Members of the Advisory Committee have in-depth knowledge and experience in consulting and the non-profit sector. The advisors provide guidance to both the executive and consulting teams.
Jay Acharya, Senior Business Manager, Capital One
Dr. Ann Armstrong, Lecturer, OB/HRM & Director, Social Enterprise Initiative, Rotman School of Management
Carissa MacLennan, UNICEF Canada, Education Manager
John Baker, CEO, Aperio & Associated Faculty, Nonprofit Management & Leadership Program, Schulich School of Business
Sangeeta Chopra-Charron, Principal & Senior Change Agent, Symphini Change Management Inc.
Sarah Farrugia, Director, Value Creation, Bell Canada
Jennifer Frees, Consultant, Non-Profit Marketing Specialist, Opus Philanthropic Strategies Inc.
Matt Fullbrook, Manager, Clarkson Centre for Business Ethics & Board Effectiveness, Rotman School of Management
Yury Gerasimchuk, Director and Co-Owner, M-Vector Canada Inc.; Marketing Director, Trigenics Institute of Functional Neurology
Alex Gill, Principal, Mendicant Group & Faculty, Institute for the Study of Corporate Social Responsibility and Department of Politics and Public Administration, Ryerson University
Jon Haywood, Fraud and Internal Operations, Capital One
Teresa Huang, Director,Consulting & Deals, PricewaterhouseCoopers
Dr. Zayna Khayat, Associate Partner, SECOR management consulting
Vivek Kumar, Business Director, Capital One
Darren Lafreniere, Director, Ivey Consulting Project and Lecturer, Richard Ivey School of Business
Jim Love, CEO, Chelsea Consulting; Board Chair, GTA Chapter, CMC-Canada
Dr. Agnes Meinhard, Associate Professor, Ted Rogers School of Management & Founding Director, Centre for Voluntary Sector Studies
George Oliver, President, BGO Consulting Inc.
Sharon Sehdev, Sales Director, Cognition LLP
Gail Severini, Principal & co-founder, Symphini Change Management Inc.
Ming-Young Tam, MSW, Independent Consultant, non-profit and community sector
Charmaine Wong, Manager, Deloitte Consulting
Jane Zhang, Program Director, TechSoup Canada
Tom Zizys, Independent Consultant, Employment, Housing, Community Development and International Development
Steven Ayer, Senior Research Associate, Imagine Canada
Patrick Dunn, Principal, Spyglass Market Intelligence & Research Director, Idea Couture
Dr. Samuel Heath, Executive Director of Business Department, Ontario Lottery & Gaming Corporation
Barry L. Linetsky, Partner, The Strategic Planning Group & President, Curious Solutions
Steve McClelland, Consultant, The Boston Consulting Group
Mary Lynne Stewart, President, Mary Lynne Stewart & Associates
Denny Kuruvilla, MBA Graduate, Richard Ivey School of Business
Xavier Debane,Senior Director, Rogers Communications’ Strategy Group
Advisory Committee Members
Dr. Ann Armstrong
Director of Social Enterprise Initiative, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto
Lecturer, OB/HRM, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto
Faculty, Master of Biotechnology, University of Toronto Mississauga
Faculty Associate, Centre for Ethics, University of Toronto
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Dr. Ann Armstrong is Director, Social Enterprise Initiative and Lecturer, Organizational Behaviour/HR Management at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, and Faculty Associate at the Centre for Ethics, University of Toronto. Dr. Armstrong has been a lecturer in OB/HRM at Rotman for the past six years, and has taken an active role in increasing the School’s involvement in the non-profit/social enterprise sector. She teaches courses in non-profit consulting, change management, team building, and organizational theory and design, as well as in the Master of Biotechnology and the Culture, Communication and Information Technology programs. Dr. Armstrong also consults to organizations on compensation, creativity and organizational design, and currently serves as Chair of the board of Rotman NeXus, a student-run consulting agency serving the social sector, and as Chair of the Advisor Committee of the University of Toronto’s Volunteer Consulting Group.
