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Wrong turns make the best stories.

Keynotes and workshops on inclusion, AI, and leading through change, for audiences that leave with a framework they actually use, not just a good feeling. Funny-first and story-driven on the surface; 28 years of HR, governance, and board leadership underneath.

Inclusion & neuroinclusionAI at workLeading through changeReconciliation in HRResilience
"I was in the wrong marsh the entire time. Like, committed. Emotionally invested. Built a life there." from one of Ellice's actual race recaps
Check your date & book Download the speaker one-sheet (PDF)
Experience28 years across public and private sector · Crown corps, oil & gas, transit, tech & media
GovernanceC.Dir · five boards across aviation, oil & gas, higher ed, Indigenous economic development & non-profit
OwnerContour North & Island Parent Media
RecognitionCanadian HR Awards finalist · HR technology
FacilitationCertified in 8+ tools: MBTI · DiSC · Five Behaviors · Lumina Spark · TKI · FIRO-B · 360s
RootsInuvialuk speaker · learning Inuvialuktun · 100% Indigenous-owned
ElliceEllice · CPHR · MBA · C.Dir
Speaking reel, first footage being recorded this season
Every seat at the table

She's been every person in your audience.

Frontline→ Manager→ HR executive→ Board director→ Business owner→ Consultant→ Speaker

She's read the organization from every position, from the front line to the boardroom to owning the company. That's why she can meet any level in your audience where they are.

Signature talks

Three keynotes, each with a framework you keep.

Keynote / Breakout · Flagship

Route Choice

Building teams where difference actually works.

We spent decades learning to include who people are. We never learned to include how people work, and that’s where team performance actually lives. Every engagement survey names the same pain year after year, then hands it back to leaders with no tool to treat it. Ellice’s answer is a different theory of inclusion: the difference itself isn’t the asset, the conditions are. Drawing on 28 years in HR, and on orienteering, a sport where the course itself is authored, she gives leaders the practical moves to build a team where different people do their best work, without lowering the bar.

THE MOVES. Author the environment · Draw the real boundaries · Fit without lowering the bar · Fit and stretch · Be the mirror
Keynote / Breakout

Prove It

Recruit for thinking, not pedigree.

AI has made résumés and credentials unreliable. The organizations that win will hire for demonstrated thinking, and Ellice knows what a transcript can hide, because hers says "required to withdraw"… and she went on to two degrees, an MBA, and North America-wide HR leadership.

THE PROVE MODEL. Problem sample · Reasoning aloud · Open the box · Validate with rubric · Equity check
Keynote / Breakout

All or Nothing

What a brain diagnosed at 49 taught me about how we waste people.

Neuroinclusion from lived experience, a late ADHD diagnosis at 49, her own bias against it, and the insight that changes how leaders manage: the flaw and the strength are the same trait.

THE TRACK MODEL. Tell the truth · Reset don't restrict · Ask don't assume · Catch the strengths · Know the rhythm
More sessions

Breakouts, workshops & panels

Breakout

Leading HR Through Reconciliation

A practical starting point that goes past a land acknowledgement, from an Inuvialuk HR leader who has done the work inside institutions.

Breakout

AI at Work: From Curiosity to Capability

A realistic, non-hype starting point, from someone who builds working AI systems, not slideware.

Workshop

Recognition Is a Broken Feedback Loop

Recognition isn't a pizza party, it's a system you can engineer. Anchored by an award-finalist recognition system that lifted nominations ~400%.

Workshop

Stop Accepting Broken Systems

The builder's talk: seeing a system where others see a process, and shipping the fix.

Workshop

Performance: Lead From a Place of Help

"If you only want to walk someone out the door, look in the mirror." Yes, she was once hugged at the end of a termination she conducted.

Workshop

Disability Management & the Duty to Accommodate

Clarity on the legal duty, without the fear that usually surrounds it. Solo, or panelled with a clinical partner.

Workshop

Building High-Performing, Cohesive Teams

Shared language for trust, conflict, and accountability, from a certified Five Behaviors & DiSC facilitator.

Panel

Indigenous Governance & Board Leadership

What good governance looks like inside Indigenous institutions, from a C.Dir who has served on those boards.

Workshop

Critical Thinking for HR & People Leaders

A framework for slowing down high-stakes decisions before they go wrong, the defining skill of the AI era.

The personal keynote · Resilience

Getting to the Last Control

A lost beginner in her late forties, she took up orienteering in 2020, something to do when COVID shrank the world. A gloriously messy first season followed, falls, wasp stings, starting out against seven-year-olds and "first and last in a class of one", and then, in 2025, she raced her own age category at the World Masters Orienteering Championships in Spain. A story about late starts, recovering from mistakes out loud, and redefining the finish line, with ADHD cues written on her hand the whole way.

"Sometimes the win isn't about speed, it's about getting to that last control, no matter how wild the journey."

Determination is the hallmark of every story Ellice tells: the standby seats she negotiated for a degree a dean said was over, a transcript stamped "required to withdraw," a last control on a wild course. How each one turns out is the talk. Runs on its own, or woven into any talk above. Audiences: leadership groups, wellness events, educators, healthcare.

Ellice racing at the World Masters Orienteering Championships, Spain 2025
World Masters Orienteering Championships · Spain, 2025
Who's in the room

Built for your audience.

Every talk is adapted to the room in front of it. Ellice speaks to:

Leadership teams & executivesHR & people conferencesAssociations & member eventsPublic-sector & Indigenous organizationsHealthcare, education & wellness
What your room leaves with

A framework, not just a feeling.

A named model they keepShared language for how people workPermission to lead differentlyConcrete first movesA story that sticks
Booking · What event organizers get

Easy to book. Easier to work with.

01

A real conversation first

A short call to understand your audience and what you want people to walk away with.

02

Content built for your event

Talks adapted to your audience and format. 45–75 minute breakouts and workshops; keynote-length on request. Most events book 3–6 months out.

03

Easy logistics

Bio, headshot, and AV requirements provided ahead of time. No back and forth required.

No form required

The speaker one-sheet

Everything an organizer needs on one page, talks, formats, bio, and photo. Download it, forward it, print it. If you're booking a speaker, we're not going to make you fill out a form first.

Download the one-sheet (PDF)Looking for team facilitation instead?

Bring the journey to your stage.

Tell us about your event, audience, date, and what you want the room to walk away with. We'll take it from there.

Email info@contournorth.com Call 867-688-7898
The Igloo Church of Inuvik glowing at night among hoarfrost-covered trees
Our Lady of Victory · the Igloo Church, Inuvik NWT · hoarfrost, polar night