Entrepreneurial and driven, with 30+ years of leading industry expertise, Michael has the experience and know-how to guide clients to take control of their financial future.

Michael is the Area President for Gallagher’s Benefit & HR Consulting Practice, Ontario region. He and the team provide specialized consulting expertise to businesses and individuals in the areas of employee benefits, retirement plans, human resource management, tax and estate planning and insurance.

Born and raised in Sudbury, Michael graduated from Laurentian University in 1989. Upon graduation, he started his career with London Life. In 1997 Michael formed DiBrina & Associate’s & Sure Benefits Consulting.

President and founder of the DiBrina Group of companies, Michael, along with his partners, grew the company to over 90 employees with 3 locations – Toronto, New Liskeard and head office in Sudbury.

In 2017, a testament to Michael’s strategic planning and execution and visionary leadership, the DiBrina Group was acquired by Gallagher. Michael and his partners, acted upon an opportunity to elevate the company, including staff and the city of Sudbury, to an international stage and global market presence.

His entrepreneurial achievements and dedication to his clients and community have been continually recognized throughout his career. Michael is a facilitator and builder of ‘word class’ management and product development teams.

In fact, his entrepreneurial achievements were recognized in 2013 when he received the Bell Excellence Award for ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’. Michael is a lifetime member of the prestigious Million Dollar Round Table and qualifies annually for the Top of the Table which is a level of performance reached by less than .5% of financial advisors worldwide. He holds a unique designation of Trust & Estate Practitioner (TEP), along with the highest honours and recognition that can be awarded to a Life Underwriter.

Michael is internationally recognized as a leader in the industry. Over the years, Michael’s business interests have gone beyond this industry. He has expanded and branched out to other facets both in Canada and the United States.

Michael is a strong believer in reinvesting in the community. He has devoted his time to many initiatives including his participation on many boards including the United Way, local hospitals, the hospice, the Chamber of Commerce, the Rotary Club, universities and the Cancer Centre.

Michael is distinguished as an extremely visible and approachable leader in the community. He is described as a man of tremendous integrity, and as such has earned the respect of his employees, clients and industry colleagues across Canada, and abroad.

Gianni has significant experience (20+ years) in the areas construction/supervision/project execution/estimating and project delivery. The range of his expertise is primarily related to the mining industry, including flash furnaces, electric furnaces, blast furnaces, fluid bed roasters, converters, top blown rotary furnaces and converters, fluid bed and rotary dryers and rotary kilns for application in nickel sulfide/PGM smelting and converting, copper smelting and converting, lead and zinc smelting and refining, primary iron.  Mr. Grossi’s experience also extends to steelmaking and specialty stainless steel production, cement production and pulp and paper.

In addition to the direct construction experience working in the trade, Gianni has for the past 15 years been either the guiding principle, sponsor, project manager or construction manager for major projects executed with Vale in Thompson and Sudbury, Glencore in Sudbury, Algoma Steel, Stelco,

Dofasco, Anglo Platinum, ILVA Steelworks, in Taranto, Italy, as well as several projects located in the Rustenburg PGM belt, South Africa.

Under Gianni’s leadership, Anmar has played a major role in the modernization of today’s mining industry. Today, mining is more efficient, profitable and lean, and Anmar plays a key role in delivering on those expectations. Grossi’s business has helped one of the world’s largest mining companies, Vale, reduce downtime during its required maintenance periods. In what used to be a requisite repair and refresh each year for a minimum 4-5 weeks (meaning no mining or production), has turned into a once every 2.5 years cycle lasting between 9 and 12 days. This efficiency is directly attributed to the insight, experience and expertise Anmar offers.

Anmar and its’ subsidiaries contribute greatly to the global economy and growing skilled workforce. He employs nearly 350 people year-round, increasing the workforce to nearly 700 during shutdowns at various plants throughout Ontario. Gianni lives by the company’s core values, each and every day…safety, service, teamwork, responsibility, diversity and integrity.

In addition to Gianni’s significant professional contributions, Anmar has played a significant role in philanthropy in the Greater Sudbury community and beyond through a variety of generous donations to organizations such as the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, Laurentian University, Ducks Unlimited and the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation.

