Advisory Board

Our advisory board provides guidance on compelling issues and topics for CIOs and the vendors that serve them, ensuring that we remain relevant and valuable to both communities.

Maria Aiello

Maria Aiello is the Chair of the Technology Advisory Board for the Institute of Real Estate Management and an adjunct professor at Conestoga College, where she teaches business analytics. Previously, Maria was Global Head of Private Markets & Real Estate Technology at Manulife, Vice President of Real Estate Technology Advisory at PwC, and held CIO positions at Morguard Corporation and Regal Lifestyle Communities.

Maria is a strong advocate of the CIO and real estate communities, helping to launch the One Million Acts of Innovation and was named to the Top 35 People to Watch by Realcomm. She has been featured in CIO Magazine and has appeared in interviews produced by IT Canada, The IT Media Group, and IT World Canada.

Maria graduated from McMaster University with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and French. Maria has also completed innovation and executive project leadership courses from the Queen's Business School and leadership and strategy education at the Rotman School of Business, University of Toronto.

Monique Allen

Monique Allen is the SVP and CIO for Canadian Technology and Enterprise Architecture at Sun Life. She has overall accountability for technology strategy and execution for the Canadian businesses and architecture and digital solutions globally.

Monique is a business and technology leader with more than 20 years of experience in financial technology. Previously, she was the CIO at OMERS, general manager for the Canadian region at Finastra, and held global technology roles at HP and P&G.

Monique is an advocate for leadership in equity, diversity and inclusion, serving as a director on the boards of Hackergal, Women in Capital Markets, and Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences. She is a founding member of CILAR, the Coalition of Innovation Leaders Against Racism. Her strengths in leadership and community involvement have been recognized by The Women in IT Awards Canada with the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Monique is a contributing author to The Collective Wisdom of High Performing Women. She holds an Honours Bachelor of Science from the University of Waterloo and an MBA from the Schulich School of Business, York University.

Dr. Peter Carr

Peter Carr, PhD, is an adjunct professor in the Department of Management Sciences at the University of Waterloo. He researches and lectures about strategic management of technology, project management, technology innovation and entrepreneurship, and supply chain management.

Peter guides and supports the practical application of technology in organizations and works to understand and influence the impact of information technology in society. He is the author and instructor of the University of Waterloo Watspeed Digital Transformation online certificate program.

Peter acquired his PhD from Cranfield University in the UK, where his studies focused on manufacturing systems engineering. He specialized in implementing lean operations and supply chain environments in manufacturing and service sectors.

Melissa Carvalho

Melissa is RBC's Global Cyber Security Strategic Services Vice President, leading the Cyber Security Planning Office and the bank's Global Identity and Access Management group, providing cyber solutions and services for RBC's 86,000 employees and 17 million clients.

International organizations recognize Melissa for successfully delivering critical and high-impact initiatives. Throughout her career, she developed and implemented identity strategies that promoted organizational growth and improved operational efficiencies, including implementing identity programs at Canada's five major banks and consulting on over 50 IAM programs across North America. Known as an adept and innovative leader with extensive experience in managing all aspects of information technology, she consistently leads and motivates individuals to maximize productivity while managing relationships with diverse stakeholder groups.

Melissa strives to create a more diverse and inclusive environment within RBC and outside the organization. She is the RBC Technology and Operations Co-lead for the LGBTQ+ leadership team and the Canadian Ambassador for Women in Identity, a global non-profit organization focused on breaking bias to create a world where "Digital identity solutions built for everyone are built by everyone." Melissa's volunteer work allows her to bring people together and create new opportunities for a future without biases.

John Comacchio

John is the Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Teknion Corporation. He is a member of the IDC CIO Research Review Board, Masergy Customer Advisory Board, OKTA CIO Advisory Board, and the Institute of Corporate Directors. Previously, John was a Principal in the e-Integration Practice of KPMG Consulting, General Manager of the Toronto office of professional services firm US Interactive, and Information Technology Officer at Nissan Canada.

John provides enterprise-wide technology vision, leadership, planning, and implementation of information technology initiatives. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Ability Online Network. This non-profit organization helps kids with disabilities or chronic illnesses accomplish great things by connecting them to a supportive online community for friendship, support and skill development opportunities.

John holds a Master of Business Administration degree granted by the Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario.

