On May 31, join U of T faculty and industry experts to explore the innovative research from global trials of the four-day work week, and practical insights on how organizations can work shorter and smarter.
Dr. John Trougakos (Moderator/Host) is a Professor of Organizational Behavior and HR Management at the University of Toronto Scarborough and the Rotman School of Management. He earned his Ph.D. in Management, with a minor in Industrial and Organizational Psychology, from Purdue University. His research focuses on providing insights into current organizational challenges as well as those of the rapidly evolving workplaces of the future, while seeking to improve employee productivity and well-being. John's award-winning research has been published in numerous leading academic outlets and has been featured widely by a variety of media outlets, including The New York Times, BBC, CBC, The Globe and Mail, National Public Radio, Bloomberg, and Time, to name a few. His industry collaborations include Staples Canada, the Ontario Pension Board, AGF, the Canadian Securities Traders Association, Hellenic Pharma, Bell Canada, Deloitte, the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Department of Defense, the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer, and the Work Time Reduction Centre of Excellence, among many others.
Joe O’Connor (Presenter) is the Director and Co-founder of the world’s first Center of Excellence in Work Time Reduction, a new global initiative headquartered in Toronto, launched in partnership with leading people-first transformation company Curium Solutions. Previously, as the CEO of 4 Day Week Global, Joe led the design and implementation of four-day week trials all over the world, supporting hundreds of employers and thousands of employees to make the transition to reduced-hour, productivity-focused working in 2021 and 2022. Joe recently led a research project on work time reduction as a visiting research scholar with Cornell University in New York City. He is now based in Toronto, where he heads up Canadian operations for Curium Solutions in addition to directing the Work Time Reduction CoE. He is also formerly the chairperson of the Four Day Week Ireland campaign, having founded the coalition in 2019, where he developed the world’s first four-day week pilot program and research project in 2021. Joe has been active on the issue of working time reduction since 2018, when he organized a major international conference and research study on The Future of Working Time.
Jay Goldman (Panelist) is a New York Times best-selling author, Forbes Technology and HBR Advisory Council Member, and Co-Founder and CEO of Sensei Labs. Jay thinks he might be the luckiest guy in the world because he got to co-found Sensei Labs and spend his days working hard to invent the Future of Work alongside this amazing crew. He's focused on technology, design, and the art of leadership. Jay co-wrote the New York Times bestseller The Decoded Company: Know Your Talent Better Than You Know Your Customers (Portfolio/Penguin), cooked up the O'Reilly Facebook Cookbook, and contributed to the Harvard Business Review. He frequently speaks to teams and companies about the Future of Work, including at TEDx, NASA, Harvard Business School, Google, and Twitter's World Headquarters.
Jamie Savage (Panelist) is Founder of The Leadership Agency, the executive recruitment partner of choice for North America’s fastest-growing startups and non-profits. The Leadership Agency gets to help build the most impressive companies of our generation. She is an angel investor, board member, and an award-winning entrepreneur. Since founding The Leadership Agency in 2017, she expanded her business into the U.S. in just 18 months, and earned multiple awards, such as; Best Workplaces 2023 (Great Place to Work), Best Service Provider 2019 (HRD Canada), and Best Professional Services 2019 (CanadianSME Business Magazine). A disruptor in the HR and recruitment space, Jamie contributes her expertise to Forbes, The Globe and Mail, CBC, Inc. Magazine, and HRD Magazine. She’s also been published in two books and was a contributing member to a textbook for the CPHR professional designation (Recruitment and Selection in Canada – Eighth Edition). The Leadership Agency is a leading force in the 4-Day Work Week model in Canada and has taken the public stage in both Canada and the U.S., talking about how a women-led bootstrapped startup was one of the first companies in Canada to go on record for making this change. She has also taken part in an international study through Cambridge University in the U.K., on the benefits of the 4-Day Work Week.
Maureen Juniper (Panelist) founded and operates PRAXIS, a national marketing communications agency based in Toronto, more than 20 years ago with a vision to create a best-in-class agency that allowed for a healthy work-life balance. She’s an award-winning communicator and gifted writer, sought out for her expertise in issues and crisis management and stakeholder relations as much as her creative thinking. She maintains her own work-life balance by teaching and practicing yoga and spending time with her horses. She is married, has three children, and enjoys country living.
Quinn Ross (Panelist) is CEO of the Ross Firm, a regional law firm with six offices across Southwestern Ontario and serving clients virtually through remote work and a paperless practice. In 2020, Quinn developed and initiated the first four-day work week law firm in Canada. Quinn was recently selected as one of the Top 25 Most Influential Lawyers in Canada – Changemaker Category, by Canadian Lawyer Magazine. Quinn is a current Bencher (Governor) of the Law Society of Ontario. He sits as the inaugural Chair of the Futures Committee. He is the Past President of the Ontario Bar Association. As President, he initiated the Innovator in Residence program, dedicated to supporting development and evolution in the legal profession. Quinn practices in the area of Corporate/Commercial and related Real Property, as well as representing landowner groups with respect to large infrastructure expropriations. Quinn is a certified Adjudicator of Administrative Tribunals and presently sits on the Law Society of Ontario Tribunal. He is a certified rescue diver and divemaster, ultrarunner and, most importantly, a husband and father. He was awarded a J.D. by the University of Western Ontario in 2004.