Tiffany Circle Anniversary Event - Speakers

Charlotte McGlade is a humanitarian leader with over 15 years of experience in crisis situations. As Senior Director of International Partnerships and Programs at the Canadian Red Cross, she oversees global initiatives in preparedness, resilience, recovery, and long-term programs. She has led efforts in Logistics, Operations, and Emergency Response with various organizations like Action Against Hunger, British Red Cross, IFRC, and The Canadian Red Cross. Charlotte has had the opportunity to work in various international contexts, supporting local actors in their humanitarian responses to natural disasters, epidemics, population movements, and conflicts. Based in Ottawa, she holds a BSc from the University of Toronto and an MSc in Disaster Management from Coventry University.

Juan Espinel serves as Senior Coordinator of the First Contact program at the Canadian Red Cross, where he plays a crucial role in guiding and supporting refugees upon their arrival in Canada. Originally from Colombia and equipped with a background in business management, Juan's personal experience as a refugee claimant in 2019 has greatly influenced his advocacy efforts and commitment to community engagement.

With over 20 years of experience assisting vulnerable populations in both Colombia and Canada, Juan blends his professional expertise with a deep understanding of the issues faced by refugees. This positions him as a strong advocate for positive change. He is dedicated to advancing the rights of refugees, fostering inclusive dialogue, and upholding human dignity—all in accordance with the Fundamental Principles of the Red Cross.

Linda M. Phillips PhD, MR retired from the University of Alberta. Her early work focused on systematic research into children's cognitive development in reading, which involves several brain regions. Linda’s training and work expanded to use diffusion tensor imaging of the brain white matter to understand brain function connectivity.

Linda held a Killam Fellowship, was the first Beauchamp Laureate, and is one of only two Centennial Professors at the University of Alberta. She has published 21 books, 35 chapters, handbooks, encyclopedia entries, and 72 articles in the top-tier social and medical sciences journals. In July of 2024, Linda was named Top Scholar by ScholarGPS for her “strong publication record, the impact of her work, and the notable quality of her contributions which placed her in the top 0.5% of all scholars worldwide”.

Linda is honoured to be a member of Tiffany Circle. Her interest in and dedication to helping others started as a young child, grew to sharing science to help others and to opening minds to the potential around us. The future success of the Tiffany Circle to improve the lives of others calls us to accept challenges, to inspire others in the accomplishment of our humanitarian goals, and to persevere regardless of the daily rapid changes in the world. The Tiffany Circle can and will succeed.

Nazira Lacayo, currently working as Director for International Emergency Response with Canadian Red Cross, is a humanitarian professional with 15 years of international experience in emergency preparedness and response and over 10 years with the Red Cross Red Crescent Network. Nazira has worked on a range of medium to large scale initiatives at the local, regional, and global levels, which have provided her with a deep and grounded understanding of the unique challenges and opportunities in disaster management. While with the Red Cross, Nazira has worked in Panama, Switzerland and Türkiye. Before joining the Red Cross Red Crescent network, she worked with the German Technical Cooperation in Indonesia and Colombia on initiatives for women’s empowerment and local micro financing for people affected by disasters. Nazira is originally from Nicaragua and now resides in Toronto.

Award-winning agricultural journalist Rosalie I. Tennison has never forgotten her rural roots. Her long career has taken her from rural weekly newspapers to a small-town radio station to agricultural trade magazines to the communications department of the Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences at the University of Manitoba. She is the recipient of a gold citation from the Canadian Farm Writers’ Federation and is a gold-medal winner of a 2022 Canadian Online Publishing Award. While she loves meeting producers in the fields where they work, she enjoys returning to the warmth of her Winnipeg condo to curl up with her cat and a good book.

Shari Lovelock is the Senior Director, Campaigns, Major Gifts and Planned Giving for the Canadian Red Cross. In this role, Shari oversees the direction of the Canadian Red Cross’ overall development and management of the Transformational Campaigns, Major Gift and Planned Giving channels at the Canadian Red Cross, including the leadership and oversight to the Time to Act Campaign and Tiffany Circle Women’s Philanthropy Program. Prior to joining the Red Cross in March 2023, Shari held a variety of not for profit leadership and progressive philanthropic positions across a wide variety of sectors and roles.