Learning Leaders A Learning Leader is an active advocate and on-going supporter of learning and development in the workplace, even though they work outside of Human Resources and Training and Development. This is shown in the initiatives and contributions which they have made within and outside of their work environment to promote adult learning. A Learning Leader also provides support to their colleagues and encourages lifelong learning. Nominate a 2011 Learning Leader! CSTD is proud to present the 2010 Learning Leaders:
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Richard Alvarez
President and Chief Executive Officer, Canada Health Infoway
“A true life learner, Richard is a passionate advocate of learning and development initiatives at Canada Health Infoway (Infoway) and beyond, embracing learning from both an organizational and personal perspective - as a student, teacher, and role model to employees and leaders alike. Since Richard became President & CEO at Infoway in 2004, he has introduced and supported the growth of a comprehensive Learning and Development program focused on his belief that individual development is integral to the success of the organization as a whole. He continues to encourage all employees to further their learning.”
Nominated by CSTD member Nicole Hodgkinson and Olga Novikova, Canada Health Infoway
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Wayne Bossert
Executive Vice President, Retail Operations, Canadian Banking, Royal Bank
“Wayne is a strong advocate and vigorous supporter of both formal and informal workplace learning activities. Wayne considers opportunities for growth and development of all employees as mutually beneficial to both employees and RBC. He believes the knowledge & capability of our people is critical to the execution of our business strategies. A lifelong learner, Wayne openly shares his experiences; successes and challenges.”
Nominated by CSTD member Jane Adamyk, Royal Bank
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Chris Brown
Engineering Team Leader, Trojan Technologies
“Chris has demonstrated an ongoing commitment to learning. He supports and encourage continuous learning and development amongst his colleagues. Chris regularly seeks out learning opportunities to participate in and to provide feedback on. A well-respected member of the leadership team, many associates see Chris as an individual to learn from and be inspired by.”
Nominated by CSTD member Cindy Jensen, Trojan Technologies
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Dave Dobrosky
Senior Vice President, Customer Contact Centres, Scotiabank
“Dave ensures he meets every new employee in the Centre during their training to talk about learning and how it will serve them in their career with Scotiabank. He also supported coach training for every manager and ensured that vision came to fruition during the economic downturn; meeting weekly with the Manager, Staff Development, to discuss ideas, business strategies and how T&D could support these.”
Nominated by CSTD member Dorothy Powroz, CTDP, Scotiabank
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Ken Finch
Chairman of the Board of Directors, Kal Tire
“Ken always makes time to speak to developing leaders in our managers and assistant manager’s training program. He provides an interactive presentation, sharing stories from his experience and teaching about how important a leader’s role is in supporting their team member’s pursuit of ‘Best Careers.’”
Nominated by CSTD member James Gibson, Kal Tire
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Larry Flynn
Senior Vice-President, Gaming, OLG
“Larry Flynn puts people first; employee engagement is his top priority. Larry puts front-line employees at ease during his annual site visits, challenging management teams to deliver results and presenting ideas to grow our business. Larry is committed to creating programs that lead to engaged employees, which results in an improved customer experience and ultimately better business performance. Larry is OLG’s inspirational learning leader. He is an advocate at our senior leadership table. He holds people accountable to maximize the training investment. We wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Nominated by CSTD member Priscilla Fraser, OLG
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Angela Fong
Chief Corporate Services Officer, Focus Corporation
“Angela Fong's unwavering vision, passion and continued dedication has created an environment that empowers and enables the L&D team to support the development and growth of employees and business. She continues to challenge us all to become ‘Best in Class’ in learning and development, and an employer of choice in our marketplace. As a champion of learning, Angela has endorsed and become a tireless supporter of our strategic learning & development strategy and as such we have become imbedded in the strategic direction of Focus with direct access to the Executive team and all levels of decision makers in our business. ”
Nominated by CSTD member Deb Trockstad, Focus Corporation
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Jim Hall
Vice President Sales and Marketing, Hoffmann La Roche Ltd.
“Jim Hall is the epitome of a learning leader. As VP of Sales and Marketing for Roche Canada, Jim has been a strong advocate of continued learning and development to drive performance outcomes for the organization. In 2008, when many companies were looking for opportunities to reduce expenditures and head counts, Roche invested significantly in focusing efforts on enabling marketing and customer facing employees to deliver exceptional customer experiences.”
