Leadership
 

Suzanne Dane
Principal, Resource Solutions Group|
Conference Founder & Project Manager

Suzanne Dane is an MBA graduate, entrepreneur and experienced senior level manager with 25 years experience across Canada and internationally. Suzanne’s position as Manager, Business Training with Business Development Bank of Canada (Ontario and B.C.) combined with 15 years as a business start instructor with Camosun College, Royal Roads University, Community Futures, and Industry Canada has brought her in touch with the issues facing entrepreneurs in proper opportunity identification to establish or grow their business.  Being very entrepreneurial herself, Suzanne has been responsible for establishing 7 companies (all profitable within the first 18 months) in both Canada and the U.S. Most recently Suzanne was responsible for an extensive research paper for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games relative to Sport Economy, of which small business development was a key component.

Community minded, Suzanne sits on several boards including Volunteer Victoria, Leadership Victoria, and KidSport, and she is currently the Vancouver Island Co-Chair of the Canadian Association of Management Consultants.  Suzanne is a CFAX award recipient in Victoria Business Person of the Year category.

Branch Manager, Business Development Bank of Canada

Having worked with entrepreneurs for over 15 years, Mary-Ellen has a keen appreciation of the issues and challenges facing them in today’s ever changing global economy. She is active in the community and is currently a Board Member of Junior Achievement of Victoria, National Symposium member of CAFÉ (Canadian Association of Family Enterprise), and Venture Panel Member for ViaTEC.

Tracey Huff
President, Sandler Sales Institute

Tracey Huff owns and operates Sandler Sales Institute for Vancouver Island.  In a network of 180 licensees, Tracey is only one of five female owners. After an executive career in financial services, she decided that being on a plane four days a week was not conducive to work-life balance with four young children.  When the division she worked in was closed, she took the opportunity to unleash her entrepreneurial skills and started the Sandler business in a city where she knew no one. By the end of year one, the business was profitable and honoured as “New Business of The Year” by the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce, and nominated as “Business of The Year” by the West Shore Chamber of Commerce.

In addition to her sales management experience leading 24 in-store bank branches in Western Canada, she has designed credit card products, managed call centres with over 300 staff and spent 5 years as a commercial lender.  Leveraging this diverse experience, she works with business owners to develop a healthy sales culture, and become comfortable in the sales leadership role. Tracey teaches her clients that to be successful in selling, whether it’s products, services, proposals, ideas or simply yourself, you have to have guts and humour.

Linda Kavelin Popov
Principal, The Virtues Project

Linda Kavelin Popov is a psychotherapist, author, and Co-Founder of The Virtues Project, honored by the United Nations as a model global program for all cultures. She is an inspiring international speaker who has presented at conferences throughout Europe, Asia, Australia and the Pacific helping individuals, families, schools, governments and communities of all cultures to restore virtues such as forgiveness, integrity and kindness. She facilitates healing with indigenous peoples such as the First Nations of North America, aboriginals in Australia, Maori in New Zealand, and Pacific Islanders encouraging them to reclaim their traditional values. Time Magazine calls her a “cultural creative”. A psychotherapist for many years, Linda developed suicide and violence prevention programs used in U.S. cities. She is a member of the national Think Tank on Character for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. She has been on many talk shows, and has her own 19-episode documentary series on VISION TV in Canada, entitled “Virtues: A Family Affair”. Linda was a recipient of the 2001 YWCA Women of Distinction award for Education, Training and Development. She has had a miraculous recovery from workaholism and severe Post Polio Syndrome using the practices in A Pace of Grace. Her other books include international best seller The Family Virtues Guide, Sacred Moments, and The Virtues Project Educator’s Guide.

Wendy Klyne

Wendy Klyne, principal of The Klyne Group, has worked in and with the small business sector for twenty years.  Her wide range of business experience allows her to look at this sector from many different perspectives and gives her an in-depth understanding of the financial, management and marketing challenges that small businesses face. 

She has owned and managed a number of successful small businesses including a hotel, pub and gift store.  She was a Chamber of Commerce manager for four years, responsible for the community economic development, tourism development and enhancement of the business community.   Presently Wendy works as a contractor with the Cowichan Valley Regional District as the Tourism Cowichan coordinator.  As well she is under contract to the Ministry of Economic Development to provide training and community support for the 2010 Olympics. 

Mary Martin
Director, The Nexus Learning Group

Mary Martin is an organization development consultant who brings a diverse range of experience to her current practice. Her business purpose is to encourage the development of conscious leadership capacity and to achieve productivity through human potential. Through 25 years of work experience in both the public service and the field of education, she has gained a background which allows her to take a practical approach to her customers' business needs. Dedicated to continuous personal and professional learning, Mary is an active contributor to her profession and her community. In 1996 she was the recipient of a YWCA Woman of Distinction award in the category of Education and Communication.

Barbara Richards is a coach with over 10 years experience coaching people in making successful transitions. She has coached hundreds of people in making a successful career transition through both individual and group coaching. Her clients included mid-career professionals, business owners, and women in transition. Her industry experience includes IT/high-tech, new media, arts, education and non-profit.

Barbara's passion is partnering with people to create a compelling vision for their work and life, and enhance their innate ability to produce the results they want. She has a talent for identifying people's brilliance, articulating it and building a job/business that leverages it.

Barbara received her coach training with Coach University, and is currently at student with Corporate Coach University. She is a certified teleclass leader, and is on the faculty of Coach University. As well, she has specialized training in vocational counseling, and a certificate in personal financial planning.

Leslie Robinson
President, Quantum Learning

Leslie specializes in improving teaching and learning through facilitation and curriculum design. Her workshops and keynotes addresses are provocative, fun, heart centered, and engage learners on a cellular level. Weaving storytelling, magic tricks, and all five senses, Leslie empowers participants to make lasting changes in their lives.

With a background in tourism, customer service and sales, Leslie now works in adult education with corporate clients, universities, colleges and high schools across North America. Recent corporate clients include Canadian Assn of Law Librarians, Canadian Navy, BC Ferries, Ministry of Transportation and Highways, Public Service Commission, and the Canadian Institute of Travel Counsellors (CITC). She is actively involved as a core instructor in the Certificate in Adult and Continuing Education (CACE) program at the University of Victoria and the Instructor Diploma Program at Vancouver Community College. Leslie is currently the Instructional Skills Workshop Co-ordinator at Camosun College.

Cathy Whitehead McIntyre is the Principal of Strategic Initiatives Inc., a Victoria-based consulting firm that provides market research and marketing planning services.  She has more than 25 years of experience in marketing and sales management, and specializes in researching and developing marketing strategies and plans for initiatives such as new product launches and new entrepreneurial ventures.  Cathy holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Queen’s University, and earned her Master of Business Administration at the University of Victoria.  She has taught at the University of Victoria’s Faculty of Business and in the Bachelor of Commerce program at Royal Roads University.  An active volunteer in the community, Cathy is Past Chair of the Board of the United Way of Greater Victoria (where she continues as a Director), a Past President of the University of Victoria Alumni Association, and sits on the Boards of the United Way of Canada, PacificSport Victoria, and the Certified Management Accountants Society of BC.  She was honoured as a Women of Distinction nominee in the category of Community Legacy in 2004 and as a Victoria Leadership Award nominee in 2005.