The Advisory Council's purpose is to help the MMA program stay informed on new trends and practices that are relevant in the industry application of data science. Specifically, members make recommendations about topics in data science that are becoming relevant in various industries, provide support and guidance to help prepare MMA students for their transition to industry, and help drive engagement with alumni and the community.
Jonathan Guzzo
Vice President, ALMT Forward Looking Metrics & Monitoring, BNP Paribas
Montreal, Canada
Jonathan Guzzo, CFA - Vice President, ALMT Forward Looking Metrics and Monitoring at BNP Paribas in Montreal. He is a highly analytical and experienced professional who has had a progressive career in financial markets, treasury, risk management, and operations. His domain expertise includes quantitative finance, data science, risk analytics, and business intelligence. In addition to being a CFA charter holder, Jonathan has a bachelor’s degree in finance from Concordia University and a master’s degree in analytics from McGill University.
Rebecca Gluskin
Deputy Director and Chief Data Scientist, Measure of America
New York, United States of America
Rebecca Tave Gluskin, MSc, PhD, Deputy Director and Chief Data Scientist, leads the quantitative research and analysis efforts for Measure of America, a project of the Social Science Research Council. In this role she has trained dozens of early-career data scientists committed to working on social justice and racial equity. Measure of America's work has been cited in dozens of media outlets such as the New York Times, Washington Post, and NPR. She is a Mentor for the Data Science 4 All program and sits on the Scientific Advisory Board for the County Health Rankings. Rebecca has served as the Director of Data Analysis and Data Services in the Bureau of Informatics at the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and in this role she helped pioneer cutting-edge electronic disease reporting for New York City doctors. She conducted post-doctoral work at Harvard's Boston Children’s Hospital with HealthMap.org. Rebecca holds a BS in Environmental Science from McGill University, an MS in Toxicology, and a PhD in Epidemiology both from New York University.
Alejandro Gutierrez Lopez
Faculty Lecturer at McGill University's School of Continuing Studies
Toronto, Canada
Dr. Alejandro Gutierrez Lopez, PMP, Faculty Lecturer School of Continuing Studies, McGill University, is a seasoned faculty lecturer, project manager, and information systems consultant. He has more than fifteen years of experience designing, constructing, and implementing information systems for companies in sectors like retail, transportation, hospitality, and education. Dr. Gutierrez has designed and instructed courses in multiple educational programs and universities in Canada, France, and Mexico. His domains of expertise are data science, data analytics, entrepreneurship, systems thinking, and project management.
Julie Laroche
Director of Data Sciences, Laps
Montreal, Quebec
Julie Laroche is currently Director of Data Sciences at Laps, a company committed to tackling single-use consumerism in the retail industry through its different platforms based on a circular economy business model. Previously senior advisor at Mila, the Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute, she has over 7 years of experience in the technology industry. Her business acumen converges around Artificial Intelligence, Business Development, Customer Experience, and Marketing.
Didier Boucard
Senior Consultant Data Governance, Bank of Development of Canada
Montreal, Canada
Senior Data Management and Governance consultant at the Bank of Development of Canada with more than 20 years of experience in software and business development projects from Goldman Sachs on Wall Street to managing a team for a software provider of funds of hedge funds for clients like Caisse de Dépot et Placement here in Montreal. Passionate about entrepreneurship, he also created brick and mortar businesses like medical clinics and institutes as well as founded a technology start-up. His passion outside of his professional life is bridging the different afro-descendant communities amongst various industries: entertainment, media, politics, business and community associations. Additionally to his mentorship roles, he currently sits on various boards and/or committees including the Black Opportunity Fund, Groupe 3737, McGill Masters in Management of Analytics. More importantly he is the dad of two awesome sons.
Nicolas Grenon-Godbout
Data Science Team Lead, Ubisoft Montréal
Montreal, Canada
Following a short career as a music composer and arranger, Nicolas undertook studies in statistics culminating in a Masters from the University of Montreal, along with the Serge Tardif award honouring the best statistics graduate student. He has been working since 2018 at the Ubisoft Montreal User Research Lab, where he currently occupies the position of data science team lead.
