Don Whitbeck

Chief Executive Officer, Partner

Don co-founded Sensei Marketing and is Chief Executive Officer. With over 30 years in the industry, Don combines an extensive background in Global Marketing, Finance, Operations and International Sales with both Enterprise companies and Entrepreneurial organisations. Beginning his career in Sales at HP, Don sold to Fortune 500 companies as well as SME’s, he then moved into Marketing and Operations at Sun Microsystems, then Global Branding and Marketing at IBM. Don has participated in 5 start-ups, including Internet Security, where he drove a start-up’s marketing and sales into 44 countries.  While CEO at an Internet software development firm, Don oversaw the creation and delivery of Canada’s first Internet banking system as well as one of the world’s first internet based equity trading platforms. Don has also co-founded a venture capital firm and founded an internet based logistics company where he purchased and combined 4 companies and integrated 1,200 same-day delivery companies into a North America wide network. He’s taken the helm at 2 publicly traded Enterprise software firms, raised over $50M in financings, recruited sales, marketing, finance, IT, development and operational executives as well as grown, acquired, sold and divested companies.

Sam Fiorella

Chief Strategy Officer, Partner

With  almost 30 years senior sales and marketing experience under his belt, having lead the strategy and development for over 1800 digital projects for some of the world’s largest companies and marketing agencies, Sam heads up the digital & customer experience practice here at Sensei. During this time, he has developed and managed interactive marketing campaigns for AOL America, Sears Travel, Intrawest Resort Properties, GM/Saturn, American Idol, Snyder’s of Hanover, Kraft Foods, and hundreds more, including work for dozens of leading agencies around North America. Further, Sam has designed/developed many “world-first” web-based platforms including the world’s first web-based campground reservation system, the world’s first web-based airport crisis communication platform, and the world’s first interoperable suite of marketing technologies for advertising agencies.

Sam has co-authored  Influence Marketing: How to Create, Manage, and Measure Brand Influencers in Social Media Marketing, published by Pearson Publishing and takes time to teach advanced digital and social marketing strategies as an adjunct professor at Rutger’s Center for Management Development and professor at Seneca College in Toronto. Sam is also a regular Digital and Social Media commentator on CBC Radio.

Robert Clarke

Chief Marketing Officer

Robert has 15 years of marketing and communications experience including the public sector, technology, telecom, and insurance industries.  In 2011, he co-founded a digital agency called Op Ed Marketing, which merged with Sensei Marketing in 2017.

His marketing background includes brand positioning, copywriting and content, email marketing, lead generation, website conversion, and as a Google Certified Partner has helped manage over $2 million in ad spend.  He has written two eBooks, and has given multiple workshops on topics such as social media, lead generation, and pay per click marketing.

Robert is a graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University (HBA) and the University of Waterloo (MA).

Dennis Sherbakov

Chief Technology Officer

With over 20 years of progressively senior technology leadership roles, Dennis has overseen over 1,800 digital projects for a wide range of clients worldwide. Dennis has been involved with the full range of technology solutions including software, embedded systems, Apps, hardware, mechanical devices and robotics.

Dennis has managed teams across all aspects of the development cycle including Design, Development, User acceptance/UI design, Graphic design, Database design and management, Quality Assurance as well as Hosting, Maintenance and Training. Dennis graduated from National Technical University of Belarus in 1994, with a major in robotics and microelectronics.

Sergey Peregud

Manager, Software Development

Sergey has worked with Sam and Dennis, two of firm’s executives, for the past 15 years. During that time, he’s been the quiet mastermind behind the thousands of software applications, mobile technologies, and digital campaign this group has produced. Most recently, Sergey has been the lead software architect of Sensei’s CXM Platform, which supports many of the lead generation and customer development campaigns we deploy.

Today, Sergey is tasked with managing all Sensei’s programming staff, database engineers, and QA staff. In addition, he serves as Senior Project Manager on key implementations. Sergey has a Masters Degree in Engineering and Programming from the University of Informatics and Electronics in Belarus.

Elvira Alizada

Vice President, Sales & Marketing

Elvira is a professional with 19 years of project and account management experience, supporting business operations in Financial Services, Oil & Gas, Legal and Non-Profit industries.

Along with a Bachelor of Arts (Honors) degree, Elvira has an MBA from the Atkinson Graduate School of Management/Willamette University in Oregon (with an emphasis in marketing and finance) and has completed an executive coaching program at the Rotman School of Management/University of Toronto.

Elvira has been specializing in planning and executing results-driven integrated marketing campaigns utilizing both digital and print strategies, with Oracle, SQL Server and Cube platforms for offline and Google Analytics for online KPI metrics.  Tying into Sensei Marketing’s data analysis focus, Elvira is Google Analytics Certified and brings recognized excellence in relationship building, coaching, planning and execution skills.

Angelina Kwok

Vice President, Client Services

Angelina is a seasoned marketing professional who has worked across a range of industries including arts and entertainment, hospitality, manufacturing, diversity and inclusion training and corporate firms.

Her 10 years of international experience in campaign and event management brings an innate appreciation for project management, detail, and customer experience to the Sensei team and clients.  Combined with her passion for marketing, she is the ideal professional to head Sensei’s efforts to continuously improve customer engagements.

Angelina holds a BA in Marketing and Public Relations and a BA in Communications from the University of Notre Dame, Australia.

