Willie Birss, CPA, CA (ISTJ) - Treasurer

Willie is a Principal at Baker Tilly SK LLP, a public accounting firm, where he focuses on audit and assurance engagements. Outside of work, Willie’s favourite thing is to go golfing and spend time with family and friends. Willie believes that leadership is imperative to creating a strong community and that Leadership Saskatoon has had a substantial positive impact in the Saskatoon area.

Julian Demkiw (he/him, ENTP)  |   Leadership Saskatoon Class of 2001

Julian is currently the Senior Strategist to the President at the University of Saskatchewan and is responsible for senior management oversight and leadership to institutional-level projects of the president and his executive team. Julian’s superpowers include an ability to see patterns in chaos and an ability to understand the needs of a wide variety of audiences.

Outside of work Julian spends time with his daughters and wife playing cards, watching movies, and having fun. Julian is proud to have been involved with Leadership Saskatoon since its inception 20 years ago and is dedicated to helping the organization achieve its important mandate well into it’s next 20.

Don Ewles (he/him, INTJ)

Don is Grants Manager for Saskatoon Community Foundation. Don’s superpowers are community investment, communications, and, unfortunately, puns. Outside of work, his favourite pastimes are making music and cooking. Don is proud to represent Saskatoon Community Foundation as one of the founding partners of Leadership Saskatoon because he has seen the transformative power of compassionate and thoughtful leadership time and again during his career working with community-based organizations.

Leon Ferguson

Leon Ferguson is the President and CEO of Stream Business Advisory. Leon’s 20+ years of experience in high level strategy development, leadership, internal/external collaborations, and partnerships developing high performance and strong cultures has an award-winning proven track record providing teams to grow in strength and profitability. Leon’s superpowers are leadership specializing in Workplace Psychological Health and Safety, and Mental Health combined with his unique harmonious approach to overall peak performance. Leon is passionate and proud to be a part of Leadership Saskatoon as he is a big ambassador of Saskatoon and the Community and believes Saskatoon is a beacon of community strength and possibilities.

Kari McCaffery - Chair (she/her, ENFJ) - Ensero Solutions  |   Leadership Saskatoon Class of 2016

Kari is a Senior Operations Manager for Ensero Solutions, an environmental consulting firm with offices across North America and also a Coach for Seth Godin’s altMBA program. Kari’s superpowers are high level strategy, empathy, and translating complex topics. Outside of work her favourite thing to do is have dinner with her big blended family. Kari is passionate about Leadership Saskatoon because she firmly believes that kind, generous, and skilled leadership is key to making Saskatoon the best place to live.

Ken McCullough   

Ken McCullough is a retired senior retail professional with over 30+ years experience in the food, petroleum, liquor, pharmacy, general merchandise and travel businesses. During his career in the Co-operative Retailing System, Ken was known for high standards in merchandising, customer service and employee engagement. He received numerous awards and was featured in the May 2008 issue of Canadian Grocer magazine. Ken is proud to currently serve as Promotional Co-ordinator of the Global Leadership Summit hosted by his church. He also continues to offer his leadership expertise as part of a team of coaches that provide mentorship to small group leaders. Ken enjoyed being a mentor for Leadership Saskatoon in 2020.

Masood Rizvi, PhD (he/his, ENTJ)

Masood is Head of the Genomics and Canadian Operation Leader for NRGene Canada Inc. subsidiary of NRGene Ltd, a genomics company that provide turn-key solutions. Masood’s superpower is Diving leadership skills, strategic alliance and team coaching. Outside of work his favourite thing to do is “travelling across world” and explore exotic destinations. Masood is passionate about Leadership Saskatoon because he believes passionate and energetic leadership skill can bring lot of value to toon town and will give an edge over other big Canadian cities.

Alison Robertson

Alison Robertson is a Saskatoon-based community leader and social innovator. She is the founder and principal consultant at Systems Bright, a consulting practice specializing in whole systems solutions to complex issues. 

Alison has more than fifteen years’ senior leadership experience within the non-profit sector concentrating on issues related to poverty reduction, food security, education, disability and community health and wellbeing. She has served as the co-chair of the Saskatchewan Advisory Group on Poverty Reduction and acted as spokesperson for Poverty Costs, a collaborative initiative recognized with a Global Citizen Award from the Saskatchewan Council for International Cooperation.  She has been named one of Saskatchewan’s outstanding young leaders by the CBC Future 40 Awards.

Alison graduated with distinction from the post-graduate Executive Leadership in the Non-Profit Sector program at Grant MacEwan University. She is a graduate of the 2011 Leadership Saskatoon program and is proud to serve on its board of directors.

Rhonda Speiss (she/her) - Secretary

Rhonda is a Senior Advisor with Western Economic Diversification Canada and past senior leader of a major corporation, leading a best-in-class global corporate Community Investment program. With the ability to combine strategic and entrepreneurial thinking, her superpower is her ability to identify, develop and execute innovation solutions to complex problems with creative flair. Outside the workplace, her favorite thing to do is travel and enjoy new experiences. With 15 years experience funding non-profits, she worked with hundreds of community organizations and gained a true appreciation for great community leadership. She was excited to join Leadership Saskatoon and play a role in developing great leaders who will masterfully lead the way toward a strong, healthy community and economy in Saskatoon.

Colton Wiegers - Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce Board

Colton Wiegers is the representative from the Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce Board where he is currently the 2nd Vice Chair. He has served on the Chamber board for the past few years but has been very involved with the Chamber prior to that as well.

Colton is a graduate from Edward School of Business with a finance degree. During university, him and another student started the Junior Chamber of Commerce which got both themselves and others involved with the Chamber board and committees at a young age.

During this time at university Colton and a friend founded a company, Bow Home Service, which they ran for a couple years. Shortly after graduating he made the official move to join the family business, Wiegers Financial and Benefits. He is going on to his 5th year with Wiegers and continues to get more involved in the business as COO and now on an ownership level too.

Colton has always had a passion for leadership and is eager to continue learning. Whether that be through formal activities such as personal development courses or just through everyday opportunities with friends and family to be a leader, he's always ready to jump in headfirst.

On a personal note, Colton is a big NFL and Pittsburgh Steelers fan although he hasn't been able to go to any games this year sadly. He's kept busy though by getting in lots of time at Turtle Lake. One thing that he thinks has been a silver lining of the pandemic is the openness to remote working and he is hoping to get in a few more trips out this winter. Colton is also eager to help in the community when he can and has been A Big Brother with Big Brothers Big Sisters Saskatoon for the past 7 years. It's a bit different now but him and his Little Brother keep in touch playing some video games online."