President
A leader by any definition, Mark’s outside-the-box tactics have delivered results in combat, business, and bureaucracy. Now he’s ready to help your organization excel, whatever your field, whomever your team, wherever your battle.
About Mark
Mark is the President of Gasparotto Group, a boutique consultancy that provides clients with practical leadership solutions.
Mark leverages his strategic and tactical leadership approach to help private and public-sector organizations increase their members’ leadership and resilience, strengthen their teams, enhance their organizational culture, and expand their influence. An accomplished TEC Canada speaker, Mark combines rich personal experience with applicable theories and current trends to deliver practical, achievable outcomes, whatever the leadership challenge.
During his highly decorated two decades of military service, Mark served in key leadership roles in international hotspots such as Bosnia, Afghanistan, and Haiti. From commanding small tactical units, to overseeing large, multinational peacekeeping operations, his emphasis on results, teamwork, and effective communications elevated him to the upper ranks of the Canadian Armed Forces.
Passionate about self-reflection and personal development, Mark’s brand of cerebral enthusiasm and entrepreneurial approach has proven contagious and effective inside and outside his military profession. Concurrent to his military career, Mark earned a Masters of Defence Studies, a Masters of Arts in Leadership, and is a published co-author of Clearing the Way: Combat Engineers in Kandahar—now an award-winning documentary film. He enjoys pushing his personal limits in military ironman competitions and wilderness expeditions. That, and parenting two teenage daughters—his greatest leadership challenge. He was thrice decorated in uniform: once with the Meritorious Service Medal for his actions under fire during Operation Medusa in 2006, and more recently with another Meritorious Service Medal and a Brazilian Army Medal for his senior leadership role in the United Nations multinational peacekeeping force in Haiti. Mark lives in Ottawa with his wife Shannon and daughters Abigail and Emily.
Qualifications
Master of Arts in Leadership, Royal Roads University
Master of Defence Studies, Royal Military College of Canada
Bachelor of Engineering, University of Waterloo
MBTI
EQi 2.0
Lifestyles Inventory and Leadership Workstyles 360° (Human Synergistics)
Management/Leadership Impact 360° (Human Synergistics)
Organizational Culture Inventory (Human Synergistics)
Awards & Decorations
Meritorious Service Medal with Bar
Brazilian Army Medal
Mark as an Influencer
Veteran follows passion to create Outside the Wire leadership development program, Canadian Military Family Magazine / Video
Unlocking the many mysteries of PTSD, The Halifax Chronicle-Herald
Speaker at the Spartan X Leadership Talks, Spartan Race
Intrapreneurship: A Culture of Innovation, Human Resource Professional Association Conference 2018 Speakers’ Corner
Spare the austerity, spoil the military, National Post
Top Honours at Forest City Film Festival, London Free Press
Director of Curriculum
With extensive military experience, Anthony brings a deep understanding of leadership fundamentals, emotional intelligence, teamwork, and communication.
About Anthony
With over two decades of decorated military service, Anthony is a proven tactical leader and operational planner. He has served on two operational tours to Kandahar, Afghanistan. He was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal for his leadership in combat in 2006 and has served as the lead planner for post-war reconstruction and development operations.
In addition to co-authoring Clearing the Way: Combat Engineers in Kandahar, Anthony continues to publish leadership material in respected academic journals. He holds a bachelor of electrical engineering, a master of science in organizational leadership, and a master of defence studies. He believes in interrogating reality and challenging people and organizations to understand why they do the things they do.
Qualifications
Master of Defence Studies, Royal Military College of Canada
Master of Science in Organizational Leadership, Norwich University
Degree in Electrical Engineering, Royal Military College of Canada
Project Management Certificate, University of Waterloo
Coming Soon
About Paul
Qualifications
Art Director
Sherpa
Simon Wells brings a mix of military, emergency management, and business continuity experience to curriculum development and coaching in Gasparotto Group.
