Alumni: 2012-13 Students

David Adler

David Adler

David Adler is the Manager of Regulatory Affairs and Quality Compliance for Revlon Canada Inc. where he is responsible for managing the regulatory relationship with authorities in Canada. In this capacity, Adler facilitates successful new product development, product registration, and post-approval activities in the personal care products industry. Adler also facilitates compliance with environmental, good manufacturing practices, safety, and advertising and labelling claims regulation.  Previously, Adler facilitated the regulatory development of the nonclincial, clinical, and quality aspects of new chemical entities in the life sciences industry. In this capacity, Adler resolved complex regulatory concerns that facilitated market access of life saving medicines to patients in the U.S.A, European Union, Switzerland, Australia, Middle East and Asia Pacific.   

Adler has a Master of Biotechnology degree from the University of Toronto, and completed his Bachelor of Science in Cellular, Molecular and Microbial Biology at the University of Calgary. He is currently a mentor with the Biotechnology Mentorship Program at the University of Toronto.

Rahim Ali

Rahim AliRahim Ali was the Vice-President, Strategic Projects Audit for the National Bank of Abu Dhabi, where he planned and reviewed, supervised and managed multiple information technology and project management audits of various domestic and overseas branches, including Washington DC, London, Paris, Egypt, Sudan and Oman. Among other things, he assessed risks, evaluated controls and reviewed compliance with the UAE regulatory requirements, anti-money laundering regulations, and securities and commodities regulations, and conducted pre- and post-implementation reviews of core banking and various financial and investment systems. Prior to that, Ali served as a Team Leader, Risk Services with Ernst & Young Abu Dhabi, and articled in the taxation department of Ernst & Young Pakistan, where he reviewed and commented on financial and taxation bills.

Ali graduated from the University of Karachi, Pakistan with both Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Laws degrees, and holds certifications from accounting and auditing bodies in Pakistan, U.S. and the U.K.

Rubal Bhadu

Rubal BhaduRubal Bhadu is an internationally educated litigation and arbitration lawyer from New Delhi, India whose experience includes strategic consulting, corporate and business structures, business plan development, and structuring corporate/commercial transactions. She has represented individuals, corporations and government organizations before various forums, tribunals and courts, including the Supreme Court of India, and her clients have included Fiat Automobiles and Jindal Steels. She is also a specialist in alternative dispute resolution involving arbitration, mediation and conciliation, and has arbitrated disputes in banking and non-banking financial services. Prior to working for DLC, Rubal was a lawyer in the Office of Advocate General for the State of Haryana providing legal advice to, and conducting litigation on behalf of, all government ministries and departments, boards and tribunals. She represented the State in the Supreme Court of India on a broad spectrum of matters encompassing Constitutional Law, Administrative Law, Contract Law, Employment Law, and matters related to Land Acquisition and Government Policies.

Rubal holds Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts degrees from the University of Delhi, and is a lifetime member of the Bar Council of Delhi.

Manpreet Bhangoo

Manpreet BhangooManpreet Bhangoo is an in-house lawyer with extensive experience in corporate/commercial matters including mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructuring, contract drafting and negotiations for companies in the information technology, consulting, outsourcing and manufacturing industries. She was the Lead Attorney for Microsoft's Enterprise & Partner Group, Small and Medium Size Customers & Partners, Public Sector and Dynamics business segments in India, where her responsibilities included negotiating and closing licensing contracts, and where she closed transactions worth millions of dollars, trained clients on sales deal execution compliance policies, and collaborated with them on strategic projects and deals. In her previous position as Senior Counsel at Hewitt Associates, she handled corporate legal matters including mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructuring, negotiating consulting and outsourcing contracts in the Asia Pacific region.

Bhangoo holds Bachelor and Master of Laws degrees from Kurukshetra University, India, with a specialization in labour and corporate law, and a post-graduate diploma in patents law from NALSAR University.

