Équipe de direction

Équipe de gestion

Réussite des clients

Recherche

Créativité et Innovation

Ventes et marketing

Développement

Administration

Consultants en leadership et en alphabétisation

Autres consultants

Dr. Doug Willms
Président

Dr. J. Douglas Willms is the founder of The Learning Bar. He is the President of the International Academy of Education, a Member of the US National Academy of Education, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. He recently held the Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Literacy and Human Development for 14 years.

Dr. Willms has published over 200 research articles and monographs pertaining to youth literacy, children’s health, the accountability of schooling systems, and the assessment of national reforms. He developed the Educational Prosperity framework over the course of his career, which is used by jurisdictions in their capacity-building efforts and the development of educational policy. The model has been adopted by the OECD for PISA for Development, an initiative aimed at building capacity for low- and middle-income countries to monitor progress towards nationally-set targets for improvement. Dr. Willms and his colleagues have developed the questionnaires and the analysis plan for this international study.

Ethan Young-Lai
Présidente directrice générale

Ethan leads the Product Management and Client Success teams here at The Learning Bar. Their objective is to ensure that our products and services are continually evolving to better meet the needs of educators and that our customers receive the world-class service, training, and support required to achieve their goals. Ethan has over 15 years experience in building teams and processes that can help grow a business from start-up to industry leader. A proud father and project manager, Ethan’s commitment to TLB’s mission, vision, and values is why, after over a decade at TLB, he is still excited to come to work every single day.

Dr. Danielle Durepos
Directrice de la recherche

Danielle leads a responsive research group, and is well experienced in providing a strong supporting role in provincial and state-level initiatives. Danielle and her research group are equipped to assist the ASM team, often behind the scenes. Danielle frequently prepares responses to questions about the survey measures, underlying statistical methods, or other research techniques that periodically arise from various stakeholders. She provides information about any aspect of the data or findings, conducting statistical analyses, preparing reports based on the findings for meetings, or generally assisting where needed when questions arise.

Allison Blanco
Directrice générale

Allison is the Managing Director with responsibility for the growth and profitability of the Australian operation.  With a Master of Business Law from Southern Cross University, Lismore, in Business Administration from The University of Technology, Sydney and Risk and Governance qualifications from the Governance Institute of Australia, Allison has extensive experience in all aspects of project and operations management. 

Prior to joining The Learning Bar, Allison gained extensive experience during her 10 years at Mars, Incorporated as Chief of Staff and College Director for the Global Legal Function reporting to the General Counsel.  With excellence in operations, including business transformation and finance, Allison led the delivery of a number of global programs for the legal function in the area of finance and compliance.  Prior to that Allison was a senior intellectual property paralegal at the international law firm Baker McKenzie, managing a multimillion-dollar key account. Allison believes that expectations for success play a key role in children achieving their full potential and having the opportunity to thrive.

Fred Yeomans
Directeur de la technologie

Fred is the Chief Technology Officer of The Learning Bar. Bringing over thirty years of technology experience, ranging from satellite operations, military and aerospace, as well as both enterprise and internet software, on projects ranging from small to multi-billion-dollar, Fred applies a broad knowledge of software architecture, technology, and development processes to lead TLB’s technology team, and to drive a technology vision which solves real problems, and brings real value.

Stephanie Guignion
Chef de produit, ÉPE

Stephanie holds a BA in History from Bishop’s University and a B. Ed from St. Thomas University. She has completed several professional development courses over the years including project management and adult learning.

Stephanie Guignion brings her 10+ years of classroom teacher experience to The Learning Bar and uses this experience to support educators implementing the various solutions across the company. Her interests include resource development, process improvement & documentation, and early literacy.

In her spare time, she enjoys reading and gardening, and volunteers with several local community organizations.

Melissa Morgan
Gestionnaire de l'expérience client
Stephanie Richardson
Directeur de produit, Confident Learners

Stephanie is the Director of Professional Learning and Engagement and has been on the Research team for over 6 years. She holds a Masters of Applied Health Services Research from the University of New Brunswick, and is a Project Management Professional (PMP). She finds it especially rewarding to support others to understand and interpret their data, and enjoys having conversations about how school context can help explain results. In her spare time, Stephanie enjoys trying new recipes and playing soccer.

Fiona Dyke
Directrice principale de la réussite des clients et des projets
Judy Van Tassel
Directrice des ressources humaines
Jonathan Ridgway
Chef de produit alphabétisation
Lorna Cameron
Spécialiste des opérations stratégiques pour la réussite des clients
Carlos Rodriguez
Gestionnaire de la réussite des clients

Account Success Manager EYE Latin America (2017-2019) and OurSCHOOL / EYE Canada (2019- Present)


Bachelor Degree in Foreign Language (English) / Education
Portfolio Based Language Assessment (PBLA) Certified Instructor by the Centre for Canadian Language Benchmarks
Customer Success Management Level 1 Certification

Teaching Experience in Mexico and Canada
Teaching Experience with individuals with different cultural background
Part of the Training Team when EYE was introduced in Ecuador.

