2025 Leadership Forum

Wissam holds a PhD in Strategic management and is a winner of the “Excellence in Teaching” award.  Over the years, Wissam has designed and delivered numerous training programs for major companies all over the world, including the United Nations, Koodo-Mastercom, Chevron-Philips, and MasterCard, among others.  He currently teaches leadership and strategy at the Schulich School of Business in key graduate programs.In 2016 he received the prestigious “Excellence in Teaching” award at the American University of Beirut for his impact and inspiration on the executive, graduate and undergraduate students. Wissam is a founding member and vice-president of strategy for the Canadian Business Strategy Association (CSBA) which aims to provide a knowledge portal for Canadian business strategists.

Madelyn Hamilton is a professional executive coach, business leader, and leadership development expert with experience helping organizations and individuals unlock their full potential. As the founder of Madelyn Hamilton Inc. and co-founder of Relevant Leadership, Madelyn is passionate about creating cultures where people thrive through values-based leadership, emotional intelligence, and strengths-based development.

Madelyn has worked extensively across diverse industries, including broadcasting, shipbuilding, construction, marine transportation, restaurants, manufacturing, and not-for-profit organizations. Her experience in these sectors has given her a deep understanding of both traditional and high-stakes environments, enabling her to bring practical leadership strategies that drive productivity while fostering trust, collaboration, and resilience within teams.

A lifelong learner, Madelyn is a student and graduate of many schools and leadership programs, always seeking to expand her knowledge and stay at the forefront of leadership best practices. She holds multiple certifications including Everything DiSC, StrengthsFinder, MHS Emotional Intelligence and other leadership tools, empowering leaders to better understand themselves and their teams, enabling them to navigate complex challenges with clarity and confidence. She is known for her direct, courageous communication style and her ability to spark meaningful conversations that inspire action and change.

Madelyn’s unique blend of pragmatism, empathy, and strategic insight makes her a sought-after speaker and facilitator for organizations looking to prepare their next generation of leaders. Her sessions are known for being engaging, interactive, and immediately applicable, ensuring participants walk away with practical tools they can use to improve leadership performance and team dynamics.

Madelyn's commitment to purpose-driven leadership resonates deeply with Generation Z, who prioritize authenticity, inclusion, and social responsibility. By fostering values alignment across generations, Madelyn helps organizations bridge generational gaps and build high-performing, cohesive teams that can thrive in today’s rapidly changing world.

For more information about Madelyn’s work, visit: www.madelynhamilton.ca

Chief Mark Crowell has been a member of the Waterloo Regional Police Service since 2001 and is the Service’s 7th Chief of Police.  

Over his career, he has served in areas including Neighbourhood Policing & Investigations - Patrol, Intimate Partner Violence, Communications, Special Victims - Sexual Assault, Administrative Support - Records, as the Executive Officer to the Chief of Police, and as Deputy Chief of Police.  

He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and Canadian Studies from Wilfrid Laurier University and a Master of Arts degree in Sociology. He also has a Ph.D. in Sociology from the Department of Sociology and Legal Studies at the University of Waterloo.   

Mark has been a Board of Director member for Supportive Housing of Waterloo (SHOW) and is currently a board member for Habitat for Humanity Waterloo Region. He has also served as a community volunteer with Out of the Cold and Food4Kids Waterloo Region.

Appointed Chief in May 2021, Chief Frank Bergen is responsible for one of the largest major municipal law enforcement agencies in the Province of Ontario.

Frank is a long time Hamilton resident and has proudly served communities as a police officer for over 39 years.  Prior to being sworn in as Deputy Chief with the Hamilton Police Service in April 2018, Frank spent 36 years with the Toronto Police Service where he was recognized as a progressive leader in policing, with a reputation for treating people in a fair and equitable manner.  Frank brought those qualities, together with his commitment to improving community safety, crime prevention and customer service, to Hamilton where he oversaw both Operations and Support during his tenure as Deputy Chief.  Best described as an operational man, Frank believes in working closely with community partners to achieve his goal of improving the quality of life and safety of residents in the City through a process of building trust and turning challenges into opportunities. Frank has been married to Anne Marie for 32 years and they have two daughters together.

Chief Duraiappah began his career with Halton Police in December 1995. He served in a variety of assignments throughout his career including front line policing, specialized investigations and Diversity and Community relations. He was promoted to Deputy Chief of Halton Police in 2015 leading front line policing, community mobilization as well as innovation and technology.

In October 2019, Chief Duraiappah was appointed Chief of Peel Regional Police. Chief Duraiappah arrived with a mandate for change and the strategic goal of becoming the most progressive police service in Canada.

