Lean Six Sigma

Travis Ratnam is lead instructor for Schulich ExecEd’s Master Certificate in Lean Six Sigma, Black Belt program. Travis has coached hundreds of participants and business leaders in Continuous Improvement, Lean Six Sigma Deployment and Strategic Planning in virtually every industry sector ranging from manufacturing, service, government and others. He is highly regarded as a passionate, knowledgeable and inspiring leader who eliminates fear of the learning and development journey, bringing the very best in individual and team capability. Travis has successfully applied the Lean Six Sigma methodology in both operational and service environments.

Coaching and Collaboration, Communication

Top Career Coach and Professor, Trevor Cape offers leadership, empowerment, and transformation programs to help you advance your career. With extensive experience helping people understand and leverage their brilliance, Trevor has managed thousands of coaching programs, independently and through top business schools, leading HR firms and organizations, partnering closely with clients to help them advance their careers, developing options and perspectives, strategic messaging, and engagement strategies that work. Trevor created the Early-in-Career Program for the Schulich ExecEd and works with a portfolio of clients delivering regular career support workshops and coaching. Trevor has coached leaders from across all industries, including Canada’s top banks, educational institutions, and advertising companies. Prior to building his reputation as a successful career coach, Trevor Cape worked for 14 years at Interbrand, the world’s leading brand consultancy, providing local and global leadership to HR, Marketing and Knowledge Management.

Healthcare

Tyson brings with him over 25 years of experience from within a variety of different complex business environment such as: healthcare, technology, consumer product, high-tech manufacturing, and management consulting. Before joining Nova Networks as the VP Digital Health he was with IBM’s National Healthcare practice, Tyson served as, the Head of Social Innovation and IoT at Hitachi Vantara, as well as, VP & CIO at the Hospital for Sick Children and Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, where he also served as the Chief Privacy Officer. His innovative and practical approach along with his leadership style have enable both large and small organizations to successfully deliver on their digital transformation projects. Tyson believes strongly in sharing knowledge and giving back. He continues as a volleyball coach and mentor, as well as, being an instructor at Algonquin College within the Digital Health Program . He is a Certified Information Privacy Technologist (CIPT) and has been active participant on several Boards and Committees such as: The Winchester District Memorial Hospital, The Ontario Caregivers Organization and the Health Information Management System Society (HIMSS). Before becoming an Instructor within the program, Tyson was also the past Chair of the Digital Health Program Advisory Committee at Algonquin College, which is designed to foster the next generation of health IT professionals.

Marketing

Vafa Akhavan is an executive leader with global experience across seven industries and 16 countries. His career is made up of organizational leadership roles and management consulting at marquee brands within their respective industries. Customer experience, employee engagement and owner returns have been a constant throughout his career. Vafa is currently Chief Executive Officer at World Pediatric Project.  Previously he was President & Senior Adviser at NueBridge, a unique consultancy of operating executives serving corporate clients focused primarily on CE and CEM.

General Management, Municipal Sector

Vania Sakelaris is a seasoned executive and the founder of VAS & Associates Inc. a management consulting firm that provides customized advisory, coaching and training services to corporate executives, their boards and their teams building on her 25+ year career. Vania's portfolio includes a decade as CEO of large healthcare organizations in the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors. It advanced to a decade of executive leadership within a $5B provincial crown agency. Vania's lifelong passion for capacity building inspired her coaching work and the launch of her business venture. Vania holds an MBA from the Ivey Business School and is a Certified Executive and Business Coach. She is a member of the Harvard Institute of Coaching, the International Coach Federation, and the Worldwide Association of Business Coaches.