Volunteer: Jr NBA program Coach with Fundy Minor Basketball Assn.  Soccer Coach with Soccer Chaleur and currently with Charlotte County United Soccer Club. 

“Every time I have time and the opportunity, I share/teach sport skills (basketball/soccer) with children. My best advise to them (including my 2 sons) is “Practice will make you better”. I like music, and mixing music. I do mobile DJing for private functions.

Riet Scheerlinck
Gestionnaire de la réussite des clients

Riet joined the Client Success Team in November 2021, supporting clients in achieving their educational goals. Every day she is building customer loyalty and fostering long-term customer relationships by ensuring that customers have a positive experience. Her day is good when she can make her clients happy by actively listening, pinpointing, and solving the issues they encounter. She strongly believes in The Learning Bar’s mission that quality education should be a right for all children. She has a Master’s in Language Arts, specializing in German and English, and a teaching degree from the University of Ghent, Belgium. At the University of Antwerp, she got a degree in International Politics, a field that very much interests her.

Riet lives in rural New Brunswick and combines working from home and in the office. She loves the outdoors, and in her free time, she is busy in her garden, experimenting in the kitchen, making maple syrup, doing yoga, reading, playing with her toddler, and volunteering in her community.

Josée Hebert
Gestionnaire de la réussite des clients

Josée worked for 20 years in Telecommunications, In progressive roles from sales rep to Manager of the Onboarding solution team. Josée has a background in building strong relationships with clients. She obtained a diploma in Teacher Aid from Stratford Career Institute recently. Josée takes pride in volunteering at her son’s school and being part of the Parent School Support Committee. She enjoys walks in nature, reading, and crocheting in her spare time.

Esther Amoah
Spécialiste de l'apprentissage
Ellie Parsons
Analyste de la mise en œuvre
Gabrielle Gravesande
Gestionnaire de programme
Sarah McCormick
Associée à l'expérience client
Ericka Sutherland
Mentore en alphabétisation pédagogique

Ericka Sutherland is a learning consultant in the Confident Learners program at The Learning Bar. Ericka completed master’s degrees in Literacy and Curriculum Studies from Mount St. Vincent University in Halifax, NS, and a Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, NS, with a focus on professional learning communities and teacher professional development.

Ericka taught with the Halifax Regional Centre for Education for 31 years as an early elementary classroom teacher, Literacy Coach, Literacy Consultant and a Reading and Writing interventionist. Regardless of whatever roles she took on, her heart was always in the early elementary classroom with students at the beginning of their literacy journeys. She believes that a strong, early start to literacy learning creates a solid foundation for all future learning and social-emotional well-being.

Most recently, Ericka has taught in the master’s of Education program at Mount St. Vincent University developing and delivering courses on Literacy Learning and Teaching and Reading Popular Culture. Throughout her studies and career, Ericka has pursued her passion for student literacy success through quality teacher training in the areas of literacy curriculum and instruction and collaborative professional learning.

Ericka lives in Nova Scotia with her husband and two grown children. Ericka firmly believes that through building collaborative educational relationships between all educational partners, students, families, teachers, school and district staff, every child can thrive and succeed.

Marjorie LaFrance
Associée bilingue à l'expérience client
Chloe Wasson
Analyste de la mise en œuvre de la réussite des clients
Jennifer Morgen
Assistante de recherche
Ben Allinson
Assistant de recherche
Joel Henderson
Chercheur adjoint
Meghan Hadley
Responsable de contenu
Meghan Bell
Assistante de recherche
Dr. Alma López-Garcia
Chef de projet et chercheure adjointe
Christine Hole
Directrice des partenariats éducatifs

Christine completed her dual honours degree in Psychology and Criminology at Saint Mary’s University, and holds a Master’s Degree in Social Personality Psychology from the University of Manitoba. Prior to attending graduate school, Christine taught elementary school children in South Korea, ages 4 – 13, for two years, focusing on English as an additional language. This amazing experience served to strengthen her respect and admiration for teachers and solidified her passion for improving the life chances for all children. Christine has also been fortunate enough to work with children with special needs, in addition to a number of SLP’s, OT’s, PT’s and SP’s, while working with the Halifax Regional School Board and the Calgary Board of Education.

Clayton Crane
Développeur multimédia senior et chef d'équipe Web
Melissa Foote
Graphiste principale
Travis Bonnell
Responsable des opérations commerciales
Colin Gillies
Assistant marketing
Stephen Wood
Développeur principal
Deepa Nambiar
Spécialiste de la livraison de produits
Adam Gavin
Développeur principal
Phoebe Nguyen
Développeuse intermédiaire
Ben Stilwell
Développeur junior
Grigory Libin
Développeur junior
Erin Pond
Développeuse intermédiaire

Erin is a Junior Developer with The Learning Bar and is responsible for contributing to the achievement of our company’s vision by participating in the research and development of The Learning Bar’s products. Erin has always been interested in technology, teaching herself to code and enrolling in Computer Science electives while studying Psychology. Eventually she made the decision to change educational paths and completed her diploma in Information Technology Programmer Analyst from New Brunswick Community College in June 2021. As a mother, Erin was drawn to The Learning Bar and the meaningful opportunity to help children thrive through her work as a developer. In her spare time Erin enjoys reading, video games and spending time with her partner, son and two rescue cats.

