Board of Directors
Meet the experienced tech leaders guiding TechConnex’s mission to empower organizations through peer-driven learning and collaboration.
Leadership That Understands Your Challenges
Our Board of Directors comprises accomplished executives and entrepreneurs from diverse sectors of the technology industry. Each member brings unique expertise, strategic insight, and a deep commitment to fostering a thriving tech community in the Greater Toronto Area.
As a member-directed organization, our board ensures that TechConnex remains focused on delivering exceptional value, relevant programming, and meaningful connections that drive real business results.
Our Board Directors
Executive Committe
Dedicated leaders driving excellence and innovation
Prasad Rao
Chair
Prasad Rao, COO of inField Solutions Inc., has more than 25 years of customer-oriented experience in sales, marketing, and IT. He has developed sales and marketing strategies, collateral and training programs, and has delivered the training to organizations focused on both the SMB and enterprise markets. Prasad has worked in many industries including advertising, publishing, and eBusiness, as well as many large enterprise organizations including Microsoft, Bell Canada, Yellow Pages Group, and other international entities.
Barry Fairhurst
Past Chair
Barry Fairhurst is Senior executive with multi-level management experience in sales, operations, business development, product development and finance. Expertise in: developing and providing leadership to top performers, developing/running hybrid sales organizations, managing cross functional teams, start-up to Fortune 500 experience. CEO at F2 Technologies – An Arista, Quantum, Elemental, Source Digital partner.
Jayne Huhtanen
Secretary
Jayne leverages over 35 years of corporate and entrepreneurial experience to help professionals, entrepreneurs and companies optimize their performance, overcome obstacles, and achieve professional and personal growth. A Business and Executive coach, she has owned FocalPoint Coaching of Toronto since 2012.
A TEDx speaker on the topic of daring to live the life you want, Jayne mentors start-ups at McMaster University’s incubator, The Forge, and advocates for and supports entrepreneurs and professionals as the TechConnex “Your Mind at Work” peer group co-facilitator and through previous work on the Board of Directors for the Canadian Association of Women Executives and Entrepreneurs. A Chemical Engineering and Management graduate from McMaster University, Jayne spent 26 years at Procter & Gamble, leading business and organizational growth in Canada, across North America and globally.
I-Cheng Chen
Treasurer
Our Board Members
Christopher Ferguson
Chris is a Technology, privacy and IP lawyer at Fasken. Corporate/commercial practice is focused on technology, privacy, intellectual property, and regulatory matters.
Chris regularly advises on IT and technology matters, including negotiating and drafting services, outsourcing, and license agreements, along with legal and regulatory developments in the technology sector.
Chris has advised on key strategic partnerships. He has advised and negotiated services and cloud agreements for essential systems and mission critical outsourcing agreements. He has advised on consumer protection, privacy, the Canadian anti-spam legislation (CASL), and data protection and practices.
Dharmesh Gandhi
Dharmesh Gandhi is a Partner in the National Quantitative Services Private Leader Group at EY. EY is a multinational professional services firm, with 190 000 employees in over 700 offices around 150 countries. The firm provides Assurance, Tax, Advisory and Transaction Advisory Services.
Since 2005, Dharmesh has been fully dedicated to developing SR & ED and Business Tax Incentives (BTI) practice. He has worked with a wide range of clients, including start-ups and Fortune 500 companies in a variety of industries such as High Tech Manufacturing, Automotive, Aerospace, Bio-Tech, IT software and hardware.
Ryan Gor
Huyen Hare
Huyen Hare is a Sr. Business Development Officer at The City of Markham. Huyen has 24 years of public sector experience and specializes in regional and local economic development. In support of job creation, Huyen’s role focuses on business attraction, expansion and retention. She also engages in strategic partnership initiatives to promote and accelerate the economic growth of Markham’s tech cluster and innovation ecosystem.
Arik Kalininsky
Arik Kalininsky is the founder and CTO of Dalikoo, a born-in-the-cloud software company. Dalikoo utilizes the Serverless computing cloud execution model to provide business functions such as CRM, Sales Management, Project Management, and Document Management in a centralized, configurable environment. Prior to Dalikoo, Arik, an experienced executive, lead various IT groups, and maintained an active leadership role as part of several senior management teams.
Arik utilizes a forward-thinking approach to implementing innovative technology solutions for addressing business needs, while ensuring strict adherence to compliance and regulatory requirements presented by government agencies, and various other governing bodies. His passion for technology combined with his keen business sense keeps Arik’s teams motivated and goal-oriented.
Arik holds a Bachelors degree from York University and a certificate for outstanding achievement from the Queen’s Executive Leadership Program.
Arik has over 20 years of experience in diverse managerial and architectural roles that span many facets of industry, including hardware, software development, telecommunications, manufacturing, and logistics. Since 2011, Arik had the privilege of speaking at numerous leading industry events such as the Canadian Leadership summit, Microsoft’s global SharePoint conference, and many other leadership and CIO events throughout North America.
John Kitchen
John Kitchen is a Strategic Advisor at Esri Canada, which provides enterprise geographic information system (GIS) solutions to customers in the private and public sectors. He is responsible for developing business strategies to achieve the company’s objectives and optimize new business opportunities.