Nominated by CSTD member Elaine Kelly, Hoffmann La Roche Ltd.
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Dean Hartley
Vice President of IT, Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority
“Dean is currently bringing strategic focus to the IT division at SIGA, fostering process improvement and providing leadership through the senior executive team. Dean has supported staff in remaining dedicated to personal development plans. He is engaged in sharing knowledge with colleagues across the organizations that he has obtained through publications, white papers and articles.”
Nominated by CSTD member Pat Brooks, Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority
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Shauna Hynna
Senior Manager, Operational Excellence, OLG
“Shauna has been a champion for continuous improvement at OLG, and is recognized as such from grass roots to senior management levels. Her influence and opinion have led to her involvement in several key OLG training initiatives. For Shauna, OLG’s front line employees and its patrons come first. The Operational Excellence team’s motto is ‘Making Good Things Better,’ and this is evident in everything that she does.”
Nominated by CSTD member Chris Kozovski, CTDP, OLG
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Wolf Keller
Director Water Resources, City of Calgary
“Wolf has been at the forefront of developing a learning culture within Water Resources & Water Services at the City of Calgary. At a time when the corporation had stepped away from the Learning and Development function, Wolf stepped in to be a driving force to ensure continued support. Wolf is focused on developing an organization skilled at creating, acquiring and transferring knowledge and modifying its behaviour through integration of new knowledge and insights, improving upon workplace best practices and customer service. He is a strategic, open minded and long term thinker.”
Nominated by CSTD member Sarah Wong, City of Calgary
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Edward Littlechief
General Manager, Bear Claw Casino, Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority
“Edward believes training is key for improving staff capacity and fulfillment. He encourages people to take advantage of the professional development opportunities available to them, because of the benefit to them working in the casino industry. Ed has inspired me to shoot for high goals, and when I don’t reach them right away, he encourages me not to look at it as failure, but as a part of the learning process.”
Nominated by CSTD member Jason Chickosis, CTDP, Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority
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Jack MacDonald
Chief Executive Officer, Compass Group Canada and ESS North America
“Jack instills a culture of training and development in Compass that supports its vision of ‘creating a learning culture that enhances the skills, knowledge and abilities of our associates to ensure that they are capable of delivering great service and great results now and for the future.’ Under Jack’s leadership Compass associates benefit from our many in-house training programs, the availability of external resources, educational subsidies and accreditation bonuses.”
Nominated by CSTD member Michele Simmons, Compass Group Canada
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Dave Mowat
President and Chief Executive Officer, ATB Financial
“Dave Mowat is a devoted advocate for learning and development. Dave works hard on a daily basis to achieve success by ensuring his associates have just what they need to succeed. To this end, he has overseen the creation and implementation of several highly effective learning programs which have had a dramatic effect on employee engagement and performance within the company, resulting in noteworthy organizational success in turbulent economic times.”
Nominated by CSTD member Marilyn Richardson, ATB Financial
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Suzanne Myrand
North American International Performance Excellence Deployment Leader, Avis Budget Group
“Suzanne readily seeks quality learning solutions and partnerships that support her team’s work. She is an advocate for change, leadership and learning. In this day and age of economic downturn, cost cutting and streamlining, Suzanne understands the long term benefits and effects of building a learning organization.”
Nominated by CSTD member Elizabeth Lincoln, Avis Budget Group
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Camille Orridge
Chief Executive Officer, Toronto Central Community Care Access Centre
“Camille is a true learning leader who understands and is fully committed to Toronto Central CCAC’s ongoing journey to becoming a learning organization. Her natural curiosity and personal commitment to learning drives not only her own learning but also the organization’s learning. Although she expects a lot from the organization she is committed to ensuring that staff has the knowledge, skills and learning and development resources to meet those expectations. It creates a level of excitement within the organization that keeps staff engaged. In addition, Camille is committed to sharing learning beyond the organization with our Service Providers and community partners. ”
Nominated by CSTD member Dianne Mathieu and the Organizational Development Team, Toronto Central Community Care Access Centre
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Mario Paron
Deputy Tax Partner in Charge, Chief Human Resources Officer, KPMG
“Mario Paron is the Deputy Tax Partner in Charge, GTA Tax Practice at KPMG and KPMG’s Chief Human Resources Officer. Mario’s significant contributions to learning include creating a new people strategy focused on helping individuals reach their full potential. To support this strategy, Mario will launch KPMG Business School (KBS). KBS is a cross-functional, integrated approach to learning, designed to develop our people as professionals in a full range of skills – business, technical and leadership. KBS will evolve and continuously offer new learning and development initiatives.”
