Leadership Team
Hugh Mansfield President
Hugh is a certified ISO42001 AI Management Systems Lead Implementer. He is also an accredited CIPP-C member of the International Association of Privacy (IAPP) Professionals; he has appeared on the Privacy Rules Webinar and is a contributing guest lecturer on data privacy at the University of Toronto and York University (Osgoode). Hugh is a founding Advisory Board member of the University of Toronto’s (Rotman) Master’s in Management Analytics degree (2018-2022).
Hugh has broad experience in building governance frameworks and has an extensive background in ML, LLM and NLP design. Hugh holds an LL.M. from the University of Toronto Law School (Innovation, Law & Technology) and is an active speaker and contributor on AI Governance issues.
Jerrard Gaertner Senior Consultant
Jerrard B. Gaertner, SB, CPA, CA (Life Member), CITP, CFF, CISA (Platinum), CGEIT, CISSP, CIPT, CIA, CFI earned his undergraduate degree in psychophysiological biology from MIT, then studied medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and audit/risk management at McGill University. He is past president of the Canadian Information Processing Society (ON), a published author of three legal texts (Thomson Carswell), former board member of multiple professional associations and an Oicer of the Court in Ontario, Canada by virtue of being a Licensed Insolvency Practitioner.
Mr. Gaertner’s experience spans 15 years at a “Big Four” accounting firm responsible for the most complex statutory systems auditing, technology risk and computer security engagements, as well as 15 years at a “Big Ten” accounting firm divided between insolvency law, forensic investigation, and technology strategy/assurance services. As an entrepreneur, Mr. Gaertner has co-founded and led companies providing privacy and anonymization services, digital legacy services, digital transformation services and data analytic services.
Mr. Gaertner is a technology leader and visionary, keenly interested in the impact of emerging technology on society-in-general, individuals, business, and education. As a consequence, for many years he has been a part-time academic, variously serving as lecturer at McGill University and the University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies, Adjunct Professor of Computer Science at Ryerson University, Part Time Professor (Law, Ethics and Data) at Durham College, and multiple-time guest speaker at University of Waterloo.
Mr. Gaertner is married to Dina Belaia, an exceptional visual artist. He is the father of two teenage sons. For fun, he is a longstanding member of Mensa Canada.
Julija Hunter Senior Consultant
Julija is a senior communications advisor with extensive expertise in protecting and enhancing reputation and supporting business success through strategy and execution, issues management, crisis communications and corporate governance.
She has honed her business acumen and track record from more than two decades as an executive for large publicly traded and unionized companies in the retail, financial services, CPG and technology sectors and as a senior leader on agency side designing solutions for a range of clients. Julija's scope includes creative stakeholder and employee engagement, advocacy and external communications approaches and C-suite counsel. In a climate of digital opportunities, interference and disruption, Julija leverages her experience to help teams solve organization wide-challenges and complex issues to support business and brand building, revitalization and/or recovery.
Kathleen McEvoy Senior Consultant
Kathleen McEvoy is a long-time communications executive with direct experience in crisis communications, media and public relations, and public affairs. She has lobbied and created strategies to address legislation in multiple U.S. states and has met directly with state executives and legislators to call out the unintended consequences of legislation that impacts digital privacy and data stewardship, as well as the data security risks of requiring personally identifiable information (PII). Kathleen has presented on crisis communications, social media, communications, and media training and has written about emerging technology, the current political landscape, and the legislative and policy issues impacting academia, research, and intellectual freedoms. Kathleen's background is in broadcast journalism, covering local, state, and national news and politics at radio stations in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. As a reporter and news anchor, she covered the New Hampshire State Legislature as well as multiple New Hampshire presidential primaries. She holds a dual degree in Communications and Political Science from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro.