Michelle Donovan

Manager, Media Relations
Communications and Public Affairs

Capability Award: Communicates and Collaborates

Examples of how Michelle demonstrates our leadership capabilities:

• she collaborates and communicates extensively with McMaster faculty members, researchers, senior management, and other communications professionals across all Faculties and programs to promote the university’s reputation locally, nationally and globally
• she is always willing to share information with colleagues, offer best practices, and collaborate on projects;
• she is a good listener, unfailingly respectful and positive, and always dedicated to achieving the best possible outcome;
• she serves on committees and frequently participates in campus events and represents McMaster externally, by offering presentations at conferences; and
• she is a key contributor to McMaster being consistently recognized among the top 100 in the world.

Alyssa Guarraci

HR Business Analyst
Human Resources Services

Capability Award: Champions Change and Innovation

Examples of how Alyssa demonstrates our leadership capabilities:

• she is a positive change agent in her role by recognizing areas for improvement and implementing new projects which provide better service to our community;
• she exhibits resilience and adaptability by creatively establishing “proof of concept” initiatives that reduce administrative burden;
• she has become a pro at summarizing new initiatives by utilizing process mapping tools and ensuring her colleagues are kept informed when new initiatives are implemented;
• she is thoughtful in her approach to gathering feedback and ensures this is used to create simple, user-friendly solutions; and
• she championed a solid business case which convinced leaders to implement a change in payroll auditing which saves many hours per week in payroll processing time.

Ksenija Kasumovich

Department Manager,
Anesthesia

Capability Award: Develops People

Examples of how Ksenija demonstrates our leadership capabilities:

• her colleagues feel blessed with her genuine interest in helping them develop in their careers;
• she doesn’t only promote learning to others, she leads by example by continuing her own learning and growth;
• she encourages diversity of perspectives and embraces McMaster’s commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion;
• she goes out of her way to motivate others to get involved at McMaster and in the community; and
• she is an inspirational leader who always makes time to help individuals in need.

Tracie Long

Senior Associate Registrar
Office of the Registrar

Capability Award: Takes a Strategic Approach

Examples of how Tracie demonstrates our leadership capabilities:

• she promotes McMaster’s culture and values by ensuring student awards are strategic and equitable and the awards facilitate education for as many students as possible;
• she helps ensure McMaster is prepared to meet emerging needs and is able to financially support a more diverse group of students;
• she worked collaboratively to establish a new experiential work program for international students, creating benefits for both students and McMaster;
• she invites herself to the table when the need arises, offering resources and support to others; and
• people are eager to work with her because her motives are always good, and she is a humble and positive change-agent.

Rhonda Moore

Manager, New New Media Centre
University Library

Capability Award: Invests in Relationships

Examples of how Rhonda demonstrates our leadership capabilities:

• she is a champion at collaborating with McMaster employees to enhance the University’s reputation;
• she leads her team by example, ensuring she actively engages in volunteerism while promoting growth and development for others;
• she is an excellent and well-respected leader with the ConnectME committee;
• she freely offers her time and expertise to ensure initiatives are successful, even when they are outside her defined role;
• she shares her expertise by coaching individuals to use creative problem-solving options; and
• her commitment to McMaster’s culture through committee participation and support of organizational initiatives is truly commendable.

Leanne Ruiz

Associate Registrar
Office of the Registrar

Capability Award: Drives Results

Examples of how Leanne demonstrates our leadership capabilities:

• she was a driving force behind the successful marriage between financial aid, student accounts, registrar and student record services;
• she has navigated all the personal staff impacts of this change with compassion and patience and offered individual coaching and mentoring to help staff;
• she was able to balance priorities and achieve success by juggling multiple roles while she moved into a new position, implemented a major change management project, developed new job descriptions and recruited 9 new service professionals;
• her can-do attitude means she is always willing to take on new challenges.  Her colleagues recognize and appreciate her regular responses – “I’m on it” and “Ok, I will figure out a way”; and
• she seamlessly balances adherence to policies with empathy and compassion.