Bill Brierley
Principal Consultant, Farlane Systems
Ottawa, Canada
Driven to help organizations manage by design, Bill Brierley’s career has its focus in the design and delivery of enterprise systems and business transformation in government, defence, security, financial services, and public health. Bill has contributed significantly to several standards including the Common Criteria for Information Technology Security Evaluation (ISO/IEC 15408), the Open Group’s TOGAF 9.2 and the Open Group’s Dependability Through Assuredness. Recently, Bill has returned to his roots in mathematics and has been developing data science solutions with promising start-ups. Bill’s early career was in cryptography and high assurance systems, where he first learned how machine learning can be used to solve complex problems. Bill’s current interest in data science is focused on the use of machine learning to turn operational data into assurance evidence.
Soumia Zehri
Associate Consulting Director, fifty-five
Paris, France
High energy leader with ability to think strategically and creatively, Soumia is an ROI-minded marketer with a passion for consumer experience, business growth, fast-prototyping and creative approaches to tackling challenges. Leveraging her multi-disciplinary background acquired within large global corporations across many verticals (L’Oréal, SSENSE, Aldo Group, National Bank of Canada), Soumia is a digital technology and analytics subject matter expert with strong consumer centricity. Her journey brought her to excel in driving strategic alignment within complex organizations at the core of their digital transformation. She is driven by the challenge of defining and sharing the powerful role that data and its activation must play in building digital experiences that can connect customers to the right solutions. Soumia has a solid understanding of the current digital landscape to rapidly experimenting different ideas and focusing on the ones that are most scalable. As a McGill Bachelor of Commerce graduate specializing in Finance and Entrepreneurship, Soumia has a passion for unlocking business growth through delighting consumers while keeping the data at the center of the decisions.
Rafael Alencar
Senior Manager, Market Development Analytics - Commercial Strategy, Aurora Cannabis Inc
Toronto, Canada
Rafael is a Strategy Manager with 15+ years of achieving business results in Sales, Product, and Client Analytics. Leveraging his vast experience leading multifunctional teams through process improvement, financial modeling, and Project ROI. Aiming to identify and act on the core value creation levers of the Businesses across various industries such as Pharma, Loyalty, Financial Services, Retail/CPG, and Telco. With a Strategic-Thinking and Analytical mindset, Rafael excels at delivering storytelling-centered executive presentations, where he translates complex data-centered findings into simple business terms; offering recommendations on maximizing results by tying data-driven insights back to short and long-term impact on the top and bottom lines. He has volunteered a number of times with McGill during and after completing his MBA here in 2012, and he is passionate about giving back to the next generation of leaders by sharing his knowledge and insights with others.
Nabil Beitinjaneh
President, Taramaki Inc.
Montreal, Canada
Nabil has more than 25 years of experience in business and technology strategy development, project management, systems and process engineering spanning both the corporate and the entrepreneurial worlds. Nabil’s current focus is on helping individuals and organizations transition to use advanced analytics and data science techniques including Machine Learning and AI. He provides academic leadership and oversight for different data programs at the McGill School of Continuing Studies and teaches several data-related courses. Nabil loves engaging through service with non-profits such as TechAide and Le centre culturel syrien. Having lived in North America, Asia and Africa, Nabil is skilled in intercultural negotiations. Nabil has an EMBA from JMSB in addition to his degree in Electrical Engineering (computers) from McGill.
Sahar Keighobadi
Manager, Data Integration and Literacy- Rotation Program, National Bank of Canada
Montreal, Canada
Sahar is a data science director at National Bank of Canada where she leads an advanced analytics team in a rotation program. She coaches a team of data experts and accompanies them in their career development. She brings value to the organization by influencing the major departments of the bank to move forward towards being data-driven. Before changing her career to data engineering, she worked over a decade as a Mechanical engineer in different mining, power plant and oil & Gas projects. Realizing the need for better models and designs in fields of oil & gas, encouraged her to learn machine learning.
