Go Local, Go Global Panel

Marylka Empey, FCMC, MBA, CHRL, CHRE, CCP

Marylka Empey, currently serves as the Registrar of the Ontario Institute and sits on the National Certification Committee.  She is also the CATALYST 2022 Co-Chair of the Speakers and Programming committee. Marylka obtained her CMC in 2009 via the Executive Stream, and has served as GTA Chapter Chair, President of the Ontario Institute, and National Board member.

Marylka is active in the broader community and has served on several non-profit boards. Currently she is an Advisory Board member for the MSc in Project Management at Northeastern University’s Toronto campus. Through her company, Trinity Associates Inc., Marylka has consulted on strategic HR initiatives across a range of industry sectors with local and international clients, including Wendy’s, Canadian Tire, OMERS, DMC Mining, Doctors Without Borders.

Marylka has also travelled to CMC Global conferences and has experienced first-hand the awesomeness of “Go Local, Go Global”!

James Grieve, CMC, CSP, CCXP, CEPA, MBA

James is a CMC with a can-do approach to business.  He is passionate about strategy and has a keen understanding of working with for profit, non-profit, and co-operative organizations in a variety of industries, including agriculture, retail, tourism, hospitality, manufacturing, and professional services. He has extensive experience in working with First Nations communities on economic development and empowerment initiatives in a variety of geographical regions and business models, including co-operatives.

James is also a Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP), a Certified Sales Professional (CSP), Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA), and a Professional Farm Advisor (CAFA), and brings a creative and customer-first approach to working with clients. He also holds an ISO 20700:2017 certification for management consultancy services.

Olakunle Fadumiye, CMC, MSc, PMP, CSM, DASM, EIT

Ola is the Registrar for the Manitoba Certifying Institute and is a member of CMC National Certification Committee (NCC).  Ola has customized the CMC-Canada Pathway and has created an interactive tool to help facilitate a candidate’s review of the certification streams. Ola will be providing an overview of this interactive tool as part of the panel discussion.

In addition to his CMC, Ola has MSc in Civil Engineering, a Project Management Professional (PMP), a Certified Scrum Master (CSM), a Disciplined Certified Scrum Master (DASM), and an Engineer in Training (EIT) pursuing his PEng. Most recently, Ola completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Business Analytics and Data Science from the University of Texas, Austin.

Ola is an Assistant Project Manager for Emmett Leo Homes, a high-end custom builder in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Ola has extensive experience in Residential and Commercial Project Management, Contract Management and Risk management to the highest standards and customer satisfaction.

He is the initiator of a Social Project in Nigeria called Tolaram Science Challenge.

Leah Iszakovits, MA, PMP, RCIC

Leah currently serves as the Executive Director and Registrar for the Institute of Certified Management Consultants of Alberta or CMC-AB as well as Chair of their Registration Committee.  

Entrepreneurial and passionate about making a difference in people’s lives, Leah founded IZAK Canada Immigration Consulting Inc., an immigration firm dedicated to helping individuals and organizations with customized immigration solutions.  With a background in international education and stakeholder relations, Leah’s consulting practice focuses on immigration research, business development, international education, and helping educational providers increase and diversify revenue, develop student recruitment and marketing strategies, and streamline internal processes.

Leah is a certified Change Management Practitioner, PMP and is a licenced Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant and member in good standing with the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants. She holds a MA from Western University, a BA from King’s University College at Western University, and completed UBC’s: Laws, Policies and Procedures program.

Dorothy Milburn-Smith, FCMC

Dorothy Milburn-Smith has more than 35 years experience as a management consultant. She is a Fellow Certified Management Consultant (FCMC) and Information Systems Professional. For more than 25 years, Dorothy has been an active member of the Canadian Association of Management Consultants. This has included being the President of the Ontario Institute of Certified Management Consultants, Chair of the Eastern Ontario Chapter of the Ontario Institute, Chair of the FCMC Committee for the Ontario Institute and a certified Oral Assessor. Dorothy’s consulting experience has primarily been in the public sector. Dorothy is an organizational problem-solver with excellent consulting, diagnostic, analytical, facilitation and communications skills. She combines organizational change, process management and business transformation skills with in-depth information technology and systems expertise.

Dorothy is also active in her community. In 2020, she was elected to the Board of the Ottawa Chamber Music Society (OCMS), and has been appointed Secretary. Her involvement in OCMS reflects Dorothy’s love of music and the arts. In recent years, OCMS has produced as many as 120 events and performances per year, most of which take place within the context of the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival (Chamberfest).

Nancy Lahaie, CMC, Adm.A.

