Our People
The Catalyst team is committed to discovery, connection and excellence. We work at the speed of business, pursuing our mission with a spirit of fun and creativity. Every day, we purposefully cultivate a culture of respect for our stakeholders and for each other.
Meet the people powering our mission
From its founding in 2018, the Catalyst team has grown to over 50 professionals with expertise in a broad range of domains related to cybersecurity and associated technologies, including technical cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and other technology fields; public policy and government; law and regulation; law enforcement; finance and capital markets; national security and the military; education and teaching; entrepreneurship and innovation; and many more.
We recognize that cybersecurity is not just a technical problem–it is a social, political and economic challenge that also offers great opportunity. We bring our interdisciplinary expertise to every program that we offer and service that we deliver.
Charles Finlay
Founding Executive Director
Meet the Catalyst Team
These are the people that make it all possible.
Heather Adam
Director, Strategic Operations
Maria Grazzia Alvarez Alzamora
Manager, Fintech Programs
Rishita Barua
Talent Management Analyst
Avleen Bassi
Program Coordinator, Corporate Training
Nathan Battersby
Senior Manager, Innovation Programs
Luke Benner
Technical Support Specialist, Cyber Range
Judith Borts
Senior Director, Planning & Implementation
Aurn Chima
Industry Engagement Specialist
Lester Chng
Senior Cybersecurity Advisor
Anna Colagrossi
Director, Marketing & Communications
Jasmine Cossey
Coordinator, Municipal & Business Programming
Julia Cottrelle
Content Marketing Specialist & Writer
Vasu Daggupaty
Manager, Partnerships & Investor Relations
Jennifer Dublin-Green
Recruitment Specialist
Trish Dyl
Director, Corporate Training & Cyber Range
Safaa El Malhouf
Recruitment Specialist
Milena Ferrari
Operations Lead, HR
Charles Finlay
Founding Executive Director
Katie Gibson
Director, Cyber Clinic & Policy Insights
Elaine Gomes
Innovation Program Assistant
Harman Grewal
Innovation Program Lead
Mike Gropp
Senior Cyber Advisor
Danielle Hammond
Project & Administration Coordinator, Executive Office
Rushmi Hasham
Director, Strategic Partnerships
Alex Higgins
Coordinator, Operations
Ahmed Hussein
Project & Reporting Lead
Ahmed Jadoon
Director, Finance
Janany Jayanthan
Coordinator, Administration & Operations
Serena Jerkovic
Client & Project Lead
Tiffany Kelly
Innovation Program Lead
Evelyn Low
Senior Advisor, Program Implementation
Kathryn McCabe
Strategic Partnerships Specialist
Ian McWilliam
Trainer & Senior Security Advisor
Natalie Mendes
Innovation Program Lead
Rea Pizzuto
OCEI Project Lead
Amanda Offor
Coordinator, FinTech Programs
Ayobami Ogunlana
Acting Manager, Program Operations
Christine Park
Marketing & Brand Specialist
Adelina Petit-Vouriot
Program Lead, Blackberry
Randy Purse
Senior Advisor, Cybersecurity Training & Education
Daniela Recio-Greenwell
Marketing & Communications Specialist
Roxana Rozembaigher
Interim Director, Training & Certification Programs
Marcus Santos
Executive Academic Director
Juliana Scharrer
Manager, Program Development & Planning
Anita Schretlen
Manager, Training Programs & Partnerships
Dave Sousa
Web & Digital Specialist
Philip Tapang
Technician, Cyber Range
Claire van Nierop
Manager, Marketing & Communications
Chris Visser
Operations Lead
Mallory Warren
Coordinator, Events
Bettina Wong
Recruitment & Community Engagement Specialist
Jennifer Yang
Manager, Finance
Yuan Yin Yu
Program Coordinator
Yilu Yue
Budget & Financial Reporting Specialist
Jon Zeng
Technician, Cyber Range
Meet the Catalyst Board
Providing strategic oversight to help the Catalyst fulfill its mission.
