Our Team

Barbara Ross-Denroche, MA, CPCC, President & CEO

Barbara Ross-Denroche, CEO and Co-Founder of The Refinery Leadership Partners, has been actively engaged in, and responsible for leadership challenges which have shaped best practice people systems within organizations.  Prior to The Refinery Barbara held executive positions in Organizational Development and Human Resources where she focused on creating cultures that support high performance and transformational leadership development. In recognition of this work, Barbara received Awards of Distinction from BCHRMA and Quality Council. Barbara has instructed leadership at Royal Roads University and Simon Fraser University, and she is a frequent speaker on topics related to entrepreneurs,  building a values-driven organization, and, women in leadership. 

Active in the community, Barbara is Past President of B.C. Special Olympics, Past President and Board Member of B.C. Human Resources Association, and currently a Board Member with The Minerva Foundation for B.C. Women.  For several years Barbara has mentored a young doctor in Uganda, East Africa to assist with the development of his medical clinic and community initiatives.   She is a member of the global organizations, Women’s Presidents Organization and International Women’s Forum, and a member of the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs B.C. barb@refineryleadership.com

Mark Frein, MA, PhD, Managing Director

Katie Wyka, BA, Consultant

Katie’s work at The Refinery includes facilitating, teaching, coaching and consulting with client organizations on performance management, leadership and skill development, team integration and functioning, and interpersonal and emotional intelligence. Drawing on her passion, training and experience in psychology, organizational behaviour, human resources practices and human systems, Katie designs and leads workshops, facilitates team and group sessions, coaches 1:1 and partners with clients to rethink and enhance their people practices. Prior to joining The Refinery she worked in a variety of HR roles with D-Wave Systems, Radical Entertainment, Creo Inc., MacDonald Dettwiler & Associates, BC Hydro and Ballard. She’s had the great fortune to work in an HR and OD capacity for projects in Canada, the US and Hong Kong. She sees her role as helping organizations discover and cultivate the capabilities and culture that inspire exceptional performance. Katie is
past Secretary for the BC Organizational Development Network and is currently working on her Masters degree
in OD at Fielding Institute.

katie@refineryleadership.com

David Gibbons, MBA, Director of Business Development

The Refinery’s David Gibbons has built and led corporate leadership development programs for an impressive list of Canadian businesses. His teaching expertise focuses on what some refer to as “hard” business skills. He teaches financial analysis and planning, operations, business statistics and strategic decision-making. Prior to joining us, David was executive director of the Learning Strategies Group at SFU Business. A dedicated educator and student, David continues to teach at SFU’s Faculty of Business in the undergraduate and MBA programs, and has pursued his PhD studies in strategic decision-making.

david@refineryleadership.com

Lisa Eckmyn, MA, ABS, Consultant

Lisa Eckmyn has over 18 years experience in organizational development  and learning including coaching, leadership development, group facilitation, organization wide training and mediation. Lisa helps her clients, which include BC Hydro, BCRTC, Goldcorp, Coast Capitol Savings and BCAA, to build healthy, thriving organizational cultures. She interacts closely with her clients to understand the unique needs of their organization. Integrating this with The Refinery’s leadership philosophy, current thinking and personal experience, she helps to create a process that suits each client organization’s own way of developing leaders. In addition to consulting, Lisa was also the Executive Director of The New Learning Society which ran Pacific Spirit School, a unique elementary school that aims to educate the whole child with a specific emphasis on developing each student’s emotional intelligence. Lisa is certified to deliver several assessment tools including Emotional Intelligence in Action, the Myers Briggs Type Indicator and the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument.
lisa@refineryleadership.com

Valerie Nishi, MBA, BSc, Consultant

Valerie has held leadership and senior consulting roles in the oil and gas and telecommunications sectors. At TransCanada, she and her team developed strategies, and practices for talent and succession management, workforce planning, learning and development, and employee engagement. Her work with TELUS, Stentor and BCTel touched various areas, including strategic planning, organizational development, international alliance management, marketing and customer service. Co-founder of the Women's Leadership Foundation, Valerie and the WLF team delivered four leadership forums, engaging over 50 corporate, government and community partners, and impacting over 3000 leaders across Canada. She is also past director and special advisor to Youth In Motion. Valerie leads The Refinery’s Calgary office, serving Alberta and Saskatchewan.

vnishi@refineryleadership.com

Krysty Wideen, BBA First Class Honours, CHRP, Consultant

Krysty joined The Refinery in September 2008 as she was finishing her Bachelor in Business Administration. Krysty has now graduated from Simon Fraser University with First Class Honours. Since joining The Refinery, Krysty has supported projects with many of The Refinery’s clients including Goldcorp, Coast Capital, Kinder Morgan, and Finning. Prior to joining The Refinery, Krysty had worked for a variety of organizations including PMC-Sierra, the British Columbia Ministry of Education, and COBS Bread. Having developed her community spirit at SFU, competing in student case competitions and developing student life through student associations, she continues to volunteer post-university through her involvement with the BC Human Resources Management Association and is pursuing her Certification in Human Resources.

