Marketing

Tyler Calder is chief marketing officer at Yulio VR. He is a proven leader in digital marketing and has focused his career on revenue operations in high-growth organizations. He was named to Marketing Magazine’s Top 30 Under 30 (when he was still under 30), is a well-known conference speaker and teaches search engine marketing for several universities.

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, People Leadership

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, People Leadership

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.

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, Lean Six Sigma, Project Management

Vincent is a principal at GPS Group, working with clients in the fields of project leadership, business analysis and Lean Six Sigma. He has many years of direct senior-level experience in various aspects of project life, including Project Management, Business Analysis and Enterprise Planning. Vince has successfully instructed and trained hundreds of managers, executives and project professionals to improve their understanding of project politics, effective project design and execution – including how to turn around troubled projects to achieve optimal project outcomes.

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.

Strategic Leadership

Since completing undergraduate and graduate studies, Walter Perchal has taught a broad range of programs at York University in Toronto. He has also been a Special Visiting Professor in a number of countries and adjunct faculty in the Schulich BBA Program. Further to his academic work, he has been the recipient of The Dean of Arts Award for Outstanding Teaching, The York University - University Wide Award for Teaching Excellence and The Seymour Schulich Award for Teaching Excellence at the Schulich School of Business. Additionally, at York University he supported the establishment of the new Graduate Program in: Disaster and Emergency Management. He now serves as graduate and undergraduate faculty in that program. His areas of specialization include: International Change, National/International Security, Terrorism and Counter Terrorism and Perception Management. At York, he also established The Centre of Excellence in Security, Resilience and Intelligence Management at the Schulich ExecEd, where he currently serves as Program Director. Concurrently, Perchal is managing director of two trans-disciplinary consulting groups that work globally advising countries on: national transformation, change and continuity, and, security issues. He is a member of the board of directors of a number of corporations, is a “Mentor” to “Taking it Global” and “YPCPA”, a staff member with the York University hockey team, a director of the Atlantic Council and, a fellow of both Norman Bethune and Calumet colleges at York. He is also the current Chair of Distinguished Scholars of Canada and the National Defense Foundation (Canada). Additionally, he is actively engaged in supporting the development of international relations of benefit to Canada and, locally, supports both community development and youth programs. Concurrently, he serves as a Reserve Officer in the Canadian Forces. In the program of this service he has served in various appointments. Among his duties he has been the Commanding Officer of the Royal Regiment of Canada and Special Advisor to the Chief of Land Staff (The Canadian Army Commander). His work in various areas has been recognized both nationally and internationally. Among these honours, in addition to teaching awards, he is a recipient of: the International Prize in Information Technology, the Chief of Land Staff (Canadian Army Commander) Commendation, Premier of Ontario Letter of Commendation, Government of Poland’s Knight’s Cross of the Order of Merit and, recently, Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit.

Coaching and Collaboration

Wayne is a consultant and college instructor with a wide background in telecommunications. His specialty is driving results through collaboration. In addition to teaching at Schulich ExecEd, Wayne is a part-time faculty member at Sheridan College and Humber College.

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.