The Leadership Team

  President – Elif Suner, MBA, M.Ed., MCC, CTDP

Elif is a learning, leadership, and talent development coach, consultant, and training facilitator, focusing on sustainable results and leveraging competencies. While being passionate about the art and science of learning, leadership, and talent development, Elif has proven experience in clarifying the context, understanding the setbacks, and bringing effective and efficient choices to amplify potential. She is particularly interested in cultural diversity and offers unique solutions for leaders and their teams.

She has more than 20 years of experience as an executive coach, senior consultant, facilitator, and instructional designer. Her expertise comprises the following:

  • 20+ years of experience in learning, leadership, and talent development,
  • 4,000+ hours of executive and team coaching experience,
  • 20,000+ participants in training programs and workshops,
  • 100+ transformational projects in multicultural corporations such as Coca-Cola, Reuters, Toyota, Volkswagen, Facebook, Salesforce, Starbucks, Youtube, Google, and Stanford.

She has a Masters in Education – Leadership Development at the University of Ottawa. In addition to that, she also has an MBA – Master of Business Administration degree.

She is a contributor to Forbes, writing articles about Leadership Development, and a member of the Forbes Coaches Council.

 

Past President – Dawn Firestone, CPCC

Dawn Firestone is a certified, credentialed coach (ACC, CPCC) whose practice focuses on talent development and performance management. She is President of the Ottawa Chapter of the International Coach Federation.

Dawn has a B.Sc. from Carleton University and has held positions in research science, both privately and with the federal government, in immunology and genetics. She has over 25 years’ experience in public relations, corporate communications, and corporate social responsibility nationally in the telecommunications industry. Her nonprofit experience includes leading The Hnatyshyn Foundation, a national nonprofit dedicated to advancing the visual and performing arts in Canada, and the Ottawa Youth Orchestra Academy. Her volunteer work includes the Ottawa Distress Centre, both on the phone and on the board, the Canadian Cancer Society, and the CHEO Foundation.

Dawn is also a certified Guided Autobiography Instructor (there are less than a dozen Canadian strained in this field).

 

Parvin KOlahdooz

Digital Communication DirectorParvin Kolahdooz, BSc, AIT, IMC, ACC

Parvin Kolahdooz is a Certified Integral Master coach, who helps Women discover and cultivate their potentials and capabilities to reach their goals and create the life they desire.

After raising two children and stepping away from her 20 years as a public servant, and since the start of her business in 2010, her focus has been coaching women who want to make a change in life and looking for a fresh start.

Parvin’s main focus is to help empower women:

  • Going through a transition in their personal life
  • Wanting to make a change in their professional life
  • Mid-lifers wanting to finally start a dream they always had

Parvin works with clients using a customized process that establishes rapport and objectives then identifies key limiting factors and encourages change to nurture improvement. Her wide range of clients come from Jordon to Europe and the Americas.

At the end of a coaching program, Parvin’s clients walk away with many competencies, tools, and insights engrave in them and they can use them in any areas of life and any goal they might want to achieve.

To learn more about Parvin check out her website: www.innerpotentialcoaching.com

 

Director of Membership – Hazel Bazinet, ACC

Hazel Bazinet is a certified, credentialed coach (ACC) who specializes in leadership development and career planning in the corporate world.

She spent 20 years with Rogers Communications Inc. in senior leadership roles in customer experience and sales. She has recently transitioned to a position as a Senior Process Improvement Manager with Giant Tiger. She has been Director of Membership with ICF Ottawa for the past 4 years.

Hazel is a busy mother of two young children, an active member of the sledge hockey community, and brings a sense of fun and excitement to all of her projects.

 

Director of communication Ariane Jaubert, PCC, CPCC

I am part of the ICF Ottawa chapter in charge of organizing events to help the coaches in our community grow their coaching or business skills.

I am also a certified Leadership and Career Coach (PCC, CPCC, and Marshall Goldsmith) and trained facilitator, aiming at developing individuals and organizations to create a more effective and fulfilling workplace for all. In my coaching, I am passionate about developing and guiding managers and executives to become better versions of themselves. My clients are leaders from a range of backgrounds and industries, including start-ups, SMEs in industries such as government, FMCG, tech, private equity, insurance, banking, construction, creative agencies, or NGOs. I have the chance to have had a wide variety of clients from entry-level managers to senior directors or C-suite.

Before embracing personal and leadership development as a profession, I worked for 20 years in different multinationals (LVMH, P&G, Guardian, and most recently Unilever), mainly in Marketing and Management roles.

I was born and raised in France but I had the chance to work and live in the USA, Canada, Asia, and Europe. I have been trained as an engineer (from Ecole Polytechnique, France) and also got an MBA from IMD (Switzerland).

 

  Secretery –  Suzanne Gagnon, MPA, PCC

  • Senior executive with 30 years’ public sector work experience as well as 15 years coaching experience.
  • Certified in The Leadership Circle
  • Certified in Organizational Relationship System Coaching (CRR Global)
  • Professional facilitator, trainer, and consultant
  • Fully bilingual

Suzanne has been coaching executives for the last 15 years as well as designing team coaching engagements.  She is well known for developing leaders and teams and for improving their efficiency and performance.  She uses relevant and real strategic projects to anchor leadership competencies.

She has been recognized for having a positive attitude, integrity, humor and is a creative thinker.  Her strong ability to connect and understands the work environment have led to many leaders ‘success.

She holds a Bachelor of Social Science in Leisure Studies from the University of Ottawa and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Carleton University.  She completed her Graduate Certificate in Executive Coaching from Royal Roads University in 2005 and is now a Professional Certified Coach through the International Coach Federation.  She developed an interactive and experiential team coaching approach through her certification in Organisational Relationship System Coaching in 2017.  She also completed her certification in The Leadership Circle suite of assessments in 2016.  She is now pursuing a certification in Team Coaching through the Global Team Coaching Institute (GTCI).