Board of Directors

Associate Professor at Ryerson University's Ted Rogers School of IT Management (ITM)

Ron has extensive experience as a senior management consultant at two global consulting firms. As a partner at Accenture and previously KPMG, he was responsible for the Canadian IT Management and Strategy practice.

Ron teaches IT management courses in the undergraduate and MBA programs at Ryerson University. He works with the IT Executive Research Program at IDC where he is an Adjunct Researcher.  At Manchester University, he is a member of the Centre for Development Informatics. He has been an advisor to the IT program at the Richard Ivey School of Business and to the IT program at Sheridan College. He has also been a regular judge at the MIS case competition at the annual Inter-Collegiate Business Competition at Queen’s University.

Ron received his doctorate from the University of Manchester where he examined the role of social and environmental responsibility in global outsourcing.  He has published two books and numerous papers on this topic.

Partner, Goodmans LLP & CORE Board Secretary

Richard Corley is a partner at Goodmans and leads the firm’s Outsourcing practice group. Combining his legal expertise with a unique background in engineering, mathematics, computer science and business, Richard's practice focuses on the intersection of law and technology. 

Richard has over 25 years of experience advising clients on complex outsourcing transactions, technology M&A, joint ventures, cleantech and technology-related competition law matters.  With technology at its core, Richard's practice is focused on the growing information technology and cleantech sectors. Richard's practice complements his personal interest and involvement in energy conservation and energy alternatives.  He is currently involved with the Canadian implementation of the Third Industrial Revolution initiative, which integrates distributed renewable energy, low-energy buildings, intelligent power distribution and management, and energy storage systems.

CIBC

Barclay Cornell is Senior-Vice President of Retail Operations, Global Operations & INTRIA, Technology & Operations for CIBC. In this role, Mr. Cornell is in direct support of Retail and Business Banking products, channels and customers, to deliver operations services that are efficient, accurate, valuable and strategically aligned. Retail Operations provides centralized processing support for CIBC Retail and Business Banking.

He was previously Senior-Vice President of Corporate Services, Technology & Operations. In this role, Mr. Cornell provided real estate, sourcing and payment processing support to all areas of the Bank but more importantly he provided oversight, due diligence and stewardship to 35% of the Bank's managed spend.

Mr. Cornell joined CIBC in 1989 and has held various senior roles in the organization predominately in the Strategy and Corporate Real Estate areas. He received his BA degree from Ryerson University in Applied Geography.

Vice President and Chief Risk Officer, Hydro One

Frank is the Vice President and Chief Risk Officer for Hydro One, the largest transmission and distribution utility in Ontario.  He is accountable developing and implementing leading risk methodologies across the enterprise so that senior management and the Board of Directors can identify, assess, action and report on risk and mitigates. Prior to taking on his current role, Frank was the Director of Outsourcing Services for Hydro One where he oversaw one of Canada’s largest outsourcing agreements.  Frank is an Accredited Outsourcing Practitioner (AOP).  Frank has had a number of progressive leadership positions within Hydro One’s finance division.  Frank has over 25 years of experience as a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) and Chartered Accountant (CA), having gained his prior audit working experience with PricewaterhouseCoopers before joining Hydro One. Frank has been a member of several committees of Canadian and international accounting standard setters, as well as electricity industry groups.  He has also authored a number of articles on accounting and outsourcing topics.

Executive Advisor

Jim Eckler provides advisory services with practical strategic and operational advice to management teams and Boards.  His background includes over 35 years of experience in supply chain management, outsourcing, business strategy development, operations productivity improvement, and information technology.  In addition to his advisory work, Jim is a Visiting Professor at Arizona State University and serves on two Boards. 

Immediately prior to establishing his advisory practice, Jim was COO of Health Shared Services BC, the provider of administrative shared services for the healthcare system across British Columbia.  This organization operated the key administrative functions for all of the hospitals in BC.  For 18 years prior to that Jim held senior executive roles in operating companies including 14 years as President and CEO of SCI Group Inc., a leading outsourcing services company, providing logistics services for major technology, healthcare, and retail companies such as Amazon, Lowes, Bell Canada, Rogers Communications, Siemens, and Xerox.  Prior to these leadership positions, for 18 years Jim was a supply chain management consultant with Booz Allen in the US and with KPMG in Canada.

Jim is a graduate in Mathematics from the University of Waterloo and in Management Science from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He also holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors.  He is a past chairman of the Supply Chain and Logistics Association of Canada. As well, he holds a CMC designation from the Institute of Management Consultants of Ontario. Jim has authored numerous articles on a broad range of supply chain topics and is a frequent speaker at industry conferences across North America.  He has lectured at Arizona State University, York University, McGill University, University of Toronto, and University of British Columbia. He is also a founding member and a Director of the Center for Outsourcing Research and Education.

Christine Knott is a Citisoft Managing Director with over 29 years of experience in consulting and maintaining client relationships for the investment management industry. Christine supports the advisory needs of Citisoft’s global client base and is responsible for growing the North American consulting practice with a specific focus on the Canadian marketplace. She has strong analytical, mathematical, technical and project management capabilities and superior track record in creating new teams, new processes and new services.

Christine has deep understanding of the investment operations business in Canada and has broad experience across a range of investment products and asset types.

