An out of the box thinker as a young entrepreneur in hospitality management I opened and operated a unique catering and banquet business. Using my expertise in communications and customer service I applied those principals to corporate training with the Toronto office of The American Management Assoc/The Canadian Management Center, where as VP my team delivered over 200 top quality corporate and management training programs annually across Canada.Building upon the exceptional experiences acquired at AMA in Canada, the US and Europe, I was asked to take on the position of President/CEO with the Canadian Franchise Association. At the time, the franchise community in Canada was on a mission to self regulate. While serving as President and CEO the CFA was identified by Industry Canada as one of the top 5 trade associations in the country for best practices. A personal goal has been to encourage Canadian businesses to expand internationally, during my time in this position we lead highly successful trade missions to a number of countries. Building upon strong relationships with my peers in France, Mexico, the UK and US we created The World Franchise Council, I was selected to serve as one of the first Co-Chairs.I was then recruited to the Markham Board of Trade to assume the role of President and CEO. MBT like many not for profits was facing a variety of challenges. During my tenure I assembled a highly effective team and transformed the organization from a "typical" Board of Trade to a hybrid that took us into publishing, web based marketing and unique interactive events to promote local businesses and assist entrepreneurs realize the opportunities in Markham and beyond. Located in the IBM Innovation Space we were at the centre of many exciting new businesses that we were able to nurture and promote.Specialties : Accomplished at driving growth, profitability and revitalizations, government relations and communications, franchising, brand development and management education.