Nishanth Chillarige
Ingénieur logiciel

Nishanth Chillarige is the staff software engineer of the learning bar, responsible for leading and mentoring a team of developers as they execute the technological product development activities, make design decisions to build scalable and maintainable software solutions, drive technical initiatives, and ensure our products adhere to industry best standards.

 

Nishanth attained a Master’s in organizational management, which adds to his profound technical experience. Nishanth worked with large Multinational companies as a Technical lead and a Senior Research Engineer in Research and Development Centre’s in various industries, such as Automotive and Industrial automation. A deep understanding of software development principles and broad technical knowledge enabled him to provide robust software solutions for products that manage industrial time-series data and derive data analytics.

 

Nishanth takes pride in his contribution to constantly strengthening industries and aspires to design their work environments updated with present-day technologies that serve humanity.

Nidhin Joseph
Développeur intermédiaire
Megan Pitcher
Agente financière
Hayley Yarnold
Chef de l'administration et des finances

Hayley is the Finance and Adminstration Officer for the Australian business. Working closely with the Managing Director, Hayley is responsible for the management of all aspects of Finance and Operations in the Australia business.  She has worked at The Learning Bar since Feburary 2021. Hayley holds a certificate in Accounting and Bookkeeping.

Kay Laird
Technicienne en comptabilité
Kaitlyn Gallant
Assistante administrative et ressources humaines
Dr. Norma St. Croix
Mentore principale en alphabétisation
Karen Power
Consultante en développement du leadership
Neil Debassige
Consultant en éducation autochtone
Connie Freeman
Consultante pédagogique en alphabétisation

Connie Freeman is the Senior Instructional Literacy Consultant at The Learning Bar. She has a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Education and over a decade of experience in the classroom. Connie’s philosophy of education is grounded in a fundamental belief in the importance of equitable education for all and the critical role literacy plays in ensuring success for all students. As a literacy support specialist, Connie has experience supporting students and teachers in the classroom, as well as building professional learning communities in schools.

A proud mother of two, Connie is an environmental advocate and a nature enthusiast. In her free time, she can be found raising and releasing Monarch butterflies and volunteering with her therapy dog, Bear. Connie makes her home on beautiful Mnidoo Mnising/Manitoulin Island, in the heart of Northern Ontario.

Connie has presented a webinar for The Learning Bar. Watch it here!

Dr. Lori Bryden
Consultante pédagogique en alphabétisation
Brenda Gabriel
Consultante en développement du leadership
Brenda Gabriel has joined The Learning Bar Team as a consultant to support administrators at the school, district and authority level. She has had many roles in Leadership during her 42-year career in education. Her experience as a Superintendent, Literacy/Leadership Consultant, school-based administrator at the elementary, middle and secondary and classroom teacher has all contributed to her celebrated career.
Brenda is passionate about supporting learning and leadership in all schools. Brenda has worked as an Education Consultant, supporting school boards, schools, teachers and youth, not only in her home province of Saskatchewan, as well as, across Canada. In 2016, she began her work with First Nations Schools in northern Saskatchewan as a Literacy Consultant and shortly after that assumed a Superintendent position. Building Leaders and Readers in First Nations communities has certainly been one of the major highlights of her career.
In her free time, you can find Brenda spending time with her family, travelling, hiking, fishing and visiting friends.
Wendy Holierhoek
Conseillerère pédagogique en alphabétisation
Chris Piro
Conseillerère pédagogique en alphabétisation

Chris Piro has recently retired from the Director of Student Services role at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Schools. She brings extensive experience in inclusive education, both as a teacher and school administrator. With a deep commitment to fostering student success, wellness, and engagement, Chris has dedicated her career to identifying and removing barriers for learners of all backgrounds and abilities.

Chris holds a Master’s degree in Administration and a Bachelor of Education with a major in Inclusive Education. Her commitment to lifelong learning is evident through her continued professional development—she is a certified trainer in VTRA Level I, SIVA, and Psychological Safety.

In retirement, she continues to advocate for inclusive practices and remains passionate about supporting educators and school systems in creating welcoming, responsive learning environments for all.

Tania Sterling
Consultante en développement du leadership

Tania Sterling, Ed.D., is a Leadership Coach with The Learning Bar, bringing over three decades of expertise in educational leadership, equity-focused facilitation, and strategic school improvement.

She holds a Doctor of Education from Walden University, a Master of Education from OISE/UT, and multiple specialist and leadership certifications. As an educational consultant and former Superintendent of Education, Tania has led transformative initiatives across Ontario, including Indigenous education partnerships, digital learning strategies, and leadership development frameworks. She has taught graduate-level courses at Niagara University and contributed to provincial policy reform and reconciliation-focused training.

Passionate about equity, student voice, and community engagement, Tania mentors emerging leaders and facilitates professional learning to foster inclusive, high-impact educational environments.

Her volunteer work with Youth Without Shelter reflects her commitment to empowering marginalized youth through education and advocacy.

Kerry Zinkiewich
Conseillerère pédagogique en alphabétisation