Behind the Scenes with AMA Volunteers

Share this post :
Share on linkedin
Share on email
Share on twitter
Share on print
Share on facebook
Share on whatsapp

It’s National Volunteer Week in April. Learn more about the contributions of our volunteer community

Build your leadership potential as a part of our volunteer team

We’re looking for:
• PR pros
• Website and WordPress experts
• Business development professionals
• And more…

If you’re interested in meeting great people, boosting your resume and raising your profile in the marketing community, please check out our job postings at https://ama-toronto.com/community/volunteer/ or contact me at debbie.bolton@ama-toronto.com

Behind the Scenes: Thank You to AMA Toronto’s Amazing Volunteers!

April 24 to 30 is National Volunteer Week and we want to give special recognition to the more than 170 volunteers who behind the scenes run AMA Toronto but also contribute to building the leadership potential of Canada’s marketing and business community. Your dedication and support have impact in so many ways. Our heartfelt thanks to:

Our External Advisory Council: These 10 senior business leaders share their time, their wisdom and support to our chapter strategies and programs. Co-Chair Arthur Fleischmann (and long-time past Co-Chair David Kincaid), Dr. Alan Middleton, Chantal Butler, David Pullara, Eric Tang, Fatima Israel, Gallant Law, Matt McKenzie, Trinh Tham, Yasmin Pallan and long-time past member Maclin Williams.

Our Mentors: Approximately 80 mid-level and senior marketing leaders generously help nurture the leadership potential of our ambitious Career Accelerator and Mentor Exchange mentees each year.

Our Board and Committee Members: A huge shout-out to our board members and teams! Your energy fuels our business operations and has turned AMA Toronto into an innovative and award-winning powerhouse of ideas and programs.

Our Board’s Executive Committee: This group consists of 6 current, incoming and past presidents who help guide chapter strategy and operations.
President Tina Portillo who led our strategic planning and stepped up to lead our chapter operations from July 2021 to June 2022
President-Elect Barbara Boyd who has worked closely with Tina and will take over the reins on July 1 2022
Immediate Past-President Miglena Nikolova who led AMA Toronto to award-winning status in 2021 and continues to support so many aspects of chapter operations including Business Development
Secretary, Past-President and VP Mentorship Craig Lund
Past-President and VP Finance Matt Chong
Past-President and VP Volunteers Debbie Bolton

Our 14 Committee teams: are led by 14 board VPs and supported by dedicated professionals who help us plan and provide a wide range of programs to empower the members of our marketing community.

Jacob Kessler’s team runs Canada’s Marketing Hall of Legends, an annual and year-long recognition and events program that celebrates the contributions of Canada’s marketing legends and shares their inspiring stories with our community.
Christine Andrew’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion team leads the strategies and initiatives that help ensure greater diversity within our community.
Malaika Palmer oversees 5 Events teams who host more than 18 events annually.
Christy Varicat leads Digital Marketing professionals who helped develop, launch and manage our new customer-facing website.
Matt Chong oversees Finance: planning, budgets and the chapter’s financial health.
Chris Stathousis’ team provides information on AMA International resources and activities and helps develop international relationships.
Santo Ligotti, Wendy Greenwood and Jessica Zucker run Marcom which plans and provides marketing and communications to support our programs, as well as inform and inspire our community.
Oscar Rank’s Membership team recruits, onboards, engages and provides value to our members.
Craig Lund team runs Mentorship programs for mid-level (Mentor Exchange) and early-stage marketers (Career Accelerator) and our new Executive Coaching program.
Steve Simkus’ Partnership/Sponsorship/Business Development teams develop and manage mutually beneficial relationships with our business partners and sponsors.
Robert MacLean’s team spearheads Public Relations support for AMA Toronto programs.
Darko Rakin’s Strategy and Insights team helps shape strategic direction and implements the research and analytics projects that inform our decisions.
Vincent Mok’s team develops and manages our internal Technology infrastructure.
Debbie Bolton and the Volunteer team recruit, engage and help our volunteer community develop professionally.

THANK YOU EVERYONE!

Each month our Rockstars program celebrates the stand-out contributions of some team volunteers who help operate our chapter. Many thanks to our March Rockstars Naomi, Shauna and Tarik who have worked quietly but so effectively behind the scenes to help the AMA Toronto community.

Naomi Hamersley: Manager Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Naomi’s passionate commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion over the past year has helped AMA Toronto advance our thinking and increase our focus on DEI. Her thoughtful perspectives and dedication have been instrumental in forming and executing our chapter’s DEI strategy which has been recognized for excellence by AMA’s international network.

Naomi is a Director Communications for ext. Marketing and has a Bachelor of Applied Arts in Journalism.

Shauna Lichtblau: Manager Digital Marketing

Shauna has been an amazing addition to the Digital team. She is incredibly responsive to all high priority website requests, updating the homepage banner, video assets and new content pages, as well as working on new designs for the News section. Shauna goes the extra mile and helps our AMA teams achieve quick turnarounds.

Shauna is a Manager of Digital Marketing Journey for Scotiabank and has a Master of Arts in Business/Visual Arts Administration.

Tarik El Assal: Manager Membership Group Buys

Tarik is a two-time Rockstar. Since joining the Membership team, Tarik has excelled at managing our group membership buys but he has also developed a very comprehensive manual for onboarding new members and for completing member renewals. He consistently exceeds expectations by providing one-on-one help to new and renewing members. He has created a member customer service resource to deal with any questions on membership, including financial questions, process questions, access, or insights.

Tarik has a Masters in Marketing Management and is a bilingual Data Analyst- Sobeys for IRI.

If you’re interested in learning more about our talented volunteer community and opportunities, please contact me at debbie.bolton@ama-toronto.com

Related News

Behind the Scenes with AMA Volunteers by Debbie Bolton

Many people associate leadership with authority, power and titles. However, my experience is that leadership is a mindset that adapts to almost any context. Depending on the situation, yes, you may need to lead the team and the charge. But leadership can also mean going above and beyond to support the team’s goals or perhaps opening your mind to a new way to improve a current situation. Regardless of your role or level within an organization, you can lead if you view your challenges and opportunities through the lens of “how do I make this better?”