About
Shiyen Shu
Founder and CEO of DDL Partners. Executive coach, leadership advisor, and former healthcare practitioner helping leaders and organizations navigate complexity and transformation.
Her story
From the inside of the system she now advises.
Shiyen Shu is the Founder and CEO of DDL Partners, a Toronto-based leadership advisory firm working with healthcare and mission-driven organizations in Canada and internationally.
Her perspective is shaped by having worked clinically, operationally, and in leadership development. She understands the realities healthcare leaders face from the inside: competing priorities, system constraints, high stakes, and the human consequences of leadership decisions.
Her own journey, from a quiet teenager who immigrated to Canada at sixteen to executive coach, speaker, entrepreneur, and leadership advisor, has shaped a deep interest in courage, growth, and the conditions that help people lead at their best.
Today, she works with leaders and organizations to strengthen trust, alignment, decision-making, execution, and the leadership systems needed for sustainable change.
Mission and vision
Why the firm exists.
Mission
We help healthcare and mission-driven organizations build the leadership capacity and systems required to navigate complexity, strengthen performance, and create meaningful, sustainable impact.
Vision
A future where strong leadership creates healthier organizations, where people, performance, and purpose can thrive.
Background
Roles, recognition, and credentials.
Roles
- Founder and CEO, DDL Partners
- Executive coach and leadership advisor
- Facilitator and speaker
- Occupational therapist and healthcare professional
- Adjunct lecturer, University of Toronto
- Former board chair, Ontario Society of Occupational Therapists
- Host, Lessons in Leadership and Life
Recognition
- Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal recipient
- leadersHum Top 200 Voices in Leadership
- Canadian Immigrant Award finalist
- E. Doris Stupart Leadership Award recipient
Education
- Master of Science in Occupational Therapy, University of Toronto
- Honours Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology, McMaster University
- Project Management Professional
- Certified yoga teacher
Certifications and accreditations
Certified practitioner status for each assessment is held current with the issuing publisher.
Our team
Senior expertise, close to the work.
Engagements are led by experienced practitioners and supported by a select network of senior advisors and associates with deep healthcare, executive, and system leadership experience.
Each engagement team is shaped around the needs of the work, bringing in the right expertise at the right time.
Bonnie Cochrane
Senior Advisor
With more than 40 years of experience in healthcare, Bonnie Cochrane brings deep expertise across clinical care, clinical research, population health outcomes research, executive leadership, leadership coaching, and consulting. Driven by a longstanding commitment to improving healthcare, she has helped organizations and leaders transform processes, strengthen performance, and advance better outcomes. Bonnie is currently a Business Development Executive at MOBIA Health Innovations and previously served as General Manager at Huron Canada.
Shirlee Sharkey
Senior Advisor and Associate
Shirlee Sharkey is a seasoned healthcare executive, board director, and strategic advisor with extensive experience in organizational transformation, governance, innovation, and health system leadership. She served as President and CEO of SE Health for 30 years, leading significant growth and diversification while building a values-based organization focused on both business performance and social impact. Today, Shirlee serves on several prominent healthcare and innovation boards and advises leaders and organizations navigating strategy, governance, growth, and complex system change.
Shelley Tice
Senior Associate and Executive Coach
Shelley Tice brings more than two decades of healthcare leadership experience, with a background spanning public service, organizational change, facilitation, evaluation, and leadership development. A leadership coach and management consultant, she helps leaders and teams navigate complexity, clarify priorities, and move from insight to action. Shelley is known for combining strategic thinking with curiosity and care, creating the conditions for thoughtful dialogue, stronger collaboration, and meaningful change.
Speaking and facilitation
In the room with health system leaders.
Keynotes, leadership days, executive retreats, and system-wide sessions across Canadian healthcare and with organizations abroad.
Lessons in Leadership and Life
Canada's health system leaders, on the record.
Since 2020, Shiyen has hosted candid conversations with senior healthcare leaders about the realities of leading complex organizations and systems.
- Michelle DiEmanuelePresident and CEO, Trillium Health Partners
- Shirlee SharkeyPresident and CEO, SE Health
- Dr. Naveed MohammedPresident and CEO, William Osler Health System
- Jo-Anne PoirierPresident and CEO, VON Canada
- Janet DavidsonFormer Deputy Minister, Alberta Health
- Lydia LeeGlobal Co-Lead, KPMG Connected Enterprise for Health
- David SmithCEO, CMHA Peel Dufferin
- Dipti PurbhooExecutive Director, Dorothy Ley Hospice
Why it matters
Access is the hardest thing to buy in this market. The series is often the reason a system CEO takes the first call.
It also keeps the work current. Every conversation is a read on what the people running these organizations are actually contending with this year.
Values
What we hold to.
Integrity
We do what we say, speak candidly, and choose what is right over what is easy.
Courage
We name what matters, address what is difficult, and act with clarity.
Humanity
We believe strong systems are built by leaders who honour both performance and the human experience.
Start here
Tell us what your leaders are facing.
Share what is happening in your organization and what you are trying to move. We will help you determine whether DDL is the right partner and where the work may need to begin.