Mandrake Consultants

Harold has many associations that extend beyond Mandrake:

• He is the Founder of Crestwood School, Crestwood Preparatory College and Crestwood Day Camp. The private schools have a current enrolment of more than 750 students and the summer camp has grown to be one of the largest and most sought-after day camps in the Toronto area with enrolment of over 1000 campers over the course of the summer.
• The Federal Cabinet appointed Harold as a Commissioner of the Toronto Harbour Commission in August 1995 and re-appointed him in 1998. He was elected Chair from January 1998 to June 1999. In June 1999, the Toronto Harbour Commission became the Toronto Port Authority and he acted as Chair until the new board was appointed.
• Past Member of the Ontario Racing Commission. As a thoroughbred owner and breeder since 1980, Harold was appointed to the Ontario Racing Commission for a three-year term in 2003.

Harold has been an active contributor to numerous other charities and community support organizations. A few examples:

• Established a University Scholarship Fund over 30 years ago.
• He served on the Board of ProAction, a joint venture between the Toronto police department and businesses, to develop safer communities for children; www.proactionhockey.ca.
• Harold is Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of the Skate for Kids, an annual fundraiser Hockey Tournament, in association with National Advertisers Benevolent Society (NABS) and St. Michael’s School. Since 1991 Skate for Kids has raised close to $1M since its inception.
• United Israel Appeal
• St. Michael’s Hospital

Stéfan published best-selling Gobi Runner in 2011 and is a regular keynote on change management having presented more than 100 customized versions of his TEDx talk on all continents. He was inducted to the Canadian Marketing Hall of Legends and awarded the Paul Mulvihill Humanitarian award for his charitable work.

Stéfan received a B. Comm. from McGill University and has attended leadership development courses at MIT, Harvard, and Babson.

Stéfan has been very active driving social responsibility, including:
Raised $200,000 running across the Gobi, Atacama, Sahara and Antarctica deserts for unemployed and distressed executives
Co-founded Skate for Kids www.skateforkids.com, benefiting kids at risk, netting almost $1M
Co-Founded Marketing Hall of Legends of Canada www.marketinghalloflegends.ca which inducts Canadians for marketing lifetime achievement

Stéfan is on the Board of the global Young President Organization www.ypo.org as Learning Chair for Canada. Prior he was on the board of World Education Services www.wes.org, Social Enterprise Development Innovations www.sedi.org, The Power Plant www.thepowerplant.org Canada’s leading contemporary art gallery, and ProAction www.copsandkids.ca.

Lori’s background includes 20 years in marketing and sales leadership roles in multiple industry sectors. She began in consumer-packaged goods and rose to the VP level at Campbell Soup and subsequently joined Molson as VP of Specialty Sales. Lori gained further executive experience in the telecommunications sector with Sprint, and then as Vice-President of Sales at Virgin Mobile, where she was instrumental in launching that business into Canada.

Lori’s success is predicated on her business acumen, impressive expertise across multiple functions in a broad range of industry sectors, as well as her forthright yet diplomatic style. She is highly respected by the client and candidate markets. Lori has made significant contributions to numerous companies’ organization success through filling roles ranging from senior management through to C-suite, in Canada and the United States.

Louise’s expertise stems from a solid progressive background with P&G, as well as knowledge of regional markets across Canada. Her positions in National Accounts and Customer Marketing have given her the expertise to recruit in all sales channels and with retailers throughout the country.

A native of Québec and fluent in both English and French, Louise spent the first 8 years of her career working in Quebec.

Louise joined Mandrake in 1998 as a Consultant with the Sales practice and she became a Partner in 2003. She has been the Co-President of the firm since 2015. Although she began her search career in Sales, Louise has expanded her scope to other functional areas including Marketing, Shopper Insights, Human Resources, Manufacturing and Finance. Her industry experience is wide with searches completed in CPG, B2B /Pharma, Government, Not for Profit, and Healthcare.

In September 2014, he was elected President of the International Executive Search Federation (IESF) at the Annual General Meeting in Delhi, India. Normand is the second president of this network of executive search professionals. IESF is the largest retained executive search group in the world, identifying talent and leadership in 88 offices and 28 countries globally.

In 2011, 2013 and 2014, Normand was awarded the prestigious “Cross-border Assignment” trophy at the IESF annual congress in Bangkok, Milan, and Montreal, respectively.