Some of Dr. Armstrong’s publications include, “Teaching Creativity: An ‘EEE’ Experiential Exercise,” Journal of Management Education (1999); with J. D’Cruz and M. Taylor, “The Magellan Corporation,” (2001), prepared for the Rotman School of Management Aerospace EMBA; with T. Rimac, “Pot of God or Pandora’s Box? Early Stages of a Social Enterprise within a Non-profit Organization – A Canadian Perspective”, for the IESE Social Enterprise Conference (Barcelona, 2005); and with Jack Quarter and Laurie Mook, “Understanding the Social Economy: A Canadian Perspective.” Dr. Armstrong attended and achieved her PhD from the University of Toronto. She has also won Teaching Awards from Rotman School of Management, Graduate Teaching Excellence Award from the University of Guelph, and the R.P. Gilmor Award for Student Service, also from the University of Guelph. |
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John Baker
CEO, Aperio
Associated Faculty, Nonprofit Management & Leadership Program, Schulich School of Business
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John Baker is a Partner and Chief Executive of Aperio, running the Canadian office of the firm. John has an extensive breadth of Executive and Chief Executive experience in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors and has a broad background in strategic and business planning. He has been particularly recognized for his work developing leadership training programs for non-profit executives, and in developing multi-organization partnerships. Prior to his work with Aperio, John was the Founding President of Proventus Inc., a for-profit spin off of a not-for-profit association, and prior to that the President and CEO of the Ontario Service Safety Alliance.
John is also a retired Naval Officer having elected early retirement after 21 years of service in the Canadian Navy. He has a BA in International Studies from the Royal Military College of Canada, has attended the Banff School of Management and The Aresty Institute of Executive Education - Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. |
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Sangeeta Chopra-Charron
Principal & Senior Change Agent, Symphini Change Management Inc.
Sangeeta Chopra-Charron is a founding Principal and Senior Change Agent at Symphini Change Management Inc. Drawing from over 20 years of experience and a successful track record in the financial services arena, Sangeeta specializes in the areas of: Business Planning, Market Strategy, Market Research, Product Development, Change Management and Business Process Knowledge Management. She brings strong negotiation and people management skills.
A committed volunteer, Sangeeta continues to give back. She is a qualified Instructor for Junior Achievement and her experience in the public sector includes: mediator for the public sector, President of a non-profit organization as well as Chair of Parent Councils in both the primary and secondary public school systems. These personally rewarding experiences also serve to ground and enlighten her outlook on life.
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Sarah Farrugia
Director, Value Creation, Bell Canada
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Sarah is a Director on an internal consulting team at Bell Canada, responsible for running strategic projects across all business units. Having started her career at Bain & Company, she has over six years of consulting experience, particularly in the areas of operational efficiency, organizational redesign, and strategic planning. She also has substantial experience in implementing many of the strategic initiatives that have resulted from her consulting work. Sarah also had the good fortune to spend six months working for the Bridgespan Group, a non-profit consulting firm, in their San Francisco office. During that time, she had the opportunity to consult for clients in the education, environment and civic engagement spaces. While at Bain & Company, Sarah also had the opportunity to help shape the Toronto office’s pro bono strategy. Sarah holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Queen’s University. |
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Jennifer Frees
Consultant, Non-Profit Marketing Specialist, Opus Philanthropic Strategies Inc.
Jennifer is an innovative professional with diverse event, fundraising, marketing, and public relations experience in both agency and non-profit sectors. She has developed and managed award-winning large-scale international events projects and campaigns for blue chip organizations, as well as strategic fundraising and awareness programming for charitable initiatives.
Jennifer’s expertise lies in her exceptional communication skills with superior knowledge of consumer value drivers and marketing savvy. Non-profit clients have included: Tides Canada - Climate Solutions Project, Social Innovation Generation @ MaRS, PowerUP Canada, The Credit Valley Hospital Foundation, and The Richmond Hill Community Support Centre.
