Our People
We are 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.
From its founding in 2018, the Catalyst has grown into a team of more than 60 professionals with experience in cybersecurity, AI, public policy, law, finance, national security, education and more. Cybersecurity is not just a technical imperative—it’s a social, political, and economic challenge with immense opportunities. Our interdisciplinary expertise drives every program and service we deliver.
Charles Finlay
Founding Executive Director
Our People
Our Team
Our Board
Our Advisors & Mentors
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 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
The Catalyst Board of Directors oversees our activities and charts our strategic direction.
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 & Mentors
These leaders guide our initiatives, and collaborate with us in delivering our programs and services.
Abdul Sattar
Arctic Wolf
Distinguished Scientist Security Analytics
Andrea Bartlett
Humi
Director of People Operations
Augusto Rosa
Infostrux Solutions
VP Engineering
Bob Seeman
CyberCurb
Managing Partner
Brad Duguid
Brad Duguid Consulting
Principal
Bram Warshafsky
Shelfgram
Founder
Christian Breede
Royal Military College of Canada
Associate Professor, Political Science
Dan Mathieson
Former Mayor of Stratford, Ontario
Special Advisor, Municipal Cybersecurity
Darren Gallop
Carbide
CEO & Co-Founder
Dinah Davis
Code Like A Girl
Founder & Editor-in-Chief; Leadership Coach
Dmitry Raidman
Cybeats; Security Architecture Podcast
CTO; Founding Partner
Dr. Atefeh Mashatan
TMU Cybersecurity Research Lab
Founding Director; Associate Professor, ITM
Elana Graham
CYDEF
COO (Alumni-in-Residence)
Eldon Sprickerhoff
eSentire, Inc.
Founder & Chief Innovation Officer
Erin McLean
eSentire
Chief Marketing Officer
Evgeniy Kharam
Cybersecurity Architect & Evangelist
Iain Paterson
WELL Health Technologies
Chief Information Security Officer
Ian L. Paterson
Plurilock
CEO
Ira Goldstein
Kernel Advisory
Founder & CEO
Jeff Schwartzentruber
eSentire
Senior Machine Learning Scientist
Jesse Hirsh
Technology Futurist
Joe Graci
JOVA Ventures
B2B Business Builder
Kate Kearn
Mastercard
Director, Public Policy
Keenan Liss
Growth Strategy Advisor
Leigh Honeywell
Tall Poppy
CEO & Co-Founder
Lloyd Komori
Various
Board Director; Risk Management Expert & Teacher
Mandy Bachus
Flare Creative Group
Founder
Mark Hausen
HR Technologies Inc.
Senior Director
Mathieu Lavoie
Flare Systems
Co-Founder (Alumni-in-Residence)
Michele Mullen
Department of National Defence
Director, Project Delivery Satellite Communications
Mike Ho
Venture Capitalist
Nabil Zoldjalali
Darktrace
VP Technology Innovation
Neil Desai
Magnet Forensics; CIGI
VP; Senior Fellow
Nish Bhalla
Angel Investor & Advisor
Phillip Gales
inate.ai
CEO & Founder
Rafal Rohozinski
Zeropoint Security
CEO
Rahul Raghavan
Kroll
Senior VP (AppSec Advisory)
Robert Gordon
Canadian Cyber Threat Exchange (CCTX)
Strategic Advisor
Seema Verma
Rogers Communications
Director, Cyber Security Programs CISSP
Snita Balsara
Principal BDC
Steven Cohen
Centrilogic
VP CyberSecurity Practice
Toufic Adlouni
Renno & Co
Emerging Tech Lawyer; Co-Founder & Managing Director
