As a third generation general insurance broker specializing in auto, home, commercial and farm insurance, Adam started with their family business, Duliban Insurance Brokers, at a very young age. A graduate of Mohawk College’s insurance program and the sales and leadership program at Queen’s University, Adam works alongside his twin brother Jason.

Born and raised in the Niagara Region, Anthony Greco has worked tirelessly to promote Niagara, not only as a wine country but a culinary destination. Graduating from the Niagara Food and Wine Institute in 2008 helped Anthony to train under some of Niagara’s top chefs and build his reputation as one of the leading young chefs within Niagara. Anthony was awarded with a Food Day Canada Silver Medal in 2015 and a recent Gold Medal in 2016.

With over 15 years of digital experience with some of the biggest media players in Canada, Brett is happy to be back home working out of the “White House of Rock and Talk” here in St. Catharines. Brett’s role is to assist small and medium local companies grow their business by helping them market themselves in the digital space versus the big global players. With his experience of leveraging digital platforms and working closely with his rockstar promotions and programming departments, he helps to identify and implement cutting-edge solutions.

After earning a Bachelor of Science from Brock University, Chantelle went on to complete her post-graduate certificate in human resource management from Niagara College and her masters in business administration from Niagara University. Chantelle is currently a commercial account manager at Meridian Credit Union and a part-time professor at Niagara College. In her roles, she provides quality advice to several businesses in the Niagara Region and develops young leaders.

After completing his chiropractic schooling in 2006, Darryl opened Bridgepoint Chiropractic in Fort Erie. He has grown the practice over the last 10 years to include two locations, and has since expanded to include massage therapy and kinesiology rehab services. Shortly after opening his practice, Darryl became a member of JCI Fort Erie, winning Rookie of the Year honours in 2007 and serving as secretary, treasurer and vice-president during his three years with the group. Darryl left JCI Fort Erie in 2011 to become a volunteer firefighter with the Town of Fort Erie, where he recently received his five year service award.

Geraldine Brouwer is the co-owner of Big Country Raw, a manufacturer and retailer of a frozen raw pet food line for dogs and cats. Now available at over 280 retail locations across Ontario, the business has grown quickly with support from their very loyal customers—the dogs and cats—that love their Big Country Raw meals. Geraldine attributes her success in business to listening to her customers, the support she receives from her family, and the dedication of the Big Country Raw team.

Jesse Barraza started his career at Brock University Student Services developing programs and services for students. His success expanding programs led to an opportunity with Brock Sports. Jesse’s role in Brock Sports combines raising the profile of Brock’s student athletes in the community with helping to build a winning culture for teams. Jesse is a member of JCI and serves as co-chair of the Niagara Crown Ward Championship team. Through his Crown Ward involvement, over 20 at-risk youth in Niagara have pursued post-secondary education.

Josh Kazdan is the proud owner of Better Image Collision Inc. in Niagara Falls. From its humble beginnings as a one man operation in 2001, he is grateful to still be serving and employing residents of Niagara almost 17 years later. “From the day we opened the doors as an actual business,” he says, “I really wasn’t a businessman. But I knew the only thing that mattered was to treat people right, be honest, do good work, and the rest will follow. Always follow your dreams, set goals, and never give up—ever.”

After nearly two decades as a Niagara area stylist, Marilyn has co-founded the successful INdustry Hair and Esthetics in St. Catharines. She’s an award-winning hairstylist in both provincial and national competitions, winning awards for women’s haircutting, styling and colour, as well as men’s haircutting and bridal up-dos. Marilyn has had her work published in many international magazines and been recognized for her award-winning accomplishments. Marilyn is also an educator at Niagara College, teaching cosmetology to the upcoming generation of stylists. Her belief in education and continued education has led to the growth of INdustry Hair and Esthetics.

Melissa Bickford is the COO of Pendleton Translations Limited. She’s responsible for the company’s operations systems, the hiring and training of staff, and the development of strategic partnerships. Melissa successfully obtained ISO certification for Pendleton Translations in 2015 and currently acts as an internal ISO auditor for the company. To show her commitment to the community, Melissa enjoys volunteering weekly at a local school, works on fundraising initiatives for the Milton District Hospital Foundation, and is a community champion to Girls Inc. of Halton. Melissa is also a graduate of the University of Western Ontario.

