Staff Directory

As the Canadian Audit and Accountability Foundation (CAAF) President and CEO, Paul provides strategic, administrative, and organizational leadership to ensure that the CAAF is recognized as a global leader in public sector auditing and oversight.

Paul comes to the Foundation from The Institute of Internal Auditors, where he was the Executive Director for Canadian Operations, achieving strategic goals on behalf of the Canadian internal auditing professionals in the areas of training and certification, membership growth, and advocacy outreach and communications.

As a results-oriented professional motivated by high standards, Paul has a proven track record in developing and implementing integrated strategic programs in marketing and communications, corporate branding, reputation management, and partner relations. Paul has more than 25 years of experience at the management level leading employees in sales, marketing, communications, public affairs, and governance training.

Paul holds an MBA from the John Molson School of Business, Concordia University. He is married and has three children. On days-off, you’ll probably find Paul doing DIY renovation projects, hiking, or walking his dog, Zola, or his children’s four other dogs.

Lisanne is a Senior Program Officer on the Professional Development team, tasked with managing the delivery of the Foundation’s training courses for domestic and international clients.

Lisanne brings significant experience delivering international projects and funding programs on behalf of Canadian non-profit organizations in the humanitarian assistance, refugee protection, and post-secondary education sectors. Lisanne holds a Master’s degree in International Affairs from Carleton University, and a Bachelor’s degree with Honours in Gender Studies from Queen’s University.

Following her studies, Lisanne moved to Burma (Myanmar) to work with the Women’s League of Burma, promoted Canadian private sponsorship of refugees through the Blended Visa Office-Referred (BVOR) pathway at the University of Ottawa’s Refugee Hub, developed humanitarian programs for CARE Canada, coordinated humanitarian response projects and programmed funds from large-scale appeals with the Humanitarian Coalition, and most recently managed the delivery of short-term exchange scholarships for international post-secondary students at the Canadian Bureau for International Education.

As the Canadian Audit and Accountability Foundation’s Vice-president of Oversight Lesley leads our oversight program including the management and delivery of capacity building activities and initiatives to support Public Accounts Committees (PACs) and other oversight bodies in Canada and abroad.

Lesley comes to the Foundation from the Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption (GOPAC), where she directed the oversight program, conducted research on strengthening legislative oversight and managed projects in the areas of legislative accountability and anti-corruption, including managing and delivering workshops for PAC members.

She has extensive international experience, including experience with a number of international donor organizations, and has previously worked for the Government of Canada both domestically and internationally.

Lesley holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of British Columbia, an MA in Political Science from the University of Guelph, and an Honours BA in International Development from the University of Guelph.

Lynne Casiple celebrated her 20^th anniversary at the Canadian Audit and Accountability Foundation in 2019. She handles most of the Foundation’s electronics needs, beginning with our information technology. Not only does she maintain our computers and office network, but she has also been in charge of the development and maintenance of our website. Most recently, she managed the development of the Foundation’s new site, published live in 2017.

Lynne also exercises her creative talents by preparing our in-house graphic arts, desktop publishing for our publications and web coding for our Communiqués and Updates.

A graduate of the Toronto School of Business, Lynne is responsible for the design and maintenance of our database and for the maintenance of the Foundation’s membership lists.

An accomplished, tri-lingual professional with more than 11 years of international project and program management experience in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Europe, Nickolas joined the Foundation in September 2021. He holds an undergraduate degree from McGill University in International Development and African Studies, and a master’s degree in African Politics from the University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies. During his studies, he had a keen interest in topics of democracy and governance. He is specifically interested in the role of civil society to engage with and promote good governance, accountability, and consolidation of democratic systems.

As the Senior Program Officer, International Programs, Nickolas will be working with program partners to deliver a tailored mix of activities, considering the unique needs and priorities of the respective SAI and oversight committee. Additionally, Nickolas will be involved in course development and supporting the Fellowships.

Prior to joining the Foundation, he worked for more than seven years as a Project Manager in the field of Human Rights, Education, and Empowerment for non-profit organization Winrock International. Nickolas managed a range of projects across Africa, Asia, and Latin America focused on capacity development of local actors in areas of education, youth engagement in civil society, and the prevention of child labour, forced labour, and human trafficking.

