From June 7th-11th, UCFB and GIS will be hosting the Virtual Toronto Global Sports Summit and giving students, alumni and staff the chance to hear from some of the leading names in Canadian sport.
From ice hockey to soccer to basketball, Toronto is home to North American sporting instititions such as NBA’s Raptors, MLS’ Toronto FC and NHL’s Maple Leafs. Keep on reading to find out who’ll be talking and what to expect from day one of the summit...
Introduction to Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment (MLSE)
Chris Shewfelt - Vice President, Business Operations, Toronto FC and Toronto Argos
Currently in his 19th season at MLSE, Chris has worked in virtually all disciplines within the sales and marketing groups, including leadership responsibilities across partnerships, ticketing, marketing, community sport partnerships and service. In February 2018, Chris was promoted to the position of Vice President, Business Operations with Toronto FC and the Toronto Argos. Previously, Chris served as Head of Business Operations, Toronto FC, and Global Partnerships, MLSE; Senior Director of Global Partnerships, MLSE and Director Corporate Partnerships; and Community Sport Partnerships, Toronto FC.
Chris, 40, is a two-time winner of the MLS Partnerships Executive of the Year (2008 and 2017) and was honoured in 2015 by the Canada Sport Business Awards as one of the “five to watch”. Chris is also a five-time National Champion in Men’s Softball and has represented Canada in international competition.
Young Professfionals Roundtable
Dana Khan, Junior Product Designer
Dana Khan is a Junior Product Designer at MLSE Digital Labs. As a product designer, her objective is to design beautiful screens for apps or websites, that create solutions for business objectives and user needs. She’s particularly focused on the compelling relationship between communication & design. Dana is a former graphic designer who holds a Bachelor’s degree from Simon University for UI/UX design. Outside of work, she can be found far away from the screen, tending to her plants, biking or enjoying time by the beach
Kadeem
Kadeem Bandali, Specialist, Match Development & Events, TFC & Argonauts
Kadeem is the Specialist of Match Development and Events for Toronto FC and the Toronto Argonauts. He started his internship with Toronto FC in 2016 and has since evolved in his role over the last few years as he added the Toronto Argonauts from the Canadian Football League to his portfolio in 2019. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from York University and completed the Sports and Event Marketing post grad certificate from George Brown College. His job entails liaising with various stakeholders within MLSE, MLS and the CFL to execute successful events for both teams.
Jess Marchello, Manager, Global Partnerships
Jess is an experienced professional in the sports sponsorship and partnership marketing industry. Jess recently joined the Global Partnerships team at MLSE after 3 years with the Toronto Blue Jays. Motivated by relationship building and creative problem solving, Jessica takes pride in finding solutions for her partner’s business objective through the power sport and the passion of sports fans. Jess holds a BA from the University of McGill and resides in Toronto.
Food & Beverage Management and Bringing Toronto to its Feet
Dan Morrow - Senior Vice President, Food & Beverage, MLSE
Dan Morrow is Senior Vice President of Food and Beverage at Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE) where he oversees an F&B operation that encompasses Scotiabank Arena, BMO Field, Coca Cola Coliseum, Real Sports Bar & Grill and e11even. He joined the organization in February 2014 as Senior Director of Food and Beverage.
Dan has spent his career in the sports and entertainment industry. Having spent thirteen years at Rogers Centre in various roles working for Levy Restaurants, ultimately leading the location as Director of Operations. A career highlight saw Dan move to Vancouver in 2007 to lead the F&B Operations for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. Dan lead the development of the food and beverage planning for the 2010 Olympics building strong relationships with key governmental stakeholders, vendors and other organizations that ultimately lead to a successful Olympic Games.
Dan is an active member of the food and beverage community and is currently past Chair of the Board of the Ontario Restaurant, Hotel, Motel Association (ORHMA). An organization dedicated to enhancing the business climate of the hospitality industry. Dan is a Certified Professional Accountant (CPA-CMA) and is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario.
Matthew Sullivan, Corporate Executive Chef, Food & Beverage
Corporate Executive Chef, Matthew Sullivan oversees all MLSE properties and restaurants. He started his culinary career attending and graduating from Stratford Chefs School. Since then, he has obtained a tremendous number of accolades over the years. He has staged in restaurants all over the world–across Asia, Europe and North America, including Michelin Star kitchens. With these experiences, his passion for cooking and love for food grew even stronger. This allowed him to eventually become a Chopped Canada champion and a competitor on season 6 of Top Chef Canada with an impressive showing, being a front-runner of the show.
Chef Sullivan’s career at MLSE started over four years ago, where he was instrumental in pushing the food program at Real Sports and the Arena’s quick service locations forward at an exponential level. Now in his role as Corporate Executive Chef, Chef Sullivan supports the Culinary Director, Chris Zielinski and their team of talented chefs to continuously grow MLSE’s food program
