Vickery Bowles

City Librarian, Toronto Public Library (TPL)

Vickery Bowles is the City Librarian at Toronto Public Library (TPL), which delivers services through a network of 100 branches and online channels. She believes passionately in the difference public libraries make in the lives of individuals, communities, and cities. Vickery is advancing TPL’s strategic plan to support opening public spaces, digital access and inclusion, workforce development, democratic values and civic engagement, and an innovative service culture.

Vickery is a former Chair of the Urban Libraries Council (ULC), based in Washington, D.C., a member of the Canadian Urban Libraries Council (CULC), and a Board member for the Federation of Ontario Public Libraries (FOPL).

Jennifer Burns

CIO, University of British Columbia

Jennifer provides strategic and operational leadership to ensure UBC’s digital capabilities meet the needs of the University’s teaching and research community, as well as identifying opportunities to deliver efficient and effective administrative solutions. In our changing landscape, this means both optimizing existing technology and engaging the UBC community to explore and leverage emerging new technologies while ensuring a robust and secure foundation.

Jennifer serves as a Board member of the Canadian University Council of Chief Information Officers, the Board Chair of BCNET, and was one of the founding members of CanSSOC.

Michelle Ching'anda

Director, Information Technology Security, Humber College

Michelle joined the Humber College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning in 2014 and spearheaded the creation of a project management methodology that has played a pivotal role in enabling the successful delivery of technology and capital projects. As the head of the Information Security team, Michelle is focused on initiatives that will continue to enhance Humber’s security posture in an increasingly complex and ever-changing environment.

Beyond Humber, Michelle actively contributes to the broader cybersecurity community by serving on the steering committee for the Ontario Cybersecurity Higher Education Consortium (ON-CHEC). Michelle also enjoys serving her community by volunteering as a Board member for Peel Cheshire Homes Streetsville, in addition to being involved for many years with Habitat for Humanity.

Paul Cisneros

Cybersecurity Analyst, University of Winnipeg

Paul Cisneros is a cybersecurity enthusiast with more than 10 years of experience in the cybersecurity field.

As part of his role at the University of Winnipeg, Paul applies defined security strategies for the University’s technology assets. This includes best practices for network, servers and application security that help ensure confidentiality, integrity, and availability of resources. He also contributes to the planning and development of complex institution-wide projects throughout the entire technology development life cycle, including arranging, facilitating, and participating in technology security design and planning sessions to develop solutions to security problems.

Additionally, Paul acts as a technical resource for departments in security product and service deployment, and aids in the investigation and analysis of cyber security incidents.

Paul holds a master’s degree from Camilo Jose Cela University (Spain).

Tracy Dallaire

Director, Information Security, McMaster University

As the inaugural Director of Information Security Services at McMaster University, Tracy Dallaire is a leader in Cyber and Information Security and a digital strategist. In this newly created position, Dallaire is developing and leading an Information Technology (IT) Security roadmap for the institution as part of the McMaster IT Strategic Plan. Tracy also leads the Institution’s IT Security Team as a member of the AVP and CTO leadership team.

Tracy has 25 years of public sector experience, most recently from Mohawk College, where she has held the positions of Senior Director Technology Integration Academic and Senior Director IT Strategy, Cyber and Architecture, respectively. Prior to Mohawk College, Tracy worked at eHealth Ontario as their Chief Audit, Risk, and Compliance Officer, and previously held roles with various Ontario provincial government departments including Treasury Board, the Ministry of Agriculture, and Food and Rural Affairs, among others.

Tracy has a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Western Ontario, a master’s in public policy and public administration from Concordia andUniversity University and is a Certified Management Consultant. She is also actively involved in promoting STEM and Information Security as an academic pursuit and career path as a member of several program and STEM advisory committees, and Women in Technology initiatives.

Guillaume Dubé

Chief Information Security Officer, Université Laval

Guillaume Dubé is an information security professional with a 17-year career at Université Laval. Guillaume has served as Université Laval’s Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for the past four years, after having spent the previous 13 years in various roles dedicated to information security, ranging from operational security to security architecture.

Guillaume also currently serves as Co-Chair of CUCCIO’s Information Security Special Interest Group (SIG) and is accredited by ISACA as Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) and in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC).

Steve Dyson

Principal Consultant, Unit 42 by Palo Alto Networks

Steve Dyson is a principal consultant at Unit 42 with a background in law enforcement and a focus in the healthcare, education, and financial services sectors.

