JURORS
The Excellence in Retailing Awards jury is composed of respected retail leaders committed to celebrating the best in Canadian retail. Each submission is reviewed through a rigorous, independent judging process grounded in expertise and industry insight.
2025 Jurors Panel
Anupma Sharma
United Way of Greater Toronto
Inclusive Employment Community Investment Manager
Anupma Sharma
United Way of Greater Toronto
Anupma has been an Inclusive Employment manager with United Way of Greater Toronto since March of 2022. Her life has come full circle in this role as a former youth and settlement counsellor in the non profit sector to working in the labour movement for 12 years. United way brings both of the worlds together in the work that Anupma is a part of at United Way of Greater Toronto.
Her work spans over 20 plus years in the Non profit sector working with diverse populations not only in the GTA but in North Texas and British Columbia. She has specialized working with people from all backgrounds, by providing them with the tools and resources to maintain the future that they strive for.
In 2019 Anupma partnered with 2 others to create a non profit called Sunoh Charity that was formed by assisting International students to alleviate the stresses associated with moving to a new country by reducing the isolation, mental health and other issues they face.
Her hobby its to learn new languages and she is a natural born networker.
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Sean Sportun
National Director, Loss Prevention & Corporate Security
Sobeys Inc.
Sean Sportun
National Director, Loss Prevention & Corporate Security
Sean is an accomplished security professional with over three decades of experience in the Corporate Security Industry, recognized globally for his achievements. In May 2024, he assumed the role of National Director of Loss Prevention & Corporate Security at Empire/Sobeys. Prior to this, he served as the Vice President of National Accounts & Community Engagement for GardaWorld Canada and led Circle K’s Loss Prevention Team for 15 years.
Sean graduated with Honours from the Seneca College Law Enforcement Program and holds Leadership and Management certificates from Queens University and a Leadership certificate from Harvard University. He is a certified Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) Level 2 Practitioner, a Situation Awareness Specialist Advanced Practitioner, and an International Crime Prevention Specialist. Sean is also an associate member of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, serving on their Community Safety & Well-being Committee, and is a member of the Ontario Gang Investigations Association.
A committed Community Safety Advocate, Sean has been a volunteer with the Toronto Crime Stoppers Board of Directors since 2002 and currently serves as the program’s Chair.
Sean’s dedication to community safety has earned him numerous prestigious accolades. He received the Key to the City of Baton Rouge for his Hurricane Katrina Relief Efforts in 2005, was named the 2013 Canadian Security Magazine’s Security Director of the Year, and received the 2016 Mission 500 Humanitarian Award, becoming the first Canadian to achieve this honor. He was a nominee for the Ontario Premier’s Award in 2021 and was ranked #1 globally by IFSEC Global’s “Top Influencers” in 2022.
In 2024, Retail Council of Canada presented Sean with the inaugural Retail Secure Legends Award, and he was recently awarded the Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers by the Governor General of Canada. Harvard University’s School of Business has published two business reviews highlighting Sean’s innovative approach to retail crime prevention.
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Melissa Scott
Manager, Organizational Effectiveness and Talent Management
The Home Depot Canada
Melissa Scott
Manager, Organizational Effectiveness and Talent Management
Melissa Scott has been a human resources leader at The Home Depot Canada for the past 17 years and have had the opportunity to work in both store and store support centre environments. She recently moved from my role as manager of organizational effectiveness and talent management to divisional human resources manager. Melissa has a strong passion for developing people and creating an environment where everyone can reach their full potential.
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Kevin Graff
President
Graff Retail Inc.
Kevin Graff
President
Kevin Graff is the President of Graff Retail, based in Toronto, Ontario. Since 1988, Graff Retail has specialized in working with retailers around the globe to increase their revenue through improved staff performance.
Kevin is widely respected as one of North America’s best retail speakers and trainers and was recently chosen as one of the Top 50 Retail Influencers. His principle belief is that retailers are losing too many sales each day in their stores that they should be capturing. Kevin’s approach to store operations and his intense focus on real, bottom-line issues continually produce outstanding results.
Kevin is also the creator of Graff Retail TV, the retail community’s leading source of online sales and management training. Since being launched in 2008, Graff Retail TV has provided thousands of sales associates and store management teams with the skills they need to succeed.