Jennifer is an active member of a number of non-profit organizations in the health and arts sectors. She believes in the promotion of philanthropic values in the local and international community and prides herself on developing creative and unique fundraising programs that are enticing, enjoyable and accessible to a wide range of socio-economic groups.
Matt Fullbrook
Manager, Clarkson Centre for Business Ethics and Board Effectiveness, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto
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Matt Fullbrook has been Manager of the Clarkson Centre for Business Ethics and Board Effectiveness (CCBE) at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto since 2003. The CCBE is best known for its annual corporate governance ratings, and contributions to the Globe and Mail’s annual Board Games report. In the last quarter of 2007, the Centre began investigations into corporate governance in small- and medium-sized Canadian firms, as well as family-run businesses. Matt received his B.A. in English and Philosophy from the University of Toronto. |
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Yury Gerasimchuk
Director and Co-Owner,M-Vector Canada Inc.
Marketing Director, Trigenics Institute of Functional Neurology
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Yury Gerasimchuk is a Director and co-founder of M-Vector Canada Inc., a market research and consulting firm that primarily focuses on market and social research, business consulting and public opinion polling in the Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan). Yury has 15 years of managerial experience, including 12 years of experience in market research and management consulting. He was personally involved in different capacity in more than 80 marketing and social research and consulting projects for different organizations, such as The World Bank, Coca-Cola, The Global Fund, Schwarzkopf & Henkel, Philip Morris, EBRD, UNICEF and others. Yury has BA from the Kyrgyz State University, and MBA from the Academy of Management, the Kyrgyz Republic. He is a member of ESOMAR (European Society of Market Research). Yury speaks English and Russian. |
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Alex Gill
Principal, Mendicant Group
Faculty Member, Institute for the Study of Corporate Social Responsibility, Ryerson University
Affiliated Faculty Member, Department of Politics and Public Administration, Ryerson University
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Alex Gill is a social entrepreneur and university instructor who enjoys working with community activists, nonprofit executives, corporations and others who want to make a difference. He currently heads Mendicant Group, a consultancy that helps charities, nonprofit organizations and companies improve their social impact. Prior to founding Mendicant, Alex spent more than a dozen years as an executive at a number of large nonprofits and associations. Mendicant’s current clients include a diverse range of NGOs, including those from areas such as health care, child and youth development and the environment. Alex holds appointments in Ryerson University’s Department of Politics and Public Administration and the Institute for the Study of Corporate Social Responsibility, where he regularly lectures about nonprofit management, advocacy and corporate citizenship. In 2010, Alex co-authored AIM: Achieve, Inspire, Make a Difference, a book which helps people use proven executive coaching methods to develop their own ability to give back to others. AIM is available through Chapters/Indigo and Amazon online. |
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Jon Haywood
Fraud and Internal Operations, Capital One
Jon has over 15 years experience working in the areas of strategy development, operations management, risk management and strategy consulting. Jon currently leads the Fraud and Internal Operations group at Capital One where he is focused on mitigating business risk and delivering an exceptional customer experience. Prior to his current role, Jon led the development of Capital One’s strategy to introduce PayPass contactless payment technology as well as Chip and PIN technology. Before joining Capital One, Jon spent several years in Deloitte’s Corporate Strategy practice advising clients across North America in the financial services, healthcare and energy sectors.
Jon holds an MBA from the Schulich School of Business and an Hons. Bachelor of Commerce from Queen’s University. .
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Teresa huang
Director, Consulting & Deals, PricewaterhouseCoopers
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Teresa Huang is a Director,Consulting & Deals at PricewaterhouseCoopers. She has over nine years of experience in the areas of organizational capability building, process engineering, decision support modeling, outsource vendor selection and management, and strategic planning. Prior to returning to PwC, Teresa also took on various roles in industry at an Energy and Home Services company, including at the senior leadership level as the Director of Process Engineering. She and her team were responsible for process analysis and system implementation projects in Operational areas such as Customer Care, Field Service Deployment and Workforce Planning.
