Meet Stephen
I’ve spent a good part of my career bridging two worlds: marketing and education. Technology has been part of both.
For more than two decades I worked in consulting, marketing and emerging technology: as a senior manager at Andersen Consulting serving Fortune 500 clients, as director of interactive at Saatchi & Saatchi, running my own digital media consultancy, and leading business development at Cineplex Digital Solutions. I’ve always been drawn to new technology and how it can be put to work in ways that matter.
Teaching came later, and I loved it. I brought my experience working with people and building things into the classroom—and discovered how much I could learn from the people I taught.
There is such a joy in enabling learning…of being a conduit to another person’s growth.
From Stephen’s writing · 2022Liberation in TeachingA personal reflection on teaching and learning from the people in the room.Read the article ↗
Building learning
At the University of Toronto, I helped develop and teach professional education. At the Canadian Marketing Association, I built Canada’s first Chartered Marketer designation, leading the design and development of its curriculum with subject experts, course developers and instructors. As VP Learning at Halmyre Strategies, an association consulting firm, I led a new learning practice for associations.
For years, I’ve been drawn to adaptive learning: the idea that learning can respond to what someone already knows, the questions they bring and how they develop. I’ve written about its possibilities for adult education, drawing on my experience designing programs and working with learners.
From Stephen’s writing · 2022Chartered MarketerStephen on building a professional designation program with a team.Read the article ↗
Exploring what comes next
I experimented with AI using a curriculum I’d helped develop and learner profiles drawn from my teaching experience. When I asked it to create instructions for the same assignment for two different learners, it produced distinct approaches. The experiment helped me see what might be possible when AI is grounded in thoughtful curriculum and a real understanding of people.
I designed and delivered a two-day AI workshop for more than 40 Torstar executives, co-designed an applied AI course with Toronto Metropolitan University, and co-founded ME+ai, a community of more than 630 professionals who explored what AI might mean for their work.
I use AI in my own learning and day-to-day practice. I’m building Lanthorn to bring its potential for responsive learning together with the experience and judgment people bring: designing curriculum, guiding learners, assessing progress and making sure the learning serves its purpose.
A conversation about what comes next
Stephen talks about his journey from marketing to education and why he believes AI can change how people learn.
Watch the full ME+ai conversation on YouTubePeople
Rethinking learning takes more than one perspective. Lanthorn’s advisors bring experience in teaching, technology, business and the ways people put new ideas to work.
Leslie is the founder of PUNCH!media, a teacher and an author who helps people communicate with clarity and confidence. She facilitated courses in the Canadian Marketing Association’s Chartered Marketer program, guiding working professionals through the curriculum Stephen helped build.
Her experience brings a thoughtful perspective on the human side of learning: how we guide people, encourage them and help them find their own voice.
Jürgen is the CEO of ACT Computers and co-lead of the AI Collective’s Space Coast chapter. For more than 30 years, he has helped businesses navigate technology, from IT and cybersecurity to the possibilities opening up through AI.
He brings a practical understanding of how technology works—and what it takes to make it useful to the people and organizations who rely on it.
Mike is the founding partner of Indian River Consulting Group. He has spent nearly four decades helping manufacturers and distributors think through growth, disruption and change.
An advisor, educator and speaker, Mike works with leaders on business strategy and AI. He brings a perspective grounded in the questions organizations face when new technology changes how they work.