CEO

Dr. Kara Mitchelmore, holds a Doctorate in Business Administration from Athabasca University, is a fellow of the Chartered Professional Accountants (CPA) and the Certified Management Accountants (CMA) and is a certified marketing and research professional.

She spent eight years with Certified Management Accountants (CMA) Alberta, including four years as president and CEO. Most recently, Kara was the CEO of the Marketing Research & Intelligence Association (MRIA). She also has a decade of experience as an instructor, including time spent at CMA Alberta, Mount Royal University and Bow Valley College.

Kara is outstanding at moving projects forward, and as a leader and educator, she describes herself as “output-based,” and inspires and equips her team to excel in that regard as well.

Manager of Education

Christine Johnston spent several years volunteering for CPLED before accepting a position as the program director for Saskatchewan prior to moving into her current role.

She holds a Bachelor of Education and a Juris Doctor from the University of Saskatchewan. She began her legal career in 2001 at a large Saskatchewan law firm where she practiced primarily as a solicitor. After nine years in private practice, she spent six years in an in-house practice at a Saskatchewan biotechnology company.

Christine also writes the Saskatchewan Queen’s Bench Rules Annotated and the Saskatchewan Limitations Manual. She has updated these publications since 2013.

Manager of Operations

Liza Worthington is a specialist in leading and delivering professional education programs. Her prior experience includes overseeing the undergraduate, graduate and continuous professional development programs at the University of Calgary’s Department of Family Medicine and the pre-certification programs at Chartered Professional Accountants (CPA) Alberta and Certified Management Accountants (CMA) Alberta. Liza was an instructor at Mount Royal University and CMA Alberta. She is a Fellow of the CPA and CMA.

Liza is currently a board member for YMCA Calgary. As a life-long learner, she thrives on new challenges and transforming “what could be” into “what can be.”

Executive Assistant

Vicki Rinke supports the Head Office of the CPLED team.

She is responsible for arranging corporate events, making travel arrangements, coordinating schedules and handling multiple high-level projects. She is passionate about teamwork and assisting others in driving measurable results.

She has worked across a wide range of industries including Shaw Communications, Fortis Alberta, and the Calgary Flames Hockey Club.

Acting Executive Director of LESA

Christine Sanderman works on CPLED module development, including learning exercises, background readings, reference materials, assignments, and competency evaluations.

Christine’s educational background began with a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Alberta. She then received her LLB designation from the University of Alberta and went on to get her LLM designation from Columbia University as a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar.

Before joining the Legal Education Society of Alberta (LESA) team, Christine clerked at the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta and then moved on to be an articling student and associate in the real estate group at Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP.

Admissions and Education Counsel

Kiran Mand is also the CPLED director with the Law Society of Saskatchewan.

Her responsibilities include overseeing student-at-law and lawyer admissions, including the CPLED and articling programs, membership services and mandatory continuing professional development.

Prior to joining the Law Society, Kiran practiced at a full-service firm in Toronto, where she had a broad family law practice and a keen interest in representing children in domestic and child protection cases as a panel lawyer with the Office of the Children’s Lawyer.

Kiran has a BA in history from York University, an LLB from the University of Ottawa, and a JD from American University, Washington College of Law.

Director of Competence

Joan Holmstrom is also the Director of the Manitoba CPLED Program. She graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Manitoba before beginning to practice in civil litigation, specializing in insurance defense and professional liability.

She began working with the Law Society of Manitoba in 2004 and is a continuing professional development presenter with the Law Society and is a past sessional instructor with the Faculty of Law at the University of Manitoba. Joan is also a frequent learning group facilitator (LGF) with the CPLED program.