James Robertson, MA

Faculty, ISM/NSA/Cybersecurity
School of Information Technology
Advisory Board of Director – PPI

James Robertson has a Masters degree in Adult Education and Digital Technologies from UOIT. He is also a graduate from Fanshaw Colleges’ Police Foundations program. James brings nearly 20 years experience in security operations working in a variety of roles including Security Officer, Security Supervisor, Special Constable, and Security Systems Administrator. He is currently a Professor/Instructor responsible for designing and teaching courses in public policing and cybersecurity at various colleges and universities in Canada. James hopes to pursue his PhD, studying the role of digital literacies and competencies in public safety. He is an avid researcher and academic writer, and has published and presented at national and international security conferences.

Hamid Anisi

President – Paradigm Professional Institute

Hamid has over 25 years of progressive experience in security operations, sales, strategic accounts, bid management, communications, and various senior roles.

In his role as Advisory Board Chair to PPI, he is responsible for the coordination of various activities with the Advisory Board and leads the biannual Advisory Board meetings. He works closely with professional educators to create strategic partnerships and oversees the development of PPI programs while collaborating with the executive leadership team. He is also responsible for identifying new members for the PPI Advisory Board and communicating new strategic initiatives to the Board of Directors.

Bruce Arai

Associated Professor – Wilfrid Laurier University
Advisory Board Director – PPI

Bruce started at Laurier University in the Sociology department and is currently an Associated Professor with the Leadership program. He has held a variety of positions at Laurier over the past 15 years, including Associate Dean and Dean at Brantford Campus.

Bruce is also co-writing a book with Jeff Mitchell, titled, “Learning in the Post-School World”, it considers how we should reconceptualize learning in the face of the failures of educational systems to prepare students for the future.

Bruce was futured on “Who is Who in Canada 2010”. He was also awarded Honorary Professor, Chongqing University of Telecommunications and Posts, Chongqing China 2009 and Honorary Professor, Yunnan Normal University, Yunnan, China, 2008.

Roger Pugsley

Pugsley CX Consulting
Advisory Board Director – PPI

Roger has an Honours Bachelor of Business Administration from Wilfrid Laurier University. He has been a Customer Experience (CX) practitioner since becoming Net Promoter certified by Satmetrix in 2009. Many of his leading edge and innovative CX initiatives have received recognition and coverage in research papers by leading organizations such as The Canadian Marketing Association, Forrester Research, and Temkin Group. He has been a frequent keynote speaker at CX Conferences.

His CX programs have led to the following recognition: Winner of the CSPN Customer Centric Culture Award. Finalist in the Customer Experience Professionals Association Innovation Awards, 5-time winner of the BOMA Toronto Pinnacle Award and 4-time winner of the BOMA National Pinnacle Award for outstanding Customer Service, and Winner of the Temkin Group Customer Experience Excellence Award.

Ashley Konson

President and Managing Partner of Global Brand Leaders Inc.
Advisory Board Director – PPI

Ashley’s passion is helping his clients and students discover and apply cutting-edge thinking and the best practices of brand leaders from around the globe for growing brands and businesses.

He is the author and instructor for the Kellogg-Schulich EMBA Designing Brand Experiences program, and Course Director for the MBA & MMKG Brand Management programs at the Schulich School of Business, York University, in Toronto, Canada. Ashley has been recognized frequently for “teaching excellence,” and is a two-time winner of the prestigious Seymour Schulich MBA Teaching Excellence Award, he has been nominated for this award nine times.

Sanjay J. Dhebar

MBA, Strategist, Facilitator, Motivator and Author
Advisory Board Director – PPI

Sanjay has been a highly rated faculty member with the Schulich Executive Education Centre, Schulich School of Business for about a decade. He coaches and develops senior leaders in organizations including Four Seasons Hotel, Siemens, Roche, GSK, TD Bank, NN Group, Mercedes Benz, Samsung, Teva, and Sick Kids Hospital.

In 2018, Sanjay published his first book: Toolbox for Performance Driven Leaders.
In 2019 and 2020, Sanjay was nominated for a Schulich teaching excellence award as a top Faculty member.

Rob Kilfoyle, CPP, CMM III

Director, Public Safety and Emergency Management at Humber College
Advisory Board Director – PPI

Rob Kilfoyle is the Director, Public Safety and Emergency Management at Humber College (8 years) in Toronto. Rob has over 33 years’ experience in the fields of Private Security, Safety, Emergency and Risk Management and has spent the last 22 years of his career in progressively senior roles in the Post-Secondary sector.

Rob’s CMM III designation includes the specialty endorsement of “Security Executive” from OACUSA, being one of only three members to achieve this designation in the province.

