The Automotive Industries Association of Canada represents, supports and leads innovation in Canada’s $37.8 billion auto care sector.
Our spokespeople are open to media requests and speaking opportunities at automotive industry conferences. We provide expertise in many aspects of the auto care sector, ranging from government advocacy, training programs, and best practices across the mechanical and collision sector of the auto care industry.
For those looking to book a spokesperson or receive a quote for a media article, contact communications@aiacanada.com.
Headshots are available upon request to communications@aiacanada.com
Alana Baker
Alana Baker is the vice president of government relations and research at AIA Canada. An accomplished government and public affairs professional, Alana Baker has over 15 years of experience and a proven track record of executing high impact advocacy and public relations campaigns.
Alana launched her career at a local consultancy firm in 2005, providing public affairs advice to senior association executives across North America. Prior to joining the Automotive Industries Association of Canada (AIA Canada), Alana was with the Hotel Association of Canada where she quickly rose through the ranks from director to vice-president and played a lead role in achieving significant advocacy wins on behalf of the industry.
Alana’s work on advocacy campaigns has received multiple awards and she is the recipient of the PR News “Top 15 to Watch” award, in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the public relations field. Alana has been recently recognized as a Top 100 Lobbyist by The Hill Times in 2022 and 2023.
Alana currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Government Relations Institute of Canada.
Alana is available to speak on the following topics:
- Right to repair
- Government relations
- Advocacy priorities within the auto care industry
Jean-François Champagne, CAE
Jean-François (JF) Champagne is the president and chief executive officer of the Automotive Industries Association of Canada (AIA Canada), a non-profit organization that is the voice and resource of a $37.8 billion industry with thousands of professional members from coast to coast. Under JF’s leadership, AIA Canada brings together the entire auto care supply and service chain and equips its members with the tools, skills, profile, and knowledge they need to succeed in a fast-paced, competitive landscape.
Since joining AIA Canada in 2015, JF has focused his efforts on helping guide members and the sector overall on a variety of issues, including electric vehicles (EV), labour sustainability and digital transformation.
As a Certified Association Executive (CAE) and a technology visionary, JF leads with a focus on ensuring organizations thrive in the digital age. He is a regular speaker at automotive industry and association-management conferences, where he shares his expertise on the integration of technology in strategic planning to help shape better and stronger organizations.
JF Champagne currently serves as the Chair of the Canadian Automobile Service Information Standard (CASIS), as the Vice-Chair of the Canadian Society of Association Executives (CSAE) and as a board member of the Automotive Business School of Canada (ASBC). He is also a representative on the Canadian Automobile Partnership Council (CAPC).
JF is available to speak on the following topics:
- Right to repair
- Government relations
- Electric and hybrid vehicles
- Innovation and advocacy in the auto care sector
Stuart Klein
Stuart (Stu) Klein is the vice president of collision programs at AIA Canada. Stu has focused his entire career in the collision industry. Being a Red Seal technician, he spent his first 20 years working in repair shops as a collision technician, painter, production manager, estimator and general manager.
His desire to progress led him to State Farm Insurance where he spent the next 10 years growing from an appraiser to monitoring a territory of direct repair facilities. An opportunity to join the Fix Network head office came next, where he has spent the last 15 years working closely with shops helping them focus on improvement, and then running their state-of-the-art training facility in Milton Ontario since it opened in 2019.
Stu has always been a promoter of the industry and an advocate of continuous training and learning. He started as an I-Car Canada instructor in 2005, is a certified welding trainer and maintains his personal I-Car Platinum status as a structural technician, non-structural technician, painter, and estimator.
He has been involved with Skills Canada as a judge at both the provincial and national levels and has been involved in countless events aimed at promoting the collision industry to youth.
Stu is available to speak on the following topics:
- I-CAR
- Collision programs
- Shop management
- Insurance relations
- Customer service in the collision sector
- Vehicle repairs
- Electric vehicles and collision repairs
- ADAS