Expert faculty

Maya Kabbara, MBA, CFA

Course taught: Asset Pricing and Portfolio Management I

Maya Kabbara is an Investment counsellor and portfolio manager at RBC Wealth Management, where she is responsible for managing assets and providing comprehensive investment strategies for high-net-worth individuals, families and foundations.

Before wealth management, Maya had close to a decade of experience in capital markets through various roles she held at different financial institutions, including debt capital markets, sales and trading and ESG investing. Maya has been a lecturer at the John Molson Business School since 2015. She also held various teaching assignments at McGill university in portfolio strategies.

She holds an MBA and the Chartered Financial Analyst designation (CFA). She also completed the CFA certificate in ESG investing. Being a graduate of the John Molson School of Business MBA in Investment Management, she is passionate about connecting the dots between the classroom with its applications in real life.

Gillian Leithman, PhD

Department: Management
Course taught: Organizational Behaviour

Gillian Leithman, PhD has spent her time in corporate Canada for the past 19 years teaching soft skills and managerial training to employees. At the John Molson School of Business, she is an adjunct professor. Much of her work centres on how to develop soft skills.

Gillian has facilitated seminars for companies such as SAP, ServiceNow, Distech Controls, Bell Canada, Telus, The RCMP, BMC, HSBC, BDC, Exxon Mobil and Moody's Canada.

Leithman holds an honours undergraduate degree in psychology, a Master of Science in Management, and a PhD in Management and Psychology. Her research interests include the aging workforce, knowledge sharing cultures and age-friendly organizations.

Her commentary has been featured in the Montreal Gazette, CBC's Cross-Country Checkup, The Wall Street Journal, The National Post, Canadian HR Reporter, The Financial Post, Forbes, Next Avenue and The Conversation Canada.

She is the founder of Rewire to Retire™ and Life Skills Toolbox™.

Robert Szokup, MBA

Course taught: Marketing Management

Robert Szokup is an executive with TD Bank and has been with the organization for 30 years. His career and expertise spans across three key segments: Retail Branch Banking, Business Banking and currently in TD Insurance (since 2013) leading the Residential Claims Operation nationally.

Robert's experiences are in business development, critical analysis, operations and strategic people leadership across several key areas in the financial sector. Robert holds a BComm in Finance/Marketing and an MBA, both from the John Molson School of Business.

Robert is an advisory board member for the John Molson School of Business and is also an associate professor in the Goodman Institute, teaching marketing management since 2020.

Mike Vinokur, CFA, CMT, CFP

Course taught: Asset Pricing and Portfolio Management II

Mike Vinokur is a discretionary portfolio manager. He is a CFA charter holder and a Chartered Market Technician. He has also attained the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® designation.

For over twenty years, Mike has helped individuals, families and business owners grow their wealth and minimize their tax burden. Since 2015, Mike has taught economics and Portfolio Management as an adjunct lecturer in the 2nd year of the MBA/CFA program at the John Molson School of Business, part of Concordia University. Mike appears regularly on BNN Bloomberg discussing earnings, markets, and his top picks. He earned his BComm from the John Molson School of Business.

Samuel Vallières, CFA

Course taught: Seminar in Investment Analysis and Management

Samuel Vallières is a seasoned expert in wealth and investment management. He currently holds the role of private wealth manager at Desjardins Private Wealth Management, specializing with high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth individuals.

With extensive experience garnered from previous positions in wealth management at Citi Private Bank, IG Wealth Management and TD Wealth in Montreal, he brings a depth of practical expertise to his teaching endeavors.

Holder of a master's degree in taxation from Université de Sherbrooke, Samuel earned magna cum laude distinction in a swift two-year completion of a bachelor’s degree in business administration in finance from Davis & Elkins College, where he also played tennis in the NCAA.

As a distinguished professional, he holds the prestigious designations of Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Financial Planner (F. Pl.) and Chartered Investment Manager (CIM). Samuel's unique blend of practical experience and academic excellence positions him as a valuable resource and mentor for aspiring investment professionals within the MBA program.

Sukyong Yang, CPA, CA, MBA, CFA

Course taught: Financial Statement Analysis I, Portfolio Management and Performance Measurement, Level 3

Sukyong Yang joined Concordia University in 2019 as the director of the Kenneth Woods Investment Management Program and adjunct professor.

She has diverse experience in portfolio management and comprehensive knowledge of global equities. She has a BComm (University of Toronto, Trinity College) and MBA (Concordia University) and is a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Financial Analyst.

A former member of the University Relations Committee of CFA Montréal, she continues to be Concordia University’s academic advisor for the CFA Institute Research Challenge.

Before joining academia, Ms. Yang was a lead global portfolio manager for a wealth management company in Toronto and a member of the board. The investment strategy and process she implemented in her team became the investment standard for the firm while building the global division for the firm. She began her investment career as an analyst at one of Canada’s largest pension boards.

In addition to twenty five years of experience in the investment management business, she spent a number of years as a consultant and auditor at KPMG, in their Amsterdam, Seoul and Toronto offices.