culinary gems and visiting farmers’ markets whenever she travels. She also enjoys helping businesses and destinations discover and develop meaningful “taste of place” experiences. Drawing on her experience as a former restaurant operator and food event creator, she has seen firsthand how food can connect people, spark excitement, and create lasting memories of a destination and its businesses.

Savour the Story: Crafting Your Community Culinary Destination Experience

Shayan Lallani focuses on developing culinary tourism trails and experiences rooted in local foodways, cultural assets and community storytelling. He has led and supported projects across Canada, including the Richmond Dumpling Trail, Waterloo Region Fields & Flavours Trail, and a Cider Trail for the Ontario Craft Cider Association. He also leads the CTA’s academic engagements, liaising with post-secondary institutions and sharing research through conferences and publications. He has led the creation of training programs such as Culinary & Agritourism READI and the Taste of Place Leadership Program.

After completing a BA in History at the University of Toronto, Shayan pursued an MA in Food History focusing on the evolution of cruise ship dining. He later earned a PhD from the University of Ottawa, studying how mass-market cruise lines transformed vacations into curated cultural experiences by using themed environments to produce commercialized interactions with global cultures. Research for these projects has taken Shayan throughout the Caribbean and Latin America. His work appears in journals including Globalizations, Food Culture & Society and Journal of Tourism History.

Keynote: Food, Land, and Responsibility

Tomat – Simplifying Coupon Transactions at Farmers’ Markets

Tony has 40 years of agriculture experience from beef and sheep to greenhouse tomatoes and basil with experience on different boards and committees in Western Canada.  Tony excelled at direct farm gate to plate marketing. After moving back to the west coast, Tony has been helping the Pender Island Farmers’ Institute since 2024.

Representing over a century of agricultural community spirit and innovation, the Pender Island Farmers’ Institute is the oldest community organization on Pender Island, British Columbia, having served the people of both North and South Pender Islands since 1899.  Deeply rooted in tradition yet consistently forward-thinking, the Institute has long been a cornerstone of rural life on the island, supporting farming families and fostering a resilient local food economy.

Known for their openness to innovation, the Pender Island Farmers’ Institute partnered in the summer of 2025 to pilot the Tomat Digital Card.  Tony will share firsthand feedback, lessons learned, and insights from this pilot, offering a valuable glimpse into how small-scale, community-based markets can lead the way in adopting meaningful digital tools while staying rooted in local values.

Making Space For Farmers’ Markets

Wylie cares deeply for Farmers’ Markets and their place in the agriculture, health and business/retail environments. She has continued to be a champion and advocate for vendor and market sustainability and would like to do more for the BCAFM. Wylie is currently involved in local markets, as well as additional regional agriculture and economic development organizations and would like to bring her skills to the BCAFM. She believes that farmers’ markets are an integral component of any farmers business plan and that we need to ensure that markets are strong, vibrant, financially sustainable and critical pieces of their communities.