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.