Professional Faculty
The Leaders Beyond™ faculty of mentors come from all aspects of business and the public sector.
Cindy Seibel
Program Director, Leaders Beyond; 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 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 an external consultant. Cindy is a lifelong learner who loves to share her passion for leadership and technology in the 21st century.
Rainer Beltzner
Former Managing Director and Consulting Partner, KPMG
Rainer has a distinguished track record in providing information technology and business strategy advice and solutions to a broad spectrum of global clients over many years. As a Certified Corporate Director, chairman, president and CEO he has in-depth first-hand insight into the roles and functions of executive teams and boards of profit and not-for-profit organizations. He has designed and delivered numerous professional business courses for Canadian Universities and is a fellow of Chartered Professional Accountants Ontario and a member of the Institute of Certified Management Consultants. He is also on the faculty of the Toronto Center for Mindfulness Studies and teaches the Mindful Self-Compassion program to business, health care and education professionals. Rainer is an avid car enthusiast, race driving instructor, a competitive racer and an automotive journalist.
Cecilia Carbonelli
Senior Executive, Information Technology, Haventree Bank
Cecilia is known as a skilled communicator, mentor and visionary IT leader with more than 20 years of experience in leadership, program and project management, development and technology. As a key player in the highly competitive Canadian financial services industry, her role is to lead the technology organization in gaining and sustaining competitive advantage by tightly aligning IT solutions and strategic investments to business value.
Duncan Card
Senior Partner and Chair of the Information Technology Practice, Bennett Jones LLP
Duncan is internationally recognized as an authority on CIO corporate governance, IT procurement, IT transformation, and IT project and risk management best practices. He is widely regarded and independently ranked as one of Canada’s leading IT business lawyers and is the author of the highly acclaimed book: Information Technology Transactions: Business, Management & Legal Strategies. He has taught extensively at over a dozen universities internationally, including The National War College in Washington DC, Case Western University (USA), and the IT Governance module of the ICD/Rotman ICD.D program.
Dr. Tom Keenan, Ed.D., I.S.P., FCIPS
Educator, Author, Journalist and Public Speaker
Tom is a seasoned IT professional and popular professor at the University of Calgary. He taught Canada’s first computer security course in 1977 and was involved in the creation of the country’s first computer crime laws. He has spoken on five continents and is the author of over 2,000 academic and professional publications. A frequent guest on radio and television programs, Tom has served as an expert witness in civil and criminal cases and is known for his ability to demystify complex subjects and tease out the “news you can use.” His 2014 book, Technocreep: The Surrender of Privacy and the Capitalization of Intimacy is a Canadian best-seller and currently ranks in the top twenty in Amazon.ca’s Technology & Society category. He is the current Chair of the Information and Communications Technology Council of Canada and a Fellow of the Canadian Information Processing Society and the Canada Global Affairs Institute.
Jim McDade
COO Aware360; former CIO Purolator Courier, Alberta Health Services and Ontario Workplace Safety Insurance Board
Jim has more than 30 years of experience as a provider and CIO in implementing and operating large scale, complex IT solutions for both the public and private sector. Following a 20+ year career at Accenture as the lead for the Canadian Public Sector Practice, Jim led many IT teams as CIO for Purolator Courier Ltd., CTO / CIO for Alberta Health Services and CIO for Ontario Workplace Safety Insurance Board. Jim specializes in building and developing the capabilities of all employees, large scale business transformation, and strategy/business change execution. As COO, Jim is responsible for all operational activities, focusing on leading Aware360’s positioning and growth in this rapidly evolving technology space.
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.
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.
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.
