| Professional Development Institute

Featured Expert Events

Busy professionals keep their edge by regularly upgrading their knowledge, keeping up with the latest in best practices and adding new skills. To help, we are proud to offer networking events featuring national and international experts on current topics such as government, security and policy, leadership and other matters important to Canadians today.

Our featured expert events provide opportunities to build and strengthen key relationships and stay current as knowledge evolves and new trends emerge.

To register, choose event and follow the online registration process.

Crisis Communications: Lessons from the Ottawa-Gatineau Tornadoes
When: December 13, 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM
Where: Desmarais Building, 55 Laurier Avenue East, 12th Floor, Room 12110
On September 21st, Ottawa-Gatineau was hit with a devastating series of tornadoes. With over 174,000 people without power, it was a natural disaster unlike anything the region had experienced in decades. The tornadoes presented a unique case study in terms of crisis communications planning, strategic communications, and reputation management. While many organizations have been praised for their timely and transparent information sharing during the storm, others faced significant difficulties in reaching audiences effectively, particularly with the loss of core communications channels. Join us as we explore the lessons learned by local Ottawa communication leaders, and discuss how strong communications supported the region during one of its most damaging events.

Bill Browder: From Russia’s largest foreign investor to President Putin’s Public Enemy No. 1
When: February 7, 2019, 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Where: Royal Military Institute, 426 University Avenue, TORONTO, ON
Bill Brower in his own words on February 7, 2019 at the Royal Canadian Military Institute, in Toronto, delivers his keynote talk entitled “Spotlight on President Putin with the Magnitsky Act”. CEO and co-founder of investment fund Hermitage Capital Management, Browder held at one time the largest foreign investment portfolio in Russia. While in Russia, Browder exposed corrupt oligarchs and revealed the companies they were robbing causing Vladimir Putin to turn on him declaring him a “threat to national security”. Based on his New York Times bestseller, Red Notice, Bill Browder’s talk will include his harrowing and inspiring story, from doing business in Russia to the murder of his attorney, Sergei Magnitsky, and his mission to bring those responsible to justice. The Economist called Red Notice “a sizzling account of Mr. Browder’s rise, fall, and metamorphosis from bombastic financier to renowned human-rights activist.” Bill Browder's global campaign to expose corruption and human rights abuses resulted in the Magnitsky Act, which the US Congress passed in 2012. Versions of the Magnitsky Act have already been adopted by several other countries, including Canada in 2017 and the United Kingdom in 2018 while members in the European Parliament are proposing an EU wide Magnitsky Act.