Step into the Connections Section at Canada Light Expo 2026 and catch live podcast conversations featuring voices from the lighting community.
From industry experiences and emerging ideas to technology, design and the changing lighting landscape, these sessions bring insightful conversations directly to the show floor.
Welcome to the podcast about Lighting Matters! Our unflinching conversations uncover the nuances and complexities that shape the craft of lighting design. Tune in to explore the pivotal ‘whys’ behind a lighting designer’s choices and find honest answers to your most challenging lighting questions, because Lighting Matters®.
Lisa is an award-winning lighting designer with 29 years of experience in energy management, electrical engineering, education, lighting sales, and lighting design. This multidisciplinary background makes her an adept communication bridge on project teams. She is an active member of multiple lighting organizations. As a thought leader in the lighting industry, she regularly speaks to local and international audiences. Lisa is a passionate advocate for diversity in lighting and supporting working moms and women reentering the workplace. Lisa founded Ladies of Lighting in St. Louis and helped expand WILD (Women in Lighting + Design) across the US. She received the 2014 IES Presidential Award for her work with Emerging Professionals. In 2020, she was named by St. Louis Construction News and Review (CNR) as one of the top 20 women in construction in St. Louis.
Founding Principal of Morlights, Avraham “Avi” M. Mor has been practicing lighting design for over 20 years. After graduating from the University of Kansas with a BFA in Theater Design with an emphasis in Architectural and Theatrical Lighting Design, he moved back to his hometown of Chicago to further his craft. Avi has grown his business from a small operation with only a handful of clients to a bustling firm with projects of all sizes located around the nation. Avi’s work spans commercial, hospitality, educational, and residential projects—ranging from business interiors, hotels, restaurants, and outdoors events to educational institutions, museums, condominiums and private residences. Avi is involved with all projects at Morlights. Avi has been recognized by The U. S. Department of Energy, where he serves as a committee member and forum reviewer for The Next Generation Lighting Industry Alliance and has spoken at several conferences on the future of solid-state lighting and luminaire technology. He is the third Certified Lighting Designer (CLD) in the world, a professional member of the IALD, and member of the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) where he is the former President of the Chicago Section. Avi is also an affiliated professional member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Chicago Section. In his spare time, Avi is both a cruising and a racing sailor. He has done five Chicago Yacht Club Mac Island races and is an active member at Chicago Yacht Club. He also enjoys working with his hands in his small home shop and tackling his never-ending list of projects around the house with his wife and three boys.
The lighting sales channel can feel like a maze: manufacturer reps, distributors, contractors, lighting designers, and manufacturers all influence what gets specified, priced, substituted, installed, and ultimately experienced. This session demystified the channel in plain language and gives designers a practical decision guide for who to involve, when, and why, based on project complexity, controls, budget, schedule risk, and accountability. Attendees learned the real roles each player serves, where handoffs commonly break down, and how to protect design intent when value engineering, lead times, or substitutions threaten the outcome. Using real-world scenarios, Justin mapped the most common paths from spec to site and provide a simple framework designers can apply immediately to choose the right partners, ask better questions early, and reduce costly surprises.
Justin Castellano is the founder of Just In Time, where he helps lighting and construction professionals communicate the value of light through outcomes: vibe, human experience, and business impact, not just specifications. With a background spanning acting, theatrical lighting, manufacturing and agency presentation experience, combined with 15 years in financial services sales, Justin brings a rare blend of performance, persuasion, and practical frameworks that help experts get buy-in from non-experts.
Welcome to the podcast about Lighting Matters! Our unflinching conversations uncover the nuances and complexities that shape the craft of lighting design. Tune in to explore the pivotal ‘whys’ behind a lighting designer’s choices and find honest answers to your most challenging lighting questions, because Lighting Matters®.
Lisa is an award-winning lighting designer with 29 years of experience in energy management, electrical engineering, education, lighting sales, and lighting design. This multidisciplinary background makes her an adept communication bridge on project teams. She is an active member of multiple lighting organizations. As a thought leader in the lighting industry, she regularly speaks to local and international audiences. Lisa is a passionate advocate for diversity in lighting and supporting working moms and women reentering the workplace. Lisa founded Ladies of Lighting in St. Louis and helped expand WILD (Women in Lighting + Design) across the US. She received the 2014 IES Presidential Award for her work with Emerging Professionals. In 2020, she was named by St. Louis Construction News and Review (CNR) as one of the top 20 women in construction in St. Louis.
Founding Principal of Morlights, Avraham “Avi” M. Mor has been practicing lighting design for over 20 years. After graduating from the University of Kansas with a BFA in Theater Design with an emphasis in Architectural and Theatrical Lighting Design, he moved back to his hometown of Chicago to further his craft. Avi has grown his business from a small operation with only a handful of clients to a bustling firm with projects of all sizes located around the nation. Avi’s work spans commercial, hospitality, educational, and residential projects—ranging from business interiors, hotels, restaurants, and outdoors events to educational institutions, museums, condominiums and private residences. Avi is involved with all projects at Morlights. Avi has been recognized by The U. S. Department of Energy, where he serves as a committee member and forum reviewer for The Next Generation Lighting Industry Alliance and has spoken at several conferences on the future of solid-state lighting and luminaire technology. He is the third Certified Lighting Designer (CLD) in the world, a professional member of the IALD, and member of the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) where he is the former President of the Chicago Section. Avi is also an affiliated professional member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Chicago Section. In his spare time, Avi is both a cruising and a racing sailor. He has done five Chicago Yacht Club Mac Island races and is an active member at Chicago Yacht Club. He also enjoys working with his hands in his small home shop and tackling his never-ending list of projects around the house with his wife and three boys.
**Prior reservation not required.
