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Alumni Stories

No one can speak to the Ivey EMBA experience better than Ivey program participants and alumni. These alumni profiles provide a snapshot of the successful business executives who have completed the program and how the Ivey experience changed their professional lives.

Regina Diego Regina Diego, EMBA ‘23 Candidate, Distribution Centre Manager at NRI Distribution Inc., on getting out your comfort zone and claiming a seat at the table

Regina Diego, EMBA ‘23 Candidate, Distribution Centre Manager at NRI Distribution Inc., on getting out your comfort zone and claiming a seat at the table

Jemi Onyejiaka Jemi Onyejiaka, EMBA ’23 Candidate, Vice President, Capital Markets, Strategy at BMO Capital Markets, on thriving in the Canadian market and helping others do the same

Jemi Onyejiaka, EMBA ’23 Candidate, Vice President, Capital Markets, Strategy at BMO Capital Markets, on thriving in the Canadian market and helping others do the same

Amanda Santi Amanda Santi, EMBA ‘22, Head of Customer Success at TimePlay Inc., on coming together and leading teams to success

Amanda Santi, EMBA ‘22, Head of Customer Success at TimePlay Inc., on coming together and leading teams to success

Raissa Espiritu Raissa Espiritu, Executive MBA’21, still remembers the anger and sadness she felt sitting in a meeting for Cosm Medical, a female health research startup she co-founded, and being repeatedly left out of the conversation.

Raissa Espiritu, Executive MBA’21, Director of Partnerships at the Centre for Social Innovation and Co-Founder of Cosm Medical, on finding her voice, developing a network and claiming her seat at the table

Stachen Frederick For Stachen Frederick, Executive MBA ’21, the measure of her success is in that of her community. As Executive Director of Frontlines, a youth charity in Toronto’s Weston neighbourhood, her job is to ensure the young people she works with become self-sufficient adults.

Stachen Frederick, Executive MBA ’21, Executive Director of Frontlines on developing the next generation of leaders

Gabriel Granatstein As a military veteran and former labour lawyer for Target’s Canadian expansion, Gabriel Granatstein, Executive MBA ’21, has navigated his share of difficult challenges.

Gabriel Granatstein, Executive MBA ’21, CEO of Canada Tire Inc., on developing the language and tools to bring about corporate change

Sarah Miller Wright If you asked Sarah Miller Wright, Executive MBA ‘20, whether she’d change roles, industries and provinces before she began her Executive MBA at Ivey, the long-time telecom executive wouldn’t have predicted all those shifts would happen at once, much less while completing an executive degree during a pandemic.

Sarah Miller Wright, Executive MBA ‘20, Chief Operations Officer for Canada with Manulife, on broadening knowledge, expanding skill sets, and moving into a new industry

Ryan Ackers Ryan Ackers, Executive MBA ‘20, was well-established in his role as Vice President of Business Development and Client Relations at GBL before beginning his executive education, but he’d felt for years that a business degree would round out his experince and help him achieve new goals.

Ryan Ackers, Executive MBA ‘20, on building confidence, finding new ways to think about business, and developing a network to naviagte adversity with

Katherine Isaac When Katherine Isaac, Executive MBA ‘20, decided to pursue an executive education at Ivey, her initial goal was to acquire the language and knowledge she felt she needed to better communicate with her company’s leadership. But by the end of the program, she realized she was capable of becoming part of the C-suite herself.

Katherine Isaac, Executive MBA ‘20, Head of Delivery Operations at VisibleRisk, on understanding the big picture and discovering possibilities for growth

Gil Kimel As the Head of Palliative Care at Providence Health Care, Dr. Gil Kimel, Executive MBA ’21, helps patients and their families deal with the most difficult moments of their lives.

Gil Kimel, Executive MBA ‘21, Head of Palliative Care at Providence Health Care (St. Paul’s Hospital, Vancouver), on collaboration, humility and modelling leadership

Vasie Papadopoulos When her classmates started talking about creating a legacy project to mark their time at Ivey, Vasie Papadopoulos, EMBA ‘18, knew she wanted to champion a project that focused on women’s literacy and education.

Vasie Papadopoulos, EMBA ‘18, Communications and Outreach Manager, Philip Morris International Canada, on modelling leadership and creating change

Doug Pereira Doug Pereira, EMBA ’19, always had a passion for innovation, but combining that creative thinking with an executive business education allowed him to express his vision in a whole new way.

Doug Pereira, EMBA ’19, Manager of Requisition Engineering at Thermogenics Inc., on how collaboration and communication are helping him lead a transformation

Priscilla Luna As Vice President of Operations at Shoppers Drug Mart, she’d dealt with Canada’s initial resistance to self-checkout machines first-hand, so it was particularly impactful to experience the willingness of even a small street vendor to adopt technology.

Priscilla Luna, EMBA ’19, Vice President National Operations, Shoppers Drug Mart, on gaining perspective and finding her voice

Lindsay Abbey When Lindsay Abbey, EMBA ‘19 joined Ivey, he was six months into a new job as AVP, Global Digital Marketing with Manulife Financial, where he was grappling with the challenge of getting the firm’s four separate divisions to agree to standardized tools and platforms for digital marketing.

Lindsay Abbey, EMBA ‘19, AVP, Global Digital Marketing at Manulife Financial, on creating partnerships and focusing on strategy to bring about change.

Bryce Pickard When Bryce Pickard, EMBA ’19, looks back at the skills he developed during his Executive MBA at Ivey, building consensus to effectively lead his team in the right direction is near the top of his list.

Bryce Pickard, EMBA ’19, Executive Director, Terry Fox Research Institute, on building consensus for effective leadership

Nadia Pshenitsyna Nadia Pshenitsyna, Executive MBA ’18, has always valued authenticity and empathy, but she’s found those characteristics to be increasingly important in times of restructuring and crisis.

Nadia Pshenitsyna, Executive MBA ’18, Finance Director and Controller for Japan Tobacco International Canada, on authenticity and empathy as keys to leadership

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