Project Management for Organizational Excellence

CEO of the international consulting and training organization, Business Improvement Architects, Michael works with organizations globally to improve their operational performance.  He helps leadership teams to define their strategic direction and increase their leadership performance.  He directs organizations to create the strategy, culture and process for innovation.  He has been instrumental in helping his clients increase productivity and profits with his clear processes and quality approach. 

Michael has delivered keynote presentations for conferences and events in over 20 different countries to a wide range of business audiences.  As well, he has been featured and published in over 500 different magazines and industry publications around the world.

Brian is Program Director at Ericsson Communications where he oversees project and program delivery for a new entrant in the expanding Canadian cellular market. Earlier Brian spent 10 years with Ericsson Communications creating and managing global project and development groups.  His work included delivering cutting edge software and services, leveraging global demand for new innovative products to create revenue generating applications and services, and creating and implementing business processes to support an increasingly sophisticated market.
 
Through his consulting company McApples Enterprises, Brian has been working with leading companies around North America, the UK, and New Zealand streamlining processes, working with their people to help them develop their skills and knowledge in project management, management and business, and moving them towards sustainable project practices.

Managing Partner for Merit Outsourcing Advisors, his expertise is focused on outsourcing deal investigations, developing outsourcing strategies, providing outsourcing transaction leadership, vendor management and optimization strategies. Michael has a Master of Business Administration in Marketing from Schulich School of Business, York University in Toronto, and he serves on a wide range of corporate and not-for-profit boards.

An accomplished organizational change and design practitioner, with proven track record in leading, delivering and managing organizational transformation, transition and business improvement. He has helped clients in North America and globally at all levels of the organization and across a broad array of industries including financial services, retail, construction and manufacturing.

A leader who brings together the benefits of Project Management methodologies in functional areas of supply chain, contracting, outsourcing and procurement.  As member of Board of Directors of Global Sourcing Council, NY, US, he is involved in developing policy framework for promoting Economically, socially and environmentally sustainable Global best practices for products and services.  A featured speaker for Federated Press of Canada, Ontario Institute of Purchasing Management Association of Canada, Sanjay speaks on the subjects of “Managing Contracts, IT procurement and Cloud based Outsourcing”.

Principal Consultant in the Office of Business Excellence at Apotex, a pharmaceutical company located in Toronto, for more than fifteen years, working under various roles from R&D to Sales. One of the three founding chairs of the Project Management Community of Practice at Apotex.  Danièle devotes her spare time as a Toastmaster where she dedicates time and efforts to fulfill her passion in improving communication and leadership skills in herself as well as others.

The BSc in Psychology and the Adult Education Certificate, plus the PMP certification, set him on a course to work with people, processes and technology and since then he has been passionate about the project management (PM) profession. He has presented at several PMI events held in different parts of the world, including Brazil, Melbourne and Washington. As a PMI GovCOP (virtual Government Community of Practice) Council Leader, Joseph seeks to build bridges with other PMI components and he has initiated three initiatives to link SOC and GovCOP with other public sector organizations

Kathleen has been leading IT projects since 1987, the last 14 years for a large financial institution (30,000+ employees). Former lead of Bank of Montreal’s Project Management Centre of Competency, she was responsible for the maintenance and improvement of the Project Management process. Her industry experience spans IT, financial institutions, logistics, oil and gas, and environmental applications and bio-remediation. Currently she is managing projects for BMO’s Personal and Commercial line of business. Her lectures at Project World, U of T Business Conference and PMI Chapters have been highly rated by participants as being able to “put the methods and tools into action immediately.”

A B.Comm., and a M. Sc. in Operations Research, Omar is  currently Head and Lead Enterprise Architecture – Global Asset Management, Global Private Banking and Wealth Management at BMO Financial Group, leading the development of Business and Technology architecture for 12 Lines of businesses across North America and internationally.

Omar has held many executive and advisory positions at Dundee Wealth Management-Dynamic Funds; Computer Associates  and Minto Group Inc. Omar is a publisher, speaker and award winner in numerous subjects such as project management, Customer Relationship Management and Business Intelligence.

