Welcome to CSPN's 4th Annual Women In Leadership Summit

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Alicia has been working in the customer service industry for over 5 years, and have been a part of the Ethoca team for a little over a year and a half. She is so grateful to work in such an incredible environment, and she is passionate about going above and beyond in every interaction. In my free time, Alicia enjoys spending time with family, and spending time outdoors.

Having grown up in a small coal-mining town, Zhezkazgan, in Kazakhstan, Alima has come a long way to becoming a Director of Finance at a leading Canadian company of print and distribution solutions. Alima completed both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Engineering at the Kazakh National Technical University by moving to the largest city of Kazakhstan – Almaty. While having an engineering mindset, she developed a desire for accounting. Alima then obtained her Bachelor’s in Accounting and Auditing. Since then, she has over 10 years of combined International and Canadian Accounting and Finance work experience, rising in ranks from Junior Accountant to Director of Finance. Alima is currently completing her CPA (Chartered Professional Accountant) designation from CPA Canada and has worked for over a year for Dollco Print Solutions Group, where she started as a Financial Controller and rose to Director of Finance. Alima is also a polyglot, being fluent in English, Russian, and Kazakh and conversant in Chinese. She has passion for travelling and exploring new cultures, countries and cuisines.

A short, aggressive and progressive journey with a change of career path, Alima’s remarkable achievement was not all work and study; she built herself a network of friends, coworkers and a happy family with 4-year-old daughter. Her Journey has not lacked any of life’s social pleasures that she shared with her family.

Combining my passion for sports and relationship management, Alyssa aims to connect with consumers through shared passionate points, in order to enhance the TD brand. Having been with TD since an intern in University, she has developed the essential skills and experience required to impact the world of Sports Business and leave it better than when she started. She recognizes that now, more than ever, consumers behaviours are changing and the means of Digital are becoming more prominent. Her goal for the next 12 months is to lead the Sports Sponsorship team through this uncertainty in order to continue meeting objectives and driving results for the TD brand.

Amy Izzard is the Manager of Client Services at Oticon Canada, joining the team in February 2017. Amy loves to connect with people. Her goal is to inspire the abilities in her team members to make a difference. With over 20 years experience as a Customer Service Leader, Amy has enjoyed her roles in retail, insurance, wholesale and manufacturing, while growing and leading five strong teams to date. Amy has also earned her Associate Customer Service Designation, a Certified Client Services.

Ana Estrada is the Director of the Career Center at Paragon Security. She brings a bachelor’s degree in International Relations and over 10 years of corporate experience in companies like Citigroup and General Electric. She has a Human Resources Management Post-Grad Certificate and has a CHRP designation.

Ana joined Paragon in 2016 as an intern Human Resources. She quickly moved up at Paragon by accepting new responsibilities proving her commitment to excellence.

Ana directly oversees a progressively growing department of 17 HR professionals which are responsible to supporting Paragon’s core business by processing and hiring nearly 3000 security personnel every year.

Ana is passionate about her job and with her team are making a tremendous difference by creating a Customer Service experience to all new employees during onboarding and career path succession planning of every individual they hire.
Ana loves languages, she is Spanish native speaker and fluent in English and French. Outside the office, she enjoys spending time with her husband and their two teenage kids, Mauricio, and Valentina and if you are a “Friends” fan, she would be the perfect match contender for a trivia game.

Ana’s leadership style is always to obtain a positive outcome from any situation, she calls every person by name and you will always see a smile on her face. You can tell how proud she is to be a Paragonian.

Anastasiia started her journey as MD, Orthopedic Surgeon back in 2006 and IT Professional back in 2004 in Ukraine. Being a MD, MSc and Bac in Computer Science, she was always inspired by the idea to make medicine easier and more accessible using software. She switched to Project/Program Management a few years later as she loved to coach and motivate people around her. She truly believed in people, teamwork and inspiration! She is extremely people-oriented and the last few years have been very engaging and motivating. Currently Anastasiia is doing her PhD research in Business Administration. She is also volunteering by coaching those who need professional and mental motivation.

Anastasiia is a very proud mom of three incredible children. They are my energy, they are my own motivation. They teach me how to be happy with every small thing that is coming to you.

Anastasiia started her journey as MD, Orthopedic Surgeon back in 2006 and IT Professional back in 2004 in Ukraine. Being a MD, MSc and Bac in Computer Science, she was always inspired by the idea to make medicine easier and more accessible using software. She switched to Project/Program Management a few years later as she loved to coach and motivate people around her. She truly believed in people, teamwork and inspiration! She is extremely people-oriented and the last few years have been very engaging and motivating. Currently Anastasiia is doing her PhD research in Business Administration. She is also volunteering by coaching those who need professional and mental motivation.

Anastasiia is a very proud mom of three incredible children. They are my energy, they are my own motivation. They teach me how to be happy with every small thing that is coming to you.

