Active Allyship as a Dimension of Professional Responsibility

October 3, 2025 from 12:00 noon to 1:00 p.m. ET

Ontario Regulation 60/01- Code of Ethics for Professional Geoscientists -  calls on registrants to act with fairness, professional integrity, and ethical conduct, and to protect public safety and welfare. These obligations go beyond technical competence - they extend to how geoscientists, in their professional capacity, mentor, supervise, collaborate, and engage with colleagues, communities, and stakeholders.

This one-hour panel discussion will explore what active allyship looks like in practice when viewed through the lens of professional responsibility. Panelists will share practical examples of how allyship strengthens ethical decision-making, supports inclusive mentorship, and builds public trust in geoscience. While the discussion is grounded in the regulated practice of geoscience, the principles of active allyship have universal application and extend to all professions governed by Codes of Ethics that enshrine integrity, fairness, and accountability.

The Panel

Trina Maher - Moderator
President
BRIDGING CONCEPTS
PGO Non-registrant Public Appointee in Council

Trina Maher is a First Nations internationally certified adult educator with over twenty years of experience working in the fields of Indigenous community engagement, corporate Indigenous inclusion strategies, and capacity building with Indigenous communities through professional development.  She is an advocate and master trainer for career development approaches that support Indigenous peoples to identify and navigate their self-determined pathway into the world of work.  Trina helps companies prepare their workplaces to welcome Indigenous talent through customized approach to corporate training and helping teams to identify their roles and responsibilities to create and sustain inclusion.   She is also a program delivery consultant for the Canadian Career Development Foundation, and for Algoma and Toronto Metropolitan Universities. In addition to her support of the PGO, Trina also is an advisor for the Canadian Aboriginal Human Resources Management Association and is a member of the Content and Learning Committee for the Canadian Education and Research Institute of Counselling.  She grew up in northern Ontario and is a member of the Mattagami First Nation. 

Jocelyn Peltier-Huntley, Ph.D., M.Sc., P. Eng.
Principal and Founder
Prairie Catalyst Consulting

Dr. Jocelyn Peltier-Huntley, P.Eng. has more than 20 years of experience leading change. After working in mining for 13 years, she is now focused on leading and inspiring positive change through equity, diversity, and inclusion consulting. Her PhD project, “Activating Allies” focused on creating better workplaces for everyone by engaging everyone. Through her business, Prairie Catalyst Consulting, Jocelyn creates awareness and removes roadblocks so that individuals and organizations can realize the benefits of inclusion and achieve their full potential. She recently published her first book, Active Allyship and volunteers as the Board Chair of Women in Mining and Women in Nuclear Saskatchewan.

Susan Lomas, P.Geo.
President
Lions Gate Geological Consulting Inc. and Mine Shift

Susan has been a geologist in the mining industry for over 38 years and has traveled to over 35 different countries for work in grassroots exploration camps, producing mines and regional to corporate offices. She is a registered professional geologist with both PGO and EGBC. She has been President of Lions Gate Geological Consulting Inc. for 19 years and specializes in mineral resource estimation. She started the Me-Too Mining Association in the spring of 2018, developed a bystander intervention training program for the mining industry and evolved MTMA into the Mine Shift Foundation in 2023. She was included in WIMUK’s 2018 list of 100 Global Inspirational Women in Mining.

Jessica Vandenberghe, P.Eng., FEC, FGC (Hon)
Assistant Dean, Community and Culture, University of Victoria
Owner of Guiding Star Consulting

Jessica Vandenberghe, P.Eng., FEC, FGC (Hon.) is a member of the Dene Thá First Nation, a sixties scoop survivor and raised in an inclusive German farming family in northern Alberta. Her exceptional career is based on two engineering degrees from the University of Alberta. She has worked in the oil sands, mining, regulatory, infrastructure, consulting industries and academia. She is the Assistant Dean, Community and Culture with the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Victoria and the owner of Guiding Star Consulting. She is a mother of two and at the intersection of two equity deserving groups in the Engineering Profession, which drives her passion for equity, diversity and inclusion along with Truth and Reconciliation. She believes that we can walk together to heal, build strong relationships, teach ethical and respectful behaviour, and be changemakers to create progressive and inclusive legislation, communities, and organizations.

Register online for this webinar.