Speaker bios
Karine Benzacar, MBA, CMA, CPA (Del)
Brett Knowles, MBA, CMC
Dr. Murray Lindsay, PhD, FCMA
Dr. Amin Mawani, PhD, LL.M, FCMA, CFP
Dr. Norman Sheehan, PhD, CGA, CMA
Lynn Sugden, MBA, FCMA
Robert Torok, MBA, CA
Denise Zaporzan, CMA
Karine Benzacar, MBA, CMA, CPA (Del)
Karine Benzacar is Managing Director of Knowledge Plus Corp., an organization which specializes both in
business training and in providing financial, accounting, and management information services. As a
professional accountant, certified both in Canada and in the U.S., Karine’s practice has involved both
Canadian and U.S. organizations. Her clients include both large companies, such as the Bank of Nova Scotia,
Magna, and IBM, as well as start-up firms and public sector organizations, such as the Government of
Canada. She has been working with IFRS since 2005 with selected clients.
Karine is a seasoned industry professional with more than 15 years of solid industry experience. After
beginning her career in the finance departments of Avon Products and Kraft Foods, she held senior management
positions at three major Canadian Banks – Royal Bank of Canada, Bank of Nova Scotia, and Bank of Montreal.
Her career has spanned many areas including accounting, finance, project management, re-engineering and
strategic management. She is fluently bilingual in English and French.
Karine obtained an MBA from McGill University in Montreal. In addition to her industry experience, Karine
has been teaching undergraduate and MBA courses at several leading universities which include the University
of Toronto, Concordia University and Ryerson University. She is a highly acclaimed industry expert, has
presented at national industry conferences and has been facilitating Strategic Leadership seminars for the
Society of Management Accountants for the past 10 years. She helped develop and mark professional accounting
exams for the Society of Management Accountants and is currently helping to integrate IFRS into the CMA’s
Strategic Leadership Program. She has published numerous articles in leading journals such as CMA Management
Magazine, National Post, Financial Post, HR Reporter, HRPAO Magazine, Bottom Line and the RMA Journal and has
been quoted as an industry expert in industry publications. She also trains professionals throughout Canada
and the US for the North American Risk Management Association.
Brett Knowles, MBA, CMC
Brett’s breadth of experience includes working alongside the balanced scorecard founders, Drs. Kaplan and
Norton, and having his clients sited in every book they have written as examples of world-class scorecard
implementations. Three of his clients have been awarded their prestigious Hall of Fame designation. Brett has
lead the development and implementation of more than 3,000 scorecards in every sector around the world.
His clients include the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Peel Board of Education, Boeing and the Ontario Flower
Growers. Brett is an acclaimed speaker who has received wonderful feedback at recent CMA and AICPA
conference. He's also currently writing five MAGs and three CMA articles related to scorecards and
dashboards.
Dr. Murray Lindsay, FCMA, is currently a Professor of Accounting and the Dean of the Faculty of Management at the University of Lethbridge. Previously, he was a faculty member at the Universities of Western Ontario (Richard Ivey School of Business) and Saskatchewan. His research interests lie in developing a research methodology appropriate to the study of organizations and a theory of management control consistent with contemporary management thought and scientific understanding in other fields. He is particularly interested in planning systems and examining how control practices facilitate or impede employee empowerment and, more generally, innovation.
Dr. Amin Mawani, PhD, LL.M, FCMA, CFP
Dr. Amin Mawani is an Associate Professor of Accounting and Health Industry Management Program at the Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto. His research and teaching interests are in the field of financial and managerial control systems and performance measures. He consults widely in the field of performance measures and alignment of reward systems.
Amin earned his PhD from the University of Waterloo, his LL.M from Osgoode Hall Law School at York, and his MA in Economics from the University of Toronto. Amin is also a Fellow Certified Management Accountant (FCMA) and a Certified Financial Planner (CFP)
Dr. Mawani has published widely in the field of accounting, finance and taxation. His research has been published in CMA Magazine, CA Magazine, Canadian Tax Journal, Accounting & Finance, Contemporary Accounting Research, Managerial Finance, Multinational Financial Management as well in numerous edited books. He was recently appointed as editor-elect of Accounting Perspectives published by the Canadian Academic Accounting Association.
Amin completed serving on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Academic Accounting Association, where he also served as the Chair of the Research Committee. His previous service includes serving as a Board Director for the Financial Planners Standards Council, the Certified Management Accountants of BC and Canadian Crossroads International.
Dr. Norman Sheehan, PhD, CGA, CMA
Dr. Sheehan is an associate professor of accounting at the Edwards School of Business. He facilitates, researches and consults on strategy formulation, strategy implementation and risk management. He has published more than 20 articles in Journal of Business Strategy, Strategy & Leadership, Wall Street Journal, Management Decision, Journal of Strategy and Management, Accounting Perspectives, and Business Horizons.
Lynn Sugden is a member of Grant MacEwan University’s faculty and teaches within the Supply Chain Management major of the Bachelor of Commerce program. His area of interest is the information needed to support an organization’s strategic endeavors. Lynn has more than 25 years experience in curriculum design and delivery in a variety of environments including the pre and post accreditation learning within the profession. The articulation of the profession and the professional has been one of Mr. Sugden’s ongoing projects through his 29 years of service to the designation.
Robert Torok is an Executive Consultant with IBM Canada’s Strategy and Transformation consulting practice. Robert is responsible for leading the development and delivery of Enterprise Risk Management services for clients around the world, particularly in regards to risk identification, management and mitigation and the integration of risk and performance management. He holds an MBA from the Schulich School of Business at York University and is also a Chartered Accountant.
Denise Zaporzan is the president of her own consulting practice, Denise Zaporzan and Associates. Denise
works with organizations as a trusted advisor in leadership development, performance management and
measurement, organizational strategy and career transition. Denise is a creative, business solutions and
values-based executive with more than 18 years of senior management, financial and strategic planning,
human resource management, instructing, facilitating and consulting experience across private and public
sector industries. She is currently a co-moderator/facilitator in the Society of Management Accountant’s
Strategic Leadership Program and has been an instructor at the University of Manitoba.