Leadership Team

Nasheen Liu, Managing Partner and SVP, CIO Strategy

Ms. Liu’s strong reputation in the Technology community is built upon her proven track record as a leader who practices what she preaches. Results driven, focused, determined and creative, Ms. Liu approaches marketing and business development with integrity, sound common-sense principles and unconventional strategy. Ms. Liu’s expertise in Corporate, Field, Industry, Product and Social Media Marketing makes her a well-rounded knowledge expert and an excellent communicator.

A seasoned and sought-after executive, Ms. Liu has two decades of success in strategy development, marketing, and client engagement. Prior to joining The IT Media Group, she worked at Sun Microsystems of Canada Inc., heading up Sun’s software marketing nationally. Previously, Ms. Liu held key marketing positions at leading Canadian software companies such as Workbrain and Platform Computing.

As Managing Partner and VP, Strategy, Ms. Liu spearheads The IT Media Group’s overall business plan and leads executive marketing consulting services.

SPECIALTIES

Consulting to IT marketing organizations, including marketing plan & campaign strategy development; business development and customer engagement; effective messaging and positioning; developing methodologies for working successfully with the sales team; motivational speaking

John Pickett, VP, Executive Programs

With many years of experience leading editorial activities and chairing IT executive events at Canada’s top IT publishing company, Mr. Pickett is a highly skilled speaker, writer, events facilitator, advisor and CIO community advocate. Long-time host of the popular “Frankly Speaking…” series of IT breakfast events, he is one of Canada’s most recognized IT media figures. Mr. Pickett was the founding editor of ComputerWorld Canada and CIO Canada magazines. He is a frequent guest speaker and media source on information technology.

Prior to his media career, Mr. Pickett enjoyed a successful career in information systems and management consulting, and held senior management positions with prominent Canadian and UK-based companies.

As VP, Executive Programs, Mr. Pickett leads the effort of championing the role of the Canadian business and technology community and facilitating their ongoing, meaningful dialogues to solve their common challenges.

SPECIALTIES

Event facilitation, hosting and public speaking; stimulating executive group interaction and CIO/vendor dialogue; developing compelling technical and management content; media consulting; writing and editing

David Carey, VP, Content

Mr. Carey is an award winning writer and one of Canada’s leading publishing professionals in the field of IT management. His career includes 20 years at the helm of two of the country’s most important IT management magazines, CIO Canada and Canadian Datasystems.

Mr. Carey is well connected with the Canadian IT management community, having interviewed hundreds of IT executives and written over a hundred in-depth IT case studies on public and private organizations from coast to coast. He was a driving force in the creation of the Canadian Information Productivity Awards (CIPA), the country’s leading awards program for IT management, and he helped launch The CIO Xchange, one of the country’s first facilitated information-sharing groups for CIOs.

As VP, Content, Mr. Carey provides oversight of all editorial services at The IT Media Group including the creation of case studies, whitepapers, sales & marketing collateral, and Web content.

SPECIALTIES

All aspects of IT publishing project management including planning, interviewing, writing, editing, art direction supervision and print production; Canadian IT management market knowledge-expert; high-tech media relations consulting, including campaign planning and content creation

Jeff Ishii, Chief Technologist and VP of Operations

Externally ranked by Heidrick & Struggles to be in the top 5% of executives for achievement of results, customer centricity and business acumen, Mr. Ishii helps organizations solve their most important issues. His action-oriented style coupled with a strategic mindset has resulted in consistently high performance outcomes for his clients.

Mr. Ishii’s career spans 30 years of management consulting, professional services and IT operations delivery. He has always been at the forefront of technology by implementing unique and creative solutions that have produced sustained value. He translates business goals into actionable project plans while making sound choices and decisions.

As Chief Technologist, Mr. Ishii keeps abreast of current and future IT practices and trends that affect various industries. He proactively studies industry and marketplace developments to advise clients of relevant changes that affect their business. As VP, Operations, he provides oversight of the company’s priorities to ensure ongoing success.

SPECIALTIES

IT outsourcing (service management, costing and optimization, P&L management, strategic planning, technology innovation, benchmarking); professional services (resource management, proposal review and quality assurance, project delivery); management consulting (technology strategy, mission critical systems)

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.

Mission

The IT Media Group’s mission is to support and add value to the CIO community while providing a wide range of opportunities for direct engagement between IT vendors and CIOs, enabling them to share knowledge and opinions, provide thought leadership, build relationships, and engage in a dialogue of benefit to both parties.

As IT becomes fully integrated into business strategy and operations, so the constellation of purchasing influencers broadens and the challenge for vendors becomes more complex. The central figure in the buying constellation is often the CIO. With an expanding mandate, CIOs are among today’s busiest executives. Their time is precious and guarded, making it difficult for vendors to get their voice heard above the many others clamouring for the CIO’s attention.

CIOs value the knowledge, thought leadership and support that vendors can provide but they often deny access to them because of severe time constraints and a perceived lack of value from typical sales calls. What’s needed by both parties are opportunities for connection and dialogue that come with the promise of true value for time invested.

One of our key objectives is to provide compelling opportunities for engagement between CIOs and vendors, delivering on the value-for-time promise. By respecting the CIO’s time and providing good business value, we are able to keep their doors open, enabling our vendor clients to build new CIO relationships and re-energize old ones.

Culture

At IT Media Group we believe in maintaining a work environment that is built on mutual respect, integrity, creativity, and collaboration. We reward hard work with flexibility and support. We encourage out-of-box thinking and innovative approaches to achieve superlative results. We see people as our most valuable asset.

Our clients and our CIO management associates are both our trusted partners. Everything we do must provide genuine value to our clients and the CIO community.

We take our social responsibilities seriously. We respect the environment in our day-to-day activities and our work, believing that consciously and collectively we can help make the world a better place.