Steve is highly skilled in cyber risk management, cloud security, threat mitigation, and intelligence gathering and analysis, having developed expertise in a range of cybersecurity incident response and threat hunting tools, as well as in information security system design, management, and analysis.

Dr. Neil Fassina

President, Okanagan College

Drawn to the institution for its reputation for transforming lives and communities, Dr. Neil Fassina became Okanagan College’s President in April 2021.

Prior to joining Okanagan College, Dr. Fassina was the President of Athabasca University (2016-21). He also served previously as Provost and Vice President Academic, and as Dean of the JR Shaw School of Business and School of Hospitality and Culinary Arts at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT).

Dr. Fassina holds a PhD in Management from the Rotman School of Business at the University of Toronto, a BSc in Psychology from the University of Calgary, and is a chartered professional in human resources (CPHR), and a chartered director through the Institute of Chartered Directors (ICD.D). As an active researcher, he has authored or co-authored several refereed articles, a Canadian Human Resource Management text, and pursues research interests in negotiations, applied decision making, and the role of education in shaping societies.

Gayleen Gray

Associate Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, McMaster University

As the Associate Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at McMaster University, Gayleen leads the institution’s IT strategy and service operations, aligning them with the university’s research, teaching and learning goals.

With almost 25 years of experience in Canadian higher education IT, Gayleen has played a pivotal role with the Canadian University Council of Chief Information Officers (CUCCIO) as one of its founders, and continues to contribute to its leadership development programs. Additionally, she is the current Chair of the Standing Committee on Cybersecurity, and a member of the CUCCIO Board. Gayleen was also a founding member of CanSSOC, now part of CANARIE.

Her involvement also extends to EDUCAUSE, having previously served on its Board and participating as a faculty member in various EDUCAUSE institutes. Her leadership experience is further demonstrated by her former service on the boards of CANARIE, ORION, and the University of Guelph governance bodies, among others. Gayleen’s expertise and service have earned her accolades, including the 2013 Guelph Women of Distinction in IT and the 2019 CUCCIO Community Award.

Alex Matos

Director of Internal Audit, University of Toronto

Alex Matos is the Director of Internal Audit at the University of Toronto and has over 20 years of combined experience in both the internal audit function within the public sector and external audit and public accounting.

He has led two audit teams towards reshaping their assurance functions to better coordinate with organizational strategic risk management processes and has delivered value to governors and leaders.

More recently, he has been working on shifting the focus of the internal audit function at UofT to align its efforts and resources with the significant risks and priorities faced by the institution. This has included working closely with the Information Security team at the University as they explore tools and techniques in support of stronger risk management practices while making the most effective use of existing resources.

Earl Maynard

Senior Strategic Advisor - Cyber Partnerships, Canadian Centre for Cybersecurity

Earl Maynard is a Senior Strategic Advisor within the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, part of the Communications Security Establishment.

He has over a decade of experience in federal government working with stakeholders to develop and execute solutions to complex policy and operational challenges. From the Lower Mainland of BC, Earl is working to advance the Cyber Centre’s strategic partnerships with governments, critical infrastructure owners and stakeholders, private sector, and academia.

Julie Menzies

Director, NREN Cybersecurity Services, CANARIE

Julie Menzies is the Director of Cybersecurity Services for Canada’s National Research and Education Network (NREN) at CANARIE. In this role, she is responsible for supporting the strategic planning, design, delivery, and the ongoing evolution of cybersecurity services, contributing significantly to the NREN’s mission.

Julie most recently played a key role in launching the National Cybersecurity Assessment—an initiative of paramount importance within the Canadian research and education (R&E) community. This landmark initiative serves as an invaluable guide, enabling the Canadian R&E sector to make informed decisions in the realm of cybersecurity investments.

In her off hours, Julie loves to travel and spend time with her family outdoors; skiing, hiking, biking, or attempting to golf.

Kevin Paul

Director, Cybersecurity Operations, Cybera

Kevin Paul is a leader with a unique blend of experience in both cybersecurity and law enforcement.

Kevin is currently focused on the implementation of a regional SOC for Cybera’s members while working to integrate into a new national CanSSOC.