Linda Chavez

Linda ChavezLinda Chavez is an internationally educated lawyer from Mexico, where she was the Director of the Citizens Applications & Social Promotion Department at the Federal Ministry of Health. Prior to that, she was a Law Professor and Ph.D. Coordinator at the University of Colima. She also has been a visiting researcher at the Institute of Juridical Research of the National Autonomous University of Mexico and collaborated with the Human Rights National Commission.

Linda Chavez has a Doctor of Laws degree (Honourable Mention), a Master of Laws degree (International Law and International Trade) and Bachelor of Law degree (with Honours), all from Mexico.

 

Hilary Doyle

Hilary DoyleHilary Doyle is a business and finance journalist, columnist, field reporter, producer, and actor who works in television, radio, and print media. She has worked for The HOUR with George Stroumbouloploulos (CBC), the Business News Network (CTV), and The Marilyn Denis Show (CTV), and is a personal finance columnist on CBC Radio One. She is currently developing a daily national news and ideas show for CTV NewsChannel. She has written for the Toronto Star, Maisonneuve Magazine, and The GRID Magazine in Canada, and worked as a news reporter and feature writer in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. She worked on media relations for the United Nations Development Fund for Women at the 2006 AIDS Conference and was a reporter, editor, and trainer in Accra, Ghana, facilitating coverage of human rights stories and issues, and building reporting/journalism capacity.  Her acting experience includes three years with The Second City National Touring Company, as well as film, theatre, and television credits in Toronto and New York. Doyle co-created, wrote, and starred in “Stock & Awe”, a scripted comedy series for BNN and CTV about personal finance and investing.

Doyle received her Bachelor of Science degree from Northwestern University, and she is the founder of The Marion Project, a multidisciplinary storytelling project for young people around the world.

Ahmed T. Hafez

Ahmed HafezAhmed Hafez was legal counsel at Lafarge Group (the first global cement producer) responsible for Middle East and Africa for the last three years. Previously, he was a senior associate at Helmy, Hamza & Partners, a member of the global law firm of Baker & McKenzie.

Hafez holds a Bachelor degree in French Business Law and a Maitrise degree, both from the Faculty of Law, University of Paris 1, Pantheon, Sorbonne. 

 

 

Jason Pierre Hedges

Jason HedgesJason Pierre Hedges is the Director – Canada for Merrill Corporation, a billion dollar global service company with more than 6,000 employees that provides financial technology solutions. Over his ten year career, Jason has specialized in enterprise software and SaaS and has successfully launched two start-ups. His experience includes analyzing and implementing enterprise-wide business process improvements while achieving a positive P&L in a turnaround and a successful international expansion.

Jason is completing an MBA from Cornell University and Queen’s University, and holds a Bachelor of Arts from Brock University.

Salmin Jadavji

Sal JadavjiSalmin Jadavji is the Chief AML Officer at MCAN where his responsibilities include implementing and managing the company’s anti-money laundering & anti-terrorist financing (AML/ATF) program, enterprise risk management program, and the privacy compliance program, developing an inherent AML/ATF risk assessment methodology and comprehensive global AML/ATF policies, procedures and standards. Before that he was Deputy Chief AML Officer at BMO, where he designed an AML independent audit testing program, and assessed the bank’s global AML policies, procedures, reporting processes and risk assessments. Previously he was the Senior Audit Manager at CIBC, and the Senior Compliance Officer with the Office of the Superintendent for Financial Institutions, Canada’s federal bank regulator.

Jadavji received his Bachelor of Business Administration (Honours) degree from the Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto.  He is also holds Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS) and Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) Designations.  He is the author of the best-selling book Way to an A: Student Survival Guide.

Jim Kambossos

Jim KambossosJim Kambossos is the Director of Process Technology for the Minerals and Metals division at Jacobs Engineering in Toronto, a leading engineering and construction firm in the world, and a major player in the provision of engineering, operations and maintenance services. He is responsible for the direction and management of his department technically, administratively and strategically. Jim deals with strategic planing objectives and implementation of corporate directives within his department in collaboration with other Jacobs offices around the world. He also manages, directs, implements, and participates in various national and international technical projects in the Minerals and Metals sector. He has served as Deputy Director of Process Technology at SNC-Lavalin in the Mining and Metallurgy division in Toronto prior to his current appointment. He has also worked in various other companies serving the minerals and metals, as well as, the oil and gas industries.