Teresa hopes to apply her practical experience and solid leadership skills in developing young consultants and assisting not-for-profit organizations to meet their vision and objectives. Teresa has Bachelors of Applied Science degree in Mineral Engineering from the University of Toronto specializing in Environmental Engineering. |
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Dr. Zayna Khayat
Associate Partner, SECOR management consulting
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Dr. Zayna Khayat is an Associate Partner with the Toronto office of SECOR management consulting, a Canadian-based consultancy . She leads the Toronto Health and Life Sciences sector where she serves clients in the life sciences and in public health care, advising them on issues of strategy and management. Prior to joining SECOR, Zayna was a Principal with the Toronto office of The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), a global management consulting firm, from 2001 to 2010. Dr. Khayat is an adjunct professor at the Rotman School of Management where she instructs the health care consulting field course to second year MBA students in the health care stream. Prior to joining BCG, Zayna earned her Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Toronto / Hospital for Sick Children where she was a scholar of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, studying how insulin and exercise regulate blood glucose in the muscle, and why/where this process breaks down during disease states such as diabetes. Zayna speaks fluently in English, French and Arabic, and resides in Toronto with her husband and 3 children. |
Vivek Kumar
Business Director, Capital One
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Vivek has over 10 years of experience across a broad business spectrum including: strategy development, operations management, outsourcing and IT consulting. As Business Director at Capital One, Vivek leads core customer management programs where he is responsible for developing and executing strategies that drive growth & engagement across the Card customer base. He is also responsible for managing the profitability for the Capital One card portfolio by running portfolio optimization strategies. Vivek possesses strong analytical skills and has successfully delivered several complex initiatives that are grounded in fact based problem solving. Vivek holds an MBA from IIM Calcutta and a B.Tech (IIT). He is also a trained Six Sigma Black Belt and has earned his Certified Financial Analyst (CFA) designation. |
Darren Lafreniere
Director, Ivey Consulting Project, Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario
Lecturer, Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario
Owner, Final Round Prep
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Darren Lafreniere is the Director of the Ivey Consulting Project and a Lecturer at the Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario. He is also the owner of Final Round Prep, a company that provides professional recruiting support, including cover letter, resume, behavioural, networking and case interview training, to students who wish to pursue careers in the management consulting industry. Prior to his current roles, Darren gained a wealth of experience in both the entrepreneurial and corporate environments. As the owner of a high-performance auto parts company, he manufactured and distributed high performance aftermarket parts to customers across North America. As a management consultant, he worked with A.T. Kearney consulting clients across 7 major industries on various strategic issues including logistics optimization, organizational restructuring and operational cost reduction. Outside of his professional responsibilities, Darren volunteers his time with the Rotman Volunteer Consulting Group and enjoys online video games, rollerblading, and playing the guitar. Darren has an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business, and a BA from the University of Manitoba. |
Jim Love
CEO, Chelsea Consulting
Board Chair, GTA Chapter, CMC-Canada
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Jim Love is the CEO of Chelsea Consulting (www.chelseaconsulting.ca), a strategic IT and Business consulting company headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Equally at home in both strategic business and technology, Jim has served clients ranging from large international firms to exciting entrepreneurial startups. Jim is passionate about bringing together People, Process and Technology. On People front, he is an expert in Organizational Change with a focus on building teams – increasing virtual teams using collaborative and social media technology. On the process side, he is the author of a collaborative methodology in Lean process transformation which rapidly accelerates an organization’s speed of adoption as well as ensuring lasting, measureable results. Last, he is a technologist, with a strong understanding of web based technologies. He built a successful Software as a Service (SaaS) company and is CEO of the Outsourcing and Managed Services firm Chelsea Consulting. He is regarded as an expert in IT governance, especially in the field of Portfolio Management. Jim’s work has been published in a number of journals and periodicals. He writes a blog for Tech Web and is a regular contributor to the Cutter Journal of IT. He is a sought-after speaker and hosts two online radio shows GameChanging (www.BlogTalkRadio.com/GameChanging) and the Customer Experience Show (www.BlogTalkRadio.com/CustomerExperienceShow). Both are syndicated as weekly podcasts. He is part-time professor at the University of Waterloo in the Master’s program at the Centre for Business Entrepreneurship and Technology (CBET). He is the head of the largest chapter of CMC Canada, the association representing professional management consultants in Canada and the organization that grants the legal designation CMC which is recognized in over 43 countries. In recognition of his contribution to management consulting, he was awarded a Fellowship in the association (FCMC). |
