Joanne Duklas
Researcher and Consultant
Joanne is an award winning researcher and consultant in higher education with several years experience in Canadian post-secondary education. Her career includes serving in various senior leadership roles within the post-secondary sector on stakeholder boards and at one of Canada’s largest institutions as a registrar and assistant vice president. Her scholarship research interests focus on student success and mobility.
A former president of the national registrars’ association (ARUCC, 2012), Joanne actively supports post-secondary organizations and government by leading large-scale projects, evidenced-based research, and cross-sector consultations to advance best practice and student success. She provides her institutional clients with expertise in a broad range of areas including pathway development, strategic and organizational reviews, service improvements, and policy development and standards creation.
Joanne has led and authored several national studies including creating Canada’s first national transcript and transfer guide and peer-reviewed national studies including International Transfer Credit Practices (2019) and Micro-Credentials: Trends in Credit Transfer and Credentialing (2020).
In her downtime, Joanne is a fine artist and exhibits her work in juried art shows when she’s not enjoying work or family. Visit her website to see more!
Susan Vercruysse
Director, Projects
Susan is a seasoned professional from the Ontario university sector with over 20 years of experience in undergraduate student recruitment marketing, communications and client services where she dramatically increased applications among key strategic audiences. She led her teams through sustained growth and transformational change, championing progressive strategy and innovation, durable operational solutions and their implementation.
Leading inter-unit, cross-division and campus-wide consultations, Susan stewarded scalable, digital transformations for better service, greater brand awareness and engagement. She transitioned manual processes to enable data-driven decision making, streamline day-to-day operations, enhance services for students and achieve bankable recruitment results year-over-year.
Maya Hardy
Analyst and Communications Consultant
Maya is an analyst and communications consultant with Duklas Cornerstone Consulting Inc. At DCC Inc., she provides marketing, communications and finance support and oversees communications for the MyCreds™ | MesCertif™ project, led by the Association of Registrars of the Universities and Colleges of Canada (ARUCC).
Maya is a graduate from McGill University and holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Marketing and Finance. An advocate for lifelong learning and unique education experiences, she has also studied abroad at SciencesPo in Paris and has recently completed a graphic design certificate in partnership with CalArts.
She has a keen entrepreneurial spirit, having been previously involved with the inception and business development of a NEXT Canada backed startup in the travel industry and receiving the McGill Engineering Innovation and Entrepreneurship Startup Internship Award. Maya has also worked with many local retail organizations to transform and improve their marketing and business strategies. At McGill, she led the McGill Marketing Network as President and was actively involved in numerous case competitions on a national level.
Sonia Moore
Operations Coordinator
Sonia began her career in the legal & accounting sectors and has worked over the last 20 years in both the research & development industry, focused on the support of launching new products into the marketplace and the construction industry, in account & project management capacities.
She supports the administrative and operational needs at DCC Inc. by providing expertise in administration, concierge and financial management services and is currently supporting such projects as MyCreds™ | MesCertif™ led by the Association of Registrars of the Universities and Colleges of Canada (ARUCC). In her downtime, she enjoys spending time with friends and family and travelling. She is also a ballet inspired Barre devotee!
Nathalie Girardin
Registrarial and Operations Consultant
Nathalie Girardin worked in higher education at Université de Montréal for over two decades in special projects for academic affairs and for the registrar’s office. She participated in the implementation of one of the first student portals in the country where she oversaw admissions, schedules, enrolment, and grades, among other things. She was also in charge of the student helpdesk, covering all aspects of the student online experience.
As the university’s student systems, room assignment and records specialist, Nathalie participated in the implementation of a new room assignment system and worked as a business analyst for the implementation of an ERP as well as other systems. She also worked hand in hand with architects and technical staff to oversee construction projects that affected classrooms. Nathalie’s teams were also responsible for program creations, course offerings, schedules, room assignments, student enrolment and progression, grading, transcripts, and overall records. Her teams provided training, manuals, guidance and help to all university academic staff, including manuals for teaching staff, and contributed to policies on various themes.
Since leaving the Université de Montréal, Nathalie who is fluent in English, Spanish and French, and is certified as a translator with OTTIAQ, has been working with Duklas Cornerstone Consulting Inc. as a translator and registrarial consultant for over two years.
Kathy Mahony
Consulting Associate
Kathy is an accomplished Ontario College administrator with more than 20 years experience in business operations, staff supervision, financial management, enrolment planning and strategic enrolment management. Her leadership in student admissions, both domestic and international, was acknowledged by the Ontario Committee of Registrars, Admissions and Liaison Officers (CRALO) with the Award of Recognition.
When Kathy graduated with a diploma in Computer Electronics, she was one of the first women hired as a data technician at Bell Canada. Her desire for a new professional direction led her to study Online Writing and Information Design and later, to earn a MA in Professional Communication from Royal Roads University in Victoria. Her commitment to life-long learning made a second career in post-secondary seem like a natural fit.
Kathy was a leader in transformational change for the Seneca College Registrar’s Office during implementation of a new student information system. She also successfully directed the project to create a comprehensive enrolment datamart and reporting dashboard for the college. With a passion for helping others achieve their goals, Kathy is committed to mentoring and coaching staff, and embedding opportunities for career growth into office operations.
Kathy joined Duklas Cornerstone Consulting Inc. in 2021, where she is excited to combine her technical aptitude, management experience and communication expertise to deliver a range of business services for post-secondary clients.
Sybil Massey
Graphic Designer and Communications Specialist
Sybil Massey is a freelance artist, graphic designer and specialist. She works on DCC’s print and digital brand identity materials for clients to support their communications and branding needs.
Sybil comes with two decades of experience working in the higher education field. Her background includes digital and print communications, strategy, project management, process development, and specialized systems integration. Sybil graduated from York University with a BA.
Oana Alexandru
Financial Consultant
Oana is an experienced financial professional with a strong background in financial planning and modelling, valuable experience in the higher education sector and strong interest in student success.
She earned her MBA from University of Pittsburgh/ Katz Graduate School of Business and has extensive experience in building and maintaining complex financial models, analyzing companies from various industrial and financial sectors, and performing sensitivity analysis. In her current management role with Student Financial Services at York University she has been developing, implementing, and maintaining business/financial models needed to support financial aid strategies.
Oana has a strong interest in applying her extensive working knowledge of financial analysis and modelling in higher education sector with a view to improve systems and processes for students. During her entire career, Oana has been focused on researching, collecting, and analyzing complex data from various internal and external sources, building, and maintaining financial and business models to support strategic planning as well as continuous process improvements. Her passion has always been education and she is strongly committed to contribute to student success.
Jillian van der Geest
Communications Specialist
Jillian is a dedicated communications and public relations professional with 12 years’ experience in marketing and communications, community building, media, and brand development. With a background in broadcast media, Jillian’s areas of expertise include strategic creative content development, public speaking, and media relations and outreach.
She has a BA in English Literature with a Professional Writing Minor in Journalism and Publishing from the University of Victoria. With exceptional editorial judgement she excels in delivering personalized and tailored messaging to varying audiences and demographics. Jillian is based in Squamish, BC.
Hannah Elich
Administrative and Project Support
Hannah Elich hails from southern Saskatchewan and holds a Master of Public Administration from Johnson Shoyama School of Public Policy. She has over 15 years’ experience in the public sector working for multiple government-sponsored non-profits.
She is passionate about sound policy development and governance structures on all levels, and excited about how these passions overlap with the work of Duklas Cornerstone Consulting.