DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION
Responsible for establishing the vision and goals of the Board in regards to DE&I, progression towards achieving those goals and a culture that lives it on consistent basis
HOLLY GEANT
Sub-Committee Chair
Manager, Data Governance
Data are dots on a landscape. You connect the dots with your imagination. Analytic is using your creativity and curiosity to tell the story of your data. I love connecting data to tell a story for over 20 years in different industries including food manufacturers, clothing manufacturer and retailer, heavy construction and transportation equipment, and banking.
TBD
Sub-Committee Member
Please connect with us if you are interested in joining the PR & Engagement sub-committee.
TBD
Sub-Committee Member
Please connect with us if you are interested in joining the PR & Engagement sub-committee.
EVENTS & PARTNERSHIPS
Responsible for the annual event calendar, planning, organizing and running events on behalf of the Vancouver Analytics Board. Additionally, partnerships between the Vancouver Analytics Board and other organizations such as educational institutions, consulting companies, associations, etc.
RHYTHM TANG
Sub-Committee Chair
Lead Data Analyst, Customer Incentives
Rhythm is the Lead Data Analyst of Customers Incentives at Instacart. Knowing that customer satisfaction is at the heart of every transaction, she invests most of her time profiling customer segments and optimizing incentive spend based on predicted customer lifetime value. Previously, Rhythm developed leadership experience from establishing the Data Analyst Community at Best Buy Canada, which involved creating standards for analytics best practices and being the SME on price optimization, web behaviour, and performance marketing analytics. Rhythm currently calls Vancouver home, holding a BBA and Certificate for Business Analytics & Decision Making from Simon Fraser University.
ANDREW HALL
Sub-Committee Member
VP, Data & Analytics
Andrew is the VP Data & Analytics at Canada Drives, the easiest way to buy or sell a car in Canada. As the largest online vehicle retailer in Canada, we are focused on innovation and optimization in vehicle pricing, inventory management, logistics, marketing and consumer financing. Andrew founded and led the Analytics teams at Boeing Vancouver, and in his decade at Boeing held executive roles focused on data science, analytics, product management and customer consulting. He held prior roles at GE Transportation and the Sauder School, and has a Masters in Operations Research and a BASc in Engineering Physics from UBC.
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MATT ST JOHN
Sub-Committee Member
Senior Director, Data
Matt St. John is the Senior Director of Data at Aritzia. His team is responsible for building, managing, and evolving the enterprise data foundation and ensuring data is organized and usable for enterprise analytics. Prior to Aritzia, Matt has been the head of analytics in retail for 12 years, as the person starting analytics at both lululemon and Best Buy Canada and advancing them up the analytics maturity model. Matt has over 16 years analytics experience, graduated from Carleton University with a degree in Business and MIS and holds an Executive MBA from SFU.
NINA WU
Sub-Committee Member
Digital Analyst II
Nina graduated from University of Toronto, Rotman Commerce. She has 7.5 years of experience as an analyst and have worked in a variety of industries including ad agency, events company, ecommerce in retail and CPG. She moved from Toronto to Vancouver in 2021 and currently works for Best Buy Canada as a Digital Analyst. Fun fact about her, you can probably find her at Spanish Banks or any other beaches with her dog Benny every weekend!
PAVEL PETROV
Sub-Committee Member
Manager, Customer Analytics
Currently working as a manager of customer analytics at Aritzia. Prior to that worked in analytics at Rocky Mountaineer, and an economic consultant at MNP before that. Analytics is about using data to make data informed decisions, and it is always interesting to see how different organization use their data. I'm excited to learn from and exchange experiences with other analytics professionals in Vancouver, and have a few social events along the way.
SAKINA PATANWALA
Sub-Committee Member
Associate Data Scientist
Sakina is passionate about empowering organizations through leveraging data, fostering data driven decision making, and adding business value. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Engineering and a Masters' in Big Data from SFU. She has worked as a Full Stack Developer prior to starting her graduate studies. Her work has been focused on building data solutions, whether it is refining metrics by using statistics and data science tools or building propensity models to solve real world business problems.
MEMBER RECRUITING
Responsible for the overall membership program for the Board, attracting and retaining members, and ensuring that we capture and represent the voice of the member community
LAYLA MA
Sub-Committee Chair
Data & Analytics Manager
Layla Ma is the Data & Analytics manager at Bosa Properties. Her and her team focus on enabling effective decision-making by providing accurate data, timely analysis, and actionable insights to the senior leadership team. Layla has been an analytics professional for over eight years, working across retail, eCommerce, cannabis, mining and real estate. She is passionate about maximizing the value of business data by collaborating with stakeholders, leading and developing exceptional people to deliver practical, innovative and scalable solutions that drive high-value business actions. Layla received her Micromaster Certificate in Statistics and Data Science from MIT, and BBA from Simon Fraser University.
CASPER SHYR
Secretary
Director of Consulting & Analytics
Dr. Casper Shyr is a Director of Consulting & Analytics at Fraser Health Authority. Casper completed his PhD in bioinformatics from University of British Columbia specializing in machine learning & artificial intelligence methodologies for interpreting patient genomes in precision medicine. Post-academic, Casper's experience in the healthcare sector functions an educator, seasoned strategic leader and researcher at the interface of healthcare operations, analytics, and consulting. Casper provides strategic leadership in the development and application of data science, ML/AI, and operations research methodologies to optimize healthcare operations, streamline patient access & flow and improve care quality.
FLORINA HALASAN
Sub-Committee Member
Director of Data and Analytics
Florina is director of data and analytics at Electronic Arts. She has extensive experience working with data and associated technology, including data structures, analysis and modelling, automation, and optimization projects. Florina has over a decade of government, industry and academic expertise that spans multiple countries. She started as a senior data scientist for the New Zealand tax department. Subsequently she moved into leadership roles, setting up data science and analytics capabilities in the NZ energy sector, and the Australian and Canadian financial sectors. Florina received her PhD in Mathematics from UBC in 2010. During her PhD she did consulting work for Google Earth, NATO, and the UK Ministry of Defence. She has taught Mathematics and/or Data and Analytics courses at the University of Melbourne, the University of Auckland, and UBC.
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SAMUEL SIMOGIORTO
Sub-Committee Member
Data Analyst
I am a Data Analyst at Best Buy Canada. I am passionate to use data and deliver insight through analysis that will promote data-driven decisions. I am excited to be part of the VAB where Vancouver data professionals can share their unique experiences working in or leading a data team. Where professionals can share both struggles and best practices analyzing data while promoting Vancouver as "a premier destination where data and analytics professionals thrive."
PR & ENGAGEMENT
Responsible for the website, newsletters, blog, LinkedIn, media relations, etc.
JENNY YU
Sub-Committee Member
Health Informatics Specialist
I've been involved in analytics throughout my schooling and previous work experiences. I want to explore and leverage analytics to improving our daily lives and am passionate on how analytics can be utilized in healthcare. I'm super excited to be apart of the Vancouver Analytics Board to bring like minded individuals together to build a community.
TBD
Sub-Committee Member
Please connect with us if you are interested in joining the PR & Engagement sub-committee.
TBD
Sub-Committee Member
Please connect with us if you are interested in joining the PR & Engagement sub-committee.