WORKSHOPS & PANELS FOR CONFERENCES & RETREATS
Andria Gillis
Workshops & Panels for Organisations Ready to Lead Differently
Andria Gillis is the founder of People Lab and one of a small number of practitioners in North America with an Advanced Certification in Team Coaching from the ICF and Senior Practitioner status with the Global Team Coaching Institute. She has spent 20 years leading teams inside organisations before becoming a coach. She brings both the methodology and the lived experience of what it actually feels like to be inside a team that is not working.
NEW FOR 2026
Session Topics
From individual excellence to collective capacity
For leadership conferences, association events, and organisational offsites. The session makes the case that the ceiling most teams hit is not about individual capability, it is about how they work together as a system. Practical, research-backed, and immediately applicable.
Formats Available: Workshop 90 minutes to half day · Panel or fireside
How Systemic Team Coaching can Support your Organization
For coaching associations, HR conferences, and learning and development events. Demystifies systemic team coaching for practitioners and people leaders: what it is, how it differs from individual coaching and facilitation, and when it is the right intervention.
Formats available: Workshop 60 to 90 minutes · Panel or fireside
Building the Partnership that builds the Business
For entrepreneurship conferences, founder events, and startup ecosystems. The research is unambiguous, most partnerships fail relationally before they fail financially. This session gives co-founders and business partners practical frameworks before tension forces the conversation.
Formats available: Workshop 90 minute to half day. Panel or Fireside
Andria empowered our team with listening, insights, intelligence and tools - what we learned is now guiding our team vision - Bravo, Andria
Michelle de Clair, Borealis Creative
What conference organisers need to know
Session Formats: Workshops · Panels · Firesides
Session lengths: 60 to 90 min workshop · Half-day intensive · Multi-day offsite
Audience size: Any — sessions designed for 20 to 500 participants
In-person or virtual: Both available
Location: Based in Toronto · Available nationally and internationally
AV requirements: Slides · Lapel or handheld mic · Projector or screen
Room setup: Rounds or clusters for workshop
Pre-event call: 30 minutes with organiser to tailor content to audience
Language: English
Tailoring and customization
Every session is adapted to the specific audience, sector, and conference theme. Andria has designed and delivered sessions for boards, associations, leadership teams, nonprofit sector conferences , and technology company offsites.
A 30-minute pre-event call is standard practice for all engagements.
Background and Training
Andria Gillis holds an Advanced Certification in Team Coaching and is a Professional Certified Coach with the International Coaching Federation. She is a Certified Senior Practitioner in Team Coaching with the Global Team Coaching Institute, a Faculty Member and Systemic Team Coaching Supervisor at Renewal Associates, and has completed Supervision Training at Oxford Brookes Business School.
Her coaching approach integrates systemic thinking, applied neuroscience, and adult development theory. She has worked with startups, nonprofits, founder-led companies, and large organisations across healthcare, technology, media, and social impact, with particular focus on mission-driven organisations building the capacity to grow with integrity.
People Lab works locally and globally, with clients across Canada, the United States, and internationally.
Advanced Certification in Team Coaching – International Coaching Federation (ICF)
Professional Certified Coach (PCC) – International Coaching Federation
Certified Senior Practitioner in Team Coaching – Global Team Coaching Institute (GTCI)
Faculty Member – Systemic Team Coaching, Renewal Associates
Associate @ Renewal International Global Coaching Network
Organizational Mindfulness Facilitator, Institute for Organizational Science and Mind
Systemic Team Coaching Supervisior, Renewal Associates
Advanced Coach Supervision Training – Oxford Brookes Business School
What clients say.
We wanted to find a way to look at how kindness and compassion fits into our organization. We turned to People Lab to look at our centre in ways we haven’t done before. Andria helped us define how we can ensure kindness, compassion and respect exists within our organization. She helped us define areas in which we could incorporate change and provided us with powerful tools. Andria continues to support our program; she is one of the best investments our organization has committed to. - Heather Humphries, HPCC.
Assets for event organizers
Co-founders and business partners who are serious about building something together and want to do it well.
You might be in the early stages, still figuring out how to work alongside each other. You might be further along, navigating the tension that comes with growth. Or you might be at an inflection point where the decisions ahead are significant enough that getting genuinely aligned really matters.
You do not need to be in conflict to benefit from this work. The partners who get the most from it usually come in when things are going reasonably well and they want to keep it that way.
Curious whether this is the right fit?
Past Events
Speaking, Panels & Workshop Experience
2026 Self Leadership For Health Care Professionals
2026 Inner Leadership: Mindfulness and Self-Leadership Training for Non-Profits, 8-week workshop, InterFaith Works of Central New York
2025 3D Systems Mapping with Melanie Goodchild, Canadian Association of Science Centres
2024 Amplifying Impact: Exploring the Emerging Opportunities of Generative AI for Your Organization. 6 sessions over 4 months.
2021 Annual Planning Day, Cuso International
2021 Panel Host & Moderator: Uncomplicating Complexity, CASC Conference
2019 Decision Making in Complexity, Loran Scholars
2019 Gairdner Awards: L'Oréal-UNESCO Diversity & Excellence in Science Forum Facilitator
2019 Team Building & Wellness, Ottawa Riverkeeper
2019-2026 Kindness & Compassion at Work. Delivered online and in person to multiple organizations.
2018 Powerful Communication, half-day working session, Borealis Creative
People Lab Panels, 2019-2020 Created and Hosted by Andria Gillis:
Kindness & Compassion at Work, April 2019. Panelists: Michelle Krasny, Sean McSweeney, Anil Kanji, Rudy Ruttiman, Sadia Zaman
Resiliency & Adaptability as Essential Skills, June 2019. Panelists: Renante Rondina, Hassel Aviles, Julie Jarvis, Andy Forest
Being Human at Work: Tools for Authentic Leadership, December 2019. Panelists: J'net Ayay Qwa Yak Sheelth, Andreas Souvaliotis, Michelle de Clair
Powerful Communication Panel, March 2020. Panelists: Xania Khan, Anthony Morgan, Alyssa Huggins
WeWork Wednesdays, 2018
Work/Live Balance Myth,
Need a Better Plan? Effective Goal Planning, WeWork Wellness
Future Planning with Scott Sampson, for Canadian Association of Science Centres
Ongoing Strategic Planning Offsites for Non-Profits, Working Sessions embedded with in Team Coaching