Dr. Agnes
Associate Professor, Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University
Founder & Director, Centre for Voluntary Sector Studies, Ryerson University
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Dr. Agnes Meinhard is Associate Professor of Organizational Behaviour and Theory in the Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University. She is the founding director of the Centre for Voluntary Sector Studies at Ryerson. Her research focuses on the voluntary and nonprofit sector. Some of the areas she has researched are: the formation, growth and demise of voluntary organizations; risk management in nonprofit organizations; corporate participation in the social economy; partnerships between for-profit and nonprofit organizations; strategic responses of voluntary organizations to changing policy; women’s voluntary organizations; volunteer behaviour and development; student volunteering; leadership and organizational change. Her work has been published in books and academic journals. Agnes Meinhard was instrumental in establishing Canada’s first undergraduate interdisciplinary curriculum in nonprofit and voluntary sector management at Ryerson University and teaches courses in developing effective nonprofit organizations and leading nonprofit organizations through change. Voluntary organizations are not only of academic interest to Dr. Meinhard; she serves on the boards of several nonprofit organizations. |
George Oliver
President, BGO Consulting Inc.
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George has managed his management consultancy for over 16 years. His practice focuses on healthcare, broadcasting and the non-profit sector in functional areas that include operations, project management, business planning and organization development. A partial client list includes the Canadian Association of Food Banks, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Stanford University Medical Centre, the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and the Ontario Veterinary College. Prior to founding his consultancy, George held progressively senior positions at CBC Radio, Pitney-Bowes and IBM Canada. George serves on non-profit boards, is an active volunteer and is in the midst of transitioning into a non-profit Executive Director role. George is currently enrolled in the Non-Profit Management program at Ryerson University. He holds an MBA (Queen’s), a BA (Brock) and has completed programs in leadership, innovation and change management amongst others. |
Sharon Sehdev
Sales Director, Cognition LLP
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Sharon Sehdev is a Sales Director for Cognition LLP working in the Toronto office. She is responsible for developing relationships with public, private and not for profit companies, ensuring they receive quality services and leading industry expertise. Prior to this, Sharon was a Client Service Director for PricewaterhouseCoopers in the Toronto downtown office, responsible for developing relationships with local top tier clients in the technology sector. Sharon has a BA (Honours) from the University of Western Ontario. |
Gail Severini
Principal & co-founder, Symphini Change Management Inc.
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Gail is a Principal and co-founder of Symphini Change Management Inc., which focuses on leading and managing change. Gail has 20 years of experience implementing strategic change in various industries. She participates in several professional associations and serves on various advisory boards. Her articles and presentations are published regularly and she has been interviewed on the topic of Change Management, for example through BusinessWeek’s Market Advisory Board on “fresh ideas on how to manage through the recession”. Gail is a graduate of Queen’s University and earned her Certified Management Consultant (CMC) designation in 1993. She continues as an active member of the Canadian Association of Management Consultants, sponsoring and mentoring prospective members. She is also Certified in Prosci Research’s Change Management Program. |
Ming Young Tam
MSW, Independent Consultant, non-profit and community sector
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Ming-Young Tam, MSW Ming-Young Tam has been involved with Endeavour since 2009 as a project advisor. She has worked with non-profit sector and community-based organizations for over 10 years, and is experienced in program development and evaluation, stakeholder relations, policy research, and strategic and operational planning. As she is a generalist at heart, Ming-Young has worked with a variety of social issues, including newcomer settlement, child and youth development, violence against women, community health, grant-making, and non-profit management. Her professional experience includes a variety of social policy and public administration positions with organizations such as the United Way Toronto, City of Toronto, Laidlaw Foundation, and the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. As a freelance consultant, Ming-Young supports community and social service agencies to increase impact, build capacity, and measure outcomes. She is also an active volunteer, and has recently been involved as: facilitator for an immigrant settlement program, board member with a research organization, scholarship application assessor for a national awards program, and executive team member with a youth policy engagement network. Ming-Young is a graduate of Queen’s University at Kingston, and has a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Toronto.
