About Us
Leadership
Chris Anstead, PhD, C.Dir - President
As a successful, innovative and entrepreneurial leader with experience in both the private sector and the academic world, Chris provides overall leadership at Red Queen Associates. Chris has deep experience in the generation of strategic momentum, and the deployment of change in organizations. He is particularly interested in the role of governance, whether at the Board level, or in other functional areas such as records and information governance.
Chris strongly believes in the value of strategic thinking in everyday situations; he welcomes the opportunity to develop strategic thinking, planning and alignment competencies in organizations.
Chris works across all sectors, but has spent a lot of time in the utility, education and financial services industries. With more than 250 successful engagements completed in over 20 years of management consulting, past clients have re-engaged Chris for multiple strategic assignments.
Chris holds a PhD in History (Western University), has obtained the Project Manager Job Skills Certification from Rutgers University, and is currently completing his Chartered Director designation. He is the co-author of several academic books which explore the role of culture in organizations. As a former member of the leadership team at an AACSB-accredited business school, Chris is up to speed on the issues and challenges of today’s business environment. He currently sits on the Board of the Canadian Training Institute.
Gemma Ahn, B.A. - Principal Consultant
Gemma is an accomplished solution delivery lead with over 10 years experience in driving business success. She has a proven track record of implementing multi-million dollar business transformation programs. As a respected change agent Gemma is able to build highly motivated collaborative teams focused on delivery.
Among her key strengths, Gemma is proficient at setting clear goals, and then driving to reach the chosen end state. She is a strategic thinker who can create win/win strategies by leveraging synergies between seemingly disparate and competing objectives. Gemma is an influential communicator and strong collaborator who focuses on building trusted relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
Gemma has extensive experience in the financial sector, working with a range of banks and insurance companies. She holds a BA from Dalhousie University. Gemma is a member of the Board for The Women's Centre of Halton.
Partnering and support staff
Red Queen Associates relies on a number of partners for the delivery of our services. We are proud of our trainers, facilitators, and instructors who combine real business or not-for-profit experience with fresh analytical insight. We also collaborate with a few trusted colleagues when undertaking framework development work. Finally, we rely on a virtual staff of designers and administrators to ensure that all our events, courses and processes take place without hitch.
Participation by any associates will be fully disclosed to clients, prior to any agreement for services being signed.
Consulting and Advisory Services
Past Client Assignments
Samples of our past experience include:
Strategy
- Developed strategic reviews of new market, sector, product or technology opportunities for major corporate clients in a wide range of sectors;
- Benchmarked overseas channel strategies for a mining company;
- Led or facilitated the development and documentation of multi-year Strategic Plans for large companies in the insurance, publishing, aerospace, banking, professional services, and technology sectors, among others;
- Reviewed draft proposal to acquire a local distribution company, and provided recommendations for improvement;
- Coordinated the annual business plan process for all departments in a utility, and wrote several of the departmental plans;
- Prepared an Information Technology strategic plan for a Canadian broadcaster, and a strategic marketing plan for a major US telecom company.
Governance
- Developed Enterprise Records Management governance, policy and processes for a major Canadian bank and a large electrical distributor, and implemented changeover across each organization;
- Managed all business integration activities when a Canadian bank adopted Basel II (regulatory compliance on risk measurement and capital allocation);
- Prepared key documents for rate filings and other regulatory reviews before the Ontario Energy Board;
- Prepared or reviewed outsourcing agreements on behalf of a Canadian bank;
- Developed a 5-year capital plan and supporting business cases for an energy utility, to be submitted to their regulator;
- Built a set of tools for certifying imaging repositories, business processes and technology against governance and regulator requirements.
Education
- Initiated a technology-focused peer learning program for clients of an information technology services company;
- Managed the development and delivery of enterprise-wide records management and governance training at a major bank;
- Collaborated with an industry association to launch a new governance education program for executives in the utility sector;
- Conducted numerous in-house workshops on a variety of business topics across multiple sectors;
- Relocated back office for a university-accredited governance education program.
- Developed and launched a short in-class program with a focus on small business;
- Developed and launched a series of classes in the area of digital innovation and leadership;
- Organized custom training development and delivery for risk allocation processes in a Canadian bank;
- Set up and ran an in-house training program for new consultants in a growing professional services firm.