Chief Duraiappah is committed to the safety and well-being of the community he serves, with one of the primary focuses being mental health and seeking multi-sectoral collaborative partnerships to reduce risk in the community.

Chief Duraiappah is a Board of Director for the Canadian Association of Chief’s of Police (CACP) and is a Past-President of the Ontario Association of Chief's of Police (OACP) 2022/2023. Chief Duraiappah is also the Canadian representative on the Board of the Major Cities Chief’s Association (MCCA), which is a professional organization representing the largest cities in the United States and Canada. He is also an executive of the Criminal Intelligence Service of Ontario (CISO).

Chief Duraiappah is heavily involved in the community and sits on several volunteer Boards, including the Runnymede Healthcare Centre, SAAAC Autism Centre, the Community Safety Knowledge Alliance (CSKA), and the Canadian Police Knowledge Network (CPKN). He is a Senate Member for the Canadian Armed Forces Reserve Infantry Regiments of The Lorne Scots, and The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology and Criminology from the University of Toronto, and a Diploma of Public Administration from the University of Western Ontario.

He is also the recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal and is an Officer of the Order of Merit Canada. In 2022, Chief Duraiappah was appointed to the Order of Ontario.

Erin Matthews drives revenue growth in support of Team Canada athletes and Canada’s high-performance sport system. 

As Director of Development & Operations for the Canadian Olympic Foundation, she collaborates with business leaders, sport administrators, and community advocates to advance the organization’s mission. A focused and collaborative leader, she coaches, mentors and empowers a team of development professionals to achieve individual and organizational objectives, while working across the organization to drive objectives of the Canadian Olympic Committee.  

Before joining Team Canada, Erin held positions of increasing responsibility at the DeGroote School of Business, McMaster University, culminating with the Director of Development role where she was instrumental in helping shape the future direction of the School. 

Sport has always been near and dear to Erin’s heart. After graduating from Brock University with a degree in sports management, she sharpened her leadership skills by supporting national and development teams at Canada Basketball and advancement roles in independent education and the United Way. 

Erin is an enthusiastic community champion, bringing her unique combination of skills to volunteer roles with community festivals and youth minor hockey, softball, basketball, and soccer associations.

Kathy McKeil, Chief of Staff, Breakwater Investments has a 35-year track record of developing and executing meaningful campaigns that positively enhance workplace culture. She has honed her experience in a variety of sectors including retail, marketing and communications, marine transportation and shipbuilding and repair. A natural people person, Kathy excels at connecting people and opportunities.

A passionate philanthropist, Kathy is Chair of the McKeil Family Foundation and an official ambassador for the national environmental organization Swim Drink Fish Canada.

The simple question of How Can I Help reflects Kathy’s core values of sharing and caring and inspired her to become a co-founder of SEED HHN – a not for profit organization that empowers and invests in women entrepreneurs.

Frank Fazio is the founder of CySAT Security and a highly respected thought leader and educator with more than 30 years experience in the information technology field. He is certified in Incident Response and Advanced Forensics and his cybersecurity expertise is regularly sought out by organizations in the broader public sector. Frank has delivered numerous training sessions to municipalities and related organizations, including the Ontario Media Relations Officers Network, the Municipal Information Systems Association, the Federation of PEI Municipalities and AMO, amongst others. His practice is uniquely focused on equipping individuals with the skills and knowledge they need to protect themselves online and the critical assets of the organizations they represent.

Deputy Chief Anthony Odoardi began his career in 1995 with Halton Regional Police where he worked in all aspects of Operations and Administration.  At the rank of Superintendent, Anthony led a number of strategic and innovative police initiatives, including the Public Safety Broadband Network (PSBN).  Anthony also provided oversight for special projects including enhancing police response and services for sexual assault survivors and implementation of electronic notes integration for front line officers.  In 2015, Anthony served as a Security Commander for the Pan AM Games and currently sits on the Board of Directors for RADIUS Child and Youth Services.

In May 2020, Anthony was appointed Deputy Chief with Peel Regional Police, and is responsible for Innovation and Technology Command.  Deputy Chief Odoardi hit the ground running by initiating PRP’s Digital Officer Transformation Program with a vision of becoming one of North America’s most progressive and innovative police services through improving the tools and supports available for over 3000 PRP employees.  Anthony implemented PRP’s first ever I.T. Strategic Roadmap and Frontline Mobile Strategy. 