Jim is a designated professional engineer and holds a Bachelor of Applied Science and a Master of Applied Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering at the University of Toronto.

Jessica Kelly

Jessica KellyJessica Kelly is an internationally educated lawyer who has trained at McConnell Kelly & Co. Solicitors, a law firm specializing in civil litigation and criminal law located in Northern Ireland. She has interned at an Ottawa-based NGO that focused on advocacy research in Afghanistan, where she focused her research on Canada’s humanitarian aid commitment to the Middle East.

Kelly holds a LL.B. degree from Queen’s University, Belfast, a Masters of Conflict Studies degree from the University of Ottawa/Saint Paul University and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Political Studies from Queen’s University.

 

Aiman Khair

Aiman KhairAiman Khair is an international lawyer and a licensed Compliance Officer who was working as the General Counsel at the National Finance Company SAOG in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman. Khair also served as the Corporate Secretary as well as the Compliance Officer. Khair’s legal career began in Sudan as a corporate lawyer for Bin Hamed Company LLC after which he transferred to the Sultanate of Oman joining Oman ORIX Leasing Company SAOG, a leading finance company in the Sultanate, as an in-house legal counsel. In his latest position, Khair established the Legal Department at NFC and developed the company’s compliance manual and corporate governance policy. He advised on corporate governance, Islamic financing, ship repair contracts and corporate law.

Khair completed his LLB and a postgraduate diploma in business administration at the University of Khartoum, as well as his Master Degree in Commercial Law (LLM), at University of Juba. Khair also received his International Diploma in Compliance from the International Compliance Association (ICA) in Birmingham, UK. He is also enrolled in the Internationally Trained Lawyer Program (ITLP).

Allen Kwan

Allen KwanAllen Kwan has over fifteen years of experience in the financial services industry. As Director, Product Development at Northwest & Ethical Investments (NEI), a national investment firm with approximately $5 billion in assets under management, he is a member of the senior management team responsible for setting and overseeing product strategy including research and innovation. Prior to joining NEI, Allen held progressively senior sales and marketing roles with Manulife Financial, HSBC Securities (Canada) and RBC Global Asset Management and throughout his career, he has collaborated with business partners from across North America.

Kwan holds an Executive MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Toronto. He holds the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and Canadian Investment Manager (CIM) designations and has completed Level 1 of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) program.

Ali Maqbool

Ali MaqboolAli Maqbool is an internationally educated lawyer who is the Supervisor of Court Operations with the Ministry of the Attorney General, Criminal Court, Ontario Court of Justice, where he supervises operations and manages service delivery of 38 staff members. His career with the Ontario Public Service spans 10 years where he has held various positions such as the Supervisor of Operations of Family Court, Ontario Court of Justice. Ali has, also, lectured at the School of Continuing Education, Business Department, at the Centennial College where he now speaks to students about a career with the Court Services Division of the Ministry of the Attorney General. Prior to joining the Ontario Public Service he practiced law with Ahmer Bilal Soofi and Company, a leading corporate law firm in Lahore, Pakistan.

Ali holds an LL.B. degree from the Punjab Law College, Punjab University, Pakistan.

Christine McGirr

Chris McGirrChristine McGirr is a corporate analyst who is the Director, Development/Analyst for Mactel Communications Inc., and has founded Catalyst Communications and McGirr Communications, where she has created innovative strategies for multinational corporations to develop business through acquisitions, mergers, brand development, corporate social responsibility programs and repositioning.  She has also been a municipal, provincial and federal political candidate.

McGirr holds an MBA degree from Athabasca University, a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Western Ontario and an ATC Certification in Executive Coaching from the University of Toronto.