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Anne-Marie Hayden is a bilingual executive specializing in public affairs/strategic comms/privacy compliance, leadership and managing change, with more than 25 years of experience in the private, public and non-profit sectors. She devotes efforts to advance and support issues she cares about. Most recently, since July 2019, she has been focused on public affairs, advocacy and organizational renewal with the Canadian Museums Association as Deputy Director, Public Affairs and Museum Advancement.

Previously she held the title of Director General, Communications for the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada where she was responsible for the OPC’s legislative mandate in public education, to increase awareness of privacy rights and obligations, as well as ensuring the adaptation of a new vision and strategic direction for the institution. At the OPC, she held the role of OPC’s Values and Ethics Champion, as well as the role of Transition Champion in support of an organizational transformation. Anne-Marie also played a central role in rebuilding the OPC’s credibility following a difficult period in the office’s history (2003). She is a recipient of the OPC’s Exceptional Achievement Award (2012). Prior to Anne-Marie’s work at the OPC (2001-2019), she was a communications consultant with Delta Media Inc. (1995-2001).

Antoinette King has been an important player in the recruitment industry for over 25 years and in that time she has proven herself a top-tier recruitment professional earning numerous awards and recognitions. Amongst her various accolades she was listed as an Honoured Professional in the Nationwide Register’s WHO’s WHO in Executives and Businesses and Canadian Staffing Experts with ere.net, and voted one of Canada’s Best Bosses on Monster.ca. More importantly however Antoinette is recognized as not only a veteran recruitment professional by her peers and employees, but also as a teacher and a business leader in the community.

As Founder and Managing Partner of Options Personnel Inc., which expanded in 2005 to include Options Consulting Solutions, Antoinette has proven herself successful not only at managing a privately held recruitment firm, but leading that firm to success in a highly competitive industry. This success is due not only to Antoinette’s unmitigated talent in the recruitment industry, but her unparalleled work ethic, strong internal motivation and her genuine concern for the needs of her Clients and Stakeholders alike.

Antoinette’s mission is to establish a successful, committed partnership between Clients and Candidates by matching the right individual to the specific culture, values and environment of each unique organization. Antoinette specializes in staffing senior management and executive level professionals and her commitment to success is at no time more visible than when she works hands-on recruiting the best talent for her Clients.

Ashlee King worked for Direct Response Media group for over 15 years before losing her battle with cancer in April of this year. Ashlee was a pillar of the customer experience journey for DRMG and led her colleagues in understanding the importance of not only the first touchpoint with a prospective client, but the ongoing relationship with any client, active or inactive.

Ashley Perri has been in the aesthetics industry for over 16 years. Her extensive experience includes managing the first Men’s spa in Canada located in the heart of Downtown Toronto at the age of only 20, instructing aesthetics courses, both hands-on and theoretical studies, at Sheridan College shortly thereafter, and currently running Vaughan’s leading skin care clinic which was established in 2013.

She is also the Winner of the Young Entrepreneur Award under 40 at the Vaughan Business Achievement Awards in 2018 hosted by the Vaughan Chamber of Commerce and the Recipient of the Emerging Leaders Award in October 2019 at the Women in Leadership Gala, hosted by CSPN. More recently, her business, Skinprovement Medi Spa & Laser Clinic won the Small Business Award at the Vaughan Business Achievement Awards last year.

Ashley also dedicates her time to Mackenzie Health Foundation. Skinprovement Medi Spa & Laser Clinic has pledged $150,000 towards Vaughan’s new hospital. In addition, she was asked to be part of the Mackenzie Health Emerging Leaders Council, composed of community-minded professionals coming together to raise awareness and help raise money for Canada’s first Smart Hospital.

Ashley began an initiative, Brows for the Brave, through her clinic, which offers free microblading services to those who have suffered from cancer or various illnesses. This initiative is intended to help build confidence in those brave individuals. To date, Ashley’s team has offered over $85,000 worth of complimentary microblading services.

Lastly, Ashley is proud to announce that her business, Skinprovement Medi Spa & Laser Clinic will now be available for franchising opportunities.

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Born in Ghana, Boss immigrated to Canada with his mother when he was two years old. He grew up in Rexdale and moved to Brampton at age twelve. Marrying his high school sweetheart, Boss is a husband and father to three children aged two, twelve, and twenty-two. Before starting his career at DRMG, Boss was a welder. After eleven years in the trade sector, Boss transitioned into the Direct Mail industry. Now celebrating eleven years of service, Boss is the Sales Manager for the GTA. Alongside his passion for sales, Boss is also a competitive bodybuilder; last year, he was runner-up in Ontario’s bodybuilding competition!

Brian has an extensive background in the customer service sector, having worked a variety of positions in the financial service field that has contributed to his customer-centric approach. Brian currently works at DRMG within the client services department, responsible for coordinating client mailings and communicating with sales representatives to ensure that marketing campaigns meet client expectations. Being a culinary connoisseur, Brian enjoys spending his free time cooking and hosting dinner parties for his friends and family.

