Policy Leadership Program

Program Director

Rachel Wernick is a Fellow with the Public Policy Forum (PPF), a Mentor with the Action Canada Leadership Program and the Program Director for the Policy Leadership Program at the Telfer Centre for Executive Leadership.  Rachel is one of Canada’s leading practitioners in social and employment policy having gained experience in a variety of executive roles at Canadian Heritage, the Privy Council Office, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, and Public Works and Government Services Canada. She retired from the federal public service in May 2023 after a distinguished career that culminated in her role as Senior Assistant Deputy Minister of Skills and Employment at Employment and Social Development Canada. 

Rachel is known by colleagues for her collaborative leadership and by staff for her commitment to developing and empowering team members at all levels.  She is a strong proponent of the benefit of human-centered design and has a proven ability to lead multi-partner initiatives that take something from policy idea or challenge through to actionable options for implementation. Rachel’s excellent reputation as a policy leader resulted in her appointment as Co-Champion of the Clerk’s Policy Community initiative; a role she held for five years.  Rachel has channeled her passion for policy into developing a curriculum that offers government executives access to current tools, leading edge thinkers and leadership lessons from recent experiences on complex policy initiatives. 

Facilitator

Karim Djinko is a nationally and internationally recognized expert in the development of human potential. 

An executive coach certified by the International Coaching Federation, a trainer and a speaker, he assists organizations wishing to support their managers and administrators in their development, relying on building relationship skills and leadership. 

Karim likes working with individuals and teams, adopting a people-centred approach. One area of specialty is issues of diversity, equity and inclusion. He designs and implements customized training and development programs, including in leadership, relational communication, team synergy and self-esteem. He also offers guidance on workplace integration and inclusion best practices and gender-sensitive administration. 

A co-founder of the firm sp2 coaching, he gained broad experience in facilitation at the UN, where he served as a manager for seven years, as well as in the public and private sectors. He also holds certification in Nova Profile, a psychometric tool that helps individuals and organizations better manage human resources, recruitment, training, administration, coaching and team synergy. 

Trained as a journalist, Karim has worked in television, radio and print, mainly for Radio-Canada in Montreal and Toronto, as well as managing UN Radio in Mali. 

Executive in Residence

Ingrid Richter is an Executive in Residence at the Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa and Partner, Threshold Associates.  Her teaching, action research and consulting work has three major areas of focus:  leadership development, facilitating complex, multi-stakeholder change processes and developing change agents so that they can more effectively engage in high impact, complex change.  Her recent client work focuses on leadership and international capacity development supporting sustainability of social innovation initiatives. She has in-depth experience in provincial and federal governments, including as a Senior Fellow at the Canada School of Public Service as well as senior roles in corrections, policing and public safety.  Ingrid was the co-founder of the Canadian Organization Development Institute and designs and delivers leadership programs for the UN Staff College and the UNHCR.  In her spare time she is an active volunteer at Synapcity, (an Ottawa non-profit focused on developing citizen engagement), loves travel, poetry, cooking and learning to play the ukulele.