Entrepreneurship Centre - Staff Consultants

Entrepreneurship Centre

Staff Consultants

Stephen Daze
Executive Director, Entrepreneurship Centre

Stephen has worked with the Entrepreneurship Centre since 1998 and currently leads a team of 10 staff members dedicated to helping entrepreneurs succeed. The Centre provides support to 5000 clients annually through training, mentoring, consultations, special events, a resource library and web resources.

In his career with the Centre, Stephen has led the redesign of the Centre's popular seminar series, the development and writing of the eBusiness Handbook for Entrepreneurs in conjunction with Bell Canada, Heenan Blaikie and Watchfire, as well as the Second Edition of the best selling Entrepreneur's Handbook. Stephen also managed the successful redesign and re-launch of www.entrepreneurship.com (a SmartCapital project) and has been instrumental in the design and development of the Centre's online training initiatives.

In 2000, Stephen participated in a study of South Africa's small business support network as a result of his experiences with the Centre (Bloch and Daze. 2000. "A Review of the South African Local Business Service Centre Programme: Current Status, Future Prospects"). In addition, he has hosted and counseled numerous delegations from Ukraine, China, South Korea and Russia in their efforts to model the success of the Centre.

Previous to joining the Centre, Stephen operated his own training and consulting firm specializing in leadership development and training, project team leadership and team development. Stephen is the former Training and Recruiting Manager for TOYS'R'US Canada and Territory Manager with Second Cup Coffee Company.

Stephen graduated from the University of Regina with a Bachelor in Business Administration in 1987 and has since continued his studies with Athabasca University and Saint Francis Xavier University in the field of Adult Education. He has been a part-time professor at the University of Ottawa (2000, 2001) and is a past guest lecturer at Ryerson University and Sheridan College.

Michael Burnatowski
Manager, Entrepreneurship Centre

Michael is the Manager of the OCRI-Entrepreneurship Centre based in Ottawa, Ontario. Michael’s vast experience in small business development ranges from over 15 years of teaching Marketing, Sales, and e-business management at the collegial level to having conceptualized and initiated three business startups, which have merged into the business of MiLearn (www.milearn.com) a social learning network helping college and university students collaborate and succeed in their fields of study. He provides strategic direction in the operations of the Centre and through his leadership and style, the Centre has become the largest volume based small business centre within the province of Ontario serving over 12,000 clients per year and helping over 1,400 businesses in their success. He initiated and developed the very successful iProfit Mentoring program which, in its second year of operation, is far exceeding its mandate.

Michael garduated with a degree in Economics from the University of Waterloo and a certification in Adult Education from St. Francis Xavier University. Michael has been an active participant on several panels and workshops as an expert in the field of e-learning, and business at Carleton University,Ottawa, and Heritage College, Quebec. He is a guest lecturer for numerous small business programs and is often requested to appear in the media for his advice on small business, e-commerce and emerging social media platforms. Michael is recognized as an expert in the operationals and success of business enterprise centres and has been invited to present at various conferences and workshops in Canada, Finland and Estonia as well as presenting his management expertise to delegations from the Russian and Indonesian business communities.

With a love for New England and its sports, he is a passionate fan of the Boston Red Sox, and New England Patriots.

Manu Sharma
Business Development Manager

Manu is engaged with the Ottawa Centre for Research & Innovation (OCRI) as a Business Development Manager, a role in which he facilitates and supports collaborations between the technology industry and the research community in the Ottawa area. He also closely works with budding and established entrepreneurs in the community by providing them new venture creation support through OCRI’s Entrepreneurship Centre (EC).

Manu has a strong background in technology management and business development. His diverse background includes a degree in Engineering with a B-Tech in Electronics & Communication Engineering and a M.Sc. in Computer Engineering from the University of Illinois. He also holds a MBA in Organizational Behavior & Technology Management and is currently on an academic hiatus from his Ph.D. program in Organizational Behavior & Change Management at Carleton University. Prior to his engagement with OCRI, Manu served as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Trillium College, a role in which he led and managed strategic, tactical, and short-term operations of the forty people strong organization.