Brian is hard-working and team-orientated. He has a background in B2B wireless sales and account management, which brought him to work in marketing and client account coordination at DRMG. He has been working at DRMG, and acting in the interest of small to medium sized businesses, for over 3 years. He has a passion for helping clients and is committed to assisting his clients make the most of their marketing campaign.

Bryanne Gilkinson is the Director of Customer Centric Channel Delivery at the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB). Leading CX Design and Digital Product teams, Bryanne is responsible for the design of end-to-end future service experiences as well as digital product design and delivery. Her work at the WSIB has been recognized internationally by Core77, ARCET Global Customer Centricity Awards, and IT World Canada.

Previously, Bryanne helped build and scale social impact start-ups serving young women seeking higher education in post-genocide Rwanda, juvenile offenders in Washington DC, survivors of sexual abuse in Sri Lanka, and financially excluded entrepreneurs in Kenya. She is an alumna of Stanford and Johns Hopkins University.

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Celena has been working within the field of learning and development for three years, transitioning from teaching in a classroom environment to corporate education. Passionate about learning, she pursued her MA in Comparative Literature after completing her BA Honours in French Studies. An advocate for creating a culture of learning, Celena has a vested interest in promoting ongoing personal and professional development. It is this desire to cultivate a passion for lifelong learning in a corporate setting that propelled her into her current position as a Learning and Development for DRMG where she has been working for almost a year.

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Chris has been working in the customer service sector for over 20 years. After working customer service in a retail environment in both a front facing and management capacity, she joined DRMG in 2010 as a telecommunications representative. Over the last 10 years of her tenure at DRMG, she has moved within the company, occupying different roles in alignment with her knowledge and expertise in customer service. Following her years of service, Chris was promoted to Client Services Team Lead. Currently the most senior client service representative in the company, Chris balances a front facing role, in which she handles the mailings with the largest books of business, with coaching her team. When not at work, you can find Chris on the dodgeball court, where she is acting Team Captain of her local dodgeball chapter.

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Dina Sergi is a dedicated professional with 13 years of healthcare industry experience, gaining experience in human resources, operations and management.
As Vice President, Operations of MyHealth Centre and working alongside the senior management team, Dina’s goals include focusing on the performance of the organization, including efficiency, productivity and engagement. In addition to her primary functions, Dina has been recognized by her peers for her commitment to quality patient care. As a seasoned Human Resource Professional, Dina is passionate about internal development and employee engagement at all levels.

Dina’s passion for healthcare can be traced back to her personal and professional ties to the diagnostic and cardiac community, where she previously spent significant time specializing in operations and human resources in her previous roles in both Canada and the United States. Beyond Dina’s professional work, she has been a long standing member of various Boards addressing social & family service needs in Ontario, most recently the Catholic Family Services Peel Dufferin, and A Child’s Voice Foundation.

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Grace Chiu is the Vice President of Business Development, with responsibility for brand management, sales, global strategy and corporate sponsorships. Grace is a versatile executive and client advocate with over 20+ years’ experience specializing in contact centers in customer care. Grace has been instrumental in developing outsource solutions to further assist clients’ evolving needs and has represented a number of Fortune 500 brands throughout her career. Grace Chiu is an active participant in “Project Comfort”. Project Comfort is a community based volunteer organization supporting homeless people in Toronto.

Heather Lamont joined Ethoca in 2017 and is accountable to lead the global Customer Experience & Engagement teams. The remit includes people leadership & strategic direction for the product integration, after-sales support & service, customer project management, operational excellence, revenue optimization and voice of customer programming.

Prior to joining Ethoca, Heather worked for several of North America’s leading financial institutions including Bank of Montreal, American Express, Bank of America and MBNA Canada Bank. Her career that now spans two-decades in Financial Services & FinTech; has included senior leadership roles across human resources, core operations, product management, PMO, business transformation and customer experience. The diversity of functions as well as having the opportunity to delve into both strategic and execution roles speaks to her flexibility and versatility in leadership.

Heather is passionate about giving back to the communities in which we live & work. She is active in several charitable organizations that support and advocate for women & children’s health, survivors of domestic abuse, and food insecurity. She champions these causes at her work-life as well by incorporating volunteerism and activism in team engagement events.

She studied Business Administration at Bishop’s University in Quebec, has completed Six Sigma Green & Yellow belt training, and has completed numerous professional development certifications.

She was a 2017 recipient of PaymentsSource’s Most Influential Women in Payments award: and also the recent honor of the 2020 GTACC’s People’s Choice Award for Canada’s Top Customer Service organization.

As Ontario’s Chief Digital Officer, Hillary will partner with
government ministries in delivering major digital projects. She will also help accelerate transformation across government by setting new service standards for digital products, attracting and empowering digital talent, and aligning partners around delivering the best possible customer experience. Making it easier for people and business to interact and engage with their government through the power of digital technologies is part of our plan to create jobs, grow our economy and help people in their everyday lives.