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Charmaine Wong
Manager, Deloitte Consulting
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Charmaine Wong is a Manager in Deloitte Consulting’s Information Management practice. With over 7 years of experience in consulting, she brings a wide breadth of expertise in business and technology strategy development, business transformation, and technology implementation. Charmaine has extensive experience in leading teams, and building relationships with senior management and team members. While at Deloitte, she played a key role in developing ACT (Advising the Community Together), a taskforce dedicated to providing opportunities for socially minded Deloitte practitioners to serve leaders of youth-oriented non-profit organizations. Charmaine is also heavily involved in forming and driving various firm wide women and talent development initiatives. Charmaine holds special interest in assisting not-for-profit organization to meet their organization vision and objectives. For the past several years, she has been heavily involved with Sheena’s Place and recognized for her efforts in assisting them to develop their technology strategy, improve operational processes, increase accountability to board and donors, and drive various fundraising activities. Charmaine also applies her technical and business process engineering experience by actively volunteering for various not-for-profit animal rescue organizations. Prior to joining Deloitte, Charmaine graduated from the University of Toronto obtaining a Bachelour of Applied Science degree in Industrial Engineering specializing in Information Systems and Process Design. She played a key role in developing student consulting organizations such as the University of Toronto Consulting Association and is a founding member of their Volunteer Consulting Group. |
Jane Zhang
Program Director, TechSoup Canada
Director, Corporate Social Responsibility, Information Technology Association of Canada
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Jane Zhang has been involved in the nonprofit technology sector for over ten years. She is currently Program Director of TechSoup Canada and Director of Corporate Social Responsibility of the Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC). Prior to this, she was Program Coordinator for Partnership Platform, an initiative of ITAC that has been instrumental in establishing cross-sector partnerships for nonprofits on technology projects. In addition, Jane has been an active participant in the Toronto technology community, helping to organize technology events such as DrupalCamp, Women in IT, and Software Freedom Day. Jane is currently on the board of The Regeneration House, where she is helping to oversee the development of its IT strategy and fundraising initiatives. She is also one of the founders of the Vancouver Chapter of DigitalEve, an international nonprofit organization aimed at helping women in the technology sector. During her time at DigitalEve Vancouver, Jane helped to grow their membership from five to over 3000 in its first year. Jane served for two years as the director of Community Online Development program at DigitalEve Toronto, a program staffed entirely by volunteers designing web sites for the nonprofit sector at no cost. |
Tom Zizys
Independent Consultant, Employment, Housing, Community Development and International Development
Tom Zizys has worked as a consultant in the community sector for over 18 years. He has extensive experience as a policy researcher and project consultant in the community sector, focusing on labour market analysis and designing employment programs. Other fields of work have included community economic development and addressing homelessness. He specializes in research studies, evaluations, project development and funding proposals. Tom previously held a number of senior positions in the Government of Ontario, including Director of Policy, Premier’s Office (1985-86), Executive Coordinator, Cabinet Committee on Justice Policy (1987), and Chairman, Housing Advocacy Task Force (1988-89). He has taught several courses at the university level at York University and Ryerson University, including program evaluation, public policy and public law. He has also been involved in numerous international development projects, funded by the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme, the Canadian International Development Agency, the British Department for International Development and the United States Agency for International Development. As a result, he has significant international expertise in project design (including the design of evaluation frameworks and identification of indicators), project implementation and project evaluation. Tom holds degrees in political science (BA – McGill), law (LLB – York University) and public administration (MPA – Harvard). |
Steven Ayers
Senior Research Associate, Imagine Canada
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Steven Ayer is a Senior Research Associate at Imagine Canada. He is a co-author of the report Corporate Community Investment Practices, Motivations and Challenges: Findings from the Canada Survey of Business Contributions to Community, believed to the most comprehensive study of corporate contributions to non-profit and charitable organizations ever conducted in North America. Steve is also an author of the 2007 Highlights report for the Canada Survey of Giving, Volunteering, and Participating, the largest study of individual giving and volunteering behavior in Canada. He has also written reports on fundraising costs for charities in Canada. Previously, Steve was a Research Manager and Research Associate at the Institute for Sport Marketing, where he managed an array of research and consulting projects related to marketing and sponsorship.
