Case study · Centre for Entertainment Arts
Built an L&D function: from zero to cutover, without losing a beat.
No L&D function existed. I built one, and carried it through a full institutional cutover without losing a learner.
No L&D function existed. I built one, and carried it through a full institutional cutover without losing a learner.
The decision was to build, not adapt.
I came in as an early executive hire to build the L&D function for two technical programs that didn't have one yet. The course titles existed on paper; everything that made them real did not.
When the institution restructured, I carried the L&D function through the cutover in 3 months against a typical 8 to 12, with no disruption, and grew from Director to VP along the way.
Build a new L&D function from scratch.
Move it fully online without losing quality.
Carry it through institutional cutover with zero disruption.
I worked with subject-matter experts to rebuild every course from the ground up, original materials and all. I set the direction and the bar, built some of it myself, and guided the rest.
Hand me a shell and a real constraint, and I'll build the program that fills it.
The organization went through a leadership change while the function was still young. My job was to take over what existed, keep it steady through the change, and tighten how it ran, supporting 300+ learners and the instructors and mentors behind them.
Stability isn't about avoiding change. It's building something steady enough to survive it.
As VP, I co-led the change management for CEA's move from Langara to KPU, working with KPU's interim Associate Dean and team to carry the function onto one set of standards. Every instructor and mentor had to re-interview for their role under the new institution, and I held the function whole through it, without losing a learner or an instructor.
Separately, I co-led CEA's expansion into Latin America, designing the post-graduate VFX programs from scratch with the Universidad del Rosario team in Bogotá.
I built it, stabilized it, and handed it over clean.
Each square is a course. Two programs, 24 courses each, across six terms. I led the rebuild with SMEs, authored some content myself, and oversaw the rest.
Anyone can build when things are calm. The real test is whether it holds through the hard transition.
"When I heard how quickly this came together, I thought there must have been a lot of forethought. The work ethic, the individuals involved... it must have been a critical mass of the right people."
CEA's launch and programs were covered and credentialed publicly, by a federal government feature, an industry certification body, and two academic partners.
A named, on-camera interview in a Global Affairs Canada feature on CEA, its learners, alumni, and academic partners.
SideFX enlisted 20+ judges from major studios to review the submission. Certification gave graduates free commercial licenses, a real professional edge.
Quoted by name in KPU's launch release, and named as the lead representing CEA at SIGGRAPH 2022 alongside Unity, Sony, Meta, and Amazon.
The model I helped build was strong enough to be picked up by a public college in another province, evidence it held beyond its first home.
That's the work I do. If it's the work you need, get in touch.
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