Specialty

Biotechnology
Consumer packaged goods
Manufacturing and retail distribution
Financial services
Arts and entertainment
Telecommunications
Construction

Bill offers a range of services to CEOs and Boards, including management assessment and the development of leadership succession plans. His expertise spans various industries, functions, and geographic locations. He has extensive experience in both the private and public sectors, assisting organizations in hiring executive talent. He also works closely with family-owned businesses and investor-owned enterprises, connecting them with exceptional entrepreneurial talent from the market.

Beyond the corporate world, Bill also lends his expertise to the public and social sectors. He collaborates with Boards in these sectors to recruit leadership teams for their executive offices, ensuring they have the right individuals to drive success.

Overall, Bill’s comprehensive experience, strategic thinking, and deep understanding of talent acquisition make him a highly sought-after search consultant for organizations across different sectors.

Since joining Mandrake as a Consultant in 1998 and then becoming a Partner in 2003, Daphne’s organizational, strategic, marketing, and finance skills have been invaluable as she works with a broad variety of clients in the areas of consumer packaged goods, financial services, health care, academic institutions, telco, QSR, consumer products, not for profit and pharma companies. Daphne has impressively leveraged her business background in the executive search business with Mandrake. She has demonstrated a clear track record of adding value to solving her clients’ human capital needs. Her knowledge and experience have enabled her to successfully complete hundreds of searches with a focus against senior management through C-suite level. Her functional expertise includes all facets of marketing, finance, operations, contracting and network development, compliance, and manufacturing. Geographically, Daphne’s work spans both Canada and the United States.

Daphne is collaborative, performance driven, tenacious and develops strong relationships with the candidate community. Her strategic yet pragmatic approach, ability to question, listen to and understand her clients’ needs ensures the attraction and placement of best-in-class talent.

Michael joined Mandrake in 1997 and became a partner in 2003. He works in the communications area including advertising, digital/online, direct and database marketing, public relations, promotions and events. His leads engagements for both client side and agency customers – they bring passion, great care and partnership to everyone they work with.

Michael’s consultative style and unrivalled knowledge in his industries has helped his customers successfully hire hundreds of talented people. The majority of his work is in the advertising/marketing communications area, the digital/interactive field and in the direct marketing and database areas. These searches have been split almost equally between agency customers and client-side organizations. He has likely led more senior client service and strategic planning roles than anyone in Canada during his time here. As well, he has successfully led Senior Manager, Director and VP level engagements for customers in many industries including telecommunications, financial services, not for profit, media companies, quick service restaurants and retailers. He has helped attract great talent to companies in Canada and the United States.

Michael takes deep pride in understanding his customers’ organization and culture to help them create a compelling talent proposition for the company and for each search. He combines this with the commitment to helping the candidates strategically build their career to find the best matches. Consequently, his client and candidate referrals have helped him build a great team and practice. Michael also advises his clients on organization structuring, competitive intelligence and has served on Marketing Magazine’s annual salary survey.

Paul is one of the original partners of Mandrake and has over 40 years of search experience covering the areas of Consumer-Packaged goods, Pharmaceutical, Industrial Manufacturing, Food Service, Retail, Alcoholic Beverages and Telecommunications. Paul’s search expertise includes Sales, Marketing, Human Resources and Operations at mid and executive level, as well as recruiting for the retail industry. Paul has experience in Canada and the US.

Paul’s consultative style and unrivalled knowledge in his industries has helped his customers successfully hire hundreds of talented people and has allowed Paul to build a personal network of over 24000 on Linked-in. The talent our clients desire rarely answer adds but are open to hearing about opportunities through a connection they trust. Our clients expect the best and our direct approach of recruitment and referrals aligned with our extensive industry knowledge helps us deliver on that promise. Our Mandrake team has 50 years of search success more than any of our competitors combined. We have built our reputation by performance making sure our clients hire better, hire less, and retain more talent. Partner with Mandrake and together we can make the difference in building your teams.

Over the years, start-ups, SMEs, NPOs and large organizations have entrusted him with multiple recruitment mandates in several sectors of economic activity where he has been able to develop complete expertise in all of the major functions of companies namely, human resources, information technology, marketing, operations, sales, etc.

Since the start of his career, he has been exposed to the challenges of an entrepreneur allowing him to develop a keen sense of business development and planning. With great ease in optimizing business processes and technological systems, he began his career by implementing human resources management strategies and SAP-HR on behalf of an international firm.

Mr. Raymond has a keen interest in organizations that contribute to the well-being of their community and charitable associations and is actively involved in these various organizations.