Prior to Citisoft,  Christine held positions with the BNY Mellon Family of companies for 17 years.  Most recently with CIBC Mellon as the Vice- President of strategic client solutions.  With BNY Mellon as the Managing director of Middle office outsourcing for North America,  Managing director of Performance Measurement and Attribution  for the US  and Vice President  of Solutions for Eagle Investment Systems.

Prior to joining Eagle Investment systems in 2001 Christine was responsible for Relationship management and consulting services at the former FMC now SS&C .  She started her career at Canada trust in varying roles ranging from trust officer to mutual fund product management and the head of performance measurement. 

Christine studied social sciences at McMaster University. Christine has excellent people management skills and is also fluent in French.

Partner, Deloitte Canada

Betty Rhiger possesses a unique mix of over 20 years of global services industry supply side and advisory expertise. She excels in creatively adapting traditional methodologies to help clients make informed decisions around their long-term strategies and objectives, delivery models, and use of disruptive technologies. And her experience in working for service providers gives her the insider’s insights necessary to help clients fully understand third parties’ proposed solutions and negotiating strategies.  She is also adept at quickly sensing company cultures and adjusting her teams’ approaches to align with those of her clients. Her primary focuses are on helping Global 1000 banking, financial services, energy and utilities companies located in Canada achieve next generation IT and F&A process excellence.

Senior Vice President, Brookfield Global Integrated Solutions

Lorri is a skilled executive with over 20 years of experience in strategic sourcing and corporate real estate.  She is a relationship driven and results oriented professional who coaches and empowers her team to deliver unprecedented results. Lorri has made a career of tackling highly complex projects with an innovative entrepreneurial spirit, consistently achieving multimillion dollar savings results.

An equally accomplished professional in Strategic Sourcing and Corporate Real Estate, Lorri is a progressive business leader whose results are measured not only in the impressive numbers she delivers but also in the dedication and commitment she offers clients. Lorri is sought after by her industry peers as a subject matter expert as it pertains to Real Estate Outsourcing, with particular specialization in transitioning complex first generation outsourcing arrangements.  

She is a powerful presenter and communicator where she effectively conveys thought leadership and subject matter knowledge with an entertaining presentation style.

Soumen is responsible for TCS Canada’s strategic direction and leads all facets of the business in the region, which includes fostering relationships with industry, government, academia and non-profits.

By helping to provide cutting-edge IT solutions and services, Soumen has been instrumental in shaping a broad range of industries all over the world. He believes Canada is a geography ripe for a remarkable digital transformation - a shift necessitated by its sheer size, its population demographics and its valuable natural resources.

During his over two-decade tenure with TCS, he has led the development of significant new business and managed many successful and lasting client engagements. Prior to his current role, Soumen spearheaded the spirited growth of TCS Japan, and was instrumental in TCS’ largest investment outside India.

An active proponent of bilateral trade and skills development, Soumen contributes to building trade relationships between Canada and India - and previously, Japan and India - through his various board appointments.

Tracee Schmidt is an Executive Director with twenty-five years’ experience in increasingly responsible positions within the BC Provincial Government.  Her portfolios have been diverse, which has contributed to her broad base of experience.

Prior to leading the Strategic Partnerships Office, she led the Strategic Projects Branch at the Ministry of Health leading very large complex projects, such as the BC Services Card project; developed the Province’s first 10 year $10 billion capital plan while at Treasury Board Staff, and implemented the cross government Work Environment Survey in partnership with BC Stats while at the BC Public Service Agency.

She has a passion for strategy, change management and building high performing teams. She has an established a reputation as a trusted advisor and for delivering results on challenging, high profile, sensitive files.

She is dedicated to collaboration, developing others, and open communication and she works daily to improve her leadership abilities and to live in alignment with her personal values and beliefs.

National Lead Partner, Shared Services and Outsourcing, KPMG

Julie has several years of experience helping companies design and deliver business services through the creation of centres of expertise, shared service organizations and the optimization of the value of their third party agreements. She is the National Partner Lead for Shared Services and Outsourcing.  Julie has advised on a wide range of large technology (ADM), human resources, facilities management, ITO and BPO outsourcing deals, from strategy assessment through to implementation. She has helped companies develop and launch centres of excellence in the areas of shared services, vendor management, outsourcing, and business process management. Additionally, she has assisted major corporations in restructuring/designing governance organizations, policies, methodology and practices as well as coaching and training governance personnel.

Senior Partner, McCarthy Tétrault

George, one of Canada’s pre-eminent technology lawyers, has over 30 years’ experience helping clients solve the thorniest contracting and legal challenges posed by new technologies and business models.  He advises buy-side customers and sell-side suppliers with their sophisticated tech procurement relationships.  He also advises on finicky e-commerce, privacy, and cyber-security issues.  He helps buyers and sellers in technology company M&A deals.

Director, Strategic Sales, Global Technology Services, IBM Canada

Farhaz Thobani is the Director for Strategic Sales at IBM Canada and leads teams that build and run foundational infrastructure systems that are relied upon by business throughout Canada. Over the last 17 years, Farhaz has held a number of key strategic positions inside IBM Canada. Most recently, the General Manager of Securities Industry Services and the CFO of Strategic Outsourcing. A motivating and positive leader who excels at problem solving, Farhaz’s personal strengths are his vision, creativity and tactical skills. He thrives on challenges, particularly those that leverage leading technology to drive business results for clients.