Krysty’s focus in her education and work has largely been in Human Resources and Project Management. Krysty brings an innovative perspective to The Refinery Team. She strives to bring groups back to the basics and explore new, different, and inventive perspectives.

krysty@refineryleadership.com

Tim McGrady, MA, BSc, Consultant

Before joining The Refinery, Tim spent ten years designing and running experiential outdoor leadership development programs in Canada, Mexico and the United States.

He took his leadership training classroom to some of the most remote parts of the planet from the glacial fiords of Alaska to the Sierra Gigante mountains of Mexico to the offshore waters of the Pacific Ocean. In these places he taught participants to lead their peers and negotiate the myriad interpersonal and environmental challenges of extended self-supported wilderness expeditions.

Tim has grounded his outdoor leadership development work with more traditional corporate management experience in the tourism sector. He has also co-authored a monthly series entitled ‘Leadership Lessons’ in a prominent Vancouver business publication. Tim is also certified to deliver the Emotional Intelligence in Action assessment. He holds a BSc in Biochemistry from the University of British Columbia and an MA in Leadership and Training from Royal Roads University.

Besides the corporate work that Tim does, his passion for coaching is evident in the more than 100 hours a year he dedicates to volunteer youth athletic coaching in his community. Tim is The Refinery lead for Latin America.
tim@refinery.com.mx

Juan F. (Paco) Castellanos, MA, BSc, Consultant

Paco brings over ten years of experience teaching leadership for a variety of US and Mexican government agencies, NGOs and educational institutions. As a faculty member for the National Outdoor Leadership School, he led expeditions in remote wilderness areas of Mexico, United States and South America before becoming branch director based in Baja California. He also has wide-ranging experience managing and developing partnerships with regional NGOs, state and federal public land management agencies in Southern Nevada and the Eastern Mojave Desert for the Great Basin Institute. He was principal investigator and project coordinator for research projects funded by Earthwatch Institute, The Nature Conservancy, US Fish and Wildlife Service and The National Commission for Protected Wildlands in Mexico. Born and raised in Mexico City, Paco has a BSc in Marine Biology and a Masters in Coastal Resource Management from the State University of Baja California Sur.

paco@refinery.com.mx

Terence Dillon, MBA, Consultant

Terry has over 20 years of experience developing and educating people. His work at The Refinery includes facilitating, teaching, coaching and consulting with client organizations to improve leadership effectiveness as we are all increasingly required to deliver excellent results through times of personal and professional pressure. Drawing on his background in education, high performance and coaching, Terry brings an understanding of what it takes to sustain personal performance and create the conditions for others to be successful. His work results in leaders that create accountability, drive alignment around key priorities, and foster collaboration across an organization. Terry is originally from the UK and began his professional life as a school science teacher. In parallel with his teaching career, Terry rowed for Great Britain and competed at two Olympic Games. He left his post as Head of Department to study for an MBA at Cranfield School of Management and went to work for Barclays Bank as a management consultant. In 2003 Terry joined Lane4 Management Group, a leadership development consultancy, and worked worldwide for clients such as Coca Cola, 3M and Nestle. Upon moving to Canada in 2006, Terry started his own consulting business and was Western Practice Lead for Mica Consulting Partners prior to joining The Refinery.

terry@refineryleadership.com

Andrew Ng, BBA, Accounting Lead

Andrew began working with the Refinery in June of 2009 shortly after the completion of his Bachelors of Business Administration with Honours at Simon Fraser University.  Having worked in accounting roles with several organizations including CWS Industries and James Stafford Chartered Accountants, Andrew brings a wide variety of accounting and administrative experience from both the public and private sectors of the accounting industry.