Michael Lemiski, P.Eng., PMP
&
Ralph Kuhn, P. Eng., PMP, PMI-SP

Michael Lemiski is a Senior Project and Program Manager, Consultant and Trainer with over 20 years of experience as a project manager in a broad range of industries.  Drawing upon his experience as IT PMO Director (Consumers Gas), Manager of Projects (Areva) and General Manager (Duke Engineering and Services), Michael has established a collaborative approach to capability improvement that emphasizes a balance of people and organizational change, process enhancement and technology. 

Ralph Kuhn is a Senior Consultant based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Since apprenticing as a commercial construction project manager in the Toronto area in the late 80’s, Ralph’s career has expanded to a wide array of roles and industries. Public sector experience included planning and scheduling a number of hospital projects plus systems work with Ontario’s health information curator.  On the consulting side, opportunities have regularly landed him where facility change, business change and information technology intersect. Ralph’s passion for practical solutions adding real business value, motivated him to share these techniques as an instructor in the MBA program at the Schulich School of Business at York University.

A Toronto based Rodger Harding, applying leadership savvy learned from business consulting, diplomatic, legal & military experience, has a proven record of enabling full leadership potential in scores of business folk. His clients range from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies, national not-for-profit organizations & learning institutions. His book Corporate Intelligence Awareness: Securing the Competitive Edge was published in 2006. The material evolved over a period of 4 years in response to Corporate Intelligence Seminar/Workshop client requirements in the IT, Industrial, Financial, Broadcast/Media & Government arenas.

A successful IT project management consultant, captivating speaker at public events, motivating trainer and author of high-impact project management articles. A renowned expert in standards and methodologies, George is leading the Canadian representation for ISO standardization activities as the Chair of the CAC/ISO/TC258 – “Project, programme and portfolio management” that will continue the activity of the CAC/ISO/PC236 – “Project management” (the upcoming ISO 21500 project management standard) where he currently acts as Vice-Chair.  Within PMI, George is currently a member of the Core Team for the upcoming PMBOK® Guide 5th Edition and the Chair of PMI Information Systems SIG, as well as a Board member of PMI Southern Ontario Chapter.

As a graduate of The Coaches Training Institute Leadership Program, Owen has been offering Relationship Coaching to individuals, families and Leadership Teams for the past eighteen years. As the author of The Relationship Revolution, Owen provides insights and skills into how teams can function with excellence and get the job done with efficiency. Living the principle of ‘being of service’ as a leader sets the tone for influence in all transactions. Owen has been regularly featured on CBC Radio and Television, has hosted his own show on NewsTalk 1010. His involvement in community earned him The Ron Hering Award in 2009 from MKP International.  His next book Man Up is scheduled for release in the fall of 2011.

Based on his 30+ years cross-industry project and process management experience and over 8,000 hours of R&D, Angelo has developed ePPM by Design™ - a framework for designing more perfect business processes. An active presenter and volunteer. he has presented at PMI Global Congresses, BusinessAnalyst World, Symposiums, and PMI Chapter events. He is a past president of the PMI Lakeshore Chapter and chair of the Business Process Improvement SIG for CMC-Canada.

Jennifer has over 25 years of professional credibility working worldwide as a Management Consultant specializing in PMOs, Program and Project Management (PMI, PRINCE2, ITIL/ITSM), with expertise in Organizational Change Management, Process Re-engineering, and in Portfolio Management. She is a specialist in assessing and establishing PMOs, Program and Project Management, as well as an IT and ITIL Solution management specialist. She has worldwide experience as a speaker, facilitator and trainer, and has taught at the undergraduate level and at the professional level. An active member of PMI, as an elected member of the PMI SOC Chapter Board of Directors, past Chair of the PMI SOC PMOLIG, and other components of PMI.

Romeo has over 20 years of experience managing cross functional projects and programs across multiple industries. Skilled at managing the clients’ expectations and successfully delivering complex recovery and turnaround programs. His experience spans several industries. Romeo is a past President of PMI Southern Ontario Chapter and has presented at national and internal symposiums, with the most recent is NASA 2009 and 2010 PM Challenge. He has a Master of Science Degree in Project Management, a Graduate certificate in Operations Management, and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Quantity Surveying (Cost engineering).