Twenty-six years as a full-time professor at Centennial College’s School of Business allowed me to build a teaching practice based on real-world application. Courses ranged from graduate-level business culture and organizational change management to Capstone projects where senior students tackled genuine problems for partners like the Bank of Montreal, CIBC, IBM, and Cisco. This work has shaped a lasting belief in learning by doing rather than sitting through lectures. Throughout my teaching career, I mentored many faculty in emerging educational technologies, which meant I had to master them first! This left a habit of treating every new, challenging technology tool as a teaching opportunity rather than a hurdle. A nomination for TVO’s Ontario’s Best Lecturer (2009) and case-methodology training at Harvard Business School (2019) are highlights that still make me smile.
In 1996, I founded LizWorks, my independent consulting practice. The work here is grounded in my MBA from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. Clients have included the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, Armstrong Partnership, Front Door Organics, and the Canadian Urban Transit Association. It was a privilege to co-author Business Communication: Polishing Your Professional Presence (2nd Canadian Edition – Pearson). At the height of its adoption, this comprehensive text was used by more than two dozen colleges and universities across Canada. The CASE Conference (Canadian Academics Studying Europe, hosted by FHNW University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern, Basel, Switzerland) and regular presentations at instructional technology conferences across Ontario have kept the professional development flowing in both directions — learning from peers as often as sharing with them.
Earlier still, I ran an agency for three years, supporting small businesses through their first steps online — over 3,500 clients and 210 consultants trained.
What all of that adds up to is this: I know how people actually communicate — or fail to — in real workplaces, and I’ve spent a career figuring out how to teach real communication clearly, practically, and without pretense.
What Else Am I Passionate About?
I’ll admit to getting a little distracted every spring when the Toronto Maple Leafs are in the playoffs (never for long, sadly). The rest of the year, you’ll usually find me deep in a new recipe, tracking down authentic ingredients from a cuisine I haven’t explored yet — it’s my way of travelling the world without leaving my kitchen, and honestly, not so different from what I love about teaching communication: there’s always another culture, another expression, another way of saying something that opens up a whole new way of seeing.
If you ever need to discuss Julie Andrews, I am your woman.
Ready to skill up?