Originally born in Casablanca, Hind has been living in Canada for over 30 years with her four children. After completing her diploma in Business Management, Hind began working in the customer service sector. Joining CGPM in 2012, Hind has been working in the French marketing division for over 8 years. Following her years of service as a project manager, Hind was promoted to Production Manager this past year.

Passionate about providing superior customer service, Hind has a genuine love for her job, relishing in the moment when a customer remembers your name because you went above and beyond to serve them. Humble by nature, Hind credits her success in the customer service sector to learning from those around her and living the mantra that one’s only limitation is their own thoughts, with anything being achievable.

Jackie Murry is the Director of Professional Services at TrackTik. After over a decade in leadership roles within organizations offering Software as a Service, Jackie understands what it means to be Client-centric and the importance of delivering results.

As part of the TrackTik team, Jackie evaluates operational processes and procedures including the development of strategies and implementation plans to improve and standardize all aspects of operations within the Professional Services department – and, ultimately, how that department contributes to the overall success of the organization. Over the past two years, Jackie was responsible for the creation and development of the Professional Services team from the ground up – which now includes Pre-Sales Engineering, the Project Management Office and the Training & Implementation teams. Jackie is a firm believer in employee empowerment and her mantra to the team is to always challenge the status quo.

Formerly, Jackie managed a Creditor Insurance portfolio and holds the Registered Health Underwriter designation. Jackie is a Mother to an energetic 4 year old boy, is a “retired” licensed skydiver and an animal lover.

Jasika has spent over a decade in transformation, client and employee experience leadership roles, driving innovation and culture within the financial and healthcare sectors. Previously, Jasika spent 15 years at Scotiabank and during her time, she led various global customer experience, digital adoption and change management strategies. Following which, she joined McKesson, a Fortune 500 global leader in healthcare. As a leader on the company’s first Retail Innovation team, her work involved originating people strategies in order to pioneer a new patient experience in Canada. Most recently, Jasika joined Fiera Capital, a fast-growing asset management firm and one of Canada’s leading investment managers, as the Director of Client Experience.

Jasika is passionate about innovation and change in customer experience and believes it is deeply rooted in the experience of a company’s employees. She is an advocate for designing strategies that are forward-looking while focusing on creating incremental value in today’s execution. In a world where change is the new constant, Jasika believes empathy, authenticity and a client-obsessed company culture are a strong path forward.

Jasika earned her MBA from Queen’s University and has completed her Certified HR Leader designation and Change Management certification. Jasika is a proud mom of twins and a proud Torontonian.

Currently, as President and COO at DRMG, Jennifer oversees the Sales, Operations, Business Development, Finance, and Marketing and has been instrumental in leading the organization to reach over $40 million in revenue and the phenomenal growth of over 300% in the last five years. She is a champion of change and fostering shifts in the company as DRMG evolves from its entrepreneurial roots. Integration, transition, and accountability are her favourite action words that she demands of her team.

Jennifer believes that you never stop learning and commits to reading, participating in thought leadership programs, and is a member of the Entrepreneurs Organization. She knows when work is work and fun is fun and makes time for both, believing you must live your core values to be your best self.

Growing up with her father’s strong financial wisdom, and surrounded by the support of that entrepreneurial itch, Jennifer launched her first business as an early 20 something as both Admin and Sales support for her equally spirited brother. Together, and over the last 17 years, they built DRMG.

Jennifer Quaglietta is the inaugural Vice President, Performance Excellence and Information Services at the Healthcare Insurance Reciprocal of Canada (HIROC). Jennifer leads the transformation of HIROC’s organization, practices and thinking to enable a culture of innovation and agility in support of a safer healthcare system across Canada. She also leads the advancement of HIROC’s digital and data analytics capabilities to leverage the power of HIROC’s information for improvement.

Prior to this role, Jennifer led the Patient Experience, Quality, Patient Flow, and Patient- and Family- Centred Care portfolio at North York General Hospital. There, Jennifer developed a quality improvement framework that built capacity and incorporated high-reliability and effective change management across the organization. This framework has led to significant advances in the delivery of high-quality and safe care provincially, nationally and internationally.

Holding various leadership roles over the past 20 years, Jennifer has worked across the healthcare sector, including pharma, broader public sector, agency, academia and consulting. Throughout this time, Jennifer has delivered transformative strategies that have improved patient outcomes and the quality of care across the province.

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Passionate about sales, Joe joined the DRMG sales team after working in the retail industry as a regional manager and trainer. He is about to celebrate 2 years of service in his current role as a sales representative and marketing consultant for the GTA. To Joe, there is great importance in balancing work and home. Alongside his successful career to date in sales, he is a dedicated father to two beautiful children.

Julia Chung is a highly educated, experienced professional
specializing in personal finance, multi-generational family wealth, legacy, succession planning, and organizational behaviour. Her passion and drive to help people achieve is evidenced in her business, speaking, volunteer, and educational life. Julia’s lifelong dedication to education has provided her with multiple designations and a thirst for knowledge that has extended her expertise beyond any single area, allowing her to analyze and advise from multiple perspectives.

