Elizabeth Lance is an award-winning businesswoman, systems researcher, and strategic advisor. Over nearly two decades, she has applied analytical and computational methods to complex governance and compliance problems — building independent, evidence-based resources across three fields where the stakes of getting it wrong are high.
The subject matter changes. The methodology doesn’t: map the system, find where the gaps exist, build the evidence and resources to effect change and reduce risk.
SR&ED Consulting & Research
Elizabeth is the Managing Director of The Ingenuity Group®, a boutique SR&ED and innovation management consultancy she co-founded in 2008. Her practice serves science and technology companies across Canada — spanning software, hardware, mining, metalurgy, pharmaceutical, and manufacturing sectors. Her clients maintain a 99% claim success rate, and many have gone the better part of a decade without a CRA review. 
In 2011, Elizabeth founded SR&ED Education and Resources (SREDucation.ca) — an independently maintained analysis of the entire SR&ED program. That research has led to ongoing involvement in the forums where the program’s future is debated:
- Presented at the SR&ED Stakeholders Annual Webcast in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023, 2024, and 2025
- Contributed to the Department of Finance’s formal 2024 consultations on SR&ED program reform
- Invited by TMX Group to the Innovation Investment Roundtable as one of the only SR&ED practitioners present
- Taught the first SR&ED introductory course offered by AJAG Professional Development for Accountants
- Moderates Canada’s largest SR&ED professional community on LinkedIn, with over 2,500 members
Strategic Advisory: reOsiris and Cornell Metals
Elizabeth holds an active strategic role at reOsiris Inc., a Toronto-based environmental engineering company developing proprietary solutions to legacy mine site remediation and zero-waste mining. Her engagement spans grant strategy, long-term planning documentation, financial modelling, ongoing advisory, and SR&ED eligibility assessment. She is currently managing millions of dollars in active grant applications on behalf of the company.
She holds a parallel strategic role with Cornell Metals, an ethical critical metals streaming company focused on recovering value from historic mining waste while restoring degraded land and waterways.
Both roles draw on nearly two decades of authoring technical reports across mining, drilling, hardware, pharmaceutical, and software sectors, and on direct experience navigating the public and private innovation funding frameworks that govern these industries.
LLMs and Canadian Education: Systems Researcher (Doctorate)
Elizabeth is completing a Doctorate in Education in Emerging Technologies and AI, examining how artificial intelligence can detect systemic patterns of policy non-compliance across large, complex institutions — applied currently to Canada’s Children’s Advocate Offices (national) and Ontario’s publicly funded school system (provincial). This builds on her Masters of Applied Science in Technology Innovation Management Engineering, which explored topic evolution over a 60-year period in Management Science journal, and her teaching degrees (PGDE – Strathclyde, Master of Arts – University of Toronto) and teaching experience in schools and privately, youth through to the “young at heart”.
This work is operationalized through SchoolBoardResearch.ca, an independent research hub tracking key performance metrics for every Ontario school board: EQAO, executive compensation, and adherence to Ministry of Education directives on student safety, bullying prevention, progressive discipline, and medical protocols. She contributes research and commentary to the Hold Schools Accountable parent network, where her findings inform province-wide public accountability advocacy. She recently spoke at the parliamentary committee on Bill 101.
Other Expertise
In addition to the above, Elizabeth is a ProSci(r) Certified Change Practitioner:
Research
Master of Applied Science in Technology Innovation Management (Carleton University). Thesis: using semi-automated methods (specifically, latent Dirichlet allocation) to explore the evolution of topics in Management Science over a 60 year period.
Doctorate in Education, Emerging Technologies and AI (in progress) — Dissertation focus: using LLMs+HITL methods to detect systemic issues in governmental child services (education, children’s advocate offices).
Awards
Elizabeth has won multiple awards, including, but not limited to:
- Forty Under 40 by the Ottawa Business Journal / Ottawa Chamber of Commerce. (2013) “The annual awards program recognizes accomplished industry leaders who are under the age of 40 and also give back to their community. Nominations were assessed according to a 40-point system: 20 points for business achievements, 10 points for expertise and 10 points for community involvement.”
- Named one of Ottawa’s 100 Rising Star CEOs by Invest Ottawa (2012) “To be chosen as a Rising Star, the key criteria included creativity, growth of the operation, and overall impact in the community.”
- Recognized as an “Amazing Woman” in the Business category of CelebrateHER.org (2012). Featured in a week week-long photography installation at Alpha Soul Cafe, 1015 Wellington St. W., Ottawa (March 3-10, 2012) & publicly recognized at the 2nd Annual Celebrate HER Charity Soirée
The above list is not comprehensive – contact me if you have any questions.
You may also find current professional development and interactions on my LinkedIn Profile.