Steve holds an MBA from Laurentian University and is a recipient of the Social Science and Humanities Research Council’s Canada Graduate Scholarship. In his spare time, Steve is an enthusiastic volunteer and an equally enthusiastic mediocre athlete. |
Patrick Dunn
Principal, Spyglass Market Intelligence
Research Director, Idea Couture
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Patrick Dunn is an experienced researcher and consultant, with a strong history of bringing consumer and business insights to clients. With a wide range of global project experience, Patrick is fully versed in a wide range of qualitative and quantitative research methodologies. Patrick started his career with industry-leading organizations such as Xerox and Coca-cola in sales and marketing roles. Following a lifelong passion for Asian history and culture, Patrick moved to Japan in 2002 to continue his career as a consultant with Selnate Consulting, which focused on development of hard and soft executive skills for firms such as Hitachi, Pioneer, and Chugai Pharmaceutical. In 2005, Patrick joined Japan Market Intelligence (JMI), a full-service market research consultancy, with a focus on providing market entry and refinement strategies for international clients. Clients ranged across business-to-business and business-to-consumer, with diverse objectives including competitive intelligence, branding, customer segmentation, market sizing, usage and attitude, customer satisfaction tracking, and more. During his tenure in Tokyo, he was also a member on a winning team of the JMEC (Japan Market Expansion Competition), a business plan and consulting competition. Returning to Canada in 2007, Patrick has continued his career in market research at MarketProbe, where he was responsible for customer experience and engagement projects for Fortune 1000 clients. He founded Spyglass Market Intelligence in 2009. Spyglass MI is a market research consultancy providing research insights to drive strategic decision-making, with a focus on Asian and international markets. Patrick has been involved with the Endeavour Volunteer Consulting for Non-Profits since 2008, and has successfully completed a project as engagement manager for the Canadian Hearing Society. Patrick holds an MBA from the University of Liverpool, and a Bachelor of Commerce from McMaster University. He is currently working toward Certified Marketing Research Professional (CMRP) designation (expected 2010). |
Dr. Samuel Heath
Executive Director of Business Development,
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Sam joined OLG in August 2009 in an executive strategy, planning, and business development role. OLG is an Ontario government agency that returns close to $2 billion annually to the province. Of that total, $120 million goes to charities through the Ontario Trillium Foundation; the remained funds about 8% of health care costs in the province. Prior to joining OLG, Sam was an Associate Principal with McKinsey and Company, working day-to-day with consulting teams and senior executives to create solutions to their most challenging problems. His consulting work focused on developing corporate strategy, customer proposition, and marketing strategy for retailers. Sam has volunteered to help several non-profits to develop growth and marketing strategies, including JUMP Math in Toronto. He also led McKinsey’s work with the Ontario Trillium Foundation’s board on their future funding strategy. In previous lives, Sam worked as a bike courier, a barista, a tree-planter, and received his Ph.D. in computer science from Brown University in 2003. |
Barry L. Linetsky
Partner, The Strategic Planning Group
President, Curious Solutions
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Barry is Partner of The Strategic Planning Group (TSPG) and President of Curious Solutions. Barry works with organizations to help them sharpen their strategic focus and understand how customer expectations of product and service performance can be used to drive all aspects of the business. Prior to joining TSPG in 1994, he was with a leading global financial services company where he provided his expertise in operations management, strategic planning, product development and marketing. Barry’s lucid communication skills and analytical acumen lend additional strengths to his strong implementation and project management skills. His article “Think Like An Iconoclast: The Principles of Walt Disney’s Success” was published in the Spring 2009 issue of the award-winning Rotman Magazine. His article “The Project Management Paradox” first appeared in the Ivey Business Journal in March/April 2008 and was later republished in 2009 as an ‘Executive Briefing’ by the Economist Intelligence Unit in partnership with Harvard Business School Publishing. Barry holds an MBA from the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, and an MA and BA from York University in Toronto. |