David Kwok
David, a visionary in innovation ecosystem development and a leader in fostering growth, holds a Bachelor of Commerce with a major in Entrepreneurship & Marketing from Toronto Metropolitan University. Since 2013, he has been a driving force in the innovation landscape. Currently serving as the Director of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at YSpace, David has raised over $13 million in funding since 2017, expanding YSpace’s impact nationwide. As a founder himself, he brings invaluable experience to the team, supporting businesses in developing and scaling. David co-founded YSpace, York’s first physical incubator, and Ontario’s pioneering Food & Beverage Accelerator. He oversees ELLA, a national women accelerator program, and the Black Entrepreneurship Alliance in collaboration with Black Creek Community Health Centre. Under his leadership, the Food & Beverage Accelerator has evolved into a national program, championing underrepresented founders in agrifood through support from Agriculture & Agrifood Canada’s AgriDiversity initiative.
Jeff Lem
Pi was officially launched March 1 2015 and was formerly the software group of qdata inc. which was co-founded in 1993 by Jeff Lem, President of Pi.
Under Jeff’s 20 year leadership, qdata became an award winning company and an elite automatic identification data collection provider with over 4,000 customers nationwide. He was also one of the first to successfully deploy Windows based systems at the enterprise level within the supply chain.
We are developing the next generation of warehouse management systems that will focus on task execution, bench marking of labour efficiencies, and KPI that truly drive productivity.
Peter McCabe
Peter McCabe, Vice President, Technology Practice at PROLINK – Canada’s Insurance Connection is a registered insurance broker and a specialist in providing industry leading insurance and risk management services to Canada’s knowledge-based industries and technology companies. Peter is committed to helping build resilient businesses through performance based insurance solutions. Peter works with his clients to build insurance and risk management strategies that align with their strategic objectives and desire to control costs.
Marc Lijour
Marc Lijour is an entrepreneur, researcher, and educator on a mission to unlock human potential in a world increasingly governed by data and software.
After a career in education spanning several continents, Marc led innovative technology policies and programs at the Ontario Ministry of Education, such as the revision of the Technological Education curriculum (2009), the launch of e-learning services for 2 million students, and building capacity in French-language school boards. He was instrumental in revising the provincial Intellectual Property Directive and launching the first RFP toolkit to procure Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) for the Broader Public Service in Ontario.
Marc joined the private sector to accelerate the digital transformation of every single industry, starting at Cisco’s Innovation Centre, helping industry leaders create value while supporting tech entrepreneurs with their go-to-market initiatives, and then as Acting CEO at Prepr and as an advisor with several startup incubators. He spent 5 years consulting and working for a venture production studio before joining ICTC to lead government-funded programs helping every Canadian build a great career in the digital economy.
For the last eight years, Marc has particularly drawn his attention to blockchain technologies and the promise of Web3. He contributed to building the consulting arm at ConsenSys, launched the first college program for Blockchain Developers in Canada, co-founded DeFi Toronto, and took the lead of IEEE Blockchain in Canada. He participates in several industry program advisory committees (PACs) at leading Canadian post-secondary institutions.
Marc is currently focusing on several initiatives supporting entrepreneurs in the DeepTech sector, and building up a mindset of Permissionless Innovation to rapidly build effective solutions to the world’s biggest challenges.
Marc holds degrees in Mathematics, Computer Science, and the Management of Technology and Innovation (MBA). He serves on the board of multiple not-for-profit organizations in the tech industry, such as TechConnex. He is a Founding Member and Secretary of the Board at La French Tech Toronto.
Justin Merced
Justin Merced is the CEO and founder of WEBSITETOON, a global consultancy serving more than 2,000 clients worldwide. He helps businesses build and optimize their websites, enhance their marketing strategies, and protect their online presence. Beyond his work in business, Justin is actively involved in not-for-profit initiatives. Most recently, he sponsored the development of an emergency room at Vaughan Cortellucci Hospital.
Terry Mocherniak
Terry Mocherniak is the founder and Managing Director of Apex Capital Advisors. Apex is a Toronto based boutique M & A advisory firm specializing in working with small to mid-sized companies in the B2B business service, industrial and technology sectors.
Terry has over 25 years’ experience in the technology and business service sectors and is a serial entrepreneur having founded and grown several businesses with two successful exits including one to global giant Siemens. He has extensive M & A, venture capital and corporate transaction experience having been directly involved in transactions with a value in excess of $400 million.
Terry currently serves as an Advisor at MaRS, is a Director and investor in 2 software start-up companies, member of the Presidents Club at St. Mikes Hospital and previously held the role as Executive Director at York Angels. Mr. Mocherniak is a corporate lawyer by training and has an LLB from Osgoode Hall Law School.
Brenda Osler
Brenda is the Senior Economic Development Officer at the City of Richmond Hill where she provides a leadership role in the development and implementation of business development programs, including the retention and expansion of existing businesses as well as the attraction of new industry to Richmond Hill. Her specific areas of focus include the ICT and health sectors. Her background includes private sector experience marketing business-to-business products and services in a variety of industries including ICT, as well as working in municipal government, helping local companies to thrive. Brenda volunteers with various organizations including the Richmond Hill Board of Trade, on both their Government Affairs Committee, and as a Judge for the Business Achievement Awards.
Ivka Starcevic
Ivka practises financial services and commercial real estate law at Wilson Vukelich, LLP. Ivka’s practice encompasses a broad range of real property related issues, with an emphasis on secured financing and mortgage lending, commercial and industrial acquisitions and divestitures as well as leasing. She has represented financial institutions, limited partnerships, developers, investors and corporate lenders and borrowers. Ivka continues to provide legal advice on many issues, including banking and secured lending as well as the acquisition, sale, financing and leasing of commercial, office, industrial, retail and multi-residential properties.