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Dionisa Lita
Retired IT Director
Dionisa Lita
Retired IT Director
Dionisia Lita was the Director of IT, Business Applications at The Source. She led her IT team to deliver business applications such as POS, ERP, Flyer system, WMS, and Finance systems. She was also responsible for the earlier The Source eCommerce site. The Source was a leading consumer electronic retailer with retail stores across Canada. As a Canadian company, we recognized and embraced the diversity found in both our national and company culture. We have an environment of inclusion that supports the success of all associates through opportunities beyond just their everyday work. The Source is a proud supporter of Kids Help Phone and United Way. Dionisia was previously employed with RadioShack USA, RadioShack Canada, The Source By Circuit City and now The Source. She led The Source IT team during the transition to Bell, and was the Canada IT Lead for the Circuit City business transformation project. Previously, a member of the team who implemented POS in Belgium for InterTAN European stores. She has a Master degree in Mathematics from Washington State University.
She retired post Pandemic in 2022, and has been a Caregiver until her husband past away early 2025. She is planning to do volunteer work in the New year.
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Teanne von der Porten
Chief Strategy and Sustainability Officer
PlantBest
Teanne von der Porten
Chief Strategy and Sustainability Officer
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Jon McQuaid
VP, Marketing & Communications
Call2Recycle Canada
Jon McQuaid
VP, Marketing & Communications
Jon McQuaid is the VP of Marketing & Communications at Call2Recycle, operating Recycle Your Batteries, Canada!, the country’s leading battery collection and recycling program that has diverted over 50 million kilograms of batteries from Canadian landfills. Jon leads the organization’s brand, marketing and communications strategies. He champions innovation and public education initiatives that prioritize battery recycling awareness and safety across expansive battery categories, including household, electric mobility, and EVs. Jon drives stakeholder engagement and comprehensive solutions across the entire end-of-life battery value chain, collaborating with manufacturers, retailers, municipalities, and consumers to promote safe and responsible battery recycling practices. Jon holds an MBA from Queen’s University and a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Toronto.
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Miriam McDermott
Manager, Leadership Development Solutions
The Home Depot Canada
Miriam McDermott
Manager, Leadership Development Solutions
Miriam has spent more than 30 years in Human Resources, including 17 years in Learning & Development. She has 10 years’ experience as a high performing HR Executive, and her HR experience encompasses wide-ranging experience in HR business partner roles, Learning & Development, Talent & Career Development, Employee Communications, Employee Relations, and Labour Relations, with a focus on strategic inclusion & diversity. Known as an innovative and inspiring leader/coach skilled in strategy and execution, Miriam is committed to building a talented, inclusive workforce and culture that delivers on business strategy. A strong relationship builder, Miriam focuses on designing and delivering HR and Learning solutions having broad organizational impact. Her current Leadership Development Solutions role enables her to bring her deep and diverse experience to projects that help to build strong leaders at The Home Depot Canada.
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Meriyem Kaf
Director, Merchandise Strategy & Execution
Home Hardware Stores Limited
Meriyem Kaf
Director, Merchandise Strategy & Execution
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Michael Richardson
Manager, Sustainability
SGS North America
Michael Richardson
Manager, Sustainability
Michael Richardson is the Sustainability Manager at SGS North America within the consumer products sector and supports clients’ sustainability assessment, communication and improvement efforts.
Michael’s environmental engineering and sustainability experience span 20+ years, including over 10 years with SGS. He has worked with clients on assessments, environmental labels and tailored projects for electronics, textiles, packaging and other products. He is the Chair of SGS green marks steering committee, and also provides internal and external sustainability technical support.
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Sherri Nunn
Manager, Learning Strategy
Home Depot Canada
Sherri Nunn
Manager, Learning Strategy
With nearly two decades of experience in retail, Sherri Nunn is passionate about fostering environments where associates can thrive, and customers feel empowered to tackle their next home improvement projects. Sherri’s career began at The Home Depot in 2006, where she gained hands-on experience in various store roles before advancing to the Store Support Centre. There, she served as a manager for sales execution within store operations, sharpening her ability to streamline processes and enhance customer experiences.
