WHO WE ARE
Meet The Team
Our roster of PhD’s and market experts harness decades of experience in the academic and business sectors.
Rogayeh Tabrizi, PhD
Co-Founder / CEO
Rogayeh Tabrizi studied experimental particle physics at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, and worked on the ATLAS Detector at CERN. She earned her Ph.D. in economics as a more effective way to engender positive change in the world.
Fascinated with behavioral economics, game theory and the behavior patterns in social networks, and seeing the need for corporations to understand their data to better serve their customers, Rogayeh co-founded Theory+Practice™.
Miles has over 20 years experience delivering transformative digital products in SaaS, Games, Digital Agencies, and Education.
Miles Nurse
Chief Product Officer
Nerea holds an MSc in Econometrics and Mathematical Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Sciences and a BSc in Economics from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. She specializes in microeconomics, econometric theory, game theory and social and economic networks.
Nerea Ruiz de Gauna
Delivery Lead
Fatemeh has a MSc and PhD in Computational Physics and a MSc in computer science specialized in Big Data from Simon Fraser University. She is experienced in various machine learning techniques including deep learning , natural language processing, recommendation systems, and computer vision.
Fatemeh Renani, PhD
Senior Data Scientist
Navid is an empirical researcher with roots in physics and economics. Navid earned his PhD in Strategy and Business Economics at the Sauder Business School. He also holds an MSc in Physics from the University of British Columbia.
Navid Siami, PhD
Data Science Product Lead
Julian is a Financial Economist with 5+ years of research experience working with big data. He combines his experience in financial markets and machine learning to analyze complex datasets and enable data-driven decision making. Julian holds a PhD in Finance from the University of British Columbia.
Julian Vahl, PhD
Lead Data Scientist
Fateme has deep experience in data mining, macroeconomics, public finance, and financial inclusion. She holds a Master of Public Administration in International Development (MPAID) from Harvard's Kennedy School, a Ph.D. in Macroeconomics and BSc in Electrical Engineering from Sharif University of Technology.
Fateme Najafi, PhD
Senior Data Scientist
Hasti has a PhD in Chemical Engineering and a MSc in Business Analytics from UBC. She is a Data Scientist who combines her research skills with machine learning knowledge to solve business problems and enable companies to make data-driven decisions.
Hasti Hosseinizand, PhD
Senior Data Scientist
Will is a graduate of the University of British Columbia, where he studied cognitive science. Will worked in engineering and data science roles in healthcare technology, financial services, and marketing firms over the course of his degree.
Will Zich
Product Owner & Front-End Lead
Milad has a PhD in Economics from the London School of Economics. He is experienced in various machine learning techniques including deep learning for image and natural language processing, active learning and recommendation systems.
Milad Shahidi, PhD
Senior Data Scientist
Hasti has a PhD in Chemical Engineering and a MSc in Business Analytics from UBC. She is a Data Scientist who combines her research skills with machine learning knowledge to solve business problems and enable companies to make data-driven decisions.
Hardik Sahi
Senior Data Scientist
Marzi holds two Masters degrees, one in Economics and the other in Management, Operations Research. She is a Data Scientist with a robust Business Analytics background, with more than 10 years of experience in developing analytical models to deliver insights and solutions to complex business problems.
Marziyeh Emami
Senior Data Scientist
Najot holds a Masters in Computer Science and Bachelors in Engineering Physics. She has 6+ years of experience in applied machine learning and building data-driven solutions tailored for customers’ needs. Navjot specializes in deep learning, probabilistic modelling, computer vision, NLP and enjoys applying to challenging datasets of diverse kinds.
Navjot Kaur
Lead ML Engineer
Damiano is a PhD candidate in development economics with a MRes in economics and statistics, and a MSc in behavioural economics and data science. He specializes in computational linguistics, natural language processing, neural networks, and empirical work in behavioural economics.
Damiano Truzzi
Data Scientist
Tarannum holds an MASc in ECE from the University of British Columbia with a background of mathematical modelling and economic analysis of complex systems. She combines her research experience to use data-derived metrics and advanced analytics to drive evidence-based decisions. She enjoys exploring innovative and intuitive methodologies.
Tarannum Nisha
Data Scientist
Himanshu is pursuing a Master’s in Computer Science degree from Northeastern University, Vancouver. He has three years of software development experience and is interested in Machine Learning and Data Engineering.
Himanshu Sharma
Data Scientist
Tyler holds an MSc degree in Data Science and Business Analytics from HEC Montreal and an BComm in Finance from the John Molson School of Business. He has worked as a data scientist in the public health and private sectors.
Tyler Schwartz
Data Scientist
Gözde is pursuing a degree in Computer Engineering at Izmir Institute of Technology. She has a keen interest in machine learning techniques and data engineering. Gözde enjoys learning and experimenting with new technologies.
Gözde Kurtulmuş
MLOps Engineer
Glenn is a Professor of Economics at Solvay Business School in Brussels. Combining theoretical modeling, statistical inference and large datasets, his work is at the intersection of economics, statistics and data science. Glenn has advised the European Commission and the Belgian Government.
Glenn Magerman, PhD
Senior Associate
Jozef (Joep) obtained his PhD in Economics at the London School of Economics. He is a full professor at the University of Leuven and director of the Center for Regional Economic Policy (VIVES). He is affiliated to the Graduate School of Business at Nazarbayev University, a joint venture with the Fuqua Graduate School of Business at Duke University.
Joep Konings, PhD
Senior Associate
Shah is a cloud native data engineer specializing in implementing end-to-end Data & MLOps solutions. For over 6+ years, he has accumulated expertise in designing resilient data infrastructure and applications for both Fortune 100 companies as well as the Government of BC.
