The Ivanaj Foundations Committee for Imagining the Future (IFCIF)

As stated in the 'Concept' paper and Mission statement, the purpose of IFCIF is to incorporate into the Ivanaj Foundations the participation of a “Think Tank” of global expertise for imagining, and in support of, the future of culture and education for Albanian young generations by spearheading initiatives in these fields, by making suggestions for action, helping to find revenue streams, coming up with research topics, and guiding related research with the help of collaborating volunteers.

IFCIF Members

Altin Leka

Arbi Rizo

Olton Hysenbegas

Olton is a thoughtful, strategic leader with over 25 years of experience providing consultative and best practices guidance on frameworks and methodologies, strategy development, target operating model, advisory services, risk & governance, large scale change management, business process management, transformation & program management & execution excellence. A collaborative leader with extensive experience in managing large & complex transformational programs. Olton focuses on people development while delivering strategic & transformational initiatives across enterprise. Olton expertise includes an excellent track record leading & provisioning strategic programs in large, complex, information intensive, service-based organizations with budgets greater than $25 million/year.

Olton was raised and completed his university studies in Tirana, Albania. He received a Master of Science in Electronic Engineering (Telecommunication) from the Polytechnic University of Tirana, Albania in 1995 and Master of Business Administration from Richard Ivey School of Business from University of Western Ontario in 2013. Olton, also holds a PMP certification from Project Management Institute, and ITIL certification from APM Group Limited. Olton also holds many professional certifications/ accreditations such as: Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer from Ryerson University, RBC Negotiation and Conflict Management for Project and Program Mgmt., RBC Management Excellence Program, RBC Certified Agile Practitioner etc.

Olton started his professional career in Albania, working as a program manager with Open Society Foundation, Albanian Education Development Program (AEDP), in 1995. His career in Canada started at Merrill Lynch Canada in 1999; then he was employed as project manager with Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC). In 2005, Olton joined Insurance Bureau of Canada and in 2007, Olton joined the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) as Sr. Project Manager. In 2008, Olton was promoted to Sr. Program Manager/IT Development Manager. In 2014 he was promoted to Program Director in Retail Applications for the Cross-Channel Sales Capability Optimization. In 2016, he was appointed Director in RBC, Strategy Transformation Services (office of CFO, CAO) and in 2017 he assumed the role of Director in Cyber Security, IT Risk & Security Services.

Olton has received numerous awards over the course of his professional career like: Open Society Foundation – AEDP, Award for Best Employee of the year, Merrill Lynch Canada Spotlight Award, CIBC Achievers Award, RBC Make a Difference Award, many team awards and twice the prestigious RBC Gold STAR Award.

Olton speaks Albanian, English, Italian and French. Olton served as a board member of Albanian Canadian Society, a non-profit organization providing a broad range of services to the community from Aug. 2017 to October 2018 and supported RBC Run For The Kids from 2016-2019.