 

Jesus Merino

Jesus Merino

Jesus Merino was the Competitiveness and Environment Director at the Spanish Trade Association for Information Technologies, Communications, Consumer Electronics and Digital Content (AMETIC) where he was responsible for regulatory and institutional affairs in the fields of Environment, Corporate Sustainability and Intellectual Property Rights. Previously, he was the Director of the Technological Transfer and International Trade Office for ASIMELEC, and before that, he was the Senior Risk Analyst, Medium and Long Term Department at the Spanish Export Credit Agency (CESCE). 

Merino holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management from University Carlos III of Madrid and is a certified Expert in Project Management and International Research, Development and Innovation Actions.

 

Dhimiter Pema

Dhimiter PemaDhimiter Pema is an internationally educated lawyer who is licensed to practice in Italy and the European Union. His experience includes positions at the law firm of  De Giorgio - Signorini - Sanso in Pisa and at Bank CR Firenze, Bank of Group Intesa SanPaolo in Florence. Pema also served as a coordinator at Altro Diritto Pisa, an organization that provides free legal counsel to prisoners.

Pema holds Master and Bachelor of Laws degrees from the University of Pisa and an MBA degree from Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies of Pisa.

 

 

Stephen  Pepper

Stephen Pepper is an experienced executive with over 25 years of leadership experience in the military, private and corporate sectors.  He is currently serving as the Vice President of Structured & Leveraged Finance at Fifth Third Bank. Prior to this role, Steve has worked in senior positions in Commercial Credit, Special Loans, International Corporate Banking and commercial banking at Fifth Third Bank, State Bank of India (Canada) and Bank of Montreal.

 In addition to his corporate banking experience, Mr. Pepper is a Licensed Professional Engineer and a current member of Ontario Society of Professional Engineers Energy Task Force and the Army’s Electrical & Mechanical Engineering Association.  In 2011, Mr. Pepper was the Director of Engineering at Ozz Solar where he oversaw a team of engineers and technical staff providing due diligence and design engineering services for over 50 large scale commercial rooftop generation projects in Ontario and further participated as a industry task force member investigating the impact of distributed generation on the performance of the electrical grid.  He retired as a military engineering officer having served overseas in various military roles.  He has been awarded a NATO service medal and a Canadian Forces Decoration (Military).

Steve holds an MBA degree (Finance Specialty) from the Schulich School of Business, and a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering degree from the Royal Military College of Canada.

Stephanie Poon

Stephanie Poon

Stephanie Poon has 15 years of work experience in the banking and financial industry.  Over the course of her career to date, she has held progressive roles in prominent Canadian and global banks. As part of her current Vice President role with RBC Capital Markets, Stephanie manages the credit on-boarding for new hedge fund and regulated fund clients, and conducts due diligence interviews with asset managers.  Prior to RBC, Stephanie spent 3 years with Scotia, where she has worked closely with the prime brokerage team on a number of cross-border equity finance structured transactions.  Stephanie’s background also includes Global Corporate Banking with HSBC Bank Canada, as well as Private Equity with Macquarie in Toronto.  

Stephanie earned an MBA degree in Finance from Simon Fraser University, graduating with the Convocation Gold Medal, and a Bachelor of Commerce (Hon.) in Accounting from the University of British Colombia.  Stephanie is a CFA charterholder.  She is presently serving as an active committee member with the Toronto CFA Society’s Awards Committee.     

Kent Savage

Kent SavageKent Savage is the Vice President, Law Department, Sun Life Corporate, Sun Life Financial, Toronto. Before that, he was Vice President & General Counsel for Sun Life’s Asia businesses working in its Hong Kong Regional Office. His responsibilities have included oversight of Sun Life Financial’s legal and compliance functions in their subsidiary and joint venture operations as well as management of its regional legal interests in M&A, government relations, corporate governance and commercial matters. Kent has represented SLF interests on numerous material projects, arbitrations and litigation in the UK, US, Canada and Asia. Prior to joining Sun Life Financial in 1997 Kent was a litigation lawyer in private practice for 11 years in Toronto doing corporate/commercial, insurance and other related dispute resolution. 

