Michael Everson, Founding Partner
Michael Everson is a founding partner of the Kumori Consulting Group. He brings over 30 years of technology integration and business process engineering experience to our team. He has led a wide range of national and international projects that include large-scale transformations, deep technical implementations and vendor relationship recovery initiatives. Michael specializes in technical change leadership and stakeholder management, specifically in regards to digital transformations. He frequently facilitates workshops on strategy, design, issue management and conflict resolution with diverse stakeholder communities.

Michael is both a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and Prosci Practitioner, and a member of the Project Management Institute (PMI) and the Association of Change Management Professionals (ACMP).

Michael has managed and led strategy and planning departments for a number of technology companies in western Canada. Michael has facilitated workshops on: strategic and project portfolio planning, stakeholder engagement, business needs analysis, business process re-engineering, solution design, issues and risk management, conflict management, vendor negotiations and product selection. He specializes in developing connection and understanding between diverse stakeholder groups.

In addition to consulting, Michael has taught courses locally (western Canada) and internationally: in the United States, Australia, Sweden, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Papua New Guinea. He has taught courses in technology, service management and project management.

Michael continues to provide both project management consulting services and technical product development services to a variety of customers in BC. Most recently he has conducted workshops for clients such as: Teck Resources, lululemon, Seaspan Corp, WorkSafeBC, Powerex, BC Hydro, TELUS Communications, Finning, ICBC & BC Ferries.

Mark Zschoch, Founding Partner
As a founding partner of the Kumori Consulting Group, Mark brings to the team over two decades of delivery experience in information and operational technologies in the private and public sectors.

In his previous consulting roles, Mark has provided technology architecture expertise, technical team leadership, and advisory services to a broad range of complex projects for customers in the electrical utilities, financial services, transportation, and natural resource sectors. These engagements have been predominantly focused upon critical infrastructure and services (often under NERC CIP regulations), engineering systems, and core business applications with high availability requirements. Mark has also been a primary consultant on technology migration (re-platforming, mergers), public cloud enablement, IoT/IIoT, and cybersecurity testing programs.

Mark’s current engagement includes the provision of operational technology consulting and information technology architecture consulting to clients on green energy and non-wires alternatives (NWAs) energy management projects.

Mark maintains certifications in project management (PMP), cybersecurity (CISSP and CCSP) and technology architecture (TOGAF).

Sophia Tham, Founding Partner
Sophia Tham is a founding partner of the Kumori Consulting Group. With more than 30 years of senior management experience in both the public and private sectors, Sophia brings strong leadership, problem-solving and communication skills to our group. She worked over 10 years for the Canadian federal government so understands the complexities of supporting a national organization with differing regional requirements. Sophia has been praised for managing programs to success, and for creating positive relationships with client groups, service providers, and team members.

Sophia has led large teams delivering both applications and infrastructure services, including the move of BC Hydro’s primary data centre from Burnaby to Kamloops, BC. This initiative, which involved over 200 resources and multiple service providers, was a finalist for “Team of the Year” at the 2014 BCTIA Technology Impact Awards.

As a consultant, Sophia’s recent engagements include procurement advisory services, project/program management, operational planning, stakeholder engagement, and business analysis. She is a business-focused IT professional, and her ability to describe technology initiatives in terms of business value is a strength that is greatly appreciated by clients.

Sophia continues to provide management consulting services to a variety of customers in Canada, including BC Hydro and the BC Investment Management Corporation. Some of her most recent projects have been focused on non-wires alternatives (NWAs), which aligns with a common personal value of Kumori’s founders – helping the environment.