As a therapist at Hotel Dieu Shaver Health and Rehabilitation Centre, Nicole was instrumental in developing a specialty clinic providing technology for people who cannot speak or handwrite. A graduate of Brock and McMaster universities, Nicole provides service to people across the Niagara Region. Her commitment to the environment has led to her success as a Norwex consultant. She's owner / president of a property management company with a vision of accessible housing for people with disabilities. As a board president at Rosalind Blauer Centre for Child Care, she facilitated the creation of a natural playground as an exemplar of outdoor learning for children.

After various customer service and hospitality positions, Rana began working for herself and opened her first Pita Pit. She now owns three successful locations in the Niagara Region. Through her hard work and dedication, Rana earned the 2015 Franchisee of the Year Award and was chosen to operate Pita Pit’s 500th store worldwide in Niagara Falls. Rana is seen as a leader within Pita Pit and her community due to her involvement with several charities and her work with programs like the Pita Pit Player of the Game.

With many years of experience in the automotive industry, Shamil has been the service manager for Henley Honda & Subaru of Niagara for the last seven years. Shamil oversees a team of over 32 employees and their day-to-day activities. His passion is leading by example as Shamil worked his way up to where he is now by learning all the positions on the front line. Shamil has a business management diploma through Humber College. He’s also an active advisory board member at Niagara College. Shamil volunteers his time guest speaking to students there, and enjoys giving back wherever he can.

Born and raised in Niagara, Tim opened Paddle Niagara to offer a different perspective of Lake Ontario and the Niagara River that you can’t find anywhere else in the region. Tim has had a long love affair with board sports from a young age—from skateboarding to snowboarding to wake boarding and later, skim boarding. Having devoted his free time to sailing, kayaking and stand up paddle boarding, Tim decided to open the first fully dedicated stand up paddle boarding lessons and rentals firm in the region. Tim’s passion and drive is building a Niagara water community, one paddler at a time.

Amber Minor has been teaching for the District School Board of Niagara since 2010, and currently teaches at McKay Public School. Before becoming a teacher, Amber worked as a youth counselor for the John Howard Society of Niagara, providing life skills training to at-risk youth. She’s passionate about helping others in need, and enjoys motivating young people to be more socially conscious on both a local and global scale.

As the founder of She Implements, Ashley Brown helps online entrepreneurs bring their big goals to life through Strategic Harmonious Execution (SHE). In less than two years, Ashley grew her virtual assistant practice from encouraging clients to employing a team of six. Her mission is to help women empower themselves to create an impact in the world.

Brianne hails from Niagara’s beautiful south coast with a strong background in marketing and public relations from Niagara College. She takes the reins as the account manager and digital media strategist at Chimpanzee. Brianne has provided digital marketing support for Port Cares for many years. She’s also a mentor with Literacy Link Niagara in a reverse mentoring program, teaching social media skills. Brianne is passionate about volunteering. She's just won the Volunteer of the Year Award from the Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce for her volunteer efforts on the NEXTNiagara Council and Women In Niagara Council.

After launching her quirky and quintessentially British business, Charlotte has been on an entrepreneurial whirlwind. The reception of Ello Gov’na, Niagara’s cheeky British food truck, this past year has been astounding. Charlotte’s commitment and passion for flavour, as well as her drive to take on any obstacle has now led her to launch a second business—MASON—a new restaurant service within the Silversmith Brewery in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

After 16 years as a colourist in Niagara, David has co-founded INdustry Hair and Esthetics in St. Catharines. In 2014, David became one of 16 people globally to receive Goldwell Colour Master status. He has won many provincial and national competitions for women’s styling, cutting and colouring. David’s editorial work has been published in countless magazines worldwide. He’s also a strong believer in education and is continually invited as a guest artist to teach and inspire the students of the Niagara College cosmetology program.

A Mohawk College graduate, Jason has used hard work, honesty and dedication to help grow his family business. Jason became a principle broker and owner with his twin brother Adam in 2014. Duliban Insurance Brokers now has four offices across the Niagara and Haldimand Regions. Jason has also tripled their staff, and created digitalized and specialized connections to their community and clients. As a part of his commitment to the community, Jason plays a major role in their highly successful Duliban Fore Charity fundraiser.

