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Michael Harkness has a long and varied work history, beginning in 1995 as a Branch Manager at Travel CUTS. In 2000, they moved to HRG North America, where they held the roles of Manager Business Development and Manager of Operations. Michael then joined Carlson Wagonlit Travel in 2007 as Director of Operations and Manager Business Development. In 2009, they moved to Railkey Technology, LLC and International Rail, LLC, where they held the roles of Senior Vice President - Global Business & People Operations and Senior Director - Human Resources & Project Management. In 2014, they joined The Marcus Buckingham Company as Vice President Human Resources & Business Operations. In 2015, they moved to Electrosonic as Global Chief People Officer. In 2021, they joined IMAX as Global Vice President People Business Partnerships. Finally, they are currently employed at Gurobi Optimization as Global Executive Vice President of People.

Michael Harkness holds an Associate's Degree in Business Management from Ryerson University, a Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) in Human Resources Management from Ryerson University, a Masters Certificate in Project Management from the University of Toronto, Leadership Certificates from the Schulich School of Business - York University in Facilitative Leadership, Financial Management, Conflict Resolution, and Communication, an Executive Certificate from the Graduate School of Business - University of Cape Town in Financial Modeling and Analysis, an Executive Certificate from Northwestern University in Leading Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, and an Executive Certificate from MIT Sloan Executive Education in Organizational Design for Digital Transformation. Michael also holds certifications from the Scrum Alliance, Institute of Organization Development, Project Management Institute, SHRM, and HR Certification Institute.