About Simon
Qualifications
Master of Arts, Human Security, and Peacebuilding, Royal Roads University
Bachelor of Military Arts & Science, Royal Military College of Canada
Professional Logistician certification, The Canadian Professional Logistics Institute
Associate Business Continuity Professional certification, Disaster Recovery Institute Canada
Master of Business Administration Candidate, Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University
OTTAWA | MONTREAL | CORNWALL | BROCKVILLE | PICTON | TORONTO
Director of Operations
Shawn is an innovative and experienced leader who is passionate about leadership and developing effective and cohesive teams. He has formed, developed, and led teams for over 30 years, and has a proven record of leading and inspiring people, and building successful, resilient teams of diverse capabilities, and cultivating a culture of trust.
About Shawn
A decorated veteran, Shawn is a transformational, innovative, and experienced leader who is passionate about leadership and developing effective and cohesive teams. As a former Canadian Army Engineer, who, through excellence in skills, knowledge, and demonstrated leadership performance and potential, progressed through the non-commissioned ranks and then into the officer ranks, he has a proven record of leading and inspiring people, cultivating a culture of trust, and building effective, cross-functional teams of diverse capabilities.
Shawn has extensive instructional experience at both the Canadian Forces School of Military Engineering and the British Army School Royal Corps of Engineers, where he played a key role in developing, delivering, monitoring and adjusting training to meet the needs of the Army. He has designed, implemented and validated individual and collective training curriculums and courses. His operational experience was key in his capacity as an observer-controller-trainer and exercise developer, to validate the operational readiness of army units prior to their overseas deployment.
A proven problem solver in volatile and dynamic situations, Shawn has considerable international and domestic operational experience and is highly skilled in operational analysis and planning. Shawn’s ability to develop leaders and thier effective, cohesive, and resilient, teams has been proven and tested.
Since leaving the military Shawn has gained significant experience as a project manager and company executive; thereby, developing an understanding of the relevant application of his military experience in the business context and setting. Shawn has successfully transitioned his military skills, knowledge, and breadth of experience into the business and corporate world and brings this to Gasparotto Group.
Education & Relevant Training
Baccalaureate in Military Arts and Sciences
Diploma in Agriculture
PMP Designation (Ongoing)
Certified Engineering Technician
Organizational Behaviour and Leadership
Risk Analysis & Management
President, 44 North Digital Marketing
A driven entrepreneur with a strong leadership background, Corey founded 44 North Digital Marketing in 2015 with the vision of creating an agency that could do it all. Corey is a sought-after public speaker and digital marketing trainer who has spoken to audiences at the Richard Ivey School of Business, Western University Accelerator, Western University Propel Entrepreneurship Centre, the Inspiring Innovation Conference in Collingwood and Unlondon Forward Speaker Series.
Prior to his career in business, Corey served for 12 years as a Combat Engineer Officer with the Canadian Armed Forces. Corey is the recipient of the General Campaign Star, Canadian Forces’ Decoration and Joint Task Force Afghanistan Commander’s Commendation.
CEO, Splice Inc.
Norm is the CEO and co-founder of Splice – a Software and Service company enabling companies to work with the top consultants in their industries.
Norm has held multiple executive roles in Software and Consulting Services companies, giving him experience doing business internationally with leading global companies in multiple industries – Government, Utilities, Health Care, Manufacturing, High Tech, Retail, Financial.
CEO, Ticket Direct International; Co-Founder Ticket Rocket; Director and Co-Owner, Otago Highlanders Rugby Club (NZ)
Matt is a serial entrepreneur with companies around the globe. Starting Ticket Direct 17 years ago it is the biggest ticket agency in New Zealand and has offices in Australia, Singapore, the UK, and North America. Passionate about Rugby, he and his partners own a controlling stake in the Otago Highlander’s Rugby Club, which not so incidentally was Ticket Direct’s first customer. Building on his success in New Zealand, Matt recently started a Canadian venture called Ticket Rocket.
