Vania Sakelaris

Vania Sakelaris is a seasoned executive and the founder of VAS & Associates (VAS) a management consulting firm which provides customized advisory, coaching, and training services to corporate executives, their boards, and their teams. The firm supports systems, organizations, and people in managing transformation, including strategy development and implementation at the corporate and individual levels with a focus on leadership development. As a solutions catalyst, Vania has supported hundreds of individuals through impactful change and growth.

Vania is a respected senior executive, who has been consistently recognized as a strategic, collaborative, and values-based professional throughout her 25-year career.  Vania's portfolio includes a decade as CEO of organizations in the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors, culminating in a decade of executive leadership within a $4.2B provincial crown agency. She was accountable for engaging with senior leaders and funding partners across Ontario to design and implement system-level strategies and transformation initiatives. 

Vania's lifelong passion for capacity building has been reflected throughout her career and inspired her coaching work and the launch of her business which supports leaders and emerging leaders in their professional journeys. Vania shares her extensive experience as a public speaker, an adjunct university lecturer, and as a case writer with a focus on strategy, leadership and entrepreneurship, including a focus on women. She supports women entrepreneurs as Chair of two Advisory Boards of GroYourBiz, an organization with 30 chapters across Canada, the United States, and the U.K. Vania also provides business coaching in collaboration with various Canadian universities including the Ivey School of Business, the University of Toronto, and the Sauder School of Business at UBC. 

Vania holds an MBA from the Ivey Business School and is a graduate of Rotman’s Executive Leadership Program and Not-For-Profit Governance Program. She is a Certified Executive and Business Coach, a Registered Corporate Coach, and a member of the Harvard Institute of Coaching.