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Member of the Barreau du Quebec for over 10 years, Karine Chapados is a human resources practitioner, mainly in labour relations. She joined the VIA Rail team two years ago and previously held the position of Labour Relations Lawyer in one of the largest University Health Centres in North America. As a skilled negotiator, Karine enjoys taking on new challenges while focusing on human interaction.

Karyne Steele is has been involved In the Hearing Care Industry for over 30 years. Holding various positions from Sales, Training, Operations and Management. Helping people live fuller lives is her driver. Over the years I have had the privilege of working with and mentoring many young associates. While professional success is their goal, mentoring and providing them with the guidance it takes to not only reach that success, but to grow as individuals is mine. I truly believe that the job of a Manager, is first to listen and coach, then manage. If you give people the support, tools and guidance they need, the less you have to manage and the more successful they will become.

“We’re here for a reason. I believe a bit of the reason is to throw little torches out to lead people through the dark.” — Whoopi Goldberg

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Kim started her career, in the early 90’s, in the hospitality/food & beverage industry focused on delivering an exceptional customer experience. Her focus and passion on meeting and exceeding customer’s expectations resulted in her obtaining leadership and management roles in this sector.

Nearly 10 years later, Kim began her journey in healthcare by completing her undergraduate degree in nursing in 2005 through the Durham College/York University Collaborative program. While not a likely connection, she quickly fell in love with her new career and began to appreciate the synergies and alignment between her experiences and skills required to work in hospitality and the transferability of these skills and experiences to the healthcare sector.

After nursing for 5 years at Princess Margaret Hospital Kim returned to York University to complete her graduate studies in the Science of Nursing. Additionally, she completed her certification with the Canadian Nursing Association as a certified Oncology Nurse further enhancing her knowledge and expertise in nursing.

Over the course of the next 10 years, she would earn a variety of clinical leadership roles and opportunities. In 2017, an opportunity presented at Lakeridge Health as the Manager of Patient and Family Centered Care. This role was a culmination of all the things Kim was passionate about in healthcare. Not long after assuming the Manager role, and in 2018, Kim became the Director of Patient Experience at Lakeridge Health. This has been the most fulfilling and powerful work to date. Kim is dedicated to helping healthcare professionals understand the importance of providing an exceptional customer service as an integral component of high-quality healthcare.

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Lauren is a passionate, driven and agile senior leader with a keen interest in health, wellness and consumer packaged goods. She is results-obsessed and have a proven ability to deliver against corporate, revenue and profit targets. Lauren is committed to fostering the same spirit within her team and devoted to helping each individual reach their highest potential.

Lauren has worked for DRMG for over a year, during which she transitioned from coordinating logistics to managing sales operations. She is a data-driven integrator who is passionate about improving operational efficiency, while enhancing sales team productivity. Lauren thrives in forward-thinking and agile environments, enjoys solving complex problems, and truly relishes in the ability to help a company scale in order to meet strategic goals. She is a wife and a mother to an exuberant three-year old son; both of whom challenge Lauren to be the best version of herself possible. Lauren finds solace in nature – when not at work, you can find her on the ski hill, out on the lake, or in her garden.

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Leila Johnston is a Human Resources and Operations professional whose passion for unlocking the potential in people and situations has directed her career. She began her study of psychology, mind and behavior with a degree from Oxford University, England. With additional professional qualifications in Psychotherapy, Hypnotherapy and Counseling, she has spent much of the last 18 years applying the lessons she has learned to organizational performance and environment.

An entrepreneur who quickly built her own successful consulting business, Leila has worked with, and for, organizations of all sizes from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies. With experience across a range of industries and sectors, Leila’s favourite success stories have been from partnering with companies that put people first. Her favourite challenges have been in finding the unique opportunities of people processes in diverse organizational environments. With a niche background that began with Recruitment and Business Process management, Leila’s focus in HR is in recognizing and shaping talent, culture and environment.

Leila has helped the organizations she has worked with gain numerous organizational milestones according to their direction and need, including aggressive strategic growth, transformation, various certifications (including ISO), and accolades such as Best Workplaces recognition. She is currently Senior Advisor, Organisational Development at VIA Rail Canada and is excited to be a part of the VIA community.

Leila is always interested in sharing her experiences and welcomes enquiries from other professionals committed to achieving organizational excellence.

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Marie-Hélène has been a manager for more than 10 years and she remains passionate about Human Resources even after 20 years as an HR Professional. She holds a Bachelor of Industrial Relations degree from Université Laval in Québec City and has worked as an HR Business Partner for, among others, Transcontinental, Desjardins, Yellow Pages, ADP and now at VIA Rail Canada. As an HR Business Partner, she has led reorganization, restructuring , and Merger and Acquisition mandates and have performed organizational diagnostics and strategic Planning initiatives in both growth and business reduction environments. Although a generalist , Marie-Hélène has acquired broad experience in all Human Resources specialty areas, in unionized and Management contexts.