andrew@refineryleadership.com

Angelica Tellez, BBA Int'l, Project Coordinator

With over ten years of experience in Business Administration, Marketing and Client Services with international corporations such as Teck Cominco, Magellan Minerals and HSBC, Angelica is proud to join the Refinery Leadership team. After gaining her International Business Degree from Universidad Del Valle De Atemajac in Guadalajara Mexico, Angelica worked as an account executive for Bank Bital (later HSBC) in Guadalajara, where she quickly found her passion and skills on working with people. In 2000 Angelica came to Vancouver, immediately falling in love with the city’s diversity and natural beauty. Since then Angelica has been bringing her enthusiasm and charisma to every office she manages making her a perfect addition to the Refinery Leadership Partners.

angelica@refineryleadership.com

Mike Bruner, Manager - Business Development

Mike joins The Refinery in July 2010 with a diverse background in Business Development. Originally from Toronto, Mike has worked with a number of flagship brands and media groups developing marketing strategies and live events. With Maple Leaf Sports + Entertainment, he developed and executed high profile special events and initiatives under the Maple Leaf and Toronto Raptors brands for corporate partners such as Rogers, Esso, McDonalds and adidas. In recent years, Mike has relocated to BC where he worked with Vista Radio managing existing client accounts and creative development along with building new client relationships to drive revenue. Additionally, Mike has worked in a consulting role for a number of business services firms, lending his expertise to specific communication projects.

mike@refineryleadership.com

Jenny T.A. Nguyen, Marketing and Projects Assistant

Jenny joined the Refinery’s talented team in September 2008 with a wide set range of technological, design and communicative skills. Her passion for self growth and leadership development had her working in collaboration with the Refinery and Ipsos Reid in the Spring of 2008 on behalf of Simon Fraser University’s LEAD program. Pursuing a desire to be a part of the sustainable change that the Refinery creates with its clients, she joins the team in a supportive role in her areas of expertise. Jenny holds a certificate in Innovative Leadership from SFU and is currently working towards a degree with a joint major of Communications and Interactive Arts and Technology and a minor in Business Administration.

jenny@refineryleadership.com

Valerie Gowing, Marketing

With the growth and changes that are happening at The Refinery, Valerie is assisting the company with marketing. With experience in administration, graphic design and customer relations, she will assist in taking The Refinery to the next level of commitment to clients by keeping them informed. As well, Valerie continues to update the website; prepare newsletters; plan events and ensures quality in our commitment to being the best leadership development company.

val@refineryleadership.com

Daniel Chow , Administrative Coordinator

Daniel brings with him a passion for technology.  Ever since opening up his first computer he has used his technical skills to steer him to work as a CAD designer for a structural engineering firm, and eventually to study Management Information Systems at Simon Fraser University.  While working as a teaching assistant at SFU, he developed an interest in helping others understand the benefits of new technology.  Daniel completed his BBA with Honours before joining The Refinery in June of 2010.

daniel@refineryleadership.com

Our Associates and Partners

Sergio Montiel, BS, MS, Associate

Sergio Montiel is an organizational learning consultant, executive coach and facilitator for systemic organizational change, leadership and team development. He is a certified executive coach with Newfield Network and a senior ontological coach with Newfield Consulting. Sergio is currently pursuing his Ph.D in adult learning and human and organizational development.Sergio has worked internationally with Fortune 500 companies, NGOs and start-ups and has ample multicultural experience.Some of his current work on Coaching, Leadership and Team Development is with organizations such as Nokia Siemens Network in Latin America, Watercapital S.A. de C.V., Goldcorp Inc., and Center for Social Innovation, Marie Stopes International, University of the Environment.

 He recently participated as a speaker in the first Iberoamerican Coaching Congress in Argentina. He has also collaborated in the facilitation team for the Authentic Leadership in Action Institute (ALiA) in Nova Scotia, Halifax, and has recently facilitated dialogue processes for the Professional Coaching Association of Venezuela, Ryerson University in Toronto, and Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City. 

sergiom@lacasadelsol.net

Laura Villacrusis-Weaver, MA, BA,

Associate

Greg Nichvalodoff, BSc. BM (Honors), MBA, CPC, ACC

Associate

After 20 successful years in a range of business roles from Branch Manager to Chief Executive Officer, Greg Nichvalodoff's diverse career has taken him across the globe from Canada to Bahrain. Today, he brings this wealth of experience to his work at The Refinery where he specializes in leadership development, executive coaching, business diagnostics and strategic planning. Greg received his MBA with a specialization in Leadership from Royal Roads University and his BSc in Business Management from the University of Phoenix. He a member of the Vancouver Board of Trade, the American Management Association, and the International Federation of Coaches.
greg@refineryleadership.com