Steve McClelland
Consultant, The Boston Consulting Group
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Steve is currently a consultant at The Boston Consulting Group (BCG). He joined BCG as a summer consultant in 2009 and returned to a full-time position in 2009. Steve’s prior experience includes leading a customer analytics team at The Bank of Nova Scotia within international credit cards, and at Air Canada and Aeroplan, where he started a CRM team and an internal consulting team. Outside of work, Steve is very passionate about golf, maintaining a handicap of 3, and when he’s not on the links is looking to travel somewhere exotic – he’s travelled to over 30 countries throughout Asia, Europe, the Caribbean and South America. Steve completed an MBA at the Richard Ivey School of Business and a Bachelor of Commerce at the University of Calgary, and holds a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation. |
Mary Lynne Stewart
President, Mary Lynne Stewart & Associates
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Mary Lynne Stewart is a professional fundraiser and administrator with over 18 years of experience. She has worked with numerous Canadian and international non-profit institutions including the Alzheimer Society of Canada, Canadian Liver Foundation, March of Dimes Canada, and Hospital for Sick Kids. Her company, MLS & Associates, assist charities with the organization and facilitation of their various programs, such as direct marketing programs, corporate and foundation programs, special events development, and direct response television programs. For ten years she has served as Director of Development for Christian Children’s Fund of Canada. She has produced and directed countless short program commercials and over twenty major infomercial programs, supervised all aspects of media buying and monitored results. |
Denny Kuruvilla
MBA Graduate, Richard Ivey School of Business
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Denny has over ten years of work experience in marketing strategy and recently worked with the McCann Worldgroup for the past five years in brand strategy before pursuing an MBA at Ivey. Earlier he earned a BA from St.Xavier’s College in Mumbai and an MA in Economics from the University of Mumbai. He put a career as an Economist on hold to follow his passion for brand architecture and strategy. At McCann he specialized in brand strategy, both design and market, for clients in financial services, telecom, aviation and retail. He is very keen to contribute his skills to establish a firm brand presence for Endeavour as well as continue his work in the non-profit sector, providing subject matter expertise to Endevour’s projects as the need arises. |
Xavier Debane
Senior Director, Rogers Communications’ Strategy Group
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Carissa MacLennan
UNICEF Canada, Education Manager
Carissa MacLennan is an Education Specialist, with a Master of Education, who has worked both domestically and internationally in formal and informal education and training capacities. Carissa is currently employed at UNICEF Canada as an Education Manager, working on children’s rights-based approaches to education. Previously, Carissa worked for jhr (Journalists for Human Rights) where she developed and managed programming for their domestic and international departments. With jhr Carissa worked in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Zambia, and in universities across Canada. Carissa’s governance experience includes serving on the boards for Canadian-Sudanese Volunteers for Development and, presently, OneChild. |


























Xavier Debane is a Senior Director within Rogers Communications’ Strategy Group - the group responsible for leading internal company-wide consulting projects, as well as building overall corporate strategy with the Executive Team. Through his experience at Rogers Communications and his prior role as Project Leader for The Boston Consulting Group, he has experience in both internal and external advisory in the field of Strategy. Xavier has multiple areas of expertise, including new market entry, supplier/partner management, organizational issues, and experience in a variety of industries. He is also in charge of recruiting for the Strategy group.