CEO, ADGA
Françoise Gagnon is the Chief Executive Officer and Owner of the ADGA Group of Companies. With over 15 years’ experience, Ms. Gagnon leads an exceptional team of more than 800 engineers and professionals who deliver tailored solutions to the Defence, Security, and Enterprise Computing sections. Since 2014, she has successfully taken the company through a transition in ownership, and accelerated its growth through strategic acquisitions.
Prior to joining the ADGA Group, Ms. Gagnon held several executive roles within the private, public, and not for profit sectors. Ms. Gagnon holds a B.A with Honours from the Norman Patterson School of Public Affairs (Carleton University), specializing in Soviet and East European Studies (1984).
Co-CEO, T-Base Communications
Bruce is the Co-CEO of T-Base Communications, an Ottawa Ontario based firm that provides large enterprises with support in communicating with their blind and low vision consumers. T-Base uses proprietary software to transform a wide range of documents into accessible formats preferred by blind and low vision consumers. As Co-CEO, Bruce oversees sales, marketing and operations.
Previous to joining T-Base, Bruce was a Co-Founder of Gestalt Equity Partners, a private investment firm focused on investing equity capital into a private business and was the Managing Director in Bank of Montreal’s Mid-Market Mergers & Acquisitions group.
Bruce is a Chartered Financial Analyst and a graduate of The Richard Ivey School of Business with a Bachelor of Arts in Honours Business Administration.
Associate
With a rich background in research, medical planning, and clinical support to soldiers, Peter provides the academic link that connects theory with practice.
About Peter
Joining the Canadian Armed Forces as a medical student in 2006, Peter entered active duty in 2010. He has since served in a variety of capacities, including as a Flight Surgeon in direct medical support to Arctic operations, and in coordinating international medical support for soldiers. Most recently, he completed a fellowship in Hyperbaric Medicine at Duke University and serves as a nation-wide Consultant in Diving Medicine for the Forces.
As a physician with a broad foundation in family, sport, and environmental medicine, Peter cares deeply about physical and mental health. Combined with his expertise in public health, he strives to optimize health and performance at both the individual and population levels. His contributions to over 20 peer-reviewed publications, invited speaking events, and mentoring of medical trainees also highlight a personal goal of communicating sound information.
Peter is a communicator, researcher, and clinician who aims to bring evidence-based leadership practices to bear.
Qualifications
PhD in Cellular Microbiology, University of Toronto
Master’s of Public Health candidate, University of North Carolina
Hyperbaric & Undersea Medicine Fellowship, Duke University
Diploma in Sport Medicine, CASEM
Certification in the College of Family Physicians
Doctor of Medicine (MD), University of Toronto
Masters of Science in Health Science, McMaster University
Bachelor of Science in Medical Toxicology, Guelph University
Associate
With over 20 years of military experience, Cindy focuses on awareness of the impact individuals can have on a team, on how being accountable helps you thrive as a leader and that building trust is the foundation of any team for success.
About Cindy
Cindy Legarie is an Engineer Officer with over 20 year of experience in the Canadian Army and a Professional Engineer with the province of New Brunswick. Cindy joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 1997 and has served in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Afghanistan and Ukraine in leadership and planning positions. Cindy complied personal anecdotes from soldiers who served in 2 Combat Engineer Regiment into a book Bridges, Jumpers, Divers and Demolitions: An anecdotal History of 2 Combat Engineer Regiment in time for the unit’s 40th anniversary.
Cindy focuses on personal leadership development by raising awareness of the impact leaders have on their team and being fiercely accountable for their actions and decisions as well as the results and atmosphere of their team. She is believes all teams need to be grounded in a common purpose and the foundation of a good team is trust.
Qualifications
Masters of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of New Brunswick
Certificate in Applied Science and Technology, City & Guilds London Institute
Degree in Chemical Engineering, Royal Military College of Canada
