Speakers and Meetings

Speakers

January 14, 2026
Guest speaker - John Walsh
Associate Professor of Classical Studies and Director of the School of Languages and Literatures at the University of Guelph.

His scholarly work focuses on ancient political thought, war, leadership, and the relationship between education and civic authority. His peer-reviewed research examines how classical societies understood citizenship, military obligation, and the moral limits of power, with particular attention to the ways states use history, ritual, and commemoration to sustain political order in times of strain.

John is the co-founder of the Serving Scholar Program, which supports members of the Canadian Armed Forces pursuing higher education and strengthens civil–military relations within the university. His talk, Arma et Litterae: the Serving Scholar Program, will discuss the intellectual origins and practical aims of the Serving Scholar Program, as well as Project Reunion, a commemorative scholarly initiative that will take students who are serving members of the Armed Forces to WW1 battlefields and memorials as the culminating academic and civic project marking the 100th anniversary of War Memorial Hall.

February 11, 2026
Guest speaker - Kim Shippey
National Director of Development for the Homes for Heroes Foundation.

Kim Shippey brings over 20 years of experience in nonprofit fundraising, with expertise in capital campaign management, major giving, organizational strategy, and branding and communications. With a personal connection to the military through her family, Kim is committed to advocating for the challenges faced by Veterans. Her passion drives her to deliver impactful solutions that meet their needs. In addition, Kim has successfully led several multimillion dollar fundraising initiatives and capital campaigns.

Before joining Homes for Heroes, she held key roles in social service agencies, post-secondary institutions, arts organizations, and independent schools. A firm believer in the power of collaboration and relationship-building, Kim works to cultivate meaningful connections with donors and stakeholders, ensuring every contribution has a lasting impact including; empowering Homes for Heroes to advance its important mission.

Kim holds a Master of Music degree from Western University and the Royal College of Music, U.K., and proudly serves as a board member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals Golden Horseshoe Chapter and is the Chair of the Government Relations Committee.

March 11, 2026
Guest speaker - Andrew Service
Business Development Manager at General Dynamics Land Systems London (GDLS).

Andrew Service is the Manager for Strategy and Business Development for General Dynamics Land Systems–Canada responsible for the Canadian market, appointed in May 2023.

Mr. Service’s responsibilities in this role include building trusted customer relations, developing a detailed understanding of the Canadian Armed Forces security priorities and defence requirements, and promoting the company’s range of combat-proven technologies, platforms and services. Mr. Service works with GDLS teams (Program, Engineering, Supply Chain, Production and Sustainment) across the organization to inform customer requirements and position GDLS’s products and services for future new business opportunities. Andrew is based in London, Ontario, Canada.

Andrew brings to this position more than 25 years of experience in the defense industry. Prior to his current role, Andrew was the Project Engineering Manager for GDLS-C’s USMC, US Army Stryker, FMS and International contracts. In this position, he managed the development and test of our most networked, light weight and digitally advanced platform; this platform was selected by the USMC for the ARV program. Andrew was previously the Program Manager for the Canadian LAV UP Program from the Definition phase through to the LORIT extension. Previous to that, Andrew was posted in South Africa and held Engineering and Program Management positions on the MRAP program.

April 9, 2026
Guest speaker - Honourable David Pratt
Principal of David Pratt & Associates, a government relations and strategic consultancy firm located in Ottawa which he founded 14 years ago.

Mr. Pratt was an elected representative at the municipal, regional and federal levels for 16 years. Mr. Pratt will discuss current geopolitics, what’s happening in the US, Ukraine and Iran, with a little Greek philosophy thrown in to pay homage to the wisdom of the ancients.

Mr. Pratt was an elected representative at the municipal, regional and federal levels for 16 years. Mr. Pratt will discuss current geopolitics, what’s happening in the US, Ukraine and Iran, with a little Greek philosophy thrown in to pay homage to the wisdom of the ancients.

First elected to the House of Commons in 1997, he was Chair of the Standing Committee on National Defence and Veterans Affairs from 2001 to 2003. He also served two foreign ministers as a Special Envoy to Sierra Leone during the rebel war and was the Honorary Consul for Sierra Leone for 10 years. He became Canada’s 36th Minister of National Defence in 2003 in the Government of Prime Minister Paul Martin. As Minister, he initiated several major procurements.
After politics, he spent four years as a Special Advisor to the Secretary General of the Canadian Red Cross where his focus was improving relations between the Red Cross and all levels of government. He wrote two major reports on the role of the Red Cross as “Auxiliary to Government” and helped draft legislation to renew the mandate of the organization.

After his work with the Red Cross, he became an independent consultant and spent five months in Baghdad, Iraq as a Senior Parliamentary Expert with the USAID sponsored Iraq Legislative Strengthening Program – the largest legislative capacity building project in the world. Mr. Pratt has written scholarly papers, newspaper articles and lectured on a variety of subjects including grand strategy, Canada’s Army Reserves, democracy promotion, foreign intelligence, Canada-US interoperability and emergency preparedness.

In 2014, he was inducted as a Knight in the Order of St. George. In 2018, he participated in the prestigious Oxford Union debates at Oxford University and in 2022, 2023, and 2025 he completed three triathlons.

May 13, 2026
Guest speaker - Arther McClelland
His presentation for the GCC will be; The Rich Trove of Military Resources at the Ivey Family London Room at the London Central Public Library.

Mr. McClelland is a military historian who has travelled through the villages and hamlets of Middlesex and surrounding counties detailing historical events that have taken place.