Nancy is the Regional Director-Quebec member of  the Board of Directors of CMC-Canada, as well as a member of l’Ordre des Administrateurs Agrées.

Nancy is a business strategist with over 20 years of experience in marketing management, commercialization and market development. She has worked in multi-national companies such as Pfizer Canada and Roche Diagnostics as well as in Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs), both in B2B and B2C. Innovative and results-oriented, she has strong analytical and strategic skills that enable her to deliver innovative and winning strategies, and mobilize teams to achieve the company business objectives as well as the professional aspirations of the leaders she works with.

Nancy also collaborates as a trainer with Concordia University’s continuing education and at l’École des Dirigeants where she shares best practices on strategic planning, communication, team management and leadership. In addition, she is a lecturer at Université Laval at the Faculty of Pharmacy.

In 2014, launched her consulting firm focusing on helping companies and professionals reach their full potential in a sustainable fashion through an inspiring vision, clear objectives, a strong strategic positioning, a clever operational plan and powerful tools.

Chris Harper, CMC, PMP, CBAP

Christopher is the Senior Director, Digital Advisory Services with Online Business Systems, a multi-national cybersecurity digital transformation consulting firm.  He has nearly two decades of professional consulting experience spanning information technology, human resources, financial planning and reporting, asset management, and strategy development and execution in the public and private sectors.  He is currently completing his Doctor in Business Administration with Royal Roads University, where his research interests can be found at the intersection of information technology and strategy.

Chris is passionate about building and enabling consulting teams to deliver impactful results with clients, creating teams that enable clients to navigate complex transformations with success.  He has taken this passion nationally, where he has developed and delivers various management consulting certification courses with Certified Management Consultants – Canada, in addition to teaching at the University of Calgary and the Faculty of Business Administration at Lakehead University.  He takes this same passion and approach to help build capabilities with clients, enabling clients to sustain their success with confidence and independence. 

Chris currently serves as an elected Canadian delegate to the International Council of Management Consulting Institutes, where he is a member of the Professional Standards Committee and Chair of the Americas Hub.

Valerie Sluth, FCMC, MBA, ICD.D,

Valerie is the founder and CEO of Saskatchewan-based Praxis Consulting. As an entrepreneur, Val has successfully built Saskatchewan’s largest management consulting and research firm by bringing together a high performing and multi-generational team of intelligent consultants and analysts.  With over 25 years of experience, Val focuses on business strategy, stakeholder/community engagement, and corporate governance in private and public sector organizations at provincial, federal, and international levels. She is sought after for her excellent communication skills and ability to generate positive solutions that require multiple stakeholder input and are complex issues in nature. 

Val has displayed a commitment to the advancement of her profession by serving as President of the Saskatchewan Institute of Certified Management Consultants, a board member of CMC-Canada, and a lead Canadian Trustee to CMC International. 

Kaitlin Pianosi, CMC, MBA

Kaitlin Pianosi is a senior consultant working in Atlantic Canada’s public sector. She focuses on using collaborative engagement techniques to build buy-in and develop relationships. She is noted for her many projects that require research, strategy, engagement techniques, and jurisdictional scanning. She has certifications in Lean Six Sigma, change management, and social media, as well as an MBA that focused on strategy and change management. Over the last several years she has been engaged in multiple M365 deployments in public sector organizations.

In addition to her professional work, Kaitlin chairs her firm’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, and is the President of CMC-Atlantic, the governing institute for Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and PEI.  She has been focused on increasing member engagement and regional presence and leading the board to deliver high calibre events. She also sits on the National Joint Services Committee and National Board of Directors, and is a previous member of the National Growth Committee.​

Michael Ennis, CMC, MBA, Prosci, P.Eng

Michael Ennis is the founder and Managing Partner of TDV Global Inc., a strategic management consulting firm with a passion for delivering high-quality services to scientific and regulatory organizations that contribute to a safer, secure and more prosperous world.  Michael started his career in the Royal Canadian Air Force working as an Aerospace Engineering Officer within the CF-18 program.  He commenced his career in consulting in 1994 and established TDV Global in 2001 to help organizations unlock their latent potential.

Michael is a strong advocate of the management consulting profession.  He is the President of the Institute of Certified Management Consultants of Ontario (CMC‑ONT) and Board Member of the Canadian Association of Management Consultants.  He has served in numerous professional and voluntary leadership roles.  Michael has a Master’s in Business Administration and is a Professional Engineer, Certified Management Consultant and is certified in Prosci Change Management Processes.   Michael is a past Forty Under 40 Award Recipient, as issued by the Ottawa Business Journal.