Exceptional people find us
“To grow a business today, the quality of the people you employ, engage, and invest in significantly impacts the future success of your organization.”
Stefan Danis, CEO, Chief Talent Officer, Mandrake
Hand-picked across industries and functions, our passionate recruitment consultants and HR solutions experts stay deeply rooted and connected to their respective business networks, industries, and communities they serve.
Every day, they meet exceptional people that possess the credentials, the capabilities, the experience, and the aptitude to make a real difference in their fields.


Our values in action
At Mandrake, we believe in giving back. On an individual level, our employees support dozens of initiatives yearly. As a collective, Mandrake’s 50-year legacy of philanthropy includes several diverse programs, such as Skate for Kids. By the time this annual fundraising event reaches its 30th birthday in 2021, it will have raised well over $1,000,000 for local children’s charities.
From the ground up – the Mandrake success story
Our story starts in 1970 with the vision and ambition of a prolific talent recruiter in Toronto named Harold Perry. The founder and chairman of Mandrake and active member of the board, Mr. Perry opened the first Mandrake office at Bloor and Bay in Toronto.


Harold Perry
Chairman
Toronto
Harold Perry’s background includes over 50 years in the executive search field, servicing more than 150 Canadian and International organizations. He has successfully completed over 800 senior executive searches.
As Founder and Chairman of Mandrake, Harold is the inspiration for his company’s innovative and entrepreneurial spirit. Harold founded his executive search practice in 1970. Since then, he has seen significant growth in the Mandrake team whose dedication and experience contribute to the continuing success of the organization.

Stéfan Danis
CEO & Chief Talent Officer
Toronto
Stéfan joined Mandrake from Procter & Gamble as a Consultant in 1987, became Partner in 1991, and was appointed CEO and Chief Talent Officer in 1999. He is also Americas Director of IMD, our 30-country strong executive search global partnership.
He has led hundreds of executive engagements in Finance, Sales, HR, Marketing, Communications, and Strategy for various service, not-for-profit, and manufacturing companies. Stéfan is an expert on the issues surrounding the changing face of human capital in today’s market, and a leader in creating and structuring competitive advantages for clients. Outside of his direct involvement in the recruiting of dozens of CEO’s, he has brokered several mergers and acquisitions.

Lori Hansford
Co-President, Partner
Toronto
Lori is a trusted advisor to business leaders in sectors including consumer packaged goods, healthcare, telecommunications, academic institutions and retail. Lori holds an Honours Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Wilfrid Laurier University. She joined Mandrake in 2006, was invited to become a Partner in 2011, and was appointed Co-President in April 2015.

Louise Daigneault
Co-President, Partner
Toronto
After graduating from L’Université du Québec à Montréal with a Bachelor of Commerce, Louise joined Procter & Gamble as a Sales Representative where she had an impressive and progressive career. During her 14 years at P&G, Louise’s positions included Key Account Manager, Regional Manager, National Account Manager, Customer Marketing Manager, Director of Customer Marketing and Sales Director.

Normand Lebeau
President Mandrake Montreal
Montreal
After graduating with a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of West Florida, Normand Lebeau initially worked for Trans-Canada Glass Inc., focusing on business development and brand image. Since leaving his own point-of-sale manufacturing company in 1996 to become the Managing Partner of Mandrake’s Montreal office, Normand has developed a multi-specialist executive search practice servicing intermediate and senior levels within the Quebec market.

Bill Holland
Partner
Toronto
Described by his clients as “relentless in the search for great talent” and by his partners as a “brilliant strategist who can construct unique ways to search for executive talent”, Bill is widely regarded as one of the preeminent search consultants in the country.

Daphne Bykerk
Partner
Toronto
Following the completion of a Bachelor of Commerce (University of Toronto) and an MBA (Schulich School of Business), Daphne embarked on a marketing career in the consumer packaged goods industry. Over the next 15 years she progressed to the executive level through Nabisco and RJR MacDonald.

Gregg Perry
Partner
Toronto
Gregg graduated from Carleton University with a BA (LAW) degree focused in Corporate Law. Gregg worked for Mandrake on a contract basis during the summer while attending law school and joined full time in 2006 after graduating. Since joining Mandrake, Gregg’s exceptional advisory talent has resulted in his career fast tracking. In 2010 Gregg became a Vice President and in 2011 was invited to be a Partner at Mandrake.

Michael Gates
Partner
Toronto
Following completion of his HBA from Ivy Business School at Western, Michael embarked on a marketing career that included roles with Rubbermaid Canada and American Sensors.

Paul Lintner
Partner
Toronto
Following a successful career in finance with SCM and a major engineering firm, Paul co-founded a CPG Brokerage firm covering Atlantic Canada representing international brands of cosmetics, perfumes and Personal Care products partnering with National and Regional Chains. In 1973 Paul sold his business and moved back to Toronto to join Mandrake.

