Vita is DIALOG’s Marketing and Business Development Leader in the Calgary studio. Her enthusiasm and vision was immediately put to use in developing a local strategic plan for the team to market and proactively engage in business development. Vita’s hands-on approach has helped create a proactive and nimble group. She brings with her an understanding of the many facets of marketing, communications, and business development both from the consultant and client side.
Vita is widely recognized as a leader within the Calgary studio and beyond for both her marketing expertise and in fostering culture within the studio, helping organize internal and external industry events. Vita embodies what it means to be a leader at DIALOG, extending well beyond her defined role, in her attitude, actions, and interactions with everyone she works with.
Vita is a member of the Society for Marketing Professional Services and affiliate of the Association of Registered Graphic Designers, and is extremely involved in the community as former President and Director of the Scarboro Community Association for five years, and current Board Director of Crossroads Farmers Market. She holds a B.A. in English from the University of Toronto, and an Interior Design Diploma with Honours from the International Academy of Design and Technology.
Sebastián has more than a decade of experience in building performance simulation and analysis over a range of market sectors including higher education, healthcare, sports & recreation, and mixed-use buildings. His focus is on low carbon design of the built environment, including complying with local green building codes, attaining relevant certifications (like Net Zero Carbon or LEED), and hitting energy efficiency targets.
Sebastián encourages design teams from an early stage to use building performance simulations as a digital sandbox. Used in this way, simulations allow teams to “play” with different building characteristics, quickly and easily exploring their impact on performance before being built. This provides quantifiable data to confirm or challenge the value of different building design options, allowing designers to strive for higher performance building design.
In addition to his work at DIALOG, Sebastián is a Board Member of the Canadian Chapter of the International Building Performance Simulation Association and with Sustainable Buildings Canada. He is a recognized subject matter expert, with numerous publications in peer reviewed journals.
Sebastián is both a trusted advisor and a skilled technician, with an ability to distill results of complex analyses into clear, actionable guidance.
As Studio Operations Manager (SOM) for DIALOG Vancouver, Edel focuses on managing a sustainable business and a culture of preeminent design. With a degree in Business, Edel is especially drawn to understanding the inner workings of companies, cultures, and countries. She has lived and worked in Europe, Australia, and North America, and provided design and leadership expertise to Professional Services practices in various sectors.
At the core of Edel’s work is the drive to build and support efficient and coordinated approaches to tasks, projects, and initiatives. She strikes the right balance of strategic and operational thinking to create this, and cuts through any noise and unnecessary waste. Edel is equally impactful on an individual level through her ongoing mentorship and advocacy. Her approach to leadership results in her team members developing a sense of ownership both in their own work as well as on behalf of the team and practice. Edel envisions DIALOG as a source for good and seeks to contribute to this by setting a framework for others to continue to positively impact the wellbeing of our communities.
As DIALOG’s leader of design technology, Megan brings innovation to the firm while keeping a pulse on existing technology solutions. She is passionate about architecture and the emerging technologies that create and surround the built environment. Megan leverages design technology to engage others in finding and delivering the best solutions and encouraging collaboration throughout project lifecycles. Training and education as the cornerstones of Megan’s approach. She implements BIM technology and standards across the DIALOG community, improving design processes, helping teams at all project stages, and successfully reducing the number of issues that arise over the arc of a project. In her tenure at DIALOG, Megan has evolved our Design Technology team into a creative hub for delivering knowledge to DIALOGers and clients. Within the broader field, Megan participates in the Edmonton Construction Association with the Young Professionals Group (YP Merge) as a BIM representative, sits on the Board of Directors for the International Facility Management Association of Northern Alberta (IFMA NAC), and is member of the digitization and data glossary task group for CanBIM, and is the Event Director for the Edmonton BIM Community (eBIMc).
As studio operations manager, Paige builds on her background in business and as an executive strategist to nurture the culture in our Edmonton studio. She implements solutions for day-to-day management issues and long-term strategies that make DIALOG a better place. Paige works closely with the Studio Chair, partners, and Human Resources to oversee studio finances and projections and with other teams to increase efficiency and coordination across the studio. Appreciated for her kind and direct leadership style, she has an integrated and collaborative working style in any initiative or task. Paige demonstrated our values of collaboration, aspiration, diversity, and optimism and is a critical part of our growing Edmonton studio.
Michael is DIALOG’s leader of cybersecurity and networks, protecting all of us as we engage with technology every day. He has a passion for security within and outside of technology, keeping the bad actors outside of our environment, and ensuring DIALOGers have secure and responsive access to resources across our networks. Client project teams call upon Michael to answer questions and make recommendations based on networking and security requirements., which he is always able to do in layperson’s terms. Michael’s end-to-end configuration of our network allows DIALOGers to connect with each other, between studios, and with our clients and project teams, quickly and securely. His approach to investigating fresh solutions and working with practice groups helps evaluate our future investments, comparing vendors with security best practices. His knowledge of technology expands past security and networking, elevating the security mindset of the entire DIALOG practice and bringing strategic thinking to the planning and implementation around issues we all currently face.
Rachel joined the DIALOG team in 2018 as the Edmonton studio marketing manager. She is an accomplished marketing and business development leader with over ten years of experience working within the AEC industry. Rachel is enthusiastic about growing DIALOG’s business while building strong relationships with clients and partners.
Rachel brings an impressive range of bid capture planning, pursuit strategy development, and leadership experience to our team. Her experience working with designers and builders on projects from conception to completion provides her with unique insights and a broader depth of understanding project complexities.
As leader of marketing and business development for our healthcare team, Rachel works collaboratively across the practice to elevate DIALOG’s visibility in the global marketplace while strategically growing our portfolio of work.
As a coach and manager, Rachel leads by example, is committed to continuous improvement, and motivates her team and colleagues to reach their fullest potential.
Chrystal sees her role as the Human Resources Manager in our Edmonton studio as a facilitator and innovator. She brings a vibrant voice and compassionate presence to the DIALOG community. A passionate advocate of change and a builder of inclusive workplace culture, Chrystal is dedicated to nurturing a collaborative environment where sharing varied perspectives is encouraged and safe. She drives the design and delivery of several internal training programs and community initiatives that advance diversity and inclusion. As a trusted advisor, Chrystal supports senior leadership on strategic staffing planning, recruitment, compensation, and employee training and development.
Jackie brings her lifelong passion for connecting a business to the numbers to her role as the project accounting manager for our Edmonton studio. She works closely with the director of financial operations, the controller, and the finance team managers to identify best practices and standardize reporting across all of our studios. In developing our project accountants’ performance, Jackie enjoys collaborating, implementing new ideas, and mentoring project managers and the finance studio to build more resilient teams and business approaches.
Kenny has been a leader on the DIALOG technology team for over a decade. Throughout his career, he has supported many of our large-scale projects including, Brookfield Place, New Central Library, and the Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre. One of his initiatory projects with us was the Calgary IFP, in which he tacked the technical challenge of transitioning from AutoCAD to Revit. Kenny is currently responsible for all aspects of technology that enhance employee experience, remote working, and cross-studio collaboration. He is passionate about creating a positive impression of technology service at every touchpoint of our employee and client lifecycles. Always ready to go beyond his current job description to fill gaps, Kenny dives into detail where needed, identifying risks so that we can become a stronger team. His attention to detail is welcomed and often utilized by his colleagues: no request is too small or complicated for Kenny to tackle head-on and resolve quickly.