Énoncé de candidature
I am a seasoned marketing and digital executive with 30 years of experience and several years in the digital space as a builder of online B2C and B2B businesses. I have my MBA from the Schulich School of Business, am an accredited Chartered Marketer (UK and Canada) and a certified board director (ICD.D). I’m also the Board Chair at Tree Canada, Canada’s only national organization dedicated to the planting and nurturing of trees, and has served as a board member at the Canadian Office Products Association and the Oakville Literacy Council.
I would welcome the chance to serve on CIRA’s board of directors and contribute to the great efforts to build out Canada’s internet. My professional experience has allowed me to really understand and practice:
1) Installation of risk management and cybersecurity protocols to better protect organizations,
2) Building go-to-market strategies for organizations looking to thrive in the technology and digital spaces
3) Forming technology based relationships and strategic partnerships across multiple organizations to drive commercial success
As a seasoned board member and accomplished board chair, I bring governance skills to CIRA. I have initiated cybersecurity and crisis management directives at the board level, and have approved large technology projects aimed to facilitate growth and efficiencies.
Lastly as a certified board director committed to strong board practices and ongoing development, and with recent experience as the chair of a fast-growing organization, I bring experience in helping boards achieve success in fast-changing environments. I would love to contribute to CIRA’s mission.
CIRA is a member-based organization that manages .ca domains on behalf of Canadians. This includes building a suite of integrated internet service and products that allow registration and enhancement of the .ca domain.
CIRA also provides cybersecurity services (including Canadian Shield), registry services and training to Canadians – which is critical as Canadians rely on CIRA for provision of reliable internet presence.
Lastly, CIRA’s involvement in community based programs allows for the closing of the digital divide, as remote, rural and indigenous communities gain access to innovation, digital literacy and grants.
I would welcome the opportunity to contribute to CIRA’s mission through leveraging my own experiences as a digital professional with board director experience and director-specific education and experience. I am also passionate about the work CIRA is doing to close the digital divide.
As a CIRA board member, I would commit to fulfilling my obligations as a board member through board and committee attendance, contributing to the board meetings as a collaborative and respectful director, and pledging to do my due diligence in board deliberations.
Specifically, I would be able to bring my expertise in strategic planning, board governance, crisis management and cybersecurity to the board. Having operated in multiple industries and sectors, I also bring agility and breadth of thinking to the board.
I have completed the Institute of Directors Director Education Program (DEP) which covers a breadth of board education topics including ESG, cybersecurity, risk management, board governance and crisis management. I am accredited as corporate director with the ICD.D designation. Additionally, I have completed Institute of Directors education courses in cybersecurity and social media.
Lastly, I bring board experience to the board, including as the Board Chair of a national not-for-profit organization, Tree Canada, where we are substantively growing the organization in a fast-changing environment. I have experience on the Audit and Finance Committee, and have also served as the Committee Chair of the Strategic Planning Committee, which was a catalyst for growth of the organization.
The biggest challenges facing CIRA would be:
1) The growth of cybersecurity issues
2) The continuing digital divide that exists across Canada, specifically with rural, remote and indigenous communities in terms of digital access
3) The growth of fake news
CIRA is uniquely positioned to play a role in mitigating the risks associated with these issues.
CIRA’s role in developing cybersecurity solutions and training and being a ‘go-to’ resource in the event of security breaches, allows CIRA to contribute to the strategic development of creating suitable responses to this threat. As such, this investment should be considered if CIRA would want Canadian made solutions to have a voice at the table.
In terms of closing the digital divide, CIRA continued investment in training and community programs can make progress as more communities are able to reach digital access and literacy. This means leveraging grant opportunities with multiple partners and establishing clear metrics and guidelines to ensure effectiveness and community outreach. There is also opportunity to work cohesively with service providers on setting standards, targets and clear objectives for closing the digital divide.
Lastly, CIRA should promote that the internet needs to be kept ‘open’ and that the best way to deal with the emerging issue of fake news is through greater digital literacy. CIRA should explore expanding the partners it currently has in this area, and establishing how best government policy can be informed so that the benefits that are associated with the open internet are not inadvertently curtailed.