Leader in business for over thirty years and three-time nominee of Rotman’s Canadian Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Award, Marilyn Barefoot is one of the most sought-after innovators and creative problem solvers. Marilyn’s clients include several of the world’s most recognizable brands; all of whom call on Marilyn when they need to get unstuck. Among them: Viacom, The NHL, MTV and Bell Media; to Burger King, BET, Cineplex, KPMG, TD, RBC, Campbell’s Soup, and Harley-Davidson ; to name a few.

Marilyn’s unique ability to reinvigorate, revitalize, and problem solve creatively has helped a broad spectrum of companies jump over their biggest hurdles. As a speaker, coach, and ideator, Marilyn’s innovative process humanizes commerce. This empowers organizations to identify the missing links needed to re-energize their approach and overcome their biggest challenges.

Marilyn’s previous experience as CEO of SquarePeg Inc., and in senior leadership positions at some of the world’s largest global agencies ( BBDO, Cossette, Vickers & Benson, Bozell Palmer Bonner ), led her to create countless award-winning campaigns for tier-one companies including: Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, General Mills, Nike and Microsoft. Marilyn’s first-hand knowledge of business leadership cultivated her ability to lead other leaders; galvanizing the strengths of CEOS and associates alike. Marilyn brings a dynamic mix of extensive experience, training, and passion for creative problem solving to her high-energy sessions. All of which have a proven track record for producing powerful results.

Michelle Solski’s current role is Senior Manager of the Service Brampton Division at the City of Brampton. Michelle has over 20 years of progressive experience with Contact Centres, Project management and Leadership in both private and public sectors. Michelle is committed to the continued growth and development of employees, breaking down silos and working collaboratively across the organization. Michelle resides in Brampton and is the proud mother of 2 children who are both currently attending University, virtually!

Nadia completed an Economics degree at the University of Waterloo and pursued a career for 4 years in the financial industry before returning to school to complete an MBA. She specializes in Strategy and Supply Chain during MBA.

Since then Nadia has built a career in the retail industry, spending 3 years helping launch the Target start-up in Canada, and then 4 years at The Home Depot of Canada, supporting and leading in the development of their e-commerce supply chain.

She is currently serving as the Head of Delivery in the Voila grocery e-commerce start-up venture, for Sobeys.

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Pamela has worked in the graphics industry for more than 30 years, beginning in Production management, moving into Printing Sales and for the last 20 years, in Sales Management. Her career has included 4 separate corporate buy-outs with the successful retention of customers and sales teams through those transitions.

Pamela’s in-depth knowledge of print is supported by an unparalleled desire to help customers succeed in their business mandates. She frequently consults on program development and execution with the intent of maximizing results.

Patricia has 20 years of experience in the design communications industry, during which she developed a wealth of knowledge in brand insight and enhancing the client service experience. Hand in hand with her extensive branding experience is Patricia’s innate entrepreneurial drive. It is this entrepreneurial spirit and brand savvy that led her to becoming a Dragons’ Den dealmaker in 2010 for innovating a shoe accessory product line from concept through to being sold in major retailers across North America.

Patricia brought her keen eye for design and penchant for bringing superior branding strategy and client experience to the B2B marketplace to DRMG, where she is currently the Creative Director, overseeing both the company’s Graphics and Client Services departments. Patricia not only manages the conception of all advertising products, but ensures that all marketing campaigns exceed customer expectations and meet print deadlines.

After completing his BBA in Marketing and Media Studies, Qasim joined DRMG as a Sales Representative and Marketing Consultant–a position which he has held over the last three years. Qasim is family-oriented and enjoys spending his free time with his family. When not at work or spending time with his family, Qasim can be found playing cricket–one of his favorite pastimes.

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Rhonelle Bruder is a public speaker, anti-trafficking advocate, and the founder and executive director of Project iRISE, a survivor-led nonprofit organization that provides innovative skills & leadership development programs & opportunities for survivors of human trafficking and those at risk. Rhonelle’s work in the anti-human trafficking sector is informed by lived experience as a survivor of sex trafficking and a formerly homeless teen. Once a high school dropout, today, Rhonelle holds both an Honours Bachelor of Science in Health Services Administration from New York City College of Technology and a Master of Science in Health Informatics from the University of Victoria, British Columbia. She has over ten years of experience working in business analysis, research, project management, and community outreach in both the healthcare and social service sectors.

As an educator, Rhonelle Bruder has travelled extensively throughout North America for speaking engagements for community organizations anti-trafficking agencies. Rhonelle sits on multiple boards and advisory committees, including the Sick Kids Hospital, The City of Toronto, and HEAL Trafficking, for expertise on human trafficking and child exploitation. She has appeared on many national and local media sources, including but not limited to Flare Magazine, CBC, CP24, The Toronto Star, and Global News, NewsTalk1010, and the Toronto Sun.

