Eric Lobay - Region President
Eric works with the Alberta Health Services Emergency/Disaster Management team in the Edmonton Zone. In his role, Eric supports the Zone’s leadership teams with incident response, post-incident recovery and fostering a culture of resiliency. Eric has a particular interest in healthcare CBRN/HazMat preparedness and is the Program Lead for this initiative in the Zone. Eric is a graduate of Philadelphia University’s Disaster Medicine and Management Master’s Degree program, holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from the University of Alberta and is a Certified Emergency Manager and Certified Business Continuity Professional.

Dave Brand - Region Vice President
Dave Brand is a civil engineer, the Director of Emergency Management for Red Deer County (Alberta, Canada), and the team lead for the Central Region All-Hazards Incident Management Team, with over 20 years of experience working with government agencies of all levels. Dave loves to build relationships through teaching, learning, speaking, and sharing with colleagues across disciplines, but Dave also appreciates the solitude and natural splendour of hiking in the Rocky Mountains close to home.

Michelle Pratt – Region Secretary
Michelle is a Business Continuity and Emergency Management Advisor for a petrochemical business company and a volunteer intern to Richard Serino, 8th Deputy Administrator of FEMA. Michelle is an avid writer and has contributed articles to Haznet and Homeland Security Today magazine. Michelle was the 2019 Recipient of the Tom Bardes Memorial Fund Scholarship Award (Awarded by DRIE). Currently she holds her professional designation as a Professional Human Ecologist (PHEc.).

Sarah Olson - Chair, Communications Committee
As Director & Co-Founder, Synergize Business Solutions, Sarah has 15 years of business experience with proven expertise in economic development, business development, stakeholder engagement and customer relationship management – leveraged in her current role at Synergize, which offers strategic planning, business development, and team training services to the private and public sectors. Sarah is additionally a member of the IAP2 -International Association for Public Participation.
Sarah began her career in municipal economic development before moving into corporate development for private enterprise. Her recent work as Director of Corporate Development with a clean technology start-up, saw the company through to its final stages of commercialization. Her continuing education has further provided a certificate of Entrepreneurship with the Canadian Environmental Technology Advancement Corporation (CETAC- West) and is currently pursuing Foundations in Public Participation Training.

Grayson Cockett - IAEM-Alberta Region Partnership & Engagement Director
Grayson Cockett is a Healthcare Disaster Manager, member of Canada Taskforce 2, and host of the ‘Emergency Preparedness in Canada’ (EPIC) Podcast. Grayson has a background in emergency response program development, event management, education delivery, and response activities with both the Canadian Armed Forces internationally, and Emergency Medical Services within Alberta. Grayson is passionate about building preparedness through distributed leadership, and by leveraging existing capacities and partnerships towards a common goal of a more prepared Canada.