Mairi Miller
Business Advisor - Community Relations

Mairi is a Business Advisor for the Entrepreneurship Centre, with a particular focus on Community relations and initiatives. As a high school teacher with small business experience, Mairi brings her teaching and management experience together to help Canadian entrepreneurs become even more competitive in local and global markets.

Growing a small Canadian business effectively is a challenge and Mairi is well versed in the nuances. She has Marketing, Sales and Business Management experience working for small device manufacturing companies in the aerospace, cancer therapy, nuclear and environmental industries. She managed national and international sales and marketing activities, including distribution channels, customer and business to business relationships, corporate and product identity as well as product development. She helped to grow sales by building distribution networks for exports to international markets of medical devices and later developing a Canadian import market for the re-sale of medical devices and equipment.

As a graduate of Trent University, Peterborough, with a B.A. Honours, Mairi went on to obtain her Bachelor of Secondary Education from the Northern College of Education, University of Aberdeen, Scotland. She later attended the McGill Executive Institute at the Desautels Faculty of Management, Montréal.

Diana Martinez Cachon
Client Services

Diana brings a strong and dedicated focus to our client services. As the only member of the Centre who can address our clients in three langauges, Diana is instrumental in working with our Spanish speaking clientele and addressing business concerns to those who wish to communicate in Spanish. As the Centre has strong outreach into the various business community groups, Diana's wealth of experience in business and entrepreneurship as a possible career choice for youth further solidifies our impact with stakeholders and clients in delivering our services to the business community.

Diana has a diverse and international background. She holds a Marketing & International Business degree from UADY in Yucatan, Mexico, as well as a post graduate diploma in International Business & Trade from Confederation College in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

Prior to her position with the OCRI Entrepreneurship Centre she worked in the Marketing department of Diario de Yucatan, one of the most influential newspapers in Yucatan, Diana was responsible in creating marketing campaigns for the newspaper and its products. She has also worked at Disney in Orlando Florida, were she had the opportunity to learn about the importance of costumer service and how a company like Disney manages various marketing programs. While Diana was enrolled in her post graduate program she worked with The Innovation Centre in Thunder Bay, Ontario as a researcher, helping innovations to reach the market.

Danielle Kuczer
Business Advisor, iProfit Mentoring Program and CYBF Program

Danielle is a Business Advisor at the Entrepreneurship Centre and is the facilitator of the iProfit Mentoring Program and the Canadian Youth Business Foundation (CYBF) Program.

With over 12 years experience in the Financial Services Sector, she brings her Sales, Marketing and Business Development expertise to the Centre. Her past experience included establishing pricing for multi-million dollar, multi-product deals for companies by creating solid business contacts and negotiating with senior executives and business owners. Directly after acquiring a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Western Ontario, she held a managerial position and played an integral role in opening a franchised restaurant.

Danielle’s passion and inherent ability to facilitate business growth is demonstrated by her strengths in customer focus, pricing strategy, competitive positioning, marketing and sales. Danielle is able to draw from her previous management, training and professional experience in the banking, retail and restaurant industries which lends itself well for entrepreneurs looking for practical business advice and guidance.

Peter Stewart
Business Advisor, iProfit Mentoring Program ad CYBF Program

Peter is a Business Advisor at the Entrepreneurship Centre and is the facilitator of the iProfit Mentoring Program and the Canadian Youth Business Foundation (CYBF) Program.

With almost 25 years experience in the Ottawa business community, Peter brings a wealth of experience to the Centre. With seven years in commercial real estate, Peter understands one of the biggest challenges facing entrepreneurs – their location and real estate needs. In 1993, Peter opened the second franchise of Mail Boxes Etc in Ottawa that catered to the needs of small businesses. As an independent franchisee, he was responsible for staffing, marketing, and developing his business. He enjoyed working with his primary customer base of small business owners and understanding the challenges they faced. Upon selling his store, he then took on the role as the Eastern Ontario Area Manager for MBE overseeing twenty franchised locations, and their rebranding to become The UPS Store. For the last four years, Peter has been Executive Director of the Orléans Chamber of Commerce whose mandate is to promote and strengthen local businesses.

Peter is able to draw from his previous management and professional experience, as well as his local knowledge, which lends itself well for entrepreneurs looking for practical business advice and guidance.

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