After 18 years of representing State Farm Insurance, Jessica reached her dream of becoming a State Farm agent in her hometown of Niagara Falls. She provides expert advice and care to her clients while doing everything from completely revitalizing her office to hiring and training her staff. Jessica holds all insurance licenses including life and mutual funds, and continues to pursue her CIP designation. She also inspires everyone around her with her passion for insurance and financial services, offering superior and honest customer service.

From athlete to coach to academic, Justin has blended these experiences to build CrossFit St. Catharines with Ashley Smith. Their mission is to create a safe and welcoming environment for people to live a healthier, more physically and socially active lifestyle. The community feel built within CrossFit St. Catharines has become a vehicle of opportunity to reach out to the greater community and support highly impactful efforts such as the Special Olympics Canada Foundation, the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, and Community Care. Justin also oversees the quickly expanding CFSTC Kids program, helping provide a physical and social outlet for kids to start healthy habits.

Mark graduated from the Toronto Film School with a degree in digital film and television production. He’s the co-owner of Mitchell Reilly Pictures. His passion for storytelling through cinematography has fueled the growth of this Niagara-based video production company since its inception in 2011. He has co-produced commercials for Forests Ontario, Tarion, and the Real Estate Council of Ontario, as well as Niagara flagships like PenFinancial Credit Union, Just Junk, Brock University and more.

Merissa Mason is the embodiment of “We make a living by what we get but we make a life by what we give.” The White Birch Massage Therapy and Wellness in the historic village of Chippawa was started to make people’s lives healthier and more balanced. It's paid off in spades as Merissa finds it in herself to give so much back to her community. Whether it's gift certificates, donations from her “pay what you can” yoga classes or her own time working on various community initiatives, Merissa is always fully engaged in making her community a better place.

Owen Hughes is an AACI designated commercial real estate appraiser, sales representative and partner at Colliers Niagara International Limited. His work has taken him throughout Canada and has seen him work with Niagara property owners and beyond including large corporate clients like Starbucks, Rolls Royce and the United States of America. (No, really.) His no-nonsense approach to the commercial real estate business has led to a strong reputation for reliable valuation, solid investments for his clients, and his own growing real estate portfolio.

After working for a local construction company for over 10 years, Randy decided to take a leap and make a go of it on his own. In three short years, Randy has grown his firm to 11 full-time employees. His sales have also increased 600% since year one and continue to grow. Randy is currently the president of Networking Niagara, a member of the Welland/Pelham Chamber of Commerce and the GTBG. Randy utilizes RAM Construction to give back to the community in many ways including several downtown clean ups, donating time to local food drives, and various community charity events.

After emigrating from Jamaica to Niagara for his post-secondary education, Shane became a strong advocate for issues facing college students both locally and provincially. Before becoming the executive director for Leadership Niagara a year ago, Shane was the president of the Niagara College Student Administrative Council (NCSAC) for two years. During that time, he was involved in a number of advocacy efforts around regional transit and GO locally as well as provincial and national international students affairs and OSAP. He’s a graduate of Niagara College’s culinary management and bachelor of business programs, current vice-chair of the NEXTNiagara council.

While on maternity leave, after having her first of four children in five years, Annemarie, a qualified nurse, felt a need to do more. She built HeroDogTreats, a dog treat company that manufactures single ingredient dehydrated dog treats.

In 2009, Ashley started her first health and fitness business doing boot camps, spinning and nutrition in outdoor parks and renting space from anyone she could. In 2013, shortly after diving into competitive CrossFit, Ashley (and partner Justin Parro) decided to open their first CrossFit location. Today, she is the proud owner of Niagara’s largest and most diverse CrossFit and athletic training facility, serving over 220 members ranging from the age of five to 65 in all aspects of their health and fitness journey.

Carly has been a member of the Hughes & Co. team since 2012, and is committed to mentoring new employees and interns. As the director of client accounts, she nurtures them from talented writers, designers and students into business-focused digital marketers. Carly has cultivated her love for working with businesses to help them do better and be better with strategic, data-driven marketing plans while pursuing her passion for writing and creative consultation.