Alexandre Raymond
Vice President & Practice Leader
Montreal
His practical experience in executive recruiting and his interpersonal skills combined with his understanding of organizations allow him to act as an influential leader and to advise and support clients working in complex environments. His knowledge of the business environment, both locally and internationally, greatly contributes to the development of promising research strategies in order to identify the best talents.

Andrew Gartha
Vice President
Toronto
Graduating from Ryerson with a Bachelor of Arts in Radio & Television Arts, Andrew began his career working at CityTV and then made his way to the advertising world starting off in production. He went back to university at Western and took business courses; then, returned to the Agency world this time in account service. Over the next number of years Andrew worked at several large Advertising Agencies rising to the level of Account Director. He completed the Institute of Communication Agencies’ Certified Advertising Agency Practitioner Designation. Additionally, over the past few years, he has completed 5 marketing courses with the Canadian Marketing Association and is one course away from receiving his Certified Marketing Specialist Designation.

Brigitte de Champlain
Director, Executive Research
Montreal
Brigitte de Champlain has more than 20 years of tangible achievements with North American and European organizations as an executive-level manager, member of management committees or as an expert consultant. Throughout her career, Brigitte has worked on strategic planning, development, restructuring, market analysis and conquest, company positioning, product launches and divisions while ensuring the impact on internal resources as well as organizational development and operational optimization needs. She has supervised and leading hundreds of employees and numerous managers in significant change management and organizational transformation contexts.

Charles M. Lennox
Vice President
Toronto
Charles is a Senior Executive Search Consultant with a strong reputation for relationship building and acting as a trusted advisor to clients, while helping them build impactful teams. Charles received an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree from Huron University College at the University of Western Ontario in 1983 and is also a Certified Management Consultant (CMC) and a Certified Age in Place Professional (CAPS).

Danny Savard
Vice President & Practice Leader
Montreal
After graduating with a Bachelor of Engineering degree, Mr. Savard held a variety of positions, primarily in the areas of strategic sales organization and management, business turnaround, and the organization and management of operations management. He has worked for several leading organizations such as Hewitt Equipment, Mecfor, Cegertec WorleyParsons, Wajax Equipment, Goodfellow and Symbiose & Strategies. He has held positions in sales management, general management, sales/marketing vice presidency, executive presidency and presidency.

David Thomas
Vice President
Toronto
In a search career built over the last 15 years, David has a proven track record of helping clients in the Retail, Consumer, and Manufacturing sectors. David conducts executive assignments as well as functional roles in sales, operations, marketing, supply chain, human resources and finance.

Deborah Nixon
Advisor, Human Capital Solutions
Toronto
As the Vice President of Human Capital Solutions, Deborah leads Running Start, Career Transition and Leadership and Talent Programs. She has coached individuals and groups through all elements of the talent lifecycle. After re-joining Mandrake in 2015 she has been responsible for ensuring that Mandrake’s program content and delivery reflects the company’s best practices and excellence. She trains all Mandrake coaches in the Career Transition and Onboarding process and ensures high client satisfaction. Deborah also has a number of executive search clients in the financial services, healthcare and e-commerce business. Most recently, she has conducted a number of searches for large pension fund clients including building their entire valuations team.

Isabelle Girard
Vice-President & Practice leader
Montreal
Isabelle Girard has provided executive search services to companies in all sectors of the economy. She has also collaborated with many Canadians and International companies in identifying top talent that has brought significant value to the organizations.

James Coburn
Vice President
Toronto
James has 25 years experience in executive search. He first joined Mandrake from the broadcast industry. He worked with his twin brother as an Anchor and Entertainment reporter for Citytv. The visionary, founder of Citytv, Moses Znaimer was a master storyteller. That early experience was key in his development to learn and understand story telling and in fact strategy.

John Rey
Vice President
Toronto
John is a senior search consultant who has expertise in executive placement and recruitment with a reputation of finding the ‘right fit’ for each client’s unique needs. With more than 15 years of experience in talent search and acquisition, John partners with clients ranging from growth to global large enterprise. As a senior executive having worked and lived in Canada, UK/Europe and the United States, John brings his global experience and local expertise to his searches.

Lynn Doyle
Vice President
Toronto
Lynn is a respected recruiter with over twenty years’ experience in executive search. She ran her own successful search firm prior to joining Mandrake in the summer of 2007. Lynn continually delivers an ability to identify and deliver candidates that add value to Mandrake’s clients’ organizations. She has managed a significant number of searches (lost count after 600) and during this time has honed her craft in various business categories.

Maxime Lebeau
Vice President & Practice Leader
Montreal
Fascinated by Executive Recruitment and Interpersonal Relations, Maxime has supported or led more than 100 assignments since his beginning in 2015.

Robert Lawrence
Vice President
Toronto
Rob Lawrence has a unique perspective from his experience in the advertising and marketing world. He has earned the long-term trust of many of the top creative leaders in town, because they know he gets it.