Kent holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Windsor, and an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Toronto.

Ji Wei Shao

Ji Wei Shao

Ji Wei Shao is an Investment Banker at J.P. Morgan based in Hong Kong covering clients in the Asia Pacific region. Previously, He worked in the investment banking division at Wells Fargo Securities and Macquarie Capital in Toronto. Ji Wei has worked on a number of M&A advisory, private and public capital raising mandates across a range of sectors. Prior to joining Macquarie Capital, Ji Wei worked as an analyst in the Financial Risk Office in the Funds Management and Banking Department, at the Bank of Canada.

 

Ji Wei holds a Master of Finance (With Distinction) from the Schulich School of Business at York University, and a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) in Finance and Economics from the Rotman School of Management, at the University of Toronto. 

Tisnai Thaitham

Tisnai ThaithamTisnai Thaitham is the Regional Director of the Americas for Singha Corporation Inc., where he is responsible for overseeing the distribution of Singha Beer and its portfolio of food and beverage brands in North and South America.  Before that, he was Distribution Development Manager, North American Regions, and before that he was an Account Manager for Proctor and Gamble, Bangkok.  His experience includes developing international trade marketing strategies for specific trade channels, financial modeling and data analysis for strategic purposes, key account management, and alcoholic beverages distribution, sales, marketing, and regulatory compliance.

Tisnai (Toy) holds an MBA degree (Finance major) from the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Business Administration degree (Accounting major) from Thammasat University, Bangkok, Thailand.

Rocio Villalvazo Sandoval

Rocio Villalvazo SandovalRocio Villalvazo Sandoval is an internationally educated lawyer who is licensed to practice law in Mexico. She articled at DIF Zapotiltic Jalisco, Department of Law, where she worked on cases related to tax law and drafted reviews and comments on administrative appeals. Most recently, she worked with Norma Negrete Immigration Office in California.

Villalvazo Sandoval received her Bachelor of Laws with High Distinction from Universidad de Guadalajara Centro Universitario del Sur.

 

 

Donald West

Donald WestDonald West is a corporate lawyer and senior partner at Aird & Berlis LLP, a 130  lawyer Toronto firm that provides a wide range of legal services. West practises in the areas of business law, mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, and technology. He has had extensive experience acting on business purchases and sales, private equity and venture capital transactions, strategic alliances, technology transactions, corporate reorganizations, governance issues, international transactions and advising on various other commercial arrangements. While practicing law, he was also an officer of a mid-size Canadian information technology company for more than 20 years, and has served on the Boards of Directors of several public and private corporations as well as Corporate Governance, Compensation and Audit Committees.  West has been recognized in “Best Lawyers in Canada”  in the field of Mergers & Acquisitions Law, and is the primary author of a recent book on business acquisition agreements published by Thomson Reuters.

West holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from Osgoode Hall Law School, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from York University. He is a former instructor of Corporate Law at the Ontario Bar Admission Course.

Simmy Yu

Simmy Yu

A creative and versatile professional, Simmy has a wealth of knowledge and experience in many fields. Currently, Simmy works at Tkatch & Associates, a personal injury law firm located in the heart of Toronto. Prior to embarking on her legal career, she spent several years working in digital media as a Content Integration Manager at Sympatico/MSN (Bell Canada) where she managed editorial content on Sympatico.MSN.ca and also managed the digital properties at Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP (now Dentons).  She is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Community Legal Clinic of York Region and volunteers her time to various other causes, including the United Way of York Region.  Simmy is also a skilled musician and composer who has performed on various stages in Canada and the US and has also taught piano at her own private studio.

Simmy completed her Bachelor of Business Administration at the University of Toronto where she majored in Accounting and also completed studies in Project Management.  She went on to complete her Juris Doctor and Postgraduate Certificate in Laws at the City University of Hong Kong.