Over 15 years, Andrew carved out a recruitment practice in direct marketing and then, CRM, loyalty and data analytics working with large loyalty coalition programs. As well, he was instrumental in placing senior executives at new and existing loyalty programs in the telecom and retail sectors.

In 2015, Andrew joined Mandrake as Vice President. He continued in his areas of expertise in: digital, social media, CRM, loyalty and data working with a large and wide group of Clients from digital Agencies.

Over the past 3 years, Andrew has worked with a wide variety of Clients from: digital start-ups, marketing driven companies, banks to loyalty and CRM companies to a range of Agencies from pure digital, fully integrated Agencies and media buying Agencies.

She has held leadership and vice presidency roles in operations, marketing, sales, and distribution, as well as customer experience and customer contact center leadership. She has always considered human capital to be one of the main success factors of any business. Select the right resources according to business challenges, mobilize them by defining clear objectives while valuing their talents, accelerates the implementation of action plans and the delivery of strategic orientations.

Brigitte has been using this applied know-how in an executive search practice for more than 12 years. She combines her passion for helping, business acumen, her analytical skills, her in-depth knowledge of organizational realities, the challenges, and expectations of leaders, with her ability to consider influence variables surrounding the need for recruitment and thus better lead: research strategies and communications in the market. Results: relevant, aligned and added-value recruitment interventions and solutions. She has contributed to several hundred executive search and recruitment mandates in multiple sectors for organizations of various sizes: private, public or NPOs.

Renowned for her professionalism, a great respect for people, the delivery of high standards of service, Brigitte values relational efficiency both in her contacts and follow-ups with customers and with the identification and preparation of executive candidates for their next professional challenge.

In addition to a degree in wind engineering from Western University and its world-renowned Boundary Layer Wind Tunnel, Channing also earned an executive MBA from Western’s Richard Ivey School of Business.

With a natural talent for connecting with people, Channing possesses a superpower for building relationships and bringing individuals together. His high energy and positive demeanor are infectious, creating an environment that fosters collaboration and drives collective success. His unwavering dedication to client-centricity is based upon his belief that listening, understanding, and meeting client needs are the cornerstones of success.

Drawing upon his multifaceted background, Channing brings a harmonious balance of creativity and discipline to his work. As a semi-professional musician with over four decades of training and performance experience, including a Juno nomination, his musical journey has nurtured a highly creative and dynamic personality. Combined with his logical problem-solving abilities rooted in engineering, Channing approaches challenges with innovative thinking and a meticulous eye for detail.

His cross-cultural upbringing had also profoundly influenced his values of strong work ethics, integrity, empathy, inclusivity, and a deep love for connecting with and helping people in meaningful ways.

Charles’ experience includes working with a range of clients, including large global organizations in both the private and public sectors. He has clients in both Canada and the United States and has conducted national and international search engagements. He possesses great expertise in large complex Fortune 500 companies, including professional services, e-health, healthcare, government, education and non – profit sectors. He is a recognized leader in IT, Finance and Corporate Administration search. Most of his search relates to business transformation and recruitment of newly created roles.

By providing clients with a high degree of personalized service, Charles is able to recruit executive and mid-management level talent for a variety of corporate, specialist and other high impact roles.

Prior to joining Mandrake in 2013, Charles led his own executive search practice, Lennox Millar Executive Search. Charles was also a Vice-President at PwC Executive Search, where he led the technology search practice. He is past chair of the Stop Community Food Centre, Business Advisor to Humber College, Ted Rogers School of Management.

Chris’s career is distinguished by a proven track record in recruiting for complex executive IT positions, particularly within large organizations undergoing digital/IT transformations.

Leveraging his tenure as a Management Consultant at renowned executive search firms, Chris has spearheaded recruitment efforts that span diverse IT domains.

His role as a Partner at a distinguished firm further refined his strategic recruitment approach, with a sharp focus on critical vertical markets, including financial services, technology, healthcare, defense, cybersecurity, and real estate.

Adding to his extensive executive recruitment background, Chris has also served as a Software Sales Director at a leading Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning company. This role provided him with a profound understanding of the unique requirements of Analytics leaders, enabling him to deliver tailor-made solutions.

Chris brings a wealth of expertise to executive IT recruitment and excels at navigating complex searches within organizations undergoing digital transformations. With his unwavering devotion to promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and his tireless efforts to cultivate the executives he appoints, he has truly established himself as a champion of organizational growth and progress.