In her current role as a Learning Strategy Manager, Sherri collaborates with cross-functional teams to drive learning strategies for store operations, focusing on initiatives that elevate both associate development and customer engagement. Her work has supported national projects aimed at improving the overall in-store experience, ensuring that both associates and customers alike benefit from seamless and meaningful interactions.
Sherri has also shared her expertise by judging a business plan contest for commerce students at Fanshawe College, where students presented innovative business plans. This experience further strengthened her ability to assess creativity, innovation, and practical execution—key elements she would bring to her role as a judge for the retail awards conference.
Sherri’s dedication to creating positive, high-performance environments aligns with her passion for continuous improvement and innovation in retail. She brings an insightful and experienced perspective to evaluating the strategies and achievements that set outstanding retailers apart in the industry.
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Michael Le Blanc
Senior Retail Advisor
Retail Council of Canada
Michael Le Blanc
Senior Retail Advisor
Michael is the Founder & President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience and has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions with C-level executives and participated on thought leadership panels worldwide.
Michael is also the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts, including Canada’s top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail, plus the Remarkable Retail with author Steve Dennis, Global E-Commerce Tech Talks and The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, all available on Apple, Spotify, Amazon and all major podcast platforms.
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Nicole Taylor
Manager, ESG
KPMG
Nicole Taylor
Manager, ESG
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Isabelle Godin
Regional Loss Prevention Manager
Giant Tiger
Isabelle Godin
Regional Loss Prevention Manager
Isabelle Godin has worked in the field of loss prevention for more than 20 years. Isabelle first gained expertise in retail operations and management before joining the Loss Prevention sector. Isabelle has been trained in investigative interviewing and interrogation techniques, having received specialized training with Wicklander-Zulawski.
As an active member of the RCC Loss Prevention Advisory Committee, Isabelle contributes to various sub-committee initiatives, demonstrating a commitment to continuous improvement and collaboration within the industry.
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Michelle Renny
Sr. Manager, Learning strategy, design + storylab
Home Depot Canada
Michelle Renny
Sr. Manager, Learning strategy, design + storylab
Michelle’s passion for design began at a young age, sketching and reimagining floor plans from the new homebuilder section of the newspaper. This early interest led her to pursue a degree in Interior Design and embark on a career with The Home Depot in 2005.
Over the years, Michelle has honed her design and sales skills, serving a diverse customer base. She earned her Certified Designer designation from the National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA) and was inspired to create a program within The Home Depot to help other designers achieve their accreditation.
Michelle’s commitment to the industry extends beyond her professional role. In addition to volunteering as a judge for the RCC, she has also participated as a judge for a provincial student design competition, enjoying the opportunity to recognize and encourage emerging talent.
With 20 years of experience in retail and Learning & Development, Michelle has recently taken on the role of Senior Manager of Learning Strategy. In this position, she is dedicated to empowering associates and enhancing workforce capabilities through innovative learning solutions.
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Vy Hoang
Chief Customer Officer
i3 International
Vy Hoang
Chief Customer Officer
Vy Hoang, known to many as Vee, is the Chief Customer Officer at i3 International, a forward-thinking AI technology company delivering innovative and affordable AI solutions to the retail, commercial, and institutional sectors. With an impressive 37 years of leadership at i3, Vy has been integral to the company’s customer-focused approach, driving both business growth and security advancements that prioritize client needs.
Under Vy’s strategic direction, i3 has achieved notable success, including securing 9 US and Canadian patents in AI and data analytics, as well as earning the prestigious “Best Cloud Hosted Solution” award from the Security Industry Association (SIA). His efforts in cultivating strong partnerships and delivering tailored, cutting-edge solutions have positioned i3 as a leader in the AI security space.
Beyond his professional achievements, Vee’s personal story of resilience—from his family’s journey as refugees in the 1980s to his own battle with cancer—has shaped his commitment to innovation with purpose. These experiences have deepened his dedication to creating impactful solutions while fostering a culture of collaboration and compassion within i3.
Vy holds an MBA from the Ivey School of Business, and his blend of professional expertise and personal insights make him a compelling speaker. He inspires audiences with his unique perspectives on leadership, perseverance, and the future of AI-driven security, while remaining committed to helping i3’s partners achieve their goals.
