Speakers

Kouros Goodarzi

A seasoned project/program manager with more than 25 years in the computer industry, Kouros has worked for small and large companies across the globe. He has held positions from researcher to project manager, and from quality manager to VP of Engineering. Currently working as a contract Senior Project Manager / Program Manager for Coast Capital Savings, he is responsible for completing projects as well as ensuring the PMO reporting information is sufficient to guarantee success of projects and portfolios. In the past decade, he has worked for well-known companies such as Philips, Nokia, and McKesson, as well as founding two start-up companies in the areas of mobile computing and wireless communications. Kouros has a BSc in Electrical Engineering, and a Masters with honours in Computer Engineering – Robotics and Machine Intelligence. He is a designated Project Management Professional from PMI and currently volunteers with the local chapter (Canadian West Coast Chapter of PMI) as the Director, Community OUtreach. Kouros has been a long time senior member of IEEE and currently holds the chair position for the local Vancouver section, recognized as the best IEEE section in the world.

Blake Hanna

Blake holds a Bachelor of Science from UVic and an MBA from the Sauder School of Business at UBC. He is currently the Founder and President of Hanna Consulting Services. In the past, Blake was the Managing Director for Accenture, where he was responsible for managing and overseeing business development, sales and marketing, client service delivery, finance and accounting, communications, recruiting, human resources and labour relations, and government relations. Blake is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the UBC Alumni Association, the MIS Board of Advisors at the Sauder School of Business, and the MIS Alumni Committee.

Edward Pereira

Edward received his Bachelor of Commerce in Finance and Transportation & Logistics from the Sauder School of Business at UBC and has obtained his PMP, CHA, CISA, CISM, and CRISC designations. Currently, he is an IT Security Director, responsible for developing an IT security program at Lululemon, including awareness and education, technology configuration, IT compliance (SOX/PCI), and security policies and processes. His past careers included Director of IT Security & Audit and IT Privacy Lead at Intrawest, Senior IT Strategy Consultant at TAP Solutions, Financial Controller – Flight Operations at Canadian Airlines International, and Founder and President of MeetUP.com. Edward is currently on ISACA Board of Directors, a member of Coach for Cliff Avenue United Soccer Club, and is involved with the Burnaby Girls Soccer Club. Edward received the Canadian Event Industry Award – Finalist for Sporting Event category in 1999. He was also involved with special projects which included the 1999 World Airline Road Race, MeetUP.com, system conversions for corporate planning and financial analysis.

Kevin Teo

Kevin holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting and Management Information Systems. He also holds a Masters of Accountancy as well as the CISA designation. Currently, he is an IT Risk and Assurance Senior at Ernst & Young where he is responsible for performing audits on IT General Controls, data analytics, security reviews and IT consulting. Kevin’s past career was as an Information Systems Teaching Assistant at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is currently on the ISACA Board of Directors. Previous special projects included an accounts payable analysis to recover duplicate payments paid out to vendors, as well as serving as an auditor for the BC Liberals Leadership Election

Ray McInhol

Ray is currently Director of Financial Services at The University of British Columbia. He has been at UBC for 11 years and started as the Manager of Financial Reporting. His responsibilities include payroll, accounts payable, research and trust accounting, revenue accounting, and finance training. He currently holds a CA and CMA designation.

Charlene Chua-Entote

Charlene holds a Bachelor of Science in Management Information System from Ateneo de Manila University as well as an HR Management Certificate from BCIT. She is currently the Human Resources Coordinator at the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada where she provides support to different HR operations of the institute. Her responsibilities include staffing, strategic planning, HRIS using SAP, employee relations, and more. In the past, she was an Instructor/Lecturer at Ateneo de Manila University as well as the Purchasing Coordinator at Ventyx Inc. She currently is a member of the BC Human Resources Management Association and a Certified Human Resources Professional Candidate. Charlene was the finalist for the 2010 NRC Institute Awards for Community and winner of the 2007 NRC Institute Awards for Teamwork. She was awarded for the Top in the Department of Info Systems and Computer Science and is a Cum laude graduate.

Natasha Jung

Natasha holds a Bachelor’s in Communications from SFU and currently works as a Marketing Specialist at Deloitte. In her role, she is essentially a project manager for events, marketing and communications, particularly for the technology, media and telecommunications industry including the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 program.

Natasha previously worked in the broadcast television, higher education, non-profit, automotive and entertainment industries while raising tens of thousands of dollars for various causes. Throughout her work and volunteer experience, she has developed a strong passion to connect people to organizations, causes and communities through events and marketing initiatives.

Natasha enjoys good conversation, reading about marketing through social media and is passionate about supporting university students. She has presented at conferences for UBC, SFU, Kwantlen and the Richmond School District on the topics of leadership and marketing. She looks forward to connecting with students at the UBC BizTech FIT Conference.