Ready, Set, Network!

Melissa is a strong believer in entrepreneurship, creativity, and innovation as the path toward a sustainable future. With eight years of experience in academia, government, consulting, community initiatives, and the non-profit sectors across Canada, she draws from multiple perspectives in her work advancing the fields of natural resource management, conservation, and sustainable business. Melissa holds a BSc in Geography and an MSc in Biology from Carleton University.

Stephen Braun has over 30 years of water resources experience in stormwater quality, urban drainage, riverine flooding, stream restoration, civil design, environmental assessment, and multi-disciplinary studies. Stephen is a senior water resources engineer at Matrix Solutions Inc. and is currently President of the Canadian Water Resources Association. He is also a founding partner of CB Shield Inc. and co-inventor of several commercially available stormwater treatment devices.

As the General Manager of Infrastructure and Water Services, Alicia is responsible for the operation, maintenance, infrastructure engineering and capital improvements for the regional water and wastewater systems in the CRD. She is also responsible for the water and wastewater systems in the local service areas of the CRD.

Prior to joining the CRD, Alicia Fraser was the president and CEO of the Ontario Clean Water Agency (OCWA), a provincial agency that provides water and wastewater operations and technical services to municipalities across Ontario. Before becoming president and CEO, Alicia was VP of Operations in South Peel, where she was responsible for overseeing the operation and maintenance of water, wastewater, distribution and collection systems that serve nearly 1.4 million people in the Region of Peel.

Alicia has spent her entire career in the water industry with experience in consulting engineering, designing and project managing water and wastewater plants throughout Ontario and British Columbia.

Jeff O’Driscoll, P.Eng., is the Infrastructure Division Manager at Associated Engineering’s Winnipeg office, bringing over 30 years of experience in civil engineering. He specializes in assessing climate change resilience for infrastructure and holds the Infrastructure Resiliency Professional (IRP) designation from Engineers Canada. Jeff has been involved in climate risk assessments across Canada and internationally, including the first application of the PIEVC Protocol for the City of Portage la Prairie’s waterworks infrastructure in 2007. He actively contributes to professional organizations, serving on the Engineers and Geoscientists of Manitoba Sustainable Development Task Group, the Association of Consulting Engineers of Manitoba Board, the American Waterworks Association Board, and the Canadian Water and Wastewater Association Climate Change Committee. Additionally, he chairs Associated Engineering’s Climate Change Advisory Group.

Indra Maharjan is the director of innovation, technology, and alternative delivery at the Ontario Clean Water Agency (OCWA). In this role, he builds strategic partnerships to develop and deliver innovative projects through alternative delivery models. He also fosters innovative solutions in the water and wastewater sector by working with technology providers and municipalities. In addition to this, Indra helps transform existing water treatment plants and wastewater treatment plants into net zero resource recovery facilities through codigestion, waste diversion, clean fuel generation, and alternative delivery models.