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Athena Kalkanis
Marketing Executive
Retail, Service and Franchise Industry
Athena Kalkanis
Marketing Executive
Athena Kalkanis is a strategic marketing leader with extensive experience in the retail and
service sectors, both corporate and franchise, with a focus on the hair, beauty, and fashion
industries across North America and the Caribbean.
Athena established her career as the Director of Marketing at Regis Corporation, one of the
biggest haircare companies in the beauty sector with more than 7,000 locations across North
America. She advanced through various roles spearheading the marketing efforts for Canadian
brands such as First Choice Haircutters, Beauty Supply Outlet and Magicuts, during her
employment with the company.
One of the keys to her success is her ability to translate big picture ideas into award-winning,
innovative campaigns that drive results. Over her years of experience, she developed many
successful national and regional marketing campaigns speaking to various target groups and
leveraging all forms of communication vehicles.
Athena is known as a passionate marketer who brings creative ideas and visions to life, helping
brands flourish using engaging storytelling. She is a Ryerson graduate.
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Thomas Georgakopoulos
Director, Retail Strategy and Analytics
LCBO
Thomas Georgakopoulos
Director, Retail Strategy and Analytics
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Nicky Arthur
Energy Management & Sustainability Specialist, North America
Lush Cosmetics
Nicky Arthur
Energy Management & Sustainability Specialist, North America
Nicky Arthur is the Energy Management and Sustainability Specialist at Lush Cosmetics, North
America, working within the Global Earthcare team to Leave the World Lusher Than We Found
It. Her areas of focus include energy management and procurement, emissions reduction, and
electrification strategy design and implementation.
Nicky led Lush’s global review of renewable energy options and implementation for the brand’s
‘100% renewable energy everywhere’ goal for electricity. In North America, she also leads
emissions tracking, benchmarking and reporting across manufacturing and 260+ retail shops.
When it comes to new locations, Nicky works closely on the development of green lease
documentation to ensure alignment with Lush’s sustainability goals wherever possible in terms
of energy, water data sharing and waste diversion opportunities, along with development of the
Construction Materials Design Guide, which ensures retail projects align with Lush’s ethics
through materials sourcing and equipment selection.
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Dan Parker
Manager, Marketing Commercialization - Home Storage
SC Johnson
Rui Rodrigues
Executive Advisor, Loss Prevention & Risk Management
Retail Council of Canada
Rui Rodrigues, RCC Executive Advisor, Loss Prevention & Risk Management, has extensive leadership experience overseeing Loss Prevention, Risk Management, Security, Health & Safety and Audit functions with retailers such as ICI, Shoppers Drug Mart, Best Buy, Staples and Holt Renfrew. He has been actively involved with Retail Council of Canada and National Retail Federation for over 15 years helping to organize conferences, participating on LP Committees and as an active speaker / presenter at industry events. Rui has also served a 5 year term on the Peel Crime Stoppers Board with 2 of those years as Chairperson.
Rui’s role with the RCC is to support Loss Prevention, Asset Protection and Risk Management to enhance programs and services for members from coast to coast.
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Andrew Halford
Partner, CIO
Fortium Partners Canada
Andrew is a seasoned Technology Executive with a history of identifying and leading successful business transformation programs. His background includes leading teams at Bell Canada and The Source to deliver new business capabilities, enhanced sales and productivity, and world-class customer service. Since leaving The Source, Andrew has set up shop as an Executive Consultant, serving Retail, Telco, Health Care and Alternative Energy sector executives with both Senior Advisory strategy services as well as hands on leadership. He is known as a listener, consensus builder, visionary and driver of technological innovation that enables his customers to thrive. His interests include anything tech and acting on climate change.
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Sean Snyder
President, Engagement Agents
Engagement Agents
As an award-winning sales, ecommerce, marketing and technology leader, Sean has over 20 years’ experience in high growth B2B, B2C and C2C industries.
Prior to founding Engagement Agents, Sean was the Director of Sales & Marketing for Stitch It Clothing Alterations, North America’s largest alterations service provider with 85 locations in major shopping centres. While helping Stitch It drive traffic & sales, he discovered a problem; every retailer pays significantly for digital and physical marketing opportunities each month through their leases; via gross rent, variable/percentage rent, CAM fees, marketing/promo/ad funds and merchant association fees.
However, only 10% of retailers engage the benefits of these significant investments, collectively costing retailers hundreds of billions in sales every year!