Deputy Chief Odoardi also serves as the Managing Director of the PSBN Innovation Alliance (PIA). The PIA aims to provide a reliable, cost effective and cyber-secure data communication network to all first responders and critical infrastructure partners in Ontario and across Canada. More recently, Deputy Chief Odoardi was named as Chair of the Ontario Association Chiefs of Police Interagency Advisory Panel for Next Generation-911. 

Deputy Chief Odoardi also current serves as the Executive Sponsor of the PRP / OHRC Human Rights project aimed at identifying and eliminating system discrimination in policing.    

Greg Stanisci is an accomplished data analytics leader with more than 25 years of IT experience and over two decades at York Regional Police (YRP).

For the past nine years, he has spearheaded award-winning data-driven solutions, including dashboards, geospatial applications, and a robust data warehouse. Greg led the creation of YRP’s Community Safety Data Portal, enhancing transparency and community engagement.

He is a founder and Co-Chair of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police Analytics Sub-Committee and chairs YRP’s AI Governance Committee, contributing nationally to the ethical use of AI in law enforcement.

Laila Martin is the Director of the RCMP's National Technology Onboarding Program (NTOP).    She has extensive experience in IT and software development and has been a 26-year civilian member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).   

Ms. Martin worked in various roles in the IM/IT Program and the last 5 within Technical Operations as the Implementation Manager within the National Cybercrime Coordination Center (NC3) and now as the Director of NTOP.

NTOP's mandate is to assess new and existing operational technologies to ensure the use of such tools is effective, lawful, and transparent with a focus on technologies that contain, collect or use personal information.

Celio Casadei is the Senior Vice President of Cloud & AI at OnX. With a distinguished career in cloud, data analytics, and AI, Celio brings deep expertise in business transformation, helping enterprises leverage AI, GenAI, cloud, and managed services solutions that drive innovation, efficiency, and growth. Prior to joining OnX, Celio held several senior leadership positions including Partner at PwC as well as Partner at IBM Canada. At PwC, Celio led the Cloud & AI Advisory Practice, spearheading multi-year cloud, data, and AI transformations across banking, insurance, telecom, and the public sector. At IBM Canada, Celio led a 200+ member National Data Analytics practice, delivering cloud, data, and AI solutions across North America.

Celio is a lifelong learner and believes in bringing curiosity and creativity to solving complex challenges with innovative IT solutions. He earned designations at Harvard Business School – Competing in the Age of AI, Blockchain Applications at MIT, and is a Certified Data Management Professional (CDMP®) by DAMA, Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure, as well as Google Cloud Certified.

Jeff Thompson, PhD, is a researcher with Columbia University Medical Center and Edinburgh Napier University. Dr. Thompson retired from the NYPD in 2022 after serving there for over 20 years where he was a former hostage negotiator and their first-ever mental health and wellness coordinator. He helped lead their peer support team (more than 400 people) and he continues to teach leadership, resilience, and suicide prevention for police agencies, government officials, and the private sector across the world.

Additionally, Dr. Thompson is an accomplished research scientist and has published numerous research papers, book chapters, and professional articles for multiple publications including PsychologyToday.com.

 Kate MacDonald, Executive Director of Professionalism, Leadership & Inclusion at York Regional Police (YRP), has been practicing law for 22 years. She spent the first several years of her career as a Crown Attorney in Toronto before joining YRP full-time in 2014. Kate provides legal advice, coaching and training on a wide variety of issues in policing and the criminal justice system to police services across Ontario.

From 2019-2022, Kate co-lead YRP’s organization-wide culture transformation using an unconventional philosophy and methods that are now being adopted by other police services in Canada and the United States.

Kate is the designer of Mastery Academy, an innovative career-spanning personal growth/leadership program tailored to the unique needs of the policing industry. She is also a trauma-informed yoga teacher.

Paul Pedersen started his role as Executive Director with the OACP on June 24, 2024. He has more than 40 years of exceptional experience in policing having served in senior leadership positions with York Regional Police and Chief of  Police of the Greater Sudbury Police Service.Paul holds a Master of Public Administration from Western University along with a Diploma in Adult Education from St. Francis Xavier University and is a graduate of Executive Leadership programs from the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Business, the National Police Improvement Agency in the United Kingdom and the Senior Management Institute for Police through the Police Executive Research Forum in the United States.

Paul is a proud Officer of the Merit of the Police Forces and a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee medal and the Police Exemplary Service medal as well s being invested as a Member in the Order of St. John.Paul is passionate about community engagement serving on the Board of St. John Ambulance as the Vice-Chair, the Chair of the Sudbury Food Bank, the Chair of the Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics, and a past President of the Cambrian College Board. He participates in a wide variety of community events connection with diverse and multicultural communities all thorough the year.