Leadership in Action

Dinesh has over 25 years of leadership experience in sales, marketing, and client management in the financial services, advertising, and education sectors, including at Radius Financial Education, the Canadian Institute of Financial Planners, TC Transcontinental, and Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada. In his role at TC Media, he was the National Sales Director for Investment Executive and Les affaires, which are amongst Canada’s leading finance publications. Dinesh has a Higher National Diploma in Civil Engineering from the University of East London (United Kingdom).

Mil Patel is the founder of MIL Photography, a Professional Headshot and Brand photography studio located in Pickering Village. He has been a member of the Ajax-Pickering Board of Trade for 1.5 years. In recognition of his achievements, Mil was honoured with the New Business Award at the APBOT’s 2023 Business Excellence Awards. He joined as a Director with our Board of Directors in 2024 and sits on the Women’s Committee.

A member of the APBOT, chairs and sits on committees and is a 2020 BEA winner. He has been a member of the Ajax Pickering Board of Trade (APBOT) for 8 years and he chairs the Board’s Health and Wellness Committee, leading the development of the Health and Wellness Business certification program. As well, he sits on the Business Excellence Awards Judges Committee. He is also the winner of the 2020 APBOT Business of the Year (1-4 Employees).

He is a successful health and wellness speaker, presenting to organizations such as the APBOT, Search Engine People, The City of Pickering, Durham College, GoodLife Fitness, and Ontario Tech University (UOIT at the time). He also had the opportunity to present a TEDx Talk while assisting in the organization of the TEDx event. One of Dr. Chris’ proudest professional achievements is the scale of his office’s Holiday Food Drive. The office has been able to donate approximately 1,500 pounds of food yearly to Feed the Need Durham and are setting an audacious goal of 2000 pounds for 2023. Lofty aspirations for an office of only a few people.

He is a gushingly proud Girl Dad and a fanatical Husband. He has lived in Pickering his entire life and he gets our community.

Asif A. Kasim is the President and CEO of Integrity Tree Financial, bringing over 25 years of expertise in financial services. As a licensed mortgage broker and insurance advisor, he has served in both client-facing and leadership roles, earning a reputation for delivering tailored solutions that prioritize clients’ needs. Asif’s growth and success are deeply rooted in his belief in helping others. Guided by a “pay-it-forward” philosophy, he is committed to putting the best interests of others first, just as others have done for him throughout his career.

Neil Sinclair is a Chartered Professional Accountant and was recently recognized as a Fellow by CPA Ontario. Neil’s practice started in Ajax in 1995 and in 2021 merged his firm with Doane Grant Thornton – Ajax office. As a partner of the firm, Neil works predominately with privately held businesses providing guidance on corporate reporting, tax planning and business advisory. Neil recently completed two terms with CPA Canada’s Auditing and Assurance Standards Oversight Council where he contributed to the development of audit and assurance standards in Canada. Neil has joined the Board of Directors of the Ajax-Pickering Board of Trade and looks forward to the opportunities ahead for the business community.

Malcolm Gurley, President of Gurley Leadership Solutions, has over 35 years of experience in creating and implementing productivity improvement initiatives as a Senior Executive for Fortune 100 companies and a privately held manufacturing company. His career includes international business experience in the United States, Europe, and Asia.

As a licensee of LMI Canada (Leadership Management International), the industry leader in leadership productivity improvement and development, Malcolm works directly with corporate executives and leaders to achieve new levels of success for revenue growth, profitability, on-time delivery, quality improvement, and other key areas.

In addition to providing significant improvements in leadership productivity, Malcolm is a Black Belt in Lean Six Sigma and has led many business transformations resulting in significant improvements to the bottom line. This experience in implementing Lean methodologies coupled with improving leadership performance is a powerful combination Malcolm brings to his clients.

Malcolm became a director at the Ajax-Pickering Board of Trade in 2023 and served as the Vice-President in 2024.

Mohamed is the founder and President of Unique Accounting Services, an Accounting and Bookkeeping firm that helps Canadian small and medium sized businesses with their bookkeeping, accounting and taxation needs under one roof. With over 15 years’ experience providing taxation, accounting and bookkeeping services to businesses of all sizes, Mohamed is the go to person for accounting and taxation. He has been on the Board of Directors of the Business Advisory Centre Durham (BACD) since 2016, served as the Secretary/Treasurer on the BACD board from May 2017 to May 2021, and has been serving as the Chair on the BACD board since May 2021. He is also on the Board of Directors of the Ajax Pickering Board of Trade since January 2021. Mohamed volunteers his time in the preparation of income tax returns through the CRA’s Community Voluntary income Tax Preparation (CVITP) clinics, working with charitable organizations

Mark is Senior Vice-President at 369 Publishing, overseeing 3 Magazine, a luxury lifestyle publication for Third Culture Individuals. He is also Chief Brand Economist at Strata Insights, leading strategy for Fortune 500 brands. Mark holds several board roles, including Independent Board Member at Elexicon Corporation, where he serves on the Audit, Finance, and Risk Management Committee and chairs the Elexicon Group Committee. He also serves on the High Tech Automotive Industry Advisory Board at L.E.S. (USA), collaborating on vehicle technology innovations. Mark co-authored a global standard for measuring intangible capital value and risk, adopted by ANSI. He has taught at George Brown College, Trent University, and Canadore College.

Sharmaine Singh, Vice President, Finance & Administration at Surge Arrest Canada Inc. Sharmaine is a member in good standing with CPA Ontario, a fellow Chartered Certified Accountant and holds an MBA with a specialization in Strategic Planning. Her international experience spans over two decades in various roles in the oil & gas, government and private sectors. Sharmaine is excited to connect with you to support and carry out the mandate of the Ajax-Pickering Board of Trade.