Debra Finlayson
Debra Finlayson is a published academic author, a diplomatic people advocate, change leader, meaningful connector and social trailblazer, who holds herself to the highest professional standards. She holds a Chartered Professional in Human Resources (CPHR) Canada designation, and a Society of Human Resources – Certified Professional (SHRM-CP) certification from the U.S. She has also taught the two-day Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP) CPHR exam preparatory workshop.
Debra has provided human resources and business services to companies such as Simply Computing, Telus Corporation, Aldeasa, YVR, Gateway Casinos and various non-profits. She was the member relations manager for the Human Resources Management Association (now CPHR BC and Yukon) from 2008-2015, overseeing regional HR professional development for 2000 members. Since 2017, Debra has been the Canadian HR subject matter expert on a global team of exam developers for the SHRM-CP designation in Virginia, U.S.
In 2016, Debra co-published an academic global book titled, “Followership in Action: Cases and Commentaries”, (Emerald Group Publishing, U.K.), which was based on her dissertation research exploring links between followership and reputation. This achievement resulted in her being chosen as a ‘2016 Social Trailblazer’ finalist in the Women in Business Awards at the Surrey Board of Trade. In 2021, Debra published an article based on her practice session at the inaugural Global Followership conference in 2019, titled, “A Case for Increasing Exemplary Followership in Organizations”, in the Industrial and Commercial Training Journal (Emerald Group Publishing, U.K.).
Debra’s education in leadership, change management, business administration, human resources and adult learning, combined with her 15+ years’ experience as a senior HR professional, relationship/project manager, educator and community leader, guides her instruction for the diverse professionals in her Human Resources Management and Workplace Training and Development courses at Simon Fraser University. Debra specializes in both classroom and online instruction, curricula development, program evaluation and review, and formative and summative assessments. She embraces the use of synchronous tools that increase her instructional efficacy.