In his current role with the City of Vaughan's department of Economic and Cultural Development, Don promotes entrepreneurship awareness, strengthens the innovation and commercialization eco-system, maintains strategic partnerships with government, business associations, educational institutions and local commercial areas that drive economic growth, employment and investment attraction and retention.Don has advised and consulted with thousands of entrepreneurs with diverse backgrounds and spanning many different industries, including: restaurants and cafes, professional practices, consultants, service-based companies, technology, retail, importing and exporting, tourism, and even agriculture. He also works with youth entrepreneurs to deliver key government programs. Don previously worked in Markham, supporting small business owners.While working at the City of Markham, Don also administered and coordinated the Celebrate Markham grant program supporting festival and event organizers, sports events and seniors clubs to host engaging and meaningful experiences for residents while attracting visitors to the community.In his prior professional career, Don worked for Deloitte as a Senior Analyst in their Transfer Pricing Tax group, where he performed corporate financial statement reviews, financial analyses, economic modelling, transfer pricing tax policy and reporting, research in various industry sectors and prepared Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) audit defence strategies.Don graduated from the University of Toronto's Commerce Program at the St. George campus, downtown Toronto, double-specializing in Economics and Commerce & Finance. This gave him a solid background in accounting, finance, management, business law, economics and quantitative analysis.
Listed skills include Business Planning, Strategic Planning, Program Management, Public Speaking, and 30 others.