Notre équipe

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.

Colette Wasson

Directrice générale

Colette Wasson is the Chief Executive Officer of The Learning Bar, a senior executive accountable for the strategic success of the company, the success of our partners and clients, and the achievement of our vision “Giving all children the opportunity to thrive”.

Colette attained an MBA to complement her Computer Science degree. She brings over 25 years of business and management experience working with large public and private sector organizations in a variety of industries. Over the years, Colette has developed a solid reputation for delivering results by empowering teams and bringing heart and mind to every challenge.

Colette is a volunteer with the ELF (Elementary Literacy Friends) program and loves to read with Grade 2 students.

Colette is the proud mother of two children and has a passion for the well-being and success of all children; she values and recognizes the importance of a quality education to ensure that all children reach their full potential.

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.

Ethan Young-Lai

Directeur de produit

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.

Nicki Brett

Directrice du marketing

Chris Allen

Directeur principal du développement des entreprises

Chris Allen is the Senior Director of Business Development at The Learning Bar. Leading and managing the business development team, Chris is responsible for identifying new business opportunities, driving revenue growth, and meeting sales targets for the company. In his role, Chris actively builds and maintains strong relationships with clients and educational partners, monitors market trends, and plays a critical role in informing the company about the needs of educators and system leaders working in K-12 school districts.

Chris brings over 25 years of experience working in education, holding senior management positions with industry leaders in educational publishing, professional learning and educational technologies. Along with his expertise in business development, Chris brings previous experience in marketing, product development, partnerships and acquisitions, offering unique insights to is role at The Learning Bar.

Susan Strickland

Assistant de direction principal

Susan is a highly skilled administrator with a background in not-for-profit and hospitality; she holds a Masters of Business Administration in International Business, and is service-oriented. Her work experiences include outreach services at the Salvation Army, assistant to the CEO of a rescue mission, and leadership roles in the hospitality industry.

Simon Ketcheson

Directeur de produit, Confident Learners

Stephanie Richardson

Directeur de l'apprentissage et de l'engagement professionnels

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.

Shauneen McBride

Directrice des ressources humaines

Shaun McBride is the Human Resources Manager at The Learning Bar, a senior Canadian Professional in Human Resources (CPHR) accountable for the full cycle Human Resources (HR) administration, HR project management, coaching & talent development, and employee communications. Her key objective is to give all The Learning Bar employees the opportunity to thrive.

Shaun has certificates in Business Administration, Negotiations, and Strategic Workforce Planning and has over 20 years experience in the field of Human Resources Management, working with large private sector organizations in a variety of industries. Over the years, Shaun has earned the respect of other Human Resources professionals through one-on-one mentorship. She is passionate about helping managers and employees perform at their best. Shaun is guided by her intuition and authentic desire to help others in her work.

Shaun is a volunteer Board Member for the Provincial Canadian Professional in Human Resources (CPHR) Fredericton Chapter.

Shaun is a proud mother and grandmother and has a very large extended family who rely on her to hold it together even when the going gets rough. Her free time is spent in the kitchen making her family’s favorite meals, or baking cookies to be included in the next parcel that will go to the grandchildren who live out west.

Ola Obembe

Chef de produit, NotreÉCOLE et TTFM

Ola is an experienced product manager with a proven track record of delivering successful products that meet customer needs and drive business growth. With over 10 years of experience in the industry, Ola has developed a deep understanding of product development and management, as well as market trends and consumer behavior.

Ola works with cross-functional teams, including engineering, design, marketing, research, and sales, to ensure OurSchool and Tell Them From me continues to fulfill the product’s commitment to educators by continually evolving. He is skilled in product strategy, road mapping, and agile development methodologies.

Ola holds a Master of Business Administration, B.Tech (Agricultural economics), A certified Scrum Product owner, Scale Scrum master and Scale product owner/ Product Manager.

Fiona Dyke

Directrice principale de la réussite des clients et des projets

Thomas Verghese

Directeur de la réussite des clients

Thomas Verghese is the Director of Customer Success and Client experience, and has been with the learning bar since 2022. He has a bachelors of engineering in computer science, and has been working in the Edtech sector for over 12 years. Thomas is responsible for driving the Learning Bar’s mission for achieving Educational prosperity for clients through strategic and thought leadership initiatives. He is passionate about grooming and building up the customer success team into becoming trusted advisors who are able to constantly drive value for their clients, and create unique client experiences as they journey with us. One of his strategic objectives is to position the Learning bar as a Strategic trusted Partner to clients as opposed to being just another software vendor.

