Chair: Mona Mitchell

After a successful 13-year tenure as executive vice president at two large organizations, Mona Mitchell founded ACHIEVEBLUE Corporation in 2007 with a mission to help leaders create high-performance organizations that are also great places to work.  Over the course of her career, Mona has worked with hundreds of CEOs and senior corporate officers to create high performing environments that allow employees to thrive and excel, and management teams to lead and execute to strategy.  In 2018, Mona released her book, “7 Elements of Strategy Execution”, an Amazon Bestseller, to bring together all of her insights gleaned over the years in cultural transformation, leadership development and fostering high-performance corporate environments.  ​

Treasurer: Vipin Rikhi
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Vipin has had several roles as a senior finance leader and is currently the CFO for National Pen which is a company under the Cimpress umbrella. He brings over 12 years of progressive management experience in corporate finance, strategic business planning, data modeling, people development, and project management. He is an energetic team player who thrives in a high-performance/collaborative environment. Industry exposure in Healthcare, Retail/Fashion, Consumer Packaged Goods & IT. Business lifecycle exposure in High-growth (New Balance), Post-merger Integration (Alcon-Novartis), Transition-strategy (General Electric) & Turn-around (Nestle).

Secretary:  Joel Marans

Joel helps organizations of all sizes foster change, drive innovation and engage employees through creative uses of technology. With deep roots in advertising and marketing, Joel is VP, Internal Communications and Employer Brand at Top Hat, the leading education technology company transforming how educators teach, and how students learn. Joel is the father of two children, a husband to a wonderful wife, and believes improving access to education and positive role modelling is the way to bring about a future without violence against women and young girls.  

Directors: ​​

Michael Bowe
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Michael is an award-winning Senior Equity & Inclusion Leader with a demonstrated history of working in the non-profit social services sector. He has over 20 years of experience as an equity and community engagement specialist. Most of those years were spent in the Jane and Finch community, in Toronto, where he lived and worked with immigrant and refugee groups, ethno-racial and low-income families, and survivors of family violence. As the Equity Senior Leader at Simcoe Muskoka Family Connexions, he accelerated the agency’s equity journey by informing its governing statements and priorities. Michael has a Masters in Social Work degree from York University and has worked in the field of child welfare for over 18 years. 

Chanda CeeCee Chilanga 

CeeCee is many things but above all a connector and people person. There is nothing she loves more than helping people succeed in what they are passionate about. She believes in the power of community and for over 14 years has volunteered her skills across organizations in Halifax and Toronto. She is creative by nature and lives to maximize her skillsets at every opportunity as a Fashion Entrepreneur, as Founder of Dapper Style Mint, lending her expertise as a Brand Consultant and an avid community volunteer.  CeeCee is a graduate of Saint Mary's University.

​Ari Elkouby​

​Ari Elkouby is a VP, Executive Creative Director at Wunderman Thompson Canada where he creatively oversees a diverse portfolio of clients across North America. His two decades of industry experience has seen him work across a broad spectrum of clients on both sides of the border. He helps his client’s messages breakthrough with omni-channel thinking and integration of innovative technology. Ari is fiercely collaborative and regularly contributes thought leadership pieces to various publications on industry trends as well as sits on numerous jury panels to help recognize the best work being produced across Canada and beyond.

Chris Langdon
                                                             
Chris is a partner at McCarthy Tétrault LLP, one of Canada’s pre-eminent law firms, with over 20 years of experience.  Chris advises on international and domestic projects and financing in mining, energy, and infrastructure.  Chris has diverse international experience having worked as a partner in an international law firm in London, England and the Middle East and having spent part of his childhood in England and East Africa.  He holds a Masters in Law from the University of London (King’s College), a Bachelor of Common Law and Bachelor of Civil Law from McGill University and a Bachelor of Social Science from the University of Ottawa.  Chris is married with two sons and one daughter and lives in Toronto.​

Sheamus Murphy

Sheamus Murphy has over 15 years of experience in government, communications and public affairs, including on Parliament Hill, at Queen’s Park and in the private sector.  As Vice-President, Federal Advocacy for Counsel Public Affairs, Sheamus advises organizations on government relations strategies with a focus on health care, transportation, clean energy and labour.  At Queen’s Park, Sheamus served as Director of Communications to the Minister of Health and Long-term Care and in senior roles with the Attorney General and Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities.  Sheamus holds a Master of Arts from the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Alberta. He is originally from Edmonton.​

Mary Pompili

Mary Pompili, an accomplished marketing and communications executive is currently Vice President, Marketing and Communications at Villa Charities Inc. and a member of the Executive Leadership Team. She is an accomplished chief marketing executive who develops, implements and manages brand strategies that successfully position organizations for sales growth, increased brand awareness and consumer engagement. Mary has in-depth experience in a range of sectors including luxury retail, and arts and culture. She has developed, launched and stewarded many great brands including two of Canada's best-known luxury retail brands, Holt Renfrew and Harry Rosen. Her career in arts and culture began at Luminato Festival as Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer and then went on to serve as Interim CEO and Chief Operating Officer at Canada’s Walk of Fame. Mary is a graduate of OCAD University and holds a CM designation. ​

​Brendan Shanahan

Brendan Shanahan is the President and Alternate Governor for the Toronto Maple Leafs Hockey Team. In his role, Brendan oversees all team operations. He served in the National Hockey League for three decades as a player and later as an executive and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in his hometown of Toronto in November 2013. Over the course of his playing career, Brendan captured three Stanley Cup Championships in addition to an Olympic gold medal, a World Championship gold medal and a Canada Cup title as a member of Team Canada. As a player, Brendan was also the recipient of the 2003 King Clancy Memorial Trophy, an annual award to the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice while making a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community. He has been an advocate for ending domestic violence and sexual assault dating back to his playing days, including a longstanding relationship with Sanctuary for Families in New York. 

​Nadira Singh

​Nadira Singh has over 25 years of relevant experience as an innovative and passionate academic leader and professor in the college and university system. Nadira’s background in Human Resources and Training and Development along with her entrepreneurial success, demonstrate an appropriate blend of skills and expertise to successfully lead in the academic arena. She is a strategic visionary, a creative problem-solver and change agent with the ability to work collaboratively building sustainable education solutions for learners. Nadira values transparency, inclusion, authenticity, collaboration, and communication. Nadira holds Doctor of Business Administration and Master of Business Administration Degrees. She also holds Certifications in Human Resources Management and Training and Development.

Louie Surdi

Louie Surdi has over 30 years of finance and accounting experience and is currently the Group Leader; Shared Services Finance at Finastra (formerly D+H) a financial technology company since 2016. Previously Louie held senior roles with Deloitte Consulting, Connolly Canada and Toronto Argonauts and prior to that spent 10 years with HBC as Vice President, Shared Services Finance. Louie sits on the Board of Surex (non-profit organization), is a graduate of University of Toronto and lives in East York with his wife and two sons.