Rob is the recipient of Canadian Security Director of the year by Canadian Security Magazine. Rob went on to earn the inaugural “Robin Begin Award of Excellence” from OACUSA (2020) and the “Robert A. Gordon – Presidents Award for Leadership” from Humber College (2020).

Rob is an active and long serving member of several professional security associations, including IACLEA, ASIS International and OACUSA.

Dr. Haniyeh Yousofpour

PhD, MBA, PMP
PE Certified, EQ Coach Certified
Advisory Board Director – PPI

Dr. Haniyeh Yousofpour is an award-winning, Harvard educated business professor and consultant with a passion in organizational change management, influential negotiation, and effective utilization of human capital.

Dr. Yousofpour has experience in curriculum development for various graduate level and executive education programs and has been part of the academic accreditations team for various universities globally. In addition to her teaching, Dr. Yousofpour has engaged in various integrative management consulting services focusing on People, Productivity and Performance, to multinational Fortune 500 companies, small to midsize companies, and professional consulting to the public sector including Ministries, Municipalities, and highly respected international academic institutions.

Keith Melo

MDEM, PCIP, AIC
Facilitator at George Brown College
Advisory Board Director – PPI

Melo has a Master’s Degree in Disaster and Emergency Management (MDEM) from York University, and a Law & Security Administration (LASA) diploma from Humber College. He has his designation as a Community Emergency Management Coordinator (CEMC) through Emergency Management Ontario (EMO), has been an EMO Provincial Instructor for several years, and is certified as a Professional in Critical Infrastructure Protection (PCIP).

He has completed courses through the Federal Canadian Emergency Management College, Toronto Police Services in emergency management and community policing, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) where he holds the accreditation of Counter Terrorism Information Officer (CTIO).

Melo has received a letter of recognition from the House of Commons, Minister of Public Safety Canada, Honourable Steven Blaney, MP, Privy Councillor, for his efforts in national security.

Chris Fernandes, CPP, PSP

Senior Manager, Security & Life Safety for Triovest Realty Advisors Inc.
Advisory Board Director – PPI

Chris is the Senior Manager, Security & Life Safety for Triovest Realty Advisors Inc.

Chris was a police officer for 32 years including 4 years as the Deputy Chief with the Durham Regional Police Service. Chris managed 700 police officers and civilians, and a budget of over 100 million dollars.

Chris’ career included 28 years with Toronto Police Service, holding the rank of Superintendent, commanding the Divisional Policing Support Unit, including the Toronto Anti-Violence Intervention Strategy (TAVIS) Unit, Transit Patrol Unit, and Community Mobilization Unit.

Chris trained in the Incident Command System, ICS Level 400, at JIBC. He trained as a Crisis and Hostage Negotiator, and in Executive Protection as a member of the Toronto Police Emergency Task Force.

Chris is the recipient of the Governor General of Canada, 30 year, Police Exemplary Service Medal.

April Philpotts

Associated Director for Professional Development – University of Waterloo
Advisory Board Director – PPI

April is the Associate Director for Professional Development at the University of Waterloo. She has spent 22 years in education at corporate, non-profit, and education organizations including BlackBerry(Manager, MFG Training), Communitech (Manager, Learning Programs) and Humber College (Director, Continuing Education, Faculty of Applied Sciences & Technology). April has worked closely with hundreds of individuals, industries, and community organizations to develop and lead marketable programs across a variety of areas including leadership and communication training, innovation bootcamps, sustainability-focused capacity building projects, and bridging programs for newcomer engineers and IT professionals to name a few.

Holly Cox

Manager, Centre for Public Safety and Well-Being
Wilfrid Laurier University
Advisory Board Director – PPI

Holly is the Manager of the Centre for Public Safety and Well-Being at Wilfrid Laurier University.  She has worked at Laurier for 22 years before leading the launch of the Centre, a continuing education unit within the Faculty of Human and Social Sciences. 

The Centre offers programs designed for front-line public safety and health care professionals. The continuing education, training and development fields are experiencing a global focus on new forms of credentialing as much-needed door openers and career escalators.  Holly embraces these challenges and opportunities for growth and change.

Holly has initiated and developed programs in partnership with organizations such as the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Ontario Provincial Police and Ontario First Nations Technical Services Corporation.  She has led the development of all of the Centre’s programs, including Canada’s first programs on Situation Tables, Positive Psychology and Gladue Principles.

Dave Solis

Director, Education and Business Strategy – PPI

Dave has a background in residential architecture and interior design technology, he was a project manager for the development of commercial and residential buildings.

Dave has held management roles with several large organizations in the building and security industry. He specializes in Enterprise Security Risk Management providing advice to a wide spectrum of the vertical market.

In his role as Advisory Board Co-Chair to PPI, Dave is responsible for overseeing the development of security professionals, while working closely with the Advisory Board, and higher education partners in innovations and new initiatives.