Management Development Instructor Bios

Lillas Hatala | Hugh McGeary | Judy McMillan-Evans | Janet Oakenfold | Mary-Jo Williams

Lillas Hatala MCEd, CHRP, CMC
Lillas has a graduate degree in Continuing Education, and is a Certified Human Resources Professional, Certified Management Consultant, professional speaker with the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers, an inspirational coach, and a member of the International Leadership Association and International Association of Coaches. She has over 25 years' experience as a leading-edge leadership and management development practitioner, facilitator, coach and consultant, working with individuals, teams and organizations in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors in North America and beyond.

Lillas is the coauthor of Integrative Leadership (2005), The Integrative Leadership Study Guide (2008), The Business Case for Leadership Development (2008) and numerous published articles. She was the former Faculty Director of Business and Leadership Programs, University of Saskatchewan – a position she passionately served from 1992 to 2006.

Her current work through her own organization, Integrative Leadership International Ltd., challenges leaders to expand their awareness or consciousness and bring greater levels of awareness and significance to their lives, their teams and to their organizations. Her interest in the integrative or “whole” person has led her to become a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT500) with the International Yoga Association, and to study at the Chopra Centre for Wellbeing, Shambala Institute, Center for Timeless Being and Sivananda Organization, among others.

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Hugh G. McGeary BSW, MSW, GDSA
Hugh is drawn to teaching, appreciating the opportunity to bring his expansive knowledge and experience into rich conversations and interactions with adult learners from diverse fields and backgrounds. Hugh works with individuals, couples, families, groups, teams and organizations as a counsellor in private practice. He is also a manager, coach, teacher and consultant. He brings the knowledge from this varied background into the classroom for students to apply to their own worlds.

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Judy MacMillan-Evans
Judy McMillan-Evans is an adult educator with over 20 years of experience in both classroom and online instructional design and delivery. She is so excited about the world of education that she has recently completed a Master’s in Education. She also holds certificates in both adult education and group facilitation from Mount Royal University.

Judy is the lead instructor and designer for the Mount Royal University certificate in Entrepreneurship; a project she has led for 20 years. In 2006, Mount Royal University awarded Judy with their Distinguished Faculty/Teaching Award for instructors, based upon her excellent student engagement and program results.

Judy is a generalist in the field of business with over 30 years of business ownership. She loves to teach about entrepreneurship, business planning, human resource management, marketing, financial management and business operations. She is also a specialist in not-for-profit management and community economic development.

In everything she does, Judy offers fun, passion, experience, knowledge and creativity with a strong focus on quality education.

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Janet Oakenfold B.Comm., MBA
Janet is energetic and passionate about delivering highly practical business training that is current, useful and realistic for today’s business environment.

Equipped with years of experience in a broad range of business roles including supply chain, contract management, process management, business analysis, project management , marketing, and enterprise risk management, Janet now devotes her talents to assisting and training others to work smarter in all aspects of business initiatives. Janet’s teaching style moves students beyond simple textbook learning to helping others apply tools and techniques in dynamic real-world situations.

Janet’s professional experience includes management roles with the Royal Bank of Canada, Bombardier Aerospace and Canadian Pacific Railway.

With over ten years of teaching and corporate training experience, Janet established her own independent training and consulting company in 2009. Janet provides training across a broad spectrum of business areas with specializations in leadership, Six Sigma and Lean methodology, business analysis, project management, contract management and process management within post-secondary corporate training and continuing education settings.

An alumni of McGill University, Janet has a Bachelor of Commerce and an MBA specializing in Marketing and Strategic Management. Janet is also a certified Six Sigma Black Belt.

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Mary-Jo Williams CHRP
Mary-Jo is an instructor for the Faculty of Continuing Education and Extension. She obtained her education in human resources through Mount Royal University and is a Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP).

As an independent consultant, Mary-Jo partners with business and HR leaders in the Calgary community to identify strategies and implement customized leadership and organizational development solutions that align corporate objectives and maximize engagement, productivity, efficiency and profit. Mary-Jo has enjoyed a diverse 20 year career in a variety of industries, building and leading teams at the frontline, middle and senior levels in sales, operations, human resources, training, and leadership and organizational development. Throughout her career, Mary-Jo has provided training and coaching to leaders at all organizational levels. Her primary areas of expertise are human resources management, management and leadership skills, performance development and management, interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence, and customer service and sales.

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