Shah Newaz Khan
Senior Associate
Reza is an assistant professor of business information systems and an assistant professor of data science and business analytics at the Belk College of Business. His research interests include the economics of social media, user-generated content and healthcare information systems.
Reza Mousavi, PhD
Senior Associate
Miranda is an enthusiastic digital marketer with a strong background in content and branding. Miranda specializes in B2B tech and is excited to showcase TAP's work and client successes with the industry.
Miranda Wucasamey
Marketing Manager
As a Strategist, Hamed works to ensure Theory+Practice has a clear pulse of the market and reinforced our culture of edge-thinking. He is an expert in mapping and architecting business processes. Hamed has a Ph.D. in Strategic Management from United International Business Schools (UIBS).
Hamed Dastranj, PhD
Strategist
As the Junior Associate Partnerships, Tao assists the team with most aspects of partnerships. Tao's focus is on collaborating with partners to find the best ways to maximize their potential.
Tao Samis-Violini
Jr. Associate, Partnerships
Gio is a Senior Level Executive and a CPA with over 25 years of experience. Gia has hands-on experience in leadership of all aspects of operational and financial accounting in a variety of industries including technology.
Giovanni Susin
Chief Financial Officer
Emily is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) with over a decade of experience in managing and leading corporate finance teams. She specializes in financial analysis, budgeting, and compliance. She has also worked on various business consulting projects, including ERP implementations and cash flow projections.
Emily Cameron
Director of Finance
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Mitraj holds a MBA degree in Finance and Bachelors in Accounting with Honors, and is pursuing Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) designation. Mitraj over 10+ years of experience in accounting, and has strong knowledge in international accounting practices.
Mitraj Kaur
Lead Accountant
Cemre is completing her Master's degree in English Language and Literature at the University of Göttingen and has a great interest in People and Culture as it relates to Business Operations. She is passionate about leadership development and career planning.
Cemre Kokowska
Canadian & Dutch Operations Lead, EA
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Ted 20+ years of operations and project management experience across diverse industries, including NGOs, commercial construction, tech, and finance. Ted specializes in people enablement and actively facilitates building people up to perform their best. Ted brings a special type of care and support to his role as COO.
Ted Violini
Co-Founder & Chief Operations Officer
At Theory+Practice, we are committed to promoting workplace diversity and equity. We have a gender-balanced workforce and hire team members from all backgrounds, including new immigrants and others who have traditionally faced barriers to employment in the technology industry. We pride ourselves on the intellectual, cultural, and gender diversity of our growing team.
John Young, PhD
John brings 20+ years of experience building new products and services across market research, Financial Services and Healthcare industries. These services equate to ~$2B in Company Revenue over the last 10 years supporting large brands like Wells Fargo, Lord Abbett, Samsung, Motorola, Almay, and General Mills to name a few.
John has a PhD in Applied Statistics and resides in the Kansas City area with his wife and two kids.
Don Berman
Don is widely known in the consumer finance industry and recognized as an industry expert – Don helped launch ground breaking credit card programs in the partnership/affinity arena (i.e General Motors, BMW, airlines, professional sports, etc…).
Don is the sole founder of CardWorks, and is currently the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CardWorks, Inc. the parent company of CardWorks Servicing, Merrick Bank and Carson Smithfield.
Karen Oldfield
Karen has global experience, particularly in trade development and the establishment of new markets together with deep expertise in supply chain management and logistics. After serving for more than 18 years as President and CEO of the Halifax Port Authority, Karen was recently named the Interim President and CEO of Nova Scotia Health Authority (NSHA). Karen has also been appointed Deputy Minister of Priorities and Planning for the Government of Nova Scotia.
Karen has a supportive family, husband Darren and daughter Laura whom allow her to go and “get things done”.
Alex Golbin, CFA
Alex is the Chief Data Officer at a leading financial services information and research firm, where he is responsible for building, deploying and operating Enterprise Data Platform across all business units and client types.
Prior to 2019, Alex was a Managing Director and the Global Head of Data Services at BlackRock. Alex has also been a Principal in Banc of America Securities’ Fixed Income Credit Strategy group and a Senior Vice President at Lehman Brothers Fixed Income Research department.
Alex earned a MS degree in Computer Science from Hofstra University in New York.
Jeremy Wallace
Jeremy Wallace is a digital marketing veteran with 23 years of rich experience. Known for his strategic acumen, Jeremy has a track record of driving rapid growth and assembling high-performing, results-driven teams.
Jeremy's portfolio includes high-growth startups like Unbounce, Rooster, and Crowdvert, as well as blue-chip companies such as Coca-Cola, P&G, Hyundai, and TELUS. With experience managing marketing investments that exceed $60M annually, Jeremy specializes in building marketing teams from the ground up, ensuring that each dollar spent contributes to scalable growth.
David Flaks
David has devoted the last decade to building economic development leadership organizations. Most recently, he was the founding President of Invest Vancouver, Metro Vancouver’s entity providing economic policy leadership, investment attraction strategies, and cross-system collaboration on economic development priorities. David continues to serve as a Director on the Invest Vancouver Management Board.
David earned a B.S. in Philosophy from the University of Wisconsin, J.D. from American University, Cum Laude, and M.A. in Political Management (Valedictorian) from George Washington University.
Nelson Sandhu
Nelson Sandhu is the Chief Experience and Innovation Officer at Gulf & Fraser, a leading financial institution he has been working at since 2007. Nelson has 18 years of experience in the financial services industry, including international work experience.
Nelson is a keen student of how consumers and technologies interact resulting in disruption and change and holds a Master's Degree in Behavioural Science from the London School of Economics. Nelson also has an MBA from the Ivey School of Business and a Master's Diploma in Strategy and Innovation from the University of Oxford. In 2022, he completed the INSEAD International Directors Program at in Singapore.