Julie Hansen

Julie Hansen is Vice President Global Executive Advisor at Salesforce. She has over 25 years of expertise, consistently demonstrating her ability to drive innovation by digitizing and transforming hundreds of enterprises.

Julie's extensive experience navigating the intersection of business and technology and her commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion enrich discussions and add value to the community. She was named a Salesforce Trailblazer and received the DEI Initiative of the Year from the Women in IT Awards Series for founding the first 100% autistic-neurodiverse partnership within Salesforce Professional Services. In addition, she is a judge and advisor to global innovation competitions, coaches women leaders in over 25 countries, and actively addresses inequalities worldwide.

Julie holds degrees in Business, Computer Science, and Psychology and certifications in Value Chain Operations and Leadership from MIT Sloan and Sustainable Business Strategy from Harvard and ASU's Global Institute of Sustainability. She also holds the Competent Boards GCB.D board-level accreditation, focusing on business practices for growth and innovation.

Paul Lewis

Paul is the Chief Technology Officer of Pythian, where he drives long-term technology strategy and helps organizations realize business outcomes throughout their digital transformation journeys. In addition, Paul steers technical innovations that continue to expand partner relationships in cloud and data. Before Pythian, Paul managed multidisciplinary teams as CIO/CTO and Senior Executive Technologist at Basi100, Filogix, D+H, and Hitachi Vantara.

Paul is passionate about technology evangelism, executive advocacy, digital transformation and IT operations strategy. Interested parties can find his thought leadership in various technology and industry publications, including Forbes Insights, GigaOm, and Edge Computing Association.

Paul is a member of the Masters of Business Analytics (MBAN) and Masters of Management in Artificial Intelligence (MMAI) advisory board at the Schulich School of Business and an Advisor to the Board of WSIB for service excellence and information technology.

Ted Maulucci

Ted Maulucci is the president of SmartOne Solutions, a company committed to enhancing the living experience for communities through technology. Ted was previously Chief Information Officer for the Tridel Group of Companies and was named Private Sector CIO of the Year by IT World Canada.

Ted is passionate about contributing and advancing innovation through partnerships and collaboration. Organizations have recognized him with several awards for IT leadership, application development, smart buildings, and innovation. Some notable awards include the Top Ten Best in Class CIOs in North America by Computerworld, the CIPA Gold Award of Excellence for application development in the real estate industry, a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for promoting Canadian innovation, and the Mid-Career Award from the University of Toronto for industry and social contribution in an engineering career.

Ted has an undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Toronto and a Master of Business Administration from the Schulich School of Business.

Frances Newbigin

As an Advisor Emeritus, Frances provides guidance that helps drive market penetration and revenue growth for enterprise software solutions.

She was a senior executive in the technology industry, serving as Vice President of Transformation Solutions at OnX Enterprise Solutions, Vice President of Enterprise Software for Canada at Hewlett-Packard Canada, Vice President of Sun Microsystems of Canada's software and technical sales, and she held country manager positions at Bachman Information Systems, Logic Works, and NetDynamics.

Frances has over 20 years of leadership experience in the technology industry and holds an Economics/Commerce Honours B.A. from the University of Waterloo.

Helen Polatajko

Helen is a highly sought-after Director serving on the boards of several organizations in the public and private sectors. Previously, Helen was Vice President of information and Technology at Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Senior Vice President, Chief Information Officer at CIBC Mellon, and CIO at a former Mellon subsidiary in Houston, Texas.

Helen was recognized by the McGraw-Hill group of companies as one of the Top 100 Women in Computing, acknowledging her achievements and contributions to information services and technology. CIO Canada featured her on their cover for an article entitled "Fusing Business and Technology." Helen has served on the Canadian Information Productivity Awards (CIPA) judging panel and belongs to the CIO Executive Council as an advisory board representative.

Helen received her education from The University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and graduated from The Stonier Graduate School of Banking at the University of Delaware.

Ernest Solomon

Ernest is the chief information and security officer at SOROC and is responsible for driving the company's technology strategy. He leverages two decades of experience in digital transformation, technology innovation, and developing customer-focused service cultures to improve business outcomes in the financial services, insurance, and healthcare industries.

Previously, Ernest was the CIO of LAWPRO, Head of IT Americas at Roche, Head of Service Delivery at BMO, and Account Delivery Executive at HP Enterprise.

Ernest is an EC-Council Certified Chief Information Security Officer and holds a Master of Business Administration from the Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario.