Our Team
We believe in hiring the best HR experts.
Our Strength is in Our People
Terry J Gillis
CPC, MBA, MASc
President & CEO
Terry has cultivated over 25 years of progressive experience in the field of talent management with expertise in attracting, retaining, managing, and transitioning talent in both private and public sector settings. He possesses an entrepreneurial spirit that has helped foster the growth of our consulting firm. Terry is also a certified professional coach bringing his expertise in executive & leadership coaching, career transition, leadership development, workshop facilitation, and organizational effectiveness. In 2021, Terry became an international best selling author with the launch of his book "Desuckify Work".
Terry is driven by his personal mantra of everyone deserves a great place to work. His passion is to transform work across London and Southwestern Ontario. His goal is to make this area’s workforce the best in Canada – one organization at a time – by increasing employee engagement, developing better leaders, and improving company culture.
Kelly J Gillis
CPC, MBA, MA
Vice President & COO
Kelly is a strategic, values-based executive leader and certified professional coach with strong leadership, relationship development, and change management skills. She has a proven track record of leading organizations in the establishment of strategic directions, transformational change strategies, implementation of quality improvement initiatives, and development of new systems and processes. Kelly’s professional expertise and services include leadership coaching & development, team effectiveness, change management, strategy development & execution, and organizational effectiveness.
James Coolidge
BTS, MA Leadership
Senior Director
James is known by his peers as being forward thinking, innovative, and strategic in his leadership approach. With over 30 years of experience at senior and executive levels in the non-profit sector, his passion remains helping individuals identify their strengths and build capacity to address novel challenges. James recently completed his MA Leadership degree to research the evidence that supports effective leader, team, and organizational development. He offers both experience and academics to the training and coaching he provides.
James professional expertise and services include leadership and team development, strategic development & execution, change management, career transitions, and organizational development. His goal is to help leaders effectively execute their vision while creating organizations where people love to work.
Michael Little
MCATD
Senior Director, HR Advisory Services
Michael is an innovative learning and human resources professional known for his consultative approach and success at delivering effective talent management strategies to solve complex business challenges, supporting legendary employee experiences and driving organizational business results.
As a certified coach, Michael is able to leverage his expertise to support and guide the career success of employees and business leaders. His professional expertise and services include talent management, strategic human resource planning, human resources compliance, team effectiveness, recruitment, and organizational culture.
Kristy McQueen
B.A (Hons), Certified Executive Coach
Senior Director, Talent Development
Kristy is an accomplished leadership professional with more than 20 years' experience and a broad base of knowledge across both the public and private sectors. A lifelong learner, Kristy is an operational and strategic leader who has focused on leading teams to excellence through maximizing others' strengths to stimulate improvement and growth. Known for her wit and charm, Kristy easily adapts her style to meet the needs of participants, always ensuring maximum impact with the groups and teams she works with. Further, she easily develops relationships with others and is adept at independently integrate information from a variety of sources to achieve results.
Marissa Bauldry
CHRP
Senior Consultant
Marissa is a passionate and experienced professional with expertise and background in marketing, communications and strategy. She holds a B.A., a Post-Graduate Certificate in Communications/Public Relations and most recently, a Post-Graduate Certificate in Human Resources Management. Marissa has worked with both large and small clients across a number of sectors, including retail, non-profit, and B2B. She specializes in getting to the heart of client issues, building strong relationships, generating business-building strategies and detailed execution. Marissa is excited to utilize her marketing and communications background to provide a unique and progressive perspective on human resources challenges.
Jennica Cottenie
CHRP
Senior Consultant
Jennica is an energetic and driven HR professional, with over 10 years of experience in the manufacturing sector. She is persistent in seeking results in an everchanging environment presenting diverse challenges. Jennica takes an enthusiastic and compassionate approach to all things HR, from Employee Relations and Performance Management to Recruitment and WSIB Claim Management. Passionate about building up those around her, both in HR and side passion of sports and fitness instructing, she eagerly shares her knowledge with her peers and customers.
Darlene Cameron
Office Administrator
Darlene is an enthusiastic and energetic individual who oversees the administrative functions at Ahria Consulting. She handles financial matters such as client billing, accounts payable, and general accounting procedures. Darlene synchronizes all client information and is at our reception with her friendly nature to welcome any visitors to our office.
Jessica Eckel
CHRL
Senior Associate
Jessica obtained her honours Bachelor of Management and Organizational Studies from Western University, with a concentration in Human Resources Management. Following her graduation, she has offered her expertise and leadership in Human Resources and Health and Safety across various sectors such as Agriculture, Construction, and Healthcare. Jessica has a strong commitment to uniting teams to collaborate towards shared objectives. She characterizes herself as a versatile professional, excelling in HRIS implementation, recruitment, temporary foreign worker programs, HR/HS compliance, and the development of related initiatives and policies.
Philippa A O’Brien
MBA
Senior Associate
Philippa is a seasoned business and education professional with extensive HR experience at local, national, and international levels. Combining a strategic consultative approach with operational implementation skills, she is able to deliver business solutions to address a wide spectrum of HR issues. Philippa is a certified coach who’s professional expertise includes career transition, leadership coaching & development, employee engagement, and workplace investigations.
Julia Schmidt
Senior Consultant
Julia is an experienced Business and Human Resources practitioner with more than 30 years experience in professional, high paced environments. Julia’s strengths come from being an HR generalist, customer centric driven and a natural problem solver. Julia has a love for people, their well-being at work and thrives in areas that require problem solving, advice and counsel and strategic people decisions. Julia’s professional expertise and services include human resource compliance, health and safety, employee relations, employee engagement, change management and communications.
Penelope Sisk
CHRP
Senior Associate
Penelope is a versatile, high-energy Human Resources Generalist with over 15 years of experience leading organizations through times of change. She has worked across many sectors, including tech, marketing, finance and not-for-profit and has a complete understanding of how to bridge business realities with organizational and employee goals. Penelope is hands-on and often finds herself as a key executor of varied projects such as Employee Benefits reviews, Employee Engagement programs, HRIS implementations, and Health & Safety initiatives. As a CHRP-certified professional, Penelope keeps a current and detailed understanding of legislative requirements and applies her professional knowledge to ensure organizational success.
Norman H Tiffin
MSA
Senior Associate
Norm brings his business acumen, love of people, and broad experience, to provide a unique perspective to solve problems and provide solutions for our clients. His strengths come from building teams, growing organizations, and solving problems that require a different approach. Norm’s professional expertise and services include recruitment & hiring, team leadership, new initiative plans & execution, strategy development & execution.
Valerie Troy
B.Sc., B.Ed., Post Graduate Certificate HR Management
Senior Associate
Valerie is a seasoned HR professional with an impressive track record of success in HR strategy, team leadership, and operational execution. She has extensive HR experience in private sector businesses -- from small start-ups to larger, established companies undergoing structural and cultural change – as well as in the not-for-profit sector.
Valerie’s approach is to collaborate and partner with clients to design and execute HR programs and processes that are precisely fit-for-purpose with the organization’s goals and culture, resulting in much improved employee engagement, performance, and retention.
Dania Parker-Smith
Senior Associate
Dania is a Human Resource professional with 8 years experience in Generalist Work, Labour Relations, Pay Equity and Collective Agreements with multiple bargaining units. Dania is people-focused, believing that people matter and that we manage people, not positions. Dania’s specialties are in supporting managers and businesses with HR generalist work, ensuring that Policies and Procedures are compliant, along with supporting employees with performance management, grievances, and KPIs.
Rachel Edwards
BA (Psychology), MSc. in Progress
Associate
Rachel is a graduate researcher studying team dynamics and performance. She holds a BA degree in psychology with a minor in management from the University of Alberta. Her academic interests include team cognition in ad hoc teams, grit, and how team dynamics emerge and impact group performance. Rachel is currently pursuing an MSc in Industrial/Organizational psychology at Western University.
Eva Kwan
BA, MSc (Industrial/Organizational Psychology), PhD Candidate
Associate
Eva is a workplace psychology graduate researcher. She holds a BA from the University of British Columbia and a MSc from Western University. She has worked in non-profit, public, and private sectors. Eva has co-authored industry reports on workforce inclusion in the Ontario manufacturing sector and worker satisfaction in the video game industry. Her areas of interest are in equity, diversity, and inclusion, workforce engagement, perceptions of competence, mentorship, and work in extreme environments. She is trained in quantitative data analysis and is currently pursuing a PhD in industrial/organizational psychology at Western University.
Roy Hui
MSc., PhD. Candidate
Associate
Roy is currently in his first year of his PhD degree at Western under the supervision of Dr. Evans. His research interests at the moment include examining team emergent states within E-sports teams. Roy completed his MSc. at Western University and did his dissertation on how personality traits impact one’s position within their immediate social circles through the use of social network analysis (SNA).
Carly Lundale
BA (Psychology), MSc. in Progress
Associate
Carly is a graduate researcher who primarily studies workplace health promotion. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Brock University and is currently pursuing a Master of Science in I/O Psychology at Western University. Outside of academia, Carly has been involved in the creation and pilot implementation of a wellness program for a small healthcare provider. She has a passion for applying research to develop innovative and sustainable strategies to enhance employee health and wellbeing at work. Some additional avenues of research she has explored include organizational burnout, peer support and mentorship, and organizational change.