Healthcare

Venita Indewey is an insightful adviser and instructor on the topics of leadership and teams. An experienced leader of direct reports, project teams and cross functional teams for more than 30 years, she has applied theory to practice and shares this experience in the classroom as well as when mentoring and coaching. Venita has led initiatives and teams for several national Canadian corporations, for clients as a consulting manager with Ernst & Young, globally in Chile and Mexico with Scotiabank, and for the last 14 years in Healthcare with Public Health Ontario, CAHO groups, and for several academic teaching hospitals. Most recently she served as the senior director of organization development at the University Health Network. This experience enables Venita to hold a broad perspective of the healthcare system and understand the diversity of experiences of physician, administration and clinical-care teams and leaders.

Vern has over 20 years of experience in the field of strategy development, strategy implementation and deployment, KPI systems development and deployment, and organizational process improvement. He has consulted with various industries and sectors: agriculture, food processing, healthcare, non-profit, manufacturing, human resources/payroll, electric utilities, packaging, education, and regulatory bodies, to name but a few. The breadth and scope of the engagements have varied but include Strategy Planning and deployment, cultural transformations, KPI systems, Executive training and coaching, leadership and supervisor development and coaching, strategic project selection and execution, Lean Six Sigma training and coaching, basic data analysis, interpretation and problem-solving. The objective of any consulting engagement is to transfer the knowledge and skills to the client organization so that they may strive for and realize self-sufficiency. Prior to becoming a professional trainer and consultant, Vern spent twenty years at Manitoba Hydro and Northern Blower in General Management and Financial Planning and leading their Strategic Planning and Quality Improvement Initiatives. Vern is a Professional Engineer (APEGM), earning his Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering, with Distinction, from the University of Manitoba. He was awarded the Gold Medal from the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering and went on to attain his Master Degree in Business Administration from the University of Western Ontario. Vern is an Associate Professor and Engineer in Residence with the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Manitoba, teaching 4th year and graduate level in Operational Excellence. Vern is also an MBA sessional lecturer in Lean Management at the Asper School of Business and guest lectures at the University of Miami’s School of Business Administration and the Stern School of Business at New York University, New York.

Veronica Marquez collaborates with growing companies to enhance their operations and align their strategies to achieve their objectives. Her career commenced in distribution companies, where she assumed various roles, providing her with comprehensive business experience.  This diverse background highlighted the significance of aligning efforts and goals to meet business objectives. Her Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Certification further refined her problem-solving approach and offered a systemic view of organizations, establishing her as a professional committed to challenging the status quo.  Through her work with communities of practice, Ms. Marquez has successfully implemented performance indicators and visual management tools to monitor daily operations; managed national continuous improvement projects involving multidisciplinary teams; and conducted root cause analysis and problem-solving training sessions across different industries. She has also provided training and coaching in Lean Six Sigma and supply chain courses across various industries, resulting in significant cost reductions, enhanced employee and client satisfaction, and the development of employees’ skills and competencies within organizations.  Renowned for her inclusive approach, she actively involves the entire organizational community in envisioning the future, exploring optimization opportunities, and co-developing essential elements to achieve business goals.   Since 2022, Ms. Marquez has been a lecturer in the master's program in operations management at UQAM's École des sciences de la gestion, where she teaches service creation and management. In 2023, she was recognized as one of the Top 50 Experts in Operational Excellence by the PEX Network and she produces and hosts a LinkedIn Live podcast on industry 5.0 excellence.  Ms. Marquez holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Concordia University, a Certificate from the Summer School of Creativity and Innovation Management, and a Master of Science in Operations Management from HEC Montréal. Additionally, she is a Certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt with the American Society for Quality. 