Adeniyi Ojo

Scrum Master

Jonathan Ridgway

Directeur de la réussite des clients

Stephanie Guignion

Gestionnaire principal de la réussite des clients

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

Janette Desharnais

Chef de projet

Janette travaille avec l’équipe du Learning Bar depuis 2017. Elle a également travaillé dans le domaine de l’alphabétisation pendant plus d’une décennie, formant des enseignants et des tuteurs, animant des ateliers et créant des ressources. Elle a passé de nombreux étés à diriger des camps de mathématiques et d’alphabétisation dans les communautés autochtones du Nouveau-Brunswick. Grâce à sa formation forestière et scientifique, elle a également travaillé dans les domaines de l’éducation en plein air, de la sensibilisation et de la recherche. Janette a grandi dans une petite communauté francophone du Manitoba, puis a vécu dans diverses communautés du nord de l’Ontario et du Québec. Elle demeure maintenant près de Fredericton, au Nouveau-Brunswick. Sa passion pour aider les autres a été un atout majeur dans son travail visant à établir des partenariats solides et collaboratifs tout au long de sa carrière. Dans ses temps libres, Janette aime préparer des gâteries pour ses amis et sa famille, ainsi que faire du camping et de la randonnée.

Lorna Cameron

Gestionnaire principal de 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.

Jennifer Caporas

Associé principal en charge de l'expérience client

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.

Angela Laurent

Analyste de la mise en œuvre

Angela works within the Australian Implementation Team to deliver the Tell Them From Me and Early Years Evaluation products.

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 Wiredu

Spécialiste de l'apprentissage

Ellie Parsons

Analyste de la mise en œuvre

Gabrielle Gravesande

Gestionnaire de programme

Sarah McCormick

Associé à l'expérience client

Ericka Sutherland

Mentor 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.

Cameron Davy

Analyste de la mise en œuvre

Ashleigh Welch

Analyste de la mise en œuvre

Ashleigh works within the Australian Implementation Team to deliver Early Years Evaluation products and support single school clients with Tell Them From Me.

Dr. Alma López-Garcia

Chercheure adjointe

Jennifer Morgen

Assistante de recherche

Ben Allinson

Assistant de recherche

Joel Henderson

Chercheure adjointe

Meghan Hadley

Assistante de recherche

Meghan Bell

Assistant de recherche

Christine Hole

Directrice du développement commercial

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

Concepteur d’applications multimédias

Melissa Foote

Graphiste principal

Yessica Enriquez

Spécialiste des SIG et des médias

Travis Bonnell

Analyste de marché

Tess Thurston

Conseillerère de vente

Tess Thurston is the Sales Consultant for The Learning Bar’s Australian Team. Working under Aaron Burns and Allison Blanco, Tess’s role is to prospect potential schools and introduce them to The Learning Bar’s product lines and solutions.

Tess comes from recruitment, marketing, and sales background having worked as a Talent Manager and Sales & Marketing Coordinator.

Tess holds her Master’s in Business Administration from the University of South Dakota where she focused heavily on sales and marketing. Tess joined The Learning Bar’s Team with the hopes of improving children’s school experiences.

Chloe Wasson

Administrateur de projets junior

Vanessa Noble

Assistante marketing

Kelly Doyle

Directeur du développement des entreprises

Kelly is an Education Service Partner with over 25 years of experience. She specializes in the implementation of assessment tools and has expertise in K-12 and Higher Education. Kelly has closely worked with several administrators to ensure the successful integration of technology tools.

Kelly’s passion for education began when she started teaching K-12 students as a substitute English teacher in Moncton, NB after graduating with her Bachelor of Arts degree from Saint Mary’s University. Her love for education has persisted throughout her entire career. Kelly spent over 20 years working in Education Publishing, helping thousands of faculty and students embrace new technology tools to enhance their classroom experience and foster an inclusive learning environment. Recently, she has been working with First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities to help preserve local language and culture by creating customized classroom and community resources.

Kelly’s ability to work as a trusted partner while fostering relationships with clients is one of the skills she brings to The Learning Bar.

Stephen Wood

Développeur principal

Deepa Nambiar

Spécialiste de la livraison de produits

Kala Thiru Meganathan

Développeur principal

Adam Gavin

Développeur principal

Matthew Rothenberg

Développeur intermédiaire

Phoebe Nguyen

Développeur junior

Evan Kennedy

développeur intermédiaire

Ben Stilwell

Développeur

Grigory Libin

Développeur junior

Erin Pond

Développeur junior

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.

Nathan Hubbard

Développeur junior

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.

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

Technicien en comptabilité

Kaitlyn Gallant

Assistante administrative et ressources humaines

Juliana Luiker

Assistante de projets et de recherche

Dr. Norma St. Croix

Conseillerère principal en alphabétisation

Karen Power

Conseillerère en développement du leadership

Neil Debassige

Conseiller en éducation autochtone

Megan Strong