Effective and strategic leader with 20+ years of experience leading teams, building partnerships and delivering strategic initiatives from inception to implementation. Strong collaborator across functional teams to build an executable development and launch portfolio globally across various dosage forms and technologies. I started my career as a quality control chemist, progressing in various roles of increasing responsibility and influence including Regulatory Affairs, R&D, Portfolio, Project Management and New Product Launch, making significant impact in every role. My team, collaborating cross functionally, is responsible for delivering 100+ global product launches a year while strategically overseeing the execution of the product portfolio. My knowledge of the various functions along with executional and strategic drive are instrumental in achieving swift time to market; a key differentiator in the generic industry. I strongly believe in the concept of “failing fast” as it represents you with a learning opportunity and quick recovery. I had the privilege of having many mentors in my career and is passionate about mentoring others; It provides me great joy to celebrate other’s achievements and to support them through their journey. I am a founding member of Apotex’s Women in Leadership Program and a member on Sick Kids Family Advisory Council. My commitment to patients along with improving access to affordable medications motivates me every day; it provides satisfaction knowing that affordable medicines are reaching those who need them the most.

“Perseverance and Resilience are Key – it’s about finding the inner strength to achieve your goals” – it’s something I learned through my journey practicing the art of Karate.

Known for her natural leadership style, award-winning brand building approach, and ability to develop work that works, for clients across Canada, Sarah Crabbe has over 20 years’ experience in providing senior strategic counsel to a large number of global brands. Never one to shy away from a challenge, Sarah has provided counsel for some of North America’s leading brands and has led agency teams to Strategy Agency of the Year top 3 placements in consecutive years.

Prior to leading the team at Agnostic, Sarah has held partnership roles in global and local agencies in Toronto, London, and Ireland. Sarah is passionate about delivering creativity in each engagement and believes agencies only do brave work when they have truly brave clients. An Irish native, Sarah has lived all over the world, including New York and Jamaica and currently lives in Toronto with husband Rob and their two children.

Sarah is CEO of Mastermind Toys, Canada’s largest specialty toy and kids book store. She leads 69 stores coast-to-coast and online with 3,000 employees including stores, head office and warehouse – bringing to life their reputation as Canada’s Authority on Play, and creating a world class employee and customer experience.

Sarah is a passionate, energetic leader with a track record of delivering results while leading transformational change at organizations. Previously she was the Senior Vice President, Customer Experience and Omni Channel Strategy at Scotiabank where she led the bank from #5 to #1 in customer experience ratings. She spent a decade with The Boston Consulting Group, where she advised Fortune 500 companies on large scale customer centric transformations and cultural change. Sarah holds both an MBA and an Engineering degree from Queen’s University. She is a lecturer at the Smith School of Business at Queen’s University in the MBA program, and a guest speaker at Sobey School of Business at Saint Mary’s University in their Innovation in Retailing & Services program. She is board member at the Canadian Toy Association, the first-ever retail member in the organization’s history.

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Shannon is a Customer Experience professional with over 15 years’ experience. 13 of those years’ were spent within the financial industry. She has worn many hats including analyzing fraudulent transactions and patterns, supporting customers, training CSRs to provide world class experiences, managing a customer success team and is now the running voice of customer programming at Ethoca (a Mastercard company). The last 7.5 years of her career has been with Ethoca. During her time with Ethoca, she moved all the way up from a CSR to where she is now. This is her 6th role within the company in just 7.5 years!

In late 2019, as a direct result of the work she has been running off the side of her desk as the CS Manager, Ethoca decided to formally invest in a voice of customer program and placed her at the helm. Shannon was in charged of designing and executing their strategic plan to introduce voice of customer to their organization and to drive a cultural shift placing their customer experience at the helm of everything they do. Looking forward to present day, they now have a robust voice of customer program giving them insight into customer sentiment throughout critical points of their journey. As an organization, they now use this customer feedback to make informed business decisions including product enhancements and process changes!

Shannon Katschilo is the General Manager/VP of Medallia Canada. In her role as country manager, she leads all growth initiatives and client success. Organizations that Medallia Canada partner with include, TD, Scotiabank, Lululemon, Four Seasons, and many others. Medallia, the leader in Experience Management cloud technology, was named a leader in the most recent Forrester Wave and ranked #15 in the most recent Forbes Cloud 100 list. Medallia’s vision is simple: to create a world where companies are loved by customers and employees alike.

Born in Sri Lanka, Sheron immigrated to Canada after having completed his BASc with a minor in Marketing at Utah State University. Upon immigrating to Canada, Sheron joined DRMG as a sales representative and marketing consultant where he has now been working for over 2 years. Passionate about providing superior customer service, Sheron believes in the importance of making every client feel that they are his priority–because to Sheron, the customer is the priority. When not at work, Sheron enjoys playing cricket. Actively engaged in philanthropy, he contributes to the Sick Kids Foundation every month and is an active member with the Helping Hands association back in Sri Lanka.