As a result, Sean developed Engagement Agents, www.EngagementAgents.com, a world-class solution to help retailers promptly reclaim significant amounts of lost traffic & sales by making it easy to engage their numerous already-paid-for shopping centers’ digital + physical retail media networks, paid for daily via the “hidden” marketing dollars in their leases.
A number of the world’s most recognizable retailers rely on Engagement Agents’ award-winning solution, including Adidas, Levi’s, Lacoste, Sephora and Nespresso.
Prior to joining Stitch It Sean founded Trend Trunk, Canada’s largest fashion marketplace, which was a finalist for three Canada Post Ecommerce Innovation Awards and Preferred One, one of the largest retailer gift card marketing companies in North America driving hundreds of millions of dollars to retailers. In addition, Sean was recognized with “Guy Who Gets It” Award by Illuminessence Magazine for valiant contributions to gender equality, social justice and community development.
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Rick Bohonis
Senior Advisor & Mentor
Bohonis Consulting Co.
Channeling an irrepressible energy, passion and love of people, Rick is best known as the co-founder and long-time CEO of Urban Barn, one of the best furniture retailers in Canada. While there, he became known for finding smart and motivated leaders and advisors and empowering them in the business.
Since leaving Urban Barn, Rick has used his experiences – from start up to exit – to help the next generation of entrepreneurs scale or ready-to-scale their ventures. He a strong interest in sustainability, health, and wellness,
He had been particularly active in supporting the evolution of early-stage business in Canada. Rick has been engaging top level executives and founders to develop a collective point of view and has adopted a leadership role in advocacy in several various ventures.
In the spring of 2019, Rick joined DIG360 Consulting Ltd. as a Senior Advisor and recently has established his own advisory. The team and its clients alike have benefitted from his counsel and innovative ideas. Rick supports these with leadership philosophy and advice on areas that fueled his successes to date: focusing deeply on customer and employee experiences and designing a scalable culture.
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John Moss
Director Experiential Design Strategy
Cineplex Digital Media
John is an innovative and strategic leader with over two decades of experience in transforming retail environments through the integration of digital and physical design elements. He specializes in elevating in-store customer experiences by leveraging technology, design thinking, and cross-functional leadership. Proven track record in directing high-performing teams to achieve award-winning retail design and digital integration projects. Passionate about creating seamless, engaging customer journeys that drive brand loyalty and sales.
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Vicki Bradley
Chief Executive Coach
Vicki Bradley Co.
Conscious Leaders are incredibly aware of themselves, others, and the influence they have on situations, events, and people. I support people in being highly responsive verses reactive in the life that they lead to ensure they bring their full and authentic self to the world.
I am the Founder and CEO of Vicki Bradley & Company and WIL Empowered, a Professional Certified Coach (PCC), Energy Leadership Index Assessment Master Practitioner (ELI-MP), Certified in Conversational Intelligence (CIQ), and Emotional Intelligence (EQi 2.0).
What stands me apart from most coaches is that I am a seasoned Executive with 25+ years’ experience in leading high performing teams in the retail industry across North America. I’ve held progressive roles with iconic retailers which include: President of the Bombay Furniture Company in Canada while simultaneously leading the store organization as VP Sales and Operations for Bombay US, SVP of Sales and Operations with Marks and Spencer’s, VP of Sales and Operations with luxury retailer Holt Renfrew (Hr2) and held progressive roles within the Woolworth Organization across North America. I sat on the Board of Directors for the Retail Council of Canada, Party Packagers, and OSI tile.
My passion has always been with supporting and stretching individuals beyond what they believe themselves capable of, creating environments that are co-creative for learning, and supporting others to see their greatness. I became a coach so that I could have an impact on more individuals in this world but especially women.
Are you ready to step into your greatness?
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Sari Deckelbaum
SVP, eCommerce
Sleep Country
Sari Deckelbaum is a well rounded business & digital executive whose 20 year career has been characterized by the sustained and impactful digital business transformations of the North American retail businesses with whom she has collaborated over that period. A digital veteran since late Web 1.0, her experience through all phases of the digital revolution has equipped her with a deep and broad understanding of evolving business, digital, marketing, & e-commerce trends, while bringing a growth and agile mind-set and fresh new innovative strategic perspective to large retail organizations seeking to unlock business value, drive profitable growth and increase market share.