Building from the ground up since day one, Cheryl’s real estate career began as a receptionist over 13 years ago. But Cheryl has never had the goal of just making a dollar. She’s always wanted and strived for more. An entrepreneurial spirit rages though her veins, pushing her to get involved in anything and everything she can. Now that she’s moved up the ladder from receptionist to becoming Broker of Record of her own real estate firm, Cheryl is proud to have a team alongside her that’s unyielding and tenacious. She also has a husband that stands beside her every step of the way.

Emily has a great passion for the arts and has been a professional performer and director for the past 16 years. In 2008, Emily became the director of sales and marketing of house seats Canada, a live audience development company whose goal is to get “bums in seats.” In February of 2015, Emily co-founded The Foster Festival with Norm Foster and Patricia Vanstone. Through Emily’s leadership as executive director, alongside Artistic Director Patricia Vanstone, The Foster Festival has evolved from an unknown commodity into a major summer cultural anchor here in St. Catharines.

Jayne joined Brock University as the knowledge mobilization officer in Brock’s Lifespan Centre in 2014, but began her career at Brock when she completed a SSHRC funded master’s degree in lifespan development from 2009 to 2011. Jayne has also completed a B.A. from York University, the Knowledge Translation Professional Certificate from the University of Toronto, and the Leadership Niagara Certificate. Locally, Jayne acts as secretary of the Learning Disabilities Association’s board of directors.

After teaching her two boys to sleep well at very young ages, Jillian became a certified infant and toddler sleep consultant so she could help other families struggling to get a good night’s sleep. After working with hundreds of parents to solve their babies’ sleep issues, she recognized a growing need to help older children, teenagers and adults who were suffering from the effects of sleep deprivation. Since 2015, Jillian has been working with people of all ages and takes a holistic, non-medical approach to helping them get to the root of their sleep issues.

Lorraine’s drive and determination to be involved in her community follows her to Brock University each and every day, where she’s employed as a development officer for Brock Sports. Lorraine loves meeting new people and strives to create lasting and meaningful relationships that help connect Brock University with the community. Lorraine loves being surrounded by passionate and positive people which is why she cherishes being an active member of the Wise Girls/Wise Guys Charity Fund. Lorraine hopes that one day her children will follow in her and her husband’s footsteps and help make a difference in our community.

Mark started his professional life as an environmental planner, helping identify environmentally sensitive alternatives for major water / wastewater infrastructure projects. In 2008, Mark joined the City of Niagara Falls as a community development coordinator and moved into Cemetery Services. As the manager of Cemetery Services, Mark participates in several environmental initiatives including pursuing the opportunity to bring the first green cemetery to Niagara.

After a highly successful career as a physician’s assistant with Excelsior Orthopaedics, specializing in hand and upper extremities injuries for over six years, the D’Youville College Bachelor of Science graduate embarked on a new journey. Natalie joined her family business—Miller’s Auto Recycling—in September of 2009. Since then, Natalie has become an integral part of the team at Miller’s, contributing to the organization in the areas of human resources, finance and strategic planning. As part of her involvement in the community, Natalie currently serves as secretary on the Fort Erie Chamber of Commerce board.

Pam Isaak is a proud Brock University BBA alumnus, Leadership Niagara graduate and work-at-home mom-preneur. Pam balances many roles including freelance professional under the banner of her small business—Hummingbird Communications. These include acting as adjunct professor at Niagara College, faculty advisor for Niagara College Research & Innovation and Niagara Regional Manager for the Ontario Co-operative Association. Pam is a volunteer director for Powerhouse Project and a two-time GWEn conference speaker.

Sarah Scott joined Niagara College in 2005, and is currently employed as manager of dining operations at Niagara College’s Canadian Food and Wine Institute. As a part-time instructor for Niagara College’s hotel and restaurant management program, Sarah continuously strives to be a leader in the hospitality industry. As a graduate and alumnus of Niagara College Canada from the same program, Sarah is currently completing her executive leadership certification with Cornell University.

Born and raised in Newmarket, Ontario, Shannon moved to the Niagara Region to attend Brock University’s sport management program, where she instantly fell in love with the area. After graduating, she started her career in the promotional products industry. Shannon connected with Brand Blvd. in 2013 and knew that she’d found something special. Shannon’s commitment to Brand Blvd. and her clients is second to none. In the community, you’ll see her volunteering at local events and sitting on the board for Wise Girls Charity. In 2015, she was a recipient of Brand Blvd.’s prestigious peer-to-peer award.