An academy built by practitioners, for practitioners.
We are a small, purpose-driven team in Vancouver focused on delivering business management programs that respect your time and produce measurable outcomes.
Founded in 2017 in downtown Vancouver
Polancodreams began as a series of weekend leadership workshops hosted in a Hornby Street boardroom. Within two years, demand from regional banks, technology firms and energy companies pushed us to formalize a year-round curriculum.
Today we operate as an independent academy with cohorts running quarterly. Our faculty includes former operators, partners and analysts — among them alumni of national bank direct brokerage who shape our finance modules.
We remain deliberately small to preserve the quality of mentorship that defined our earliest cohorts.
Educate. Empower. Elevate.
Mission. To make rigorous business management education accessible to mid-career professionals across Canada — without compromising depth, peer quality or instructor caliber.
Vision. To become the trusted independent leadership academy in Western Canada, recognized for graduate outcomes rather than marketing slogans.
Five principles that govern every cohort
Rigour
We resist watered-down content. Every module survives a faculty challenge round before it reaches a student.
Respect for time
You will not waste a session on filler. Programs are paced for working executives.
Peer quality
Cohorts are curated. The room you join is part of the value you receive.
Evidence over opinion
Frameworks taught at Polancodreams are tested in real Canadian companies, not borrowed from a textbook.
Long-term mentorship
Faculty stays available beyond graduation. Most alumni still meet their mentor quarterly.
Outcomes, measured
Every cohort publishes anonymized graduate outcomes data — promotions, roles, capstone results.
Meet the people behind Polancodreams
An interdisciplinary team of educators, operators and former finance professionals.
Elena Marchetti
Academic Director
Former INSEAD adjunct faculty and head of strategy for a TSX-listed retail group.
David Chen
Head of Finance Programs
Twenty years across Canadian capital markets, including senior roles connected to national bank direct brokerage research.
Robert Petrov
Operations Lead
Former COO of a North American supply chain platform, lecturer in lean operations.