Spring Tune Up 2022 Recap

On June 15, 2022, ACFO-ACAF hosted another successful Spring Tune Up. The event took place online for the third (and hopefully final) time with over 1,400 people in attendance. This year, the highly anticipated annual professional development event featured inspiring keynotes, a panel and fireside chats that focused on the topic of trust and teamwork at work and in life.

Emcee Lisa Burke-Wallace kicked off the day with opening remarks, welcoming everyone to the event and giving a land acknowledgement. While the event occurred online, the ACFO-ACAF office rests on the traditional and unceded land of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation. Then, ACFO-ACAF president Dany Richard gave updates on ACFO-ACAF initiatives, advocacy, upcoming projects and events to look out for as we begin the new fiscal year.

Five-time Olympic medallists and esteemed Canadian Ice dance pair Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir spoke next, in conversation with host Ian Mendes, senior writer for The Athletic. The highly anticipated fireside chat featured stories from Virtue and Moir’s career in ice dance, musings on the ups and downs they weathered on their journey to become a tour-de-force at the rink and advice for those who are building a team of their own, at work or otherwise.

Carolyn Stern, expert in emotional intelligence, gave the next presentation at Spring Tune Up this year, on the importance of collaboration in the workplace. Making use of the collaborative aspects of the event’s online platform, she asked members in attendance to share their thoughts and ideas as the presentation progressed. She spoke on the importance of remaining open to collaboration even when working remotely and why team leaders should strive to ensure that members of their team feel a sense of belonging at work.

After the lunch break, we heard from Monia Lahaie, the Assistant Comptroller General. Lahaie gave updates to members on initiatives from the Office of the Comptroller General (OCG); from developments in diversity, equity and inclusion at the OCG to the future of hybrid work in the public service after two years of working remotely.

Next up, a conversation between Super Bowl champion and front-line health worker Laurent Duvernay Tardif and Spring Tune Up emcee Lisa Burke-Wallace. Duvernay Tardif was a member of the Super Bowl-winning team from Kansas City in 2019 and chose to skip the 2020 season in order to work at a Montréal long-tern care facility during the pandemic. He and Lisa Burke-Wallace spoke about lessons he learned in the two very different worlds of football and medicine and finding balance in chaos.

In the penultimate session of the day, ACFO-ACAF’s own Director of Professional Development Joe Boughner moderated a panel of experts – CFL wide receiver Nathanial Behar, Big Brother Canada host and executive producer Arisa Cox and former MuchMusic VJ, current entrepreneur and publisher Erica Ehm. The panel shared lessons learned throughout their careers on teamwork and trust, while tying together themes presented previously throughout the day.

Finally capping off the day, Anthony McLean gave a soaring and engaging address on diversity and inclusion. Earnest and hilarious, McLean made the case for how prioritizing diversity and inclusion not only leads to a more welcoming and equitable world, but it’s also the secret to high-performing teams.

Spring Tune Up is always one of our most highly anticipated events each year. We’re so grateful to all of our members who attended, to the team at ACFO-ACAF who worked tirelessly to make it happen and to our speakers for making the event so engaging exciting year after year. We hope to see you next year (hopefully in-person next time!) for Spring Tune Up 2023.

A video recording of the event is available to ACFO-ACAF members. To access a copy, please email ldoty@acfo-acaf.com by July 14, 2022.