Dr. Steven Liss
TMU
Chair of the Board; VP, Research & Innovation
Laurie Pezzente
RBC
Vice-Chair of the Board; SVP & Chief Security Officer, Global Cyber Security
Dinah Davis
Code Like A Girl
Founder & Editor-in-Chief; Leadership Coach
Ira Goldstein
Kernel Advisory
Principal
Brian Lesser
TMU
Chief Information Officer
Dr. Atefeh Mashatan
TMU Cybersecurity Research Lab
Founding Director; Associate Professor, ITM; Canada Research Chair
Joanne Mckee
TMU
Chief Financial Officer
Dr. Ali Miri
TMU
Professor, Computer Science
Samuel Schwartz
The Strategy Law Group
President
Dr. Bala Venkatesh
TMU
Academic Director, Centre for Urban Energy; Professor, Electrical & Computer Engineering
Charles Finlay
Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst
Ex-Officio; Founding Executive Director
Heather Adam
Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst
Director, Strategic Operations & Secretary of the Board
Advisors
These Canadian public, private, and academic sector leaders are deeply committed to developing diverse leadership talent within the cybersecurity sector through Catalyst programming.
Jeff Schwartzentruber
eSentire
Sr. Machine Learning Scientist
Dan Mathieson
TMU Office of the President
Special Advisor, Municipal Cybersecurity
Seema Verma
Rogers Communications
Director, Cyber Security Programs CISSP
Kate Kearn
Mastercard
Director, Public Policy
Dr. Atefeh Mashatan
Cybersecurity Research Lab; Toronto Metropolitan University
Canada Research Chair; Founding Director, Cybersecurity Research Lab & Associate Professor
Lloyd Komori
Various
Board Director; Risk Management Expert; & Teacher
Michele Mullen
Department of National Defence
Director, Project Delivery Satellite Communications
Robert Gordon
Canadian Cyber Threat Exchange (CCTX)
Strategic Advisor
Mentors
Through our programming, we offer targeted workshops, engagement opportunities, and mentorship support with some of the very best business and tech leaders in the industry.
Robert Gordon
Canadian Cyber Threat Exchange (CCTX)
Strategic Advisor
Michele Mullen
Department of National Defence
Director, Project Delivery Satellite Communications
Lloyd Komori
Various
Board Director; Risk Management Expert & Teacher
Dr. Atefeh Mashatan
TMU Cybersecurity Research Lab
Founding Director; Associate Professor, ITM
Kate Kearn
Mastercard
Director, Public Policy
Seema Verma
Rogers Communications
Director, Cyber Security Programs CISSP
Dan Mathieson
Former Mayor of Stratford, Ontario
Special Advisor, Municipal Cybersecurity
Jeff Schwartzentruber
eSentire
Senior Machine Learning Scientist
Joe Graci
JOVA Ventures
B2B Business Builder
Dinah Davis
Code Like A Girl
Founder & Editor-in-Chief; Leadership Coach
Bob Seeman
CyberCurb
Managing Partner
Leigh Honeywell
Tall Poppy
CEO & Co-Founder
Iain Paterson
WELL Health Technologies
Chief Information Security Officer
Abdul Sattar
Arctic Wolf
Distinguished Scientist Security Analytics
Evgeniy Kharam
Cybersecurity Architect & Evangelist
Mathieu Lavoie
Flare Systems
Co-Founder (Alumni-in-Residence)
Elana Graham
CYDEF
COO (Alumni-in-Residence)
Toufic Adlouni
Renno & Co
Emerging Tech Lawyer; Co-Founder & Managing Director
Mandy Bachus
Flare Creative Group
Founder
Snita Balsara
Principal BDC
Andrea Bartlett
Humi
Director of People Operations
Nish Bhalla
Angel Investor & Advisor
Christian Breede
Royal Military College of Canada
Associate Professor, Political Science
Steven Cohen
Centrilogic
VP CyberSecurity Practice
Neil Desai
Magnet Forensics; CIGI
VP; Senior Fellow
Brad Duguid
Brad Duguid Consulting
Principal
Phillip Gales
inate.ai
CEO & Founder
Darren Gallop
Carbide
CEO & Co-Founder
Ira Goldstein
Kernel Advisory
Founder & CEO
Mark Hausen
HR Technologies Inc.
Senior Director
Jesse Hirsh
Technology Futurist
Mike Ho
Venture Capitalist
Keenan Liss
Growth Strategy Advisor
Erin McLean
eSentire
Chief Marketing Officer
Rahul Raghavan
Kroll
Senior VP (AppSec Advisory)
Rafal Rohozinski
Zeropoint Security
CEO
Augusto Rosa
Infostrux Solutions
VP Engineering
Eldon Sprickerhoff
eSentire, Inc.
Founder & Chief Innovation Officer
Bram Warshafsky
Shelfgram
Founder
Ian L. Paterson
Plurilock
CEO
Nabil Zoldjalali
Darktrace
VP Technology Innovation
Dmitry Raidman
Cybeats; Security Architecture Podcast
CTO; Founding Partner