Big Data and Analytics

Victor J. Garcia has been a member of the Schulich School of Business academic team (MBAN/ MMAI/Schulich ExecEd) since 2013. Garcia is an advisory Board member at the Schulich School of Business (MBAN/MMAI), the Ivey Centre for Health Innovation (University of Western Ontario), and the Humber River Hospital. He is an advisor and lecturer at the Osgoode Hall Law School (IP Osgoode, York University), a member of the Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC) Cyber Security Council, the United Kingdom’s Association of Masters in Business Administration (AMBA), and the Canadian Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD), an entity focused on leadership and excellence in business management, corporate governance and business ethics. He helps professionals develop, implement, and sustain business strategy, transformation, governance, operations, and programs designed to integrate complex emerging technologies, focusing on improving business performance and stakeholder value. Specific application areas include data analytics, visual analytics, artificial intelligence, cognitive computing, intelligent infrastructure, cybersecurity, privacy, risk management, data governance, and corporate governance. He holds a master’s degree in Business Administration from Aston University in Birmingham, UK (Distinction), is a graduate of Columbia University Business School, New York, USA (Corporate Governance program), the University of Toronto (Innovation Management program), Seneca College (Information Technology), and the Ilvem Institute (Computing Science, and Analytics).

Business Analysis, Project Management

Bud Lush has been a Schulich ExecEd faculty member since it’s inception. He is also the Chair and Chief Technical Officer with Atocrates Project Sciences. He is a multiple award winning international consultant/instructor with over 35 years direct working and teaching experience in integrated systems program management and corporate-enterprise wide initiatives. Bud has performed requirements engineering and management, designed control systems, and implemented management processes and advanced technologies in many sectors including automotive, petroleum, aerospace and defence. He frequently advises and consults in the areas of systems thinking, systems design, strategic analysis and planning, operations reviews, and project and organizational performance.

General Management, Strategic Leadership

Wissam holds a PhD in Strategic management and is a winner of the “Excellence in Teaching” award. Over the years, Wissam has designed and delivered numerous training programs for major companies all over the world, including the United Nations, Koodo-Mastercom, Chevron-Philips, and MasterCard, among others. He currently teaches leadership and strategy at the Schulich School of Business in key graduate programs. In 2016 he received the prestigious “Excellence in Teaching” award at the American University of Beirut for his impact and inspiration on the executive, graduate and undergraduate students. Wissam is a founding member and vice-president of strategy for the Canadian Business Strategy Association (CSBA) which aims to provide a knowledge portal for Canadian business strategists.

Yadvinder holds a Doctorate in Business Administration specializing in Cross-Border M&A Negotiations from Edinburgh Business School, an MBA from Manchester Business School, and a master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering. He is an Adjunct Professor of Cross-Cultural Negotiation at the Catholic University of Milan and the Bologna Business School. He also delivers negotiation workshops for companies and leading international and Italian universities and business schools, including CUOA Business School. From 2004 to 2010, Yadvinder gained extensive international experience as the Africa, Asia & Pacific Sales Director for a global leader in the luxury goods sector. In this role, he managed commercial and marketing organizations in China and India while establishing the company’s presence across China, India, Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. Previously, from 1997 to 2003, he worked for Fiat Group in Pennsylvania (USA), London (UK), and Lyon (France), leading cross-functional teams in implementing post-M&A integration strategies, including Case and New Holland, Iveco and Renault V.I., and the Fiat-GM joint venture.

Zachary Spicer is an Associate Professor in the School of Public Policy and Administration at York University in Toronto, Canada. At York University he is also serves as the Head of New College, as a fellow at McLaughlin College and a Faculty Affiliate with both the CITY Institute and the Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies. Beyond York, he is a member of the Digital Mobilities Lab, an Associate at the University of Toronto’s Innovation Policy Lab, a member of the Laboratory on Local Elections, a member of the study team for the Electronic Elections Project and an affiliate member of the Laurier Institute for the Study of Public Opinion and Policy at Wilfrid Laurier University. He previously served as the Director of Research and Outreach with the Institute of Public Administration of Canada and as a Senior Policy Advisor to Ontario’s Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. He began his career as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Brock University and completed post-doctoral fellowship at the Laurier Institute for the Study of Public Opinion and Policy at Wilfrid Laurier University and the Institute of Municipal Finance and Governance at the University of Toronto. He received his PhD from the Department of Political Science at The University of Western Ontario.