Nominated by CSTD member David Connal, CTDP, KPMG
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Jonothan Pasap
General manager, Painted Hand Casino, Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority
“Jonothan has been an active supporter of staff learning. He credits much of his own succes to the training opportunities provided to him early in his career and has consistently stressed that education and training combined with desire is the roadmap to success.”
Nominated by CSTD member Jason Chickosis, Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority
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Carole Anne Patenaude
Chief Executive Officer, Northwest Alberta Child and Family Services Authority
“Carole Anne truly believes that an organization’s greatest assets are its employees. She has a keen eye for talent and takes pride in watching employees grow and develop. Carole Anne demonstrates a strong commitment to her employees and supports them in reaching their full potential.”
Nominated by CSTD member Hope Colbourne, CTDP, Northwest Alberta Child and Family Services Authority
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Adam Peterson
Food and Beverage Manager, Dakota Dunes Casino, Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority
“Adam has consistently been an advocate for his staff to receive training not only for their job, but also to open doors for future opportunities in the food and beverage and guest services industries. He has also led by example, demonstrating an ongoing desire to learn more by accepting new challenges within the casino and supporting others in their initiatives.”
Nominated by CSTD member Ari Avivi, Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority
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Shayne Ramsay
Chief Executive Officer, BC Housing Management Commission
“Shayne Ramsay championed the concept and the development of the BC Housing People Strategy, a program in which “leadership and learning” is the primary component. By being the lead voice on the People Strategy, Shayne communicated to the management team the direction of the organization and the priority placed on learning. It was his commitment to the process and the leadership outcomes that made this valuable program possible. Shayne has also been active in his support for informal learning in the workplace and provides the resources and opportunities needed to help people actualize their career goals.”
Nominated by CSTD member Greg Keenan, BC Housing
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Diane Shannon
Executive Director, United Way of Fort McMurray
“Along with many other efforts supporting T&D within the United Way of Fort McMurray organization, Diane has been instrumental in establishing the Nonprofit Sector Link Wood Buffalo, a nonprofit organization which promotes leadership development though training, coaching and resource sharing. This initiative was created to meet the needs in the Fort McMurray region where 50% of the nonprofit leaders are new to their role in the last two years.”
Nominated by CSTD member Ed Kamps, ACFN Business Group
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Pina Starnino
Vice President Ground Operations, FedEx Express Canada Ltd.
“Pina can be described as a visionary leader and a champion of training within FedEx Express Canada. In her current role as Vice-President of Operations, Pina has successfully impacted the organization with her continued focus on training. She has established a number of work streams to support her performance culture vision, and two of these streams were dedicated exclusively to training. In every department that she had led in her 21 years at FedEx, she has left a positive training legacy behind her.”
Nominated by CSTD member Geri-Lynn Ryan, FedEx Express Canada
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John Tibbits, EdD
President and Chief Executive Officer, Conestoga College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning
“John’s involvement in the development of the College’s workforce is evident in his support of key developmental opportunities for Conestoga staff. John regularly speaks at college conferences and employee orientations about Conestoga and the connection between College growth and skill development opportunities
available to employees.”
Nominated by CSTD member Helen Jowett, McDonald-Green
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Lionel Tootoosis
General Manager, Living Sky Casino, Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority
“Lionel has always promoted learning, stressing that training is vital in casino operations. He leads by example, and allows his staff to grow and learn. Under his guidance, training programs have been delivered during transition phases which support succession planning. From traditional roots, Lionel advocates for First Nations communities. He lives a clean life, takes responsibility and leads his people in to better and brighter things.”
Nominated by CSTD member Ari Avivi, Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority
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