ONCWIC 2014 - Information & Communications Technology (ICT) Innovation through Diversity
![]() The Honorable Liz Sandals Minister of Education/Ontario Premier Wynne appointed Liz Sandals as Minister of Education on February 11, 2013. Liz Sandals has served as the Parliamentary Assistant to the Ministers of Health and Long-Term Care, Transportation, Education, Government Services, and Community Safety and Correctional Services. She led the government’s Safe Schools Action Team and served on the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, the Select Committee on Mental Health and Addictions and Treasury Board/Management Board of Cabinet. ![]() Mr. Han Dong
MPP Trinity-Spadina Han Dong has lived in Trinity-Spadina for over 13 years and has been an active member of this community. Before his involvement in government, Han was a Marketing Director for Chianti Foods, responsible for planning, development and implementation of all of Chianti’s marketing strategies, communications, and public relations activities. After improving the company’s overall structure Han oversaw the development and implementation of the company’s overseas functions. ![]() Dr. Serge Desmarais Acting Provost and Vice-President University of Guelph The Provost and Vice-President (Academic) is the chief academic officer of the institution and the principal advisor to the President on all academic affairs, serving as highest ranking officer after the President and the Acting President in the President’s absence. ![]() Dr. Bonnie Schmidt
Founder and President Let’s Talk Science Dr. Bonnie Schmidt is the founder and President of Let’s Talk Science, an award-winning, national charitable organization that she started while completing a PhD in Physiology. |
A huge thank you to all our 2014 sponsors!
Check out the job postings by our sponsors! Check out some awesome pictures. More to come -- check back often. If you have pictures to share, please send a link to oncwic@gmail.com and we will post it here. ACM-W Grace Hopper Conference NCWIT Queen's Women in the School of Computing U of T Women in Computer Science uWaterloo's Women in Computer Science IEEE Canada - Women in Engineering CanWIT WinIT |

Ms. Susan Ibach
Senior Technical Evangelist
Microsoft
Susan Ibach is a senior technical evangelist at Microsoft Canada, that means she loves to talk about Visual Studio, app development, and the cloud. She has worked as a consultant doing programming, testing, data conversions, roll-outs and also as a trainer teaching Oracle, SQL Server, SQL Server BI, and .NET programming. When she is not staring at an LCD screen, she is probably doing martial arts with her kids, out running, or enjoying her husband's cookingedit.
Senior Technical Evangelist
Microsoft
Susan Ibach is a senior technical evangelist at Microsoft Canada, that means she loves to talk about Visual Studio, app development, and the cloud. She has worked as a consultant doing programming, testing, data conversions, roll-outs and also as a trainer teaching Oracle, SQL Server, SQL Server BI, and .NET programming. When she is not staring at an LCD screen, she is probably doing martial arts with her kids, out running, or enjoying her husband's cookingedit.

Ms. Trina Alexson
Director: Advanced Services,
Cisco Systems
Trina Alexson is the head of Advanced Services for Cisco Canada. In her role, she leads engineering teams that work directly with Cisco customers to help them plan, build and operate their networks.
Trina has over 25 years experience in the information technology industry and has been with Cisco since 1996. Prior to her role in the services organization she led software development teams responsible for high availability features in Cisco’s premier routing platforms. She holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Memorial University of Newfoundland and an MBA from Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario.
Trina is co-author of “Bit by Bit” a career guide for young women 15-25 who are considering technology careers.
Director: Advanced Services,
Cisco Systems
Trina Alexson is the head of Advanced Services for Cisco Canada. In her role, she leads engineering teams that work directly with Cisco customers to help them plan, build and operate their networks.
Trina has over 25 years experience in the information technology industry and has been with Cisco since 1996. Prior to her role in the services organization she led software development teams responsible for high availability features in Cisco’s premier routing platforms. She holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Memorial University of Newfoundland and an MBA from Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario.
Trina is co-author of “Bit by Bit” a career guide for young women 15-25 who are considering technology careers.

Ms. Kelly Ryan
Director of Development in B2B for IBM Software Group,
IBM
Kelly has more than 25 years experience in software development. After graduating from the University of Western Ontario, Kelly joined IBM in 1984 as a developer in databases (DB2 for VSE & VM, then DB2 Linux, UNIX Windows). Kelly moved into management, managing several teams over the years from technical support, quality assurance, information development, development and release management covering most aspects of software development.
Kelly spent 2 years in Software Group Strategy as Director of Technical Support Strategy and Quality Management system before moving back into product line development as the Director of WebSphere Commerce development in Smarter Commerce.
Director of Development in B2B for IBM Software Group,
IBM
Kelly has more than 25 years experience in software development. After graduating from the University of Western Ontario, Kelly joined IBM in 1984 as a developer in databases (DB2 for VSE & VM, then DB2 Linux, UNIX Windows). Kelly moved into management, managing several teams over the years from technical support, quality assurance, information development, development and release management covering most aspects of software development.
Kelly spent 2 years in Software Group Strategy as Director of Technical Support Strategy and Quality Management system before moving back into product line development as the Director of WebSphere Commerce development in Smarter Commerce.