Arthur McClelland grew up in Oxford County and received his Masters in Library Science from the University of Western Ontario in 1984. He has been a librarian at the London Public Library for 38 years and has been in charge of the Ivey Family London Room for 28 of those 38 years. He has written entries in several local history books on London and newspaper articles on genealogy and local history.

June 10, 2026
Guest speaker - Lieutenant Commander Martinus (Martijn L.) Van Essen
His presentation for the GCC will be: A definitive historical reconstruction of Operation Cannonshot.
Lieutenant Commander Van Essen will join us by ZOOM from the Netherlands.

Operation Cannonshot was an offensive launched by the Canadian Army in April 1945 that liberated Apeldoorn and region. Many local Army units participated in this offensive including the 1st Hussars and the Royal Canadian Regiment amongst others.

Martijn Van Essen grew up in the Apeldoorn region of the Netherlands where his family has lived for multiple generations, including during the Second World War.

The Operation Cannonshot Organization based in the Apeldoorn region of the Netherlands remembers and honours the sacrifices made during the liberation. This organization is composed of local people from all walks of life.

The motto of the organization is "Building bridges between the past and future". During the anniversary of the liberation, Op Cannonshot hosts reenactments, recognition of past events with primary school engagement, and hosts educational tours and activities.

Lieutenant Commander Martijn Van Essen is a serving staff officer in a headquarters in the Maritime Operations cell. He and his family have had an ongoing interest in the history of the Netherlands. He has coauthored an excellent book called "Operation Cannonshot", presently only available in the Dutch language.

September 30, 2026
Guest speaker - Captain Sara Palumbo
Sara will speak about her journey to the Regular Forces at the age of 47; her experiences with CAF Health Services at the tactical level as a Health Services Management Officer; and her recent deployment to Latvia as the Operations Officer (S3) for the Multinational Medical Unit as part of the Multi-National Brigade Latvia, which is a Canadian-led brigade.

Sara will outline the challenges that she faced in her task of planning MMU operations from a capability perspective (people and equipment and logistics) and the multitude of ways that we practiced interoperability. She will also touch on the fighting spirit of Canadian soldiers, specifically in Health Services.

Throughout her lifetime, Sara Palumbo has had two passions: Entrepreneurship and the Canadian Armed Forces.

Born and raised in Sarnia, Ontario, she spent 8 years in the army cadet program with 102 RC(Army)CC – First Hussars, Sarnia- with 6 years as a cadet and 2 years following as a Civilian Instructor. She completed 6 serials of summer training (3 as a Staff Cadet) at Ipperwash Cadet Camp and 2 years at Blackdown Cadet Camp.

She attended University of Toronto (English and Canadian Studies) but decided to leave after two years when the opportunity to build a business with her fiancé arose. For the next 15 years (as Sara Anderson), she developed, owned, and operated Bonnie Doon Golf & Country Club, a 27-hole golf course in Camlachie, Ontario, together with her first husband, who also happened to be a Primary Reserve Officer in the First Hussars, C Squadron, Sarnia. She supported him from the rear throughout countless training nights, weekends, exercises, and courses, and proudly supported him through 2 deployments to Afghanistan, keeping the homefires burning and the business running. Sara ran the business on her own for the final 5 years of ownership, making all marketing, financial, procurement, and staffing decisions in her capacity as General Manager while her then-husband worked a Class B Contract at 31 Brigade Headquarters.

Following the sale of the golf course in 2011, she returned to school to complete her degree while also working a variety of short- term jobs, the favourite of which was teaching small-business owners how to do their own bookkeeping. She then held the position of Financial Controller for Hayter Plumbing & Heating Ltd in Alvinston, Ontario- an independent, owner-operated enterprise.

But the fire of passion for the military still burned. In 2022, she decided to chase down her dream of joining the Regular Forces.

She started her Basic Military Officer Qualification course in August of 2022, graduating a week after her 48th birthday. She was posted to 2 Field Ambulance in Petawawa, Ontario, and her skills and experience were immediately put to good use. In four short years, she completed her trade training as well as the Health Services Tactical Operations Course, the Army Tactical Operations Course at the Army Tactics School in Gagetown, New Brunswick, and the NATO Patient Evacuation Co-ordination Centre Course in Germany. She has held the positions of 2 Fd Amb Training Officer, Evacuation Company Commander, and Operations Officer, while also rebuilding the Unit Non-Public Fund Committee and spearheading the Normandy Officer’s Mess Patio Rebuild project. She then deployed on Roto 26-01 of Op REASSURANCE as the Operations Officer (S3) of Multi-National Brigade Latvia’s Multi-National Medical Unit. She is now posted to the Canadian Forces Health Services Training Centre in Borden, Ontario, in the HSM Training Cell, where she can pass on her passion for tactical level field ambulance work to the next generation of officers.

Sara holds a Diploma in Culinary Management and a Diploma in Business Administration-Accounting from Lambton College in Sarnia, Ontario, as well as an Honours Bachelor of Business Administration from Nipissing University. She was a Rotary Exchange Student to Hamar, Norway in 1991-92 and is always pining for the fjords. She has previously served on the Board of Directors for the Sarnia-Lambton Children’s Aid Society; Tourism Sarnia-Lambton; Lambton Shores Minor Hockey Association (Treasurer); Lawrence House Centre for the Arts (Treasurer); and the Kiwanis Club of Forest.

Her daughter, Arielle, is pursuing her MSW at Laurier and her son, Spencer, has just graduated from UWindsor. He serves in 1H, C Squadron, as an Armoured Crewman. They are not really sure where their mother is going to go next as she lives out her Army dreams , but they encourage her with great enthusiasm every step of the way