Throughout his career, Mr. Savard has been exposed in the front line to the real and practical challenges of a business manager focused on concrete results: strategic development of organizations, implementation of operational processes and performance indicators, and selection/development of employees.

With the combination of all his past experiences, he is able to fully understand the operational requirements of his clients. His practical expertise allows him to advise and support his clients in the definition and realization of their executive search mandates. In addition, his extensive network of contacts in the fields of engineering, equipment, industrial production, logistics, mining & metals and information technology allows him to constantly keep abreast of technological developments and market trends.

Mr. Savard has developed a strong passion for interpersonal relationships and talent management. In addition to intimately understanding the needs of his clients, he is able to draw an accurate portrait of the profiles sought and recommend the appropriate candidates who will integrate perfectly in the organization.

Prior to joining Mandrake in 2015, David spent 5 years running his own boutique recruiting firm in Toronto where he was Managing Partner and leader of the Retail and Consumer Practices. He led engagements focused on finding top talent at the Senior Manager to Executive level across Canada. David has also consulted clients to drive performance improvements and develop customer-centric sales and marketing strategies.

In addition to his BA from the University of Western Ontario, David is also a certified Performance Consultant and skilled assessor utilizing psychometric tools from Assess Systems, McQuaig, and Sales Talent Assessment.

Isabelle Girard worked for two of the major international executive search firms, Korn/Ferry International and Russell Reynolds Associates where she was responsible for recruiting senior executives. She also worked for local search firms. Mrs Girard began her career with an international conference planning firm. She carried out research and consultations with leaders in all areas of the economy for the purpose of producing conferences tailored to selected audiences. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Relations from the Université de Montréal, a certificate in occupational health and safety and a certificate in marketing, both from the Université du Québec à Montréal.

Isabelle Girard has hands-on experience in executive recruitment. With her training in Industrial Relations, she has acquired a very good understanding of companies’ organisational structures and of the relationship between key roles and executives. Her broad skills, knowledge and experience in all facets of strategic research and recruitment of executives make her a versatile, adaptable and efficient consultant much appreciated by her clientele. She is recognized for her relational skills and her capacity to establish business connections based on trust and honesty.

Isabelle Girard has successfully recruited executives for Canadian and international clients in the private (for which some are quoted on Stock Exchanges), public and para governmental sectors. She has developed customized search strategies based on the needs of local and international clienteles and recommended top talent with impressive records of achievement. She also recruited several candidates outside big city centers.

James Coburn is a unicorn. He has been fortunate to learn from some of the best. A trusted advisor and consigliere to many of the world’s top agencies, brands and creative talent. From junior copywriters to Chief Creative Officers.

One of the industry’s top creative recruiters. Coburn has been interviewing and casting for talent at all levels at Mandrake for over two decades.

James believes that creativity is the key to how we will survive as an industry. His entire career is testament to that.

Prior to joining Mandrake in 2008, John has enjoyed a successful career marked with achievement as a senior executive leading corporate operations and sales with global brand leaders in Aviation, Secure Logistics, Transportation, and financial services. His practical and direct experience allows him to quickly understand the unique requirements of each client.

A graduate of the University of Calgary, with post graduate Executive education and training in strategy, management, solution sales and financial leadership.

As a trusted advisor to his clients and candidates, John ensures the development of strong and lasting relationships by understanding his client’s needs and requirements while sourcing superior candidates.

John leads recruitment searches in B2B, executive and leadership assignments, as well as functional roles in sales, operations, marketing, supply chain, human resources and finance.

Her strong suit is mid to senior level search in marketing, sales & communications. Lynn has in recent years identified several significant executives as digital leaders across diverse industry sectors, including media & communications. In addition, she has identified a wide range of candidates for financial services, high tech, healthcare, and manufacturing, to name a few, always with a focus on identifying and delivering best in class. Lynn also has a knack at expertly managing confidential searches not only in the GTA but other regions in Ontario as well as other locations in Canada. She is known and appreciated for her professional candour and an ethical approach.

Lynn applies her search philosophy to every project/hire, which is “know your client and their needs well, understand their culture” as she knows that candidate/client fit is truly paramount to impacting on and achieving company and individual goals. She is resolute in obtaining as much information as she can from her clients to build a precise brief which enables her to apply a focused, strategic methodology to the search.

Community service has played a large role in Lynn’s life. Involvement as a Rotarian, and other local community endeavours as a volunteer member of committees with the belief that it is always important to give back. A strong believer in “you only get out what you put in”, Lynn gives of her time and energy to help make a difference on the job and for her community. Lynn is one busy lady.