Prior to joining Cybera, Kevin led the Calgary Police Service’s (CPS) Cybercrime Team. Under his leadership, the team supported several international ransomware and online undercover operations. He was also responsible for developing an Advanced Cyber Capabilities Team and a public-private-public partnership with the University of Calgary Cyber Assessment, Training and Experimentation (CATE) Centre.

Kevin has a degree in Computer Science from the University of Calgary and worked for the University and a national telecommunications company in various technical roles, including high performance research computing and security.

Jared Perry

Cloud Security Practice Lead, Stratum Security

Jared Perry is the Cloud Security Practice Lead at Stratum Security where he focuses on helping improve cloud security and security programs for start-ups to Fortune 500 companies.

Prior to joining Stratum Security, Jared was an IT Security Administrator at Memorial University, where he worked to implement a robust security program and handled security operations including incident response.

A supporter of the local technology ecosystem, Jared helps organizations and startups improve their security practices. He has also worked to improve and simplify standards at the national level as a participant in advisory committees such as Health Canada’s Scientific Advisory Committee for Digital Health Technologies.

Khushbu Pratap

Vice President, Cyber Security, Gartner

Khushbu Pratap is VP team manager of cybersecurity experts specializing in cloud security and infrastructure protection within Gartner’s research and advisory business. Her team delivers marquee insights on thriving in hybrid environments by securing the network edge, developing zero trust strategy, and identifying right-fit network segmentation approaches. They also deliver insights on evidence-based measurement to threat prioritization and securing web applications in the cloud.

Khushbu has spent over a decade advising CISOs and CIOs, senior leaders, and board members on the practical implementation of risk management strategy. Before Gartner, Khushbu led the governance, risk, and compliance practice at NII consulting with an expansive view on program management systems including information security, IT service management, business continuity, and privacy.

Khushbu has authored/co-authored over 50 publications on risk, audit, compliance, and program management and spoken at Gartner security summits, the CIO Association of Canada, and Factor Analysis of Information Risk Conference, among many others.

Khatija Qureshi

Cybersecurity Speaker & Trainer, K.Digital

Khatija Qureshi is a SANS-trained and Global Information Assurance (GIAC) Certified Cybersecurity Professional and Incident Handler.

With over a decade of experience in marketing, brand building, and communications, she is dedicated to humanizing the field of cybersecurity. Her approach involves understanding human needs and communicating empathetically in a language that resonates with her audience.

Ivan Salles

Director, Strategic Initiatives - SOC, Trend Micro

Ivan Salles is a Security Operations practitioner with global consultant experience helping leaders strategically navigate topics such as SOC, MDR, EDR, XDR, SIEM, and vulnerability management.

He collaborates with communities like Mente Binária and SOC Brazil and is Director of Strategic Initiatives – SOC at Trend Micro Canada.

Ivan holds CISSP and CISM certifications and is also an SOC-CMM Certified Assessor.

Anju Sohal

Senior Program Manager, ORION

Anju Sohal is the Senior Program Manager for training and community development at ORION and is at the forefront of cybersecurity education. In this role, she oversees the growth and success of the cybersecurity training portfolio for Ontario universities and colleges.

Anju has been instrumental in establishing ORION’s cybersecurity awareness training program tailored to the specific needs of the higher education sector by introducing customized content and phishing simulations. She leads training advisory forums to collect feedback as well as input to help shape and drive the vision and future development of cybersecurity training programs.  Furthermore, she has been an active member of the Ontario Cybersecurity for Higher Education Consortium (ON-CHEC).

Over the past few years, Anju has been actively volunteering at local senior care homes where she has provided invaluable support to residents by assisting with daily activities, fostering a sense of community, and offering companionship.

She’s also a mentor, advocate, and a driving force in promoting diversity and inclusion within ORION and the Canadian cybersecurity landscape.

Steve Till-Rogers

Chief Information Officer, Toronto Public Library

Steve Till-Rogers is the Director of Digital Strategy and Chief Information Officer with the Toronto Public Library (TPL). Steve provides the vision for delivery of TPL’s Digital Strategy to support IT service innovation and digital access and inclusion.

Prior to joining the Toronto Public Library, Steve was the Director of Technology Services with Edmonton Public Library, deploying new technologies and digital experiences within the library including The Wall, at the Stanley A. Milner Library.

An experienced executive leader with expertise within public libraries and financial services, Steve has been acknowledged as a creative pioneer of emerging technologies, and skilled in IT strategy, project management, and business process improvement.