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Igniting IT Leadership

Decades of Leadership Training Experience

The Leaders Beyond faculty includes business executives, educators, CIOs, consultants, and strategists from multiple industries. With decades of leadership training experience, they use a proven curriculum that emphasizes teacher/student mentorship and case study analysis.

Dr. Gerald Patnode

Program Director, Leaders Beyond™ Principal and CEO, G.R. Patnode Company

Gerry is a highly imaginative and innovative change agent senior executive and educator with strong street-smart skills gained through progressive experiences in higher education, enterprise creation, new business development and executive management positions. He was previously the Chair of the Graham School of Business at the York College of Pennsylvania.  Gerry has authored numerous research papers and books, and consults internationally with companies in the fields of market and economic research.  He regularly gives back to the community by serving on various boards and commissions.

Paul is recognized as a pragmatic, insightful leader and critical thinker offering a unique and compelling blend of experience as a “Big 4” Management Consultant and industry CIO, with a multi-decade track record of technology-based transformational change in multiple organizations. He was named as a Top 10 CIO in 2022. His specialties include advising CIOs and CISOs in major companies on their transformation journeys, strategic technology roadmaps, IT Strategies, Operating Models and Organizational Structures.  

Paul Bellack

Principal, PB Advisory; Former (Retired) CIO, Magna International Inc.; Strategic IT Consulting / Executive Advisor & Coach

Dr. Jennifer Card, Psy.D, MSc., PCC

C-entre Co-Founder, Organizational Psychologist and Executive Coach

Jennifer is an organizational psychologist, leadership consultant, PCC accredited executive coach with the ICF, author, and researcher. Jennifer holds a doctorate in Organizational Leadership Psychology, a Master of Science degree in Applied Positive Psychology and Coaching Psychology, and a postgraduate diploma in Management Studies. Jennifer has also earned a certificate in cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) and is certified as a Birkman Psychometric Assessment Practitioner. She co-founded the Canadian Workplace Wellbeing Awards. 

Alex is an internationally experienced executive with over 35 years of experience in the energy and utilities sector. Her professional career spans senior leadership positions in IT, Human Resources and Business Process Integration with expertise in leading global teams across North America, Europe and SE Asia. Her expertise and experience in pre-and post-acquisition functional integration, strategic change management, and corporate transformations is both broad and deep. Alex holds a Director’s designation (ICD.D) from the Institute of Corporate Directors. She currently serves on two NFP boards as well as on the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) board. 

Alexandra Federucci, MA, ICD.D

Executive Adviser/Consultant – Talent/Culture/Transformation/Organizational Effectiveness

Edmond Mellina

President, ORCHANGO; former CIO, Delta Hotels

Edmond is internationally respected for his expertise in nimble change leadership and culture change. For the past 30 years, he has been executing strategic transformations and building agile capabilities across sectors in Europe, North America and the Middle East. He is a former corporate transformation executive in drastically changing sectors: CIO at Delta Hotels when Expedia disrupted the hotel business; and VP Corporate Development & General Manager USA for the technology business of Envoy Communication Group when design and marketing agencies started to become digital. Edmond gets powerful messages across with his highly dynamic speaking style and engaging stories.

James is the Founder and CEO of cyberconIQ, a firm committed to changing the global cybersecurity conversation from fear to hope. Internationally known, his areas of research interest delve into the intersection of society and technology and the clash this can create. The author of six books and multiple journal articles, James is a sought-after expert, frequent media commentator and national newspaper op-ed guest writer.  He conducts, presents and publishes industry-related research and consults globally to prominent companies concerning cybersecurity, information privacy and security, and economic crime detection and prevention methods

Dr. James L. Norrie, DPM, LL.M

Professor of Strategy & Cybersecurity, former Founding Dean of the Graham School of Business, York College Pennsylvania; Managing Partner, e-Venture Consulting, Inc.; CEO and Founder, cyberconIQ Inc.

Cindy Seibel

Cindy Seibel

Former CIO, Energy Resources and Conservation Board, Alberta

Cindy is an award-winning CIO whose experience spans the public, not-for-profit and private sectors. Her unique combination of expertise in information technology, human resources, leadership and learning has led to a track record of high-performing multi-disciplinary teams. She has served as a program director for successful multi-million-dollar technology implementations. Her work in developing strategic technology plans for organizations has been led both as a CIO, and as an external consultant. Cindy is a lifelong learner who loves to share her passion for leadership and technology in the 21st century.

As a Global Technology Executive and Board Director, Sarah has held CTO / CIO positions at ATCO, Bruce Power, and BlackBerry. Her career also includes a management consulting phase at IBM and started as a regional engineer at Union Gas (now Enbridge).
Sarah’s expertise includes business strategy, risk management, technology leadership, cyber policy, and complex multi-stakeholder management. She has served on several not-for-profit boards and industry advisory boards. Today she is the Vice Chair at Western University and an Independent Director at Associated Engineering.

Sarah Shortreed, P.Eng., FCAE, ICD.D

Sarah Shortreed, P.Eng., FCAE, ICD.D

The Transformative
IT Leader Program

Designed for technology leaders seeking to improve management skills or who report to CIOs, Executive IT Leaders, Directors, or Division IT Leaders.

Over the course of the program, our team of skilled and experienced mentors will engage you in a powerful and topical online learning program. Designed to be rich in relevant content, using fresh and interactive learning methods, the program also features valuable personal networking and peer-to-peer learning for which Leaders Beyond is known.

The Executive
IT Leader Program

Designed for new executives seeking to expand their knowledge and understanding of the “business side of the house” or are CIOs, Executive IT Leaders, Directors, or Division IT Leaders.

In the Executive IT Leader Program, you will explore the executive perspective and improve your knowledge of enterprise strategy and compliance, enterprise risk management, and digital transformation and modernization, all with a lens to improve business outcomes. At the core of any organization is its people, and you will build a greater understanding of organizational design and leading change in the digital age.