- Excellence Canada has developed a unique combination of services and products- There is no competitor for Excellence Canada’s combination of services and products. Certain aspects of what we do can be found elsewhere in the market, but there is no other company that combines the development of Excellence standards with implementation and recognition.
- Excellence Canada’s customers are treated as “Partners”- Our customers value their Partnerships with Excellence Canada which they regards as being a critical part of their team, dedicated to their success, and always “on call” to get them past barriers and sustain their journeys to excellence.
- Excellence Canada has developed world-class proprietary Standards and Frameworks- Excellence Canada has literally “written the book” on business best- practices in Canada. The “Excellence, Innovation and Wellness” Standard has been benchmarked against the other major national standards in the USA, Europe and Australia.
- Excellence Canada taps into organizations’ Corporate Social Responsibility aspirations- By aligning with Excellence Canada, organizations declare their support for growth and health of the Canadian economy and workforce, and by association, their own internal excellence movement.Canada Awards for Excellence program– The Canada Awards for Excellence is Canada’s pre-eminent organizational awards program, under the patronage of the Governor General of Canada
Allan N. Ebedes, President & CEO
Allan is an experienced, energetic and entrepreneurial leader with a demonstrated track record for visionary leadership. Successful track record building and growing a variety of enterprises in both the business and the not-for-profit sectors.
40 Years of business experience building dynamic and committed teams, working collaboratively with boards, and developing and executing strategic plans that achieve superior and sustainable business and organizational results.
Russ Gahan, VP, Operations
Russ is the Vice President of Operations, and joined Excellence Canada in 2008. In addition to ensuring that internal systems and processes are supporting clients’ needs, he is the lead on special projects and manages strategic alliances and partnerships. His entrepreneurial background contributes to the responsive and nimble nature of the organization.
Kathryn Cestnick, Senior VP
Kathryn has worked with Excellence Canada for over 16 years, and has experience in developing standards and in leading teams to conduct assessments in organizations across all sectors.
Kathryn has a background in finance, human resources, planning and senior management.
Her past positions include COO in one of Canada’s largest law firms, as well as senior manager in several not-for-profit organizations.
Catherine Neville, VP, Quality and Integrated Programs
Catherine is a senior executive who has worked extensively in both the business and not-for-profit sectors. Catherine has extensive knowledge of quality management systems, including Excellence Canada, Baldrige, Deming, European Quality Awards, ISO 9001:2008, and Accreditation Canada Standards. She was one of the developers of the “Excellence, Innovation and Wellness” Standard and related Standards and Guides. She was also one of the developers of the Canada Awards for Excellence Benchmark Assessment. Catherine is a very active coach, with a focus on the implementation of quality-based excellence initiatives including related strategies, as well as process improvement. She is a popular speaker and educator on organizational quality and wellness criteria.
Adam Stoehr, VP, Education
Adam has overall responsibility for Excellence Canada’s educational services, including the development and deployment of Excellence Canada training and certification. One of Excellence Canada’s primary faculty members and leader in process improvement, organizational assessment, quality management, and process mapping training across Canada, he has trained more than 20,000 adults.
Karen Jackson, Senior Advisor, Healthy Workplace Strategies
Karen has held leadership roles in organizational health and wellness, employee engagement, corporate learning, organizational development, performance management, leadership development and support services management. She is responsible for coaching and training organizational teams as they implement the Healthy Workplace and the Mental Health at Work frameworks as the subject matter expert for Excellence Canada.