She currently serves as the Senior Vice-President of e-commerce at Sleep Country Canada where she inspires and leads teams to adopt sustainable, omni-business models, while using digital technology, strong digital experience and proven marketing performance strategies to drive innovation, growth, a robust online presence, and to digitally transform. Under her leadership she has led significant new business wins and has delivered strong business growth.
Her career spans multiple senior e-commerce and digital & marketing roles across the North American retail landscape. As a business transformation leader Sari uses her platform to drive thought leadership for the encouragement of digital transformation across business sectors, and also to inspire organizations to leverage data and insights to empower better marketing, & enterprise decision making leveraging a customer first approach.
Sari aspires to share her drive and wealth of knowledge with talented global teams and fellow business, digital, technology, & marketing leaders, while encouraging and championing innovation and change.
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Lori Bailey
CEO & Founder
Just4Women Group
Lori Bailey is a passionate retail industry leader with broad sales, marketing and operations expertise.She is known for spearheading unique strategies, which have proven to expand retailers target audiences, by building brand centric experiences, focusing on all five senses.
Prior to launching her own company, Just4Women Group, Lori served as Chief Customer Experience Officer and Senior Vice President of Retail Operations for Sears Canada, overseeing 140 retail stores and more than 500 dealer and agent locations. Lori has held a range of executive positions at well-known retail fashion chains throughout her career including Head of Gap Canada, Advisor to Nine West, Vice-President of Jones New York and Laura Canada, as well as consulting on several projects, including the conception and launch of Tweed Retail for Canopy Growth. She has an unprecedented track record for growing revenue and profit at every company she has worked for.
Lori has received multiple sales achievement awards from leading Canadian and international retailers. With 25 years of executive experience, she has intimate knowledge of the Canadian retail landscape and has developed a massive network of talent with core skills in customer engagement, networking, and clientele building.
When the pandemic hit in 2020, many of the women in her network found themselves unemployed for the first time in their careers, just like 500,000 other women in Canada whose jobs were impacted by Covid 19. That’s when she and the women in her group took control and launched their own brand, J4W HOME & Gifts, because there’s always a reason to give a gift. Lori’s vision for Just4Women Group is to provide every woman with the options made simple and the means to style it her way.
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Ted Starkman
Co-Founder & CEO
Stream Commerce
Ted is Co-Founder and CEO of Stream Commerce. Stream Commerce is the fastest growing Shopify Plus e-commerce agency in North America. Stream Commerce serves high growth, high volume Shopify Plus merchants with expert e-commerce consulting, site design & development, site optimization and digital performance marketing.
Lawyer by training, Ted is an e-commerce executive and entrepreneur. Ted started selling online in 1996 – over 25 years of e-commerce experience. Ted built and scaled the QVC of Canada, The Shopping Channel, first taking the business from scratch to over $125m in annual online sales and later as President of The Shopping Channel, building out its multi-channel offering to over $350m in DTC sales.
As an executive operator and agency entrepreneur, Ted has a unique perspective, with a combination of client side, agency side, start-up, public company, private company and private equity backed e-commerce experience. A frequent speaker at retail industry events, Ted loves to share his experience as a digital retail and consumer product innovator.
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Hassan Chaudhry
Vice President of Design, Construction and Asset Management
Staples Canada
Hassan Chaudhry is responsible for leading the strategic planning and implementation of store development, store design, construction and engineering for the national retail portfolio at Staples Canada. He provides leadership to the construction, fixturing, design and project management teams.
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David Thorpe
President
David Thorpe Inc
David Thorpe is a high energy, results driven, customer-obsessed marketing professional who loves working for retail challenger brands. Over the course of 20+ years, he’s held senior marketing leadership roles with Ashley Homestore Canada, London Drugs Limited, one of British Columbia’s most loved brands, and national discount leader, Giant Tiger Stores Limited, where he was responsible for all marketing communications activities to build brand, drive traffic and support growth to over 200 franchised stores across Canada.
David has also worked as General Manager of a digital marketing agency and served on a number of industry advisory boards including the RAC in Toronto, CRMC(Chicago), GRMA (FL) and the CMO council of the National Retail Federation. ( Washington, DC). He also served on the board of Capture Photography Festival in Vancouver, BC.
