Our team

People who have done the work from the inside.

Two principals with nearly 50 years of combined HR, change and transformation leadership, backed by a Collective of senior specialists.

Stephanie Abbott, CECai

Stephanie Abbott

CPHR · CEC
Principal & Managing Partner

Strategic HR partner, fractional and interim HR leader and Certified Executive Coach. Stephanie has spent 25+ years leading HR at Canadian and multinational organizations, including Lockheed Martin, JPMorgan Chase and Amazon, and advises CEOs, owners and executive teams on organizational design, talent, succession and leadership.

Full profile
Stuart MacMillan, CECai

Stuart MacMillan

MCMP · CCMP · CPHR · P.BPM
Partner, AI & Transformation

Organizational change and AI adoption leader with 23+ years and 22 enterprise transformation engagements. Stuart advises enterprise AI programs with more than 100,000 users and designs how people and AI agents work together.

Full profile
The CECai Collective

Senior specialists, ready when you need them.

Our Collective partners bring Big 4, Fortune 500, legal and global experience in AI, digital, ERP, workplace compliance and organizational transformation. How the Collective works.

Michael McConachie, CECai

Michael McConachie

Digital, AI & Automation
PMI CPMAI, MBA

A senior technology executive who has led enterprise digital transformation from planning through implementation for Fortune 500 and mid-market organizations in retail, healthcare and finance. Michael brings AI and automation assessments, enterprise platform implementation (ERP, CRM, LIMS, MarTech), integration and global rollout experience, guided by what he calls the Art of Practical AI: accountable results and speed to value. MIT education in AI, digital transformation and AI product design.

Steve Wakeham, CECai

Steve Wakeham

Digital Change & ERP Transformation
MEd, PMP, PSM I, Prosci

A business transformation and change leader with more than 20 years of experience, including senior roles at EY, Deloitte and PwC. Steve takes a people-first approach to digital, cloud and Tier-1 ERP transformations across North America and internationally, with expertise in change strategy, operating model and process design, workforce readiness and training, and leadership alignment. Master of Education, McGill University.

Paul Bellavance, CECai

Paul Bellavance

AI Strategy & People Transformation
25+ years

An AI strategy and people transformation expert who helps organizations align their workforce with AI-driven strategies. Paul's experience spans organizational transformation, executive coaching and strategic HR, including large post-merger integrations in Canadian telecom and IT, and government excellence and transformation work across the Gulf region. Partners with CECai and Ryelle Strategy Group.

Darcy Daoust, CECai

Darcy Daoust

Workplace Protection & Compliance
Former labour & employment lawyer

Darcy helps employers prevent, manage and resolve workplace issues involving employment compliance, employee relations, investigations, workplace safety, accommodation and organizational risk. Drawing on his prior experience practising labour and employment law, he brings a legally informed, practical and risk-aware perspective. As Founder and Principal of D&DCPD Workplace Protection & Compliance Group, he provides fractional and on-demand support: policies and workforce documentation, investigations and early resolution, accommodation, WSIB and return to work, and coaching for managers facing difficult decisions. He fills the gap between HR administration and external legal counsel, and knows when a matter needs specialized legal advice. Bilingual English and French, based in Ottawa.

Carol Kotacka, CECai

Carol Kotacka

Organizational Transformation
EMBA, Smith School of Business

A results-oriented leader in strategy, performance and transformational change across industry, healthcare and not-for-profit organizations in North America, Europe, the Middle East and South America. Managing Director of Ryelle Strategy Group, Adjunct Lecturer at the University of Toronto's Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, and Lead Facilitator for Queen's University IRC's Organizational Transformation program.

Let's start with a conversation.

Thirty minutes, no pitch. Tell us what's happening in your organization and we'll tell you honestly how we can help, or who can.