Meet our Team

Behind CENGN’s mission is a dedicated team committed to advancing innovation, supporting Canadian technology companies, and building meaningful partnerships across the digital ecosystem.

Together, we bring expertise in technology, finance, business development, and marketing to help shape Canada’s digital future.

Leadership

Sandra Cutrona

President & CEO

About Sandra

As President and CEO of CENGN, Sandra Cutrona provides leadership and strategic direction to the company…

As President and CEO of CENGN, Sandra Cutrona provides leadership and strategic direction to the company, driving the delivery of CENGN’s mission by collaborating with Canada’s transformative technology stakeholders to enable the commercialization, growth, and global competitiveness of the country’s innovation economy.

With extensive leadership experience in telecom and emerging technologies, Sandra brings a unique blend of operational excellence, strategic partnership growth, and people-focused leadership. She has held senior roles across sales, operations, engineering, and enterprise IT. Sandra’s leadership has consistently delivered business transformation and sustained revenue growth, supporting innovation in the technology sector.

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Steve Hudson

VP, Finance & CFO

About Steve

As VP Finance & CFO, Steve Hudson leads CENGN’s financial strategy and operations, ensuring the organization’s financial infrastructure…

As VP Finance & CFO, Steve Hudson leads CENGN’s financial strategy and operations, ensuring the organization’s financial infrastructure, reporting and planning capabilities align with the organization’s program mandate. In addition to Financial leadership, Steve also oversees Human Resources.

Steve brings the team significant financial leadership experience across a broad range of publicly traded and private business environments, including construction and real estate development and management, aerospace design and manufacturing, health care, high-technology design and manufacturing, and air navigation. Steve holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Queen’s University at Kingston and is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CA).

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Steve Ackle

VP, Operations

About Steve

As VP Operations, Steve Ackle leads the alignment of people, processes and priorities required to translate CENGN’s strategy and commitments into execution…

As VP Operations, Steve Ackle leads the alignment of people, processes and priorities required to translate CENGN’s strategy and commitments into execution. He brings proven, long-standing leadership across complex projects and programs, PMOs, operations and organizational transformation in international telecom and technology environments, combining strategy execution and portfolio leadership with deep expertise in governance and organizational maturity.

Throughout his career, Steve has been a strong advocate for aligning people around a common vision and clear objectives, and for orchestrating the people, capabilities and priorities required to achieve them—creating the conditions for stronger collaboration, performance and organizational success.

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Larry McKay

VP, Technology

About Larry

As VP Technology, Larry McKay keeps CENGN’s technology operations sharp, reliable, and built for scale…

As VP Technology, Larry McKay keeps CENGN’s technology operations sharp, reliable, and built for scale. He drives service performance and delivers high-calibre environments that power CENGN’s stakeholders, inside and out.

Larry’s background spans R&D and service organizations, with deep expertise in 5G, cloud, and solution architecture. He turns emerging technology into real-world impact — building high-performing teams, delivering cutting-edge telecom and cloud solutions, and driving innovation that empowers people and organizations alike.

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Business & Development

Lisa Klimstra

Ontario Region – BD Director

About Lisa

Lisa is the Ontario Region Business Development Director at CENGN, focused on driving industry growth and building strong relationships with technology companies across the region…

Lisa is the Ontario Region Business Development Director at CENGN, focused on driving industry growth and building strong relationships with technology companies across the region. With a passion for industry development and a customer-centric approach, Lisa brings unparalleled enthusiasm to the CENGN team. As Business Development Director, she contributes to CENGN’s mandate execution and the continuous development of the team and strategy, based on CENGN’s value to the innovation ecosystem.

Lisa is an enthusiastic advocate for the CENGN Living Lab initiative, which provides the services, expertise, and infrastructure required to test, validate, and certify network technology solutions. This initiative will advance the competitiveness of Canadian industry while also supporting the development of new IP and the growth of our most innovative tech startups and scaleups.

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Marwa Wazzi

Eastern Regions – BD Director

About Marwa

Marwa Wazzi is the Eastern Regions Business Development Director, leading business development across Quebec and Atlantic Canada…

Marwa Wazzi is the Eastern Regions Business Development Director, leading business development across Quebec and Atlantic Canada and supporting the growth of CENGN Living Lab Initiative. She works with Canadian startups and scaleups to accelerate technology commercialization, adoption, and growth.

Marwa builds strategic partnerships across industry, government, academia, and Canada’s innovation ecosystem to advance emerging technologies, including AI, cloud, wireless, and next-generation networks. She is passionate about strengthening Canada’s innovation ecosystem and advancing diversity in technology. Beyond her role at CENGN, she serves as Chair of Women in Communications and Technology (WCT) in the National Capital Region, supporting the advancement of women and inclusive leadership in Canada’s ICT sector.

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Kamal Hassin

Western Region – BD Director

About Kamal

Kamal Hassin is the Western Region Business Development Director focused on developing the CENGN Living Lab Initiative in Western Canada…

Kamal Hassin is the Western Region Business Development Director focused on developing the CENGN Living Lab Initiative in Western Canada and supporting growth-stage startups through commercialization and scaling.

Kamal has substantial experience creating and managing partnership organizations, developing and executing new go-to-market strategies, and scaling key partner and client relationships. Kamal has also held product management roles, tech leading multinationals, and investor roles at multiple VC firms.

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Sarah Muldoon

Ontario Region – BD Director

About Sarah

Sarah Muldoon is the Ontario Region Business Development Director, focused on developing the CENGN Living Lab Initiative across the province…

Sarah Muldoon is the Ontario Region Business Development Director, focused on developing the CENGN Living Lab Initiative across the province, supporting growth-stage startups through commercialization and scaling.

Sarah is a strategic partnership leader focused on building relationships, creating opportunities, and strengthening Canada’s innovation landscape. With significant experience spanning technology, research, healthcare, and financial services, Sarah has led partnership, engagement, and growth initiatives that connect organizational priorities with market needs.

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For inquiries on CENGN Services, contact: [email protected]

Marketing & Communications

Rick Penwarden

Marketing & Communications Director

About Rick

As Marketing and Communications Director, Rick Penwarden, manages the public relations and communications for CENGN…

As Marketing and Communications Director, Rick Penwarden, manages the public relations and communications for CENGN. Supporting the organization’s role in driving collaboration between tech businesses, industry leaders, academia, and government, Rick champions the message that enabling Canadian innovation is crucial to a thriving and resilient economy.

Rick is a proud member of the Canadian research and technology community, having an extensive background in tech commercialization and industry adoption of innovative technologies. Through his experience with start-ups and not-for-profit, Rick is an outspoken advocate for the integration of technology to improve both industry outputs and society.

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For inquiries on CENGN Marketing & Communications, contact: [email protected]