David is an avid cyclist, sailor and photographer. He presently lives and works in Ottawa, Ontario as a Retail Marketing Consultant and teaches Retail Management and Marketing as a professor in the School of Business at. Algonquin College.
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David Ian Gray
Principal & Retail Strategist
DIG360 Consulting Ltd.
David Ian Gray is a recognized expert on retail and shopper trends, consistently producing high-impact knowledge for over 25 years. With his team, David provides fresh counsel across Canada to Founders, CEOs and other executives on defining customer-relevance, rethinking customer experience and tailoring roadmaps for evolving their retail and DTC concepts. He is widely sought for insight by business media.
David presents regularly on emerging retail trends, the role of retail in a sustainable future, the need for strategic adaptation and management of innovation, and other topics. David is in Rethink Retail’s Top 100. He cofounded and co-hosted the pandemic podcast The Business of Retail and has taught senior executives with the prestigious London Business School and the next generation of talent at Canadian business schools.
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James Rolph
Vice President, Operations & Express
M&M Food Market
James has been part of the Canadian retail landscape for over 25 years with four iconic Canadian companies; previously Shoppers Drug Mart, Petro-Canada, On The Run, and currently with M&M Food Market. In his executive role with M&M, James leads the operations team in effectively managing the 300+ franchise and corporate store locations and 2400+ M&M Express locations across the country.
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Marissa Andersson
Sr. Manager, Leadership Development & Learning Delivery
The Home Depot Canada
Ask Marissa Andersson why she works in learning, talent and leadership development and there is only one answer ‘Learning Changes Lives’. Marissa creates learning and talent development experiences that reignite the passion that we all innately have to explore, learn, and grow. Through these experiences, people become better at whatever they pursue, and lives can be changed for the better.
Marissa’s has lived this mission in her learning career through progressive roles across industries and learning focussed organizations. Marissa has practiced what she preaches throughout and continually invests in her own development, most recently completing her Masters in Adult Education and Leadership. Currently, Marissa supports Talent Management, Organizational Effectiveness and Leadership Development at the Home Depot Canada where she leads teams who develop others across The Home Depot store network and Store Support Centre (head office).
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Rosa Magrone
Manager, Leadership Development and Solutions
York Region
When asked to describe herself with three words Rosa Magrone would say, resourceful, enthusiastic and courageous. Rosa’s passion for learning comes from a lifelong obsession for reading. From a young age Rosa devoured books by the dozen. Rosa made fast friends with her elementary school librarian Mrs. Desouza and could be found in the school library every day after school and looking for the next great story to read. As an adult Rosa fueled this passion into her purpose and is why she chose to spend the better part of her career in Human Resources and Learning and Development.
As a Human Resources leader, Rosa is known for strong leaderships, unwavering integrity, and the ability to influence ideas and relationships. Rosa also has extensive leadership in resource planning, change management and developing leadership development programs while partnering with leadership teams to collaboratively move the organization forward. In her current role as the Manager, Leadership Development & Solution Rosa is responsible for designing and facilitating the Home Depot Leadership Curriculum for people leaders across Canada.
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Gary Newbury
Director
RETAILAID Inc.
Gary is a Canadian-based supply chain strategist with over 30 years of expertise leading performance transformations across Canada and the UK. He has delivered more than 90 major assignments across grocery, general merchandise, distribution, last-mile, and automotive. Known for restoring flow, control, and profitability, Gary thrives in high-stakes environments where performance has stalled or become highly disrupted.
He regularly judges student and industry competitions, bringing a sharp operational lens, commercial clarity, and deep insight into what defines retail supply chain execution excellence.
Gary is an active contributor to the retail and supply chain ecosystem through ASCM, CITT, Supply Chain Canada, and NISCL. He is a keynote speaker and podcaster (The Business of Retail and RetailAID), supports Retail Insider with expert insights and serves on program advisory committees for several colleges and universities, helping shape the next generation of supply chain talent.
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Interested in getting involved with the Excellence in Retailing Awards? Email events@retailcouncil.org for more information.
Contact
RCC Sponsorship team at rccsponsorship@retailcouncil.org
RCC Events team at events@retailcouncil.org