Maxim Jean-Louis is President – Chief Executive Officer of Contact North | Contact Nord, Ontario’s Distance Education and Training Network, headquartered in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

Prior to arriving at Contact North | Contact Nord in 1996, Maxim worked in senior management roles for over 15 years at Athabasca University in Alberta, Canada’s open university. Maxim’s current board memberships include:

Executive Committee of the International Council for Open and Distance Education
Polar Knowledge Canada
Ontario Aboriginal Postsecondary Education and Training Working Table
Renewed Computer Technology (RCT)
Art Gallery of Sudbury

He is also a member of the Comité consultatif en matière d’éducation postsecondaire en langue française dans les régions du Centre et du Sud-ouest.

Maxim is a former Chair of the Board of Directors of the World University Service of Canada and of the Optical Regional Advanced Network of Ontario, as well as a past member of Ontario’s Postsecondary Education Quality Assessment Board, and he served as a member of the Canadian Advisory Mission to support the implementation of the South African National Qualifications Framework (NQF) by the South African Qualifications Authority. He also served as President of Collège des Grands Lacs, one of Ontario’s three French-language community colleges.

In 2011, Maxim was appointed Special Advisor to Ontario’s Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities for an Ontario Online Institute, producing a 125-page report and recommendations to the Minister on opportunities for online learning in the province.

At Contact North | Contact Nord, Maxim leads a team of 300 staff supporting the delivery of education and training opportunities from the province’s 24 public colleges, 22 public universities, and 250 literacy and basic skills and training providers to Ontarians in 600 small, rural, remote, Aboriginal and Francophone communities through 112 online learning centres covering 1 million square kilometres. These local online learning centres are equipped with web conferencing, videoconferencing and audioconferencing distance delivery platforms, as well as computer workstations and high-speed internet for students to participate in their synchronous and asynchronous courses. Support services are available in English and French.

Maxim is author and/or coordinator of major publications in the area of online learning and distance education and has been a participant / presenter at major conferences on distance education and alternative forms of delivery, such as the International Conference on Distance Education (ICDE) and the conferences led by the Canadian Association of Distance Education (CADE).

He is married with two adult sons and lives in Sudbury, Ontario.

Trevor Lalonde is the Controller for Fisher Wavy Inc., one of Northern Ontario’s largest concrete producer. In this role he is responsible for all financial activities of the business and works very closely with the operations group. Trevor is deeply driven by operational efficiencies and prides himself on the changes he implemented since starting with the company.

Prior to joining Fisher Wavy, Trevor worked as a Tax Senior Manager with KPMG advising clients on tax compliance, tax planning and general business matters. He can be described by his peers as dedicated, hardworking, and personable. Trevor continues to have a strong sense of devotion to his work and is always willing to go above and beyond to improve his skills and motivate those around him.

Trevor received his Chartered Accountant / Chartered Professional Accountant designation in 2013 and completed his In-Depth Tax Certificate in 2017. Trevor currently sits on the Sudbury Chamber of Commerce board in the role of Treasurer and has previously sat on the board for the Sudbury Young Professionals Association in the role of Vice Chair. Trevor is a proud husband and father, a die-hard Raptors fan and loves to spend his spare time camping and golfing.

“Miikawaadizi Waaskonee Giizis Kwe” is an urban, Indigenous member of the Shawanaga First Nation. Jennifer has worked in the design industry for over 15 years, with work experience ranging from research and assessments to implementation and support for both the private and public sector.

She facilitates active discussions and goal setting, helping her clients build brands and communications that represent themselves, their communities and the mission they want to achieve.

Understanding the fundamentals of business, networking, and politics, Jennifer sits on a number of boards to help provide insight and advice to the following boards:

-Registered Graphics Designers – Vice President of Diversity & Inclusion
-Sudbury Chamber of Commerce
-Nickel Basin Federal Development Corporation

Emma is an accomplished leader demonstrated by her dedication to the Sea Cadet program in Sudbury. Now in her final year, she will age out of the program as the corps Coxswain, the senior cadet leader. Throughout her cadet career Emma has been tasked with the mentoring younger cadets, provided leadership through training programs and teaching. She was appointed to sit on the Northern Ontario Area Command Team for Cadets Canada as the cadet representative, a committee that develops policy and oversees general business activities for Cadets Canada.

These responsibilities and experiences have taught her advanced leadership, time management, and conflict resolution skills. She is completing her first year in the Police Foundations program at Cambrian College with her eyes set on law school in New Brunswick.