Before joining the team, Maxime completed a bachelor’s degree in Demography at the Université de Montréal, a university recognized for having laid down the first demography department in North America. As part of the completion of his baccalaureate, Maxime had the chance to spend two years abroad: at first in Nice, France, at the University Sophie Antipolis in economics, and second, in Minneapolis at the University of Minnesota in urban geography.

Since 2017, Maxime has been involved in various organizations and groups of a political nature and economic development such as the “Groupe la Relève en famille, en affairs! “.

Since 2015, Maxime has been an active member of the “Jeune Chambre de Commerce de Montréal” (JCCM). In addition to serving on the JCCM’s Executive Committee in 2016, Maxime will hold several management positions within the JCCM. Since 2019, Maxime has been involved in his community by sitting on the board of directors of a NPO in the Villeray-Parc-Extension neighbourhood, which helps disadvantaged youth to give them the tools and resources to reach university.

Maxime wants to actively participate in the international reputation of local businesses by matching the needs of these companies with the profile of the ideal candidate.

Maxime is an ambassador of Mandrake’s values as a Consultant in Strategy for Research and Talent Acquisition.

With over 20 years of experience in the advertising world, Rob specializes in recruiting creative talent within all areas of the business, from ECDs through to junior teams, traditional media as well as digital, social, and all types of design. Rob has served as a skilled recruiter for over 12 years since joining Mandrake in 2006, successfully completing over 300 searches.

With his in-depth experience in the advertising, clients and/or candidates quickly realize that he knows their world, their challenges, their ups and downs. They know that he’s ‘one of them’, with a complete awareness of the creative arena that gives them a sense of confidence. Rob is able to see through to the challenges and gauge what is needed very effectively. An extensive database allows him to zero in on qualified candidates with a high rate of efficiency.

Even with all of this accumulated information, he continues to meet new and talented people, enjoying ‘giving back’ to the younger generations, while staying in touch with more senior levels.

Because of his ongoing involvement, he regularly gets referrals from candidates who reach out to him to help their friends or offer candidates who might fit a certain search. They also know that he’ll give solid counsel, without charge, even if he can’t help them directly with a role. Not only does this garner appreciation, it garners trust. Rob is often contacted by clients who have had challenges with other recruiters and works hard to solve their staffing issues and earn their trust for future assignments.

Prior to his success in the recruitment business, Rob had a successful career in the advertising and marketing industry. His professional and creative life began when he graduated from George Brown College as a Graphic Designer. Following school, he worked for over 20 years as an Art/Creative Director for a few of Toronto’s top ad agencies.

Her extensive knowledge of these diverse industries has enabled her to cross-pollinate ideas and strategies, drawing upon best practices, innovations, and leadership insights from a wide spectrum of sectors. Sarita’s experience isn’t confined to a specific geographical region; she has acquired a deep understanding of cultural intricacies while managing searches across diverse geographies: North America, Asia, Europe & Australia. Her proven track record is exemplified by a series of successful search mandates spanning numerous functional areas, such as Finance, Investment, Banking, Insurance, Legal, Operations, IT, Engineering, Sales, and Marketing.

Sarita’s corporate search experience covers executive talent recruitment for both private and public sector entities, further solidifying her reputation as a top-tier executive search consultant.
Most recent mandates include:

Chief Financial Officer /Chief Investment Officer for an Insurance Entity
Chief Financial Officer/Chief Investment Officer for an Investment Holding
Chief Financial Officer for a Real Estate Development entity
Chief Technology Officer for an Investment Holding
Chief Risk Officer for a Global Bank
Practice Lead, Risk & Compliance Consulting
Senior Vice President, Tax for a large manufacturing company

To further develop his business skills and desire to improve patient care, Stephen transitioned into the digital healthcare vertical. He spent more than fifteen years providing solutions in electronic health records/voice-recognition software, medical devices, and digital patient engagement platforms. His ability to understand and articulate customer pain points while simultaneously providing. operational efficiencies and untapped revenue sources have elevated him to a key advisor role with Health Authorities and Strategic Partners.

Stephen is a creative and future-focused business development executive with a proven record selling value-based innovation to the Healthcare Sector. As healthcare in Canada faces unprecedented challenges, an exceptional talent acquisition strategy is essential to providing the industry with disruptive solutions. This is a return to my roots; leveraging my success in the early part of my career as well as my work of the past twenty years with clinical practitioners and business partners to deliver modern approaches to care delivery.