Model turned writer, filmmaker, actress, international speaker and human rights activist, Shreya Patel is altruism personified. A voice for voiceless, she has, since childhood, dedicated her life to not only a professional career in film and the arts but also in social work. She is an honoree of the Women’s Achiever Award 2020 for Youth Leadership and nominated for Forbes 30 under 30. A natural storyteller, she fuses many of her diverse interests and impactful activism work in film projects.

Her directorial debut, the documentary “Girl Up”, about domestic violence and human trafficking, has been lauded by members of sexual assault and anti-human trafficking organizations, as well as those in the law enforcement community. Shreya has since focused on holding many successful community viewing sessions of the film around Canada to spread awareness of human trafficking to young girls and women at risk.

Shuresh Shams is Manager of Talent Acquisition at Descartes Systems Group. Shuresh has been with Descartes for over 9 months and is focused on managing recruitment and on-boarding processes, strategies and driving change to reduce time-to-fill, building a strong applicant pool and assisting with leader training and development on recruitment, selection and induction. Prior to joining Descartes, Shuresh has worked in a variety of industries such as Software Development, Government, Consulting and Recruitment Firms.

Shuresh Continues to be inspired by the relationships she builds and lives she affects every day. Her goal is to provide Superior Service for her team clients and candidates.

Things that matter to her the most are: being a mom and mentoring & empowering new immigrants specially women to settle and find the right opportunity within their field of study.

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Sonja Cori Missio (she/her) is the Co-Founder of Clavis Social Inc., offering digital marketing solutions for brands and businesses. She has been an active journalist covering international stories for more than a decade. Her work has been featured in The Guardian, on the CBC, through Unusual Efforts, and once, she made her way into the Washington Post (but only as a subject).

Like many young professionals venturing into the working world, I had no idea where I wanted to be or what I wanted to do. That said, I have always preferred working in customer facing roles.

My early career path had me work in several customer-centric positions. From greeting clients in person, to interfacing with customers on the phone, I was always in a role that included some form of customer service.

In 2012, I started at Greenfield Global in Office Administration and within three months, was promoted to Customer Service – Ontario and Western Canada Package Sales. In my efforts to improve on the skills I had gained in previous positions, I was searching for courses and seminars to learn new theories and concepts applicable to my customer service role. During that search, a coworker introduced me to CSPN. I quickly received my CCSS in the first graduating class. I went on to receive my CCSP designation and have since taken many other courses and attended seminars which has led to immense personal and professional growth. In February 2019, I was promoted to Lead Customer Service Representative (Ontario & Western Canada).

Tammy Klym-Wolfe is the Executive Assistant (EA) for the VP of Sales and Program Coordinator for Sales at Ricoh Canada, based out of our Burnaby office in BC. Tammy attended the University of Manitoba, earning her Bachelor of Arts.

She began her career with Ricoh Canada 18 years ago, gaining unparalleled experience as her position evolved from an EA to Program Coordinator. She has established herself as a respected team member and valuable contributor to the implementation of business strategies. Tammy is widely known as the “go-to” person for support because of her contagious “can-do” attitude and dedication. She is a multi-time winner of the annual BC RVP award for her strong work ethic.

Tammy is passionate about being involved in work that improves the world in which she lives. Her leads local corporate social responsibility initiatives benefiting organization such as the United Way, Ronald McDonald House and the Langley Food Bank.
Tammy also volunteers in her personal time as the Vice President of her community’s Softball Board supporting girls in sport.

Work-life balance is a priority for Tammy as the mother of a fourteen year old daughter. With her family, she finds time for activities such as softball, movie nights, family vacations and now spending time together at their cottage.

Tammy truly embodies Ricoh’s Core Values, embraces the One Team culture, and sets an example for elevating your career.

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Vanda Hudak is a dedicated HR leader with diverse experience from both the corporate and private sectors. Currently Manager, Strategic Workforce Initiates at RBC, she has built a progressive career in Diversity recruitment and Learning & Development. Vanda was instrumental in building the RBC Career Launch program designed to help Canadian youth to break the no experience- no job cycle. She was also a founding member of the RBC’s Mosaic- an employee resource group with mission to foster an inclusive culture by enabling the success of visible minorities, non-visible minorities, and newcomers to Canada across RBC. Outside of work, Vanda provides career coaching to Canadian newcomers and recent graduates, most recently as a mentor of the social enterprise Destination CEO. Her positive impact and contributions were recognized on many occasions both internally and externally through various awards, including individual awards such as the RBC Performance Gold Award, Career Edge Mentor of the Year Award, and a team recognition from the Canadian HR Awards. Vanda has a lifelong passion for developing and enabling others with focus on diversity & inclusion, career coaching, and personal development.

Through 23 years of growth and opportunity, Vicki contributes the success of her career to hard work, acknowledgment and support from Parkland. Having experienced customer service and receptionist positions in the past, Vicki understands the importance of both employee and customer engagement.

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