As Vice-President, Professional Development, Sharon manages the delivery of our best-in-class training courses and workshops, contributing to the development and updating of course content, nurturing our cadre of professional and seasoned Associates, and seeking new opportunities and partnerships to expand our reach.

Sharon was a Principal Director at the Office of the Auditor General of Canada from 2006 to 2019, where she led performance audits of various departments including Environment and Climate Change Canada, Fisheries and Oceans, Transport, Natural Resources, National Defence, and Global Affairs. She also led the performance audit methodology practice from 2010 to 2013. During this time, she was responsible for updating the performance audit manual and procedures, and for contributing to international performance audit standards.

Sharon has given presentations in Spanish on performance audit at various conferences in Mexico, Colombia, and Spain, and has taught courses on performance audit at the national audit offices of Costa Rica and Peru.

Prior to joining the Office of the Auditor General, Sharon spent 10 years as a management consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers, specializing in human resources and change management.

Sharon has an MBA from McGill University in Montreal and a BA in political science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Sharon has lived in Argentina, Israel, Italy, Spain, and the United States, and speaks English, Spanish, French and Hebrew.

Kate joined the Canadian Audit and Accountability Foundation in July 2009. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) degree with majors in Marketing and International Business.

As International Programs Communications and Reporting Officer, her responsibilities are to inform Canadians of our international work and to update our Canadian and international stakeholders on our activities.

Caroline joined the Canadian Audit and Accountability Foundation in April 2004, bringing with her a wide range of program management skills.

Caroline is currently the Vice-President for International Programs. She became Deputy Director for International Programs in 2008, and Director in 2012. She manages our International Programs, oversees our engagement with Canadian and international program partners and continues to focus on program planning and budget management. Caroline has received recognition awards for her community service in education and a merit award from the State Audit Office of Vietnam for leading CAAF’s work with them since 2008.

James Oulton is Deputy Director, Oversight at the Canadian Audit and Accountability Foundation, with a wide range of responsibilities including supporting the development and implementation of our strategic and corporate planning and is involved in our governance, supporting board operations and development. He is also involved in supporting the development of our corporate communications such as its Annual Report and other communications to members.

James joined the Foundation in January 2008 as a Research Assistant for its research program on Innovation, Risk and Control in public sector organizations. He has also supported research on legislative oversight committees as part of our oversight of government operations activities, and supports the Foundation’s work with the Government Internal Auditors Council of Canada (GIACC).

Prior to joining the Foundation, James attended Trinity College at the University of Toronto, where he graduated with an Honours Bachelor of Arts (High Distinction) in political science/history in 2007. He also studied at Carleton University under the Faculty of Public Affairs and Management, and attended the University of Sydney under a foreign study program coordinated by the University of Toronto and the Research Institute for Asia and the Pacific (RIAP).

Mandy Ricard joined the Foundation in March 2019, initially as Administrative Coordinator. As of March 2020, she is our International Programs Administration and Logistics Officer. Her responsibilities are to provide timely, effective and professional administrative support for all aspects of the CAAF International Governance & Accountability Program, including workplan activities, financial processes, databases and annual reporting, and to manage in-country activity files.

Mandy brings over 15 years of experience in the not-for-profit sector as well as her administrative, financial and event management skills and has diplomas in Marketing and in Event Management.

As Senior Program Officer, International Programs, Loralee will be the prime contact on topics such as gender equality, anti-racism, diversity, and inclusion. She will lead missions to our partner countries, work with audit offices on gender mainstreaming, support resource development, and collaborate with team members in overall programming.

Loralee comes to CAAF with over a decade of experience in project management, program monitoring and evaluation, and capacity building. She has worked in diverse fields including health, food security, disaster recovery efforts, humanitarian protection, and gender equality.

Loralee holds a bachelor’s degree in Politics, History and Economics, a certificate in Global Justice Studies, as well as a post-graduate diploma in Project Management.