Ms. Aakriti Agarwal
Forward Deployed Engineer
Palantir Technologies
Aakriti Agarwal is a Forward Deployed Engineer at Palantir Technologies. She did her undergrad in Computer Science from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. She is passionate about creating social impact using technology and is an enthusiastic advocate of women in STEM.
Forward Deployed Engineer
Palantir Technologies
Aakriti Agarwal is a Forward Deployed Engineer at Palantir Technologies. She did her undergrad in Computer Science from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. She is passionate about creating social impact using technology and is an enthusiastic advocate of women in STEM.

Ms. Kelley Irwin
Vice President,
TD Bank
Kelley Irwin is a Senior Technology Executive focused on people and delivery excellence. She has a track record of consistently achieving business value by implementing technology solutions. She has expertise in bringing the right talent and capabilities together to form high performance, business-focused technology teams that produce tangible financial and speed to market results and consistently achieves high employee engagement results.
Vice President,
TD Bank
Kelley Irwin is a Senior Technology Executive focused on people and delivery excellence. She has a track record of consistently achieving business value by implementing technology solutions. She has expertise in bringing the right talent and capabilities together to form high performance, business-focused technology teams that produce tangible financial and speed to market results and consistently achieves high employee engagement results.

Ms. Laurie Pezzente
Senior Vice President,
RBC
Laurie Pezzente currently holds the position of Senior Vice President, Technology Risk within Technology & Operations where she is responsible for providing governance and independent oversight of IT risk management for RBC through an IT Risk Centre of Governance. Laurie provides enterprise oversight of integrated security technologies, strategies, services & solutions.
Laurie Pezzente is an IT professional with over 25 years of IT experience, managing budgets in excess of $500 MM, with a solid track record of building strong relationships, encouraging creativity and excellence. Laurie has extensive experience in IT application development, Information Security, IT GRC and process improvement.

Ms. Dony Meng
Vice President, Technology & Data
Morgan Stanley
Dony is a Vice President at Morgan Stanley's Technology & Data Center in Montreal. She works in the Wealth Management division as the Development Manager of the Fixed Income Offerings Search system; she and her team are responsible for building the next generation Offerings Search platform that supports approximately 18,000 Financial Advisors. Dony has been with Morgan Stanley for 9 years; for the first 6 years she was responsible for the Institutional Securities' Fixed Income Allocation System.
Before joining Morgan Stanley, Dony was with Capgemini for 4 years as a Senior Consultant where she worked for various clients, including a portfolio management system for Standard & Poor's. Dony holds a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science.
Vice President, Technology & Data
Morgan Stanley
Dony is a Vice President at Morgan Stanley's Technology & Data Center in Montreal. She works in the Wealth Management division as the Development Manager of the Fixed Income Offerings Search system; she and her team are responsible for building the next generation Offerings Search platform that supports approximately 18,000 Financial Advisors. Dony has been with Morgan Stanley for 9 years; for the first 6 years she was responsible for the Institutional Securities' Fixed Income Allocation System.
Before joining Morgan Stanley, Dony was with Capgemini for 4 years as a Senior Consultant where she worked for various clients, including a portfolio management system for Standard & Poor's. Dony holds a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science.

Nathalie Vallières
Liaison and Communications Officer
University of Ottawa
Nathalie Vallières is a graduate of the University of Ottawa, B.Soc.Sc. (1993) and is currently the Liaison and Communications Officer for the Faculty of Engineering, at the University of Ottawa. She has spent her career providing coaching and leadership training to teens and young adults. Her ability to motivate & seek out talent is proven to be an asset in building partnerships with organizations such as ONWIE and NSERC as she currently founded Go Code Girl, a coding workshop for girls.
She believes in empowering women and fostering the female alliance.
Liaison and Communications Officer
University of Ottawa
Nathalie Vallières is a graduate of the University of Ottawa, B.Soc.Sc. (1993) and is currently the Liaison and Communications Officer for the Faculty of Engineering, at the University of Ottawa. She has spent her career providing coaching and leadership training to teens and young adults. Her ability to motivate & seek out talent is proven to be an asset in building partnerships with organizations such as ONWIE and NSERC as she currently founded Go Code Girl, a coding workshop for girls.
She believes in empowering women and fostering the female alliance.