Maxim Tverdov

Program Manager

Maxim holds a Masters Degree in Financial Management from the Financial University of Moscow, but always leaned towards information technologies. He is the co-founder of an IT startup company and has over 10 years of IT project management and software solutions implementation experience in various companies, from small businesses to multinational corporations.

With his natural passion for technology and solid business background, he brings his diverse skills to the Sensei team. He has a proven record of success leading all phases of software development and implementation cycle.

Maxim leverages technical, business, and financial acumen to lead projects and communicate effectively with clients and teams.

Oksana Sotnik

Program Manager

Oksana is a Program Manager at Sensei Marketing. Throughout her career, she has acquired an extensive skillset in Project Management, Product Launches and Business Analysis through her work on applications’ implementations, integrations and automation projects.

She has delivered various projects with large, geographically dispersed teams across different regions in complex business environments such as FMCG and FinTech.

Oksana is passionate about design thinking, technologies, tools and methodologies mix.

Oksana holds a Master’s degree in Linguistics from State Technical University in Russia.

Yannick Pepe

Program Manager

Yannick is a Program Manager at Sensei Marketing. He has acquired a unique skillset throughout his career as a Product Manager and Business Strategy Analyst.

Yannick has a strong sense of prioritization and problem-solving skills stemming from his expertise in both software and hardware product development. Further, his background with various digital solutions through working with e-commerce, Marketplace, Saas, Learning Management Systems, and BI Dashboards has made him passionate about delivering digital products with great user experience.

Yannick holds a Bachelor’s degree in Production Engineering from the Federal University of Bahia, Brazil.

Sidhant Vats

Account Manager

With over 10 years of experience in driving brand visibility, growth, and consumer outreach for a diverse set of organizations and product categories, Sidhant has joined the Sensei team as an Account Manager.

His experience lies in creating 360 campaign rollouts for brands that include films, web development and implementing media strategies. He has worked with some of the biggest advertising agencies in the past; building targeted campaigns that produce record-high campaign response rates while maintaining a great relationship with his clients.

Sidhant holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing and management, Double Major from Curtin University, Singapore.

Philip Zuzarte

Account Manager

After starting out as an editor and graphic animator, Philip (Phil) has worked in advertising as a producer and account manager for 11 years while also releasing and marketing shows on streaming platforms. Having worked largely with CPG, tech and streaming giants like Unilever, Google, Meta, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, respectively, Phil also comes with years of experience in influencer marketing and helping shape the creator economy in India.

Phil’s an avid musician and vocalist who’s performed at over 1500 shows before plunging into advertising.

Costa Stylianou

Account Manager

Costa is an Account Manager at Sensei Marketing. Costa has spent the past ten years working with SMBs to Fortune 500 companies in a range of industries. His passion for helping the businesses he engages with and his creative approach to problem-solving have allowed him to overcome various challenges for his clients.

Costa holds a Bachelor of Commerce with a major in Marketing from the University of Ontario Institute of Technology and is Google Ads Certified.

James Dowden

Vice President, Business Development

Alex Kozuszko

Director of Partner Services

Alex is Director of Partner Services at Sensei Marketing. He brings 4 years experience in developing plans of growth for some of the most sought-after consumer brands in the world as well as experience in creating and managing client relationships.

He has worked with several of the largest years-of-service, employee recognition, and promotional programs across North America – an experience which has been fuelled by a passion for B2B sales and marketing strategy.

Alex holds a Business Administration Degree from Goodman School of Business at Brock University.

Alberto Valdes

Director of Partner Services

Alberto is Director of Partner Services at Sensei Marketing. Throughout his career, he has worked in various marketing, partnership, and business development roles for large multinational consumer brands across different verticals in North America, including Rogers Communications, Sirius XM, Imperial Oil, Intuit, and many of the top Financial Institutions in Canada.

Alberto brings over 10 years of experience in the loyalty and customer engagement space. He has successfully delivered strategic solutions to help deliver high-value outcomes for clients and partners alike.

Alberto is passionate about finding new and creative ways to solve business problems to help achieve desired client results.

Alberto graduated from the University of Toronto and Seneca College, focusing on Business Marketing and Project Management.

Cynthia Spitz

Operations Manager

Cynthia is Operations Manager at Sensei Marketing. She has a keen interest in organizational processes, effective communication, and interpersonal management. Her career spans multiple industries, including advertising, fashion, software development, public relations, and addiction support, giving her a diverse and unique range of skills and perspectives. She is passionate about building genuine relationships and discovering innovative ways to maximize productivity and meet the needs of those around her.

Cynthia graduated from George Brown College with a diploma in Fashion Management and has a certificate in Web Development from Juno College.

Dhrvuit Joshi

Senior Digital Strategist

Dhrvuit (DJ) is a Digital Marketing Specialist at Sensei Marketing. Prior to working at Sensei, he gained extensive Social Media and marketing experience working across multiple accounts in various industries, including managing luxurious goods and daily essential item marketing plans.

He specializes in Google Ads Optimization, Google Analytics, Advanced Analytics, and Google tag management.  He forms data-based strategies and trends for future marketing plans and works closely with design and production teams to track websites and measure KPIs.

DJ is certified in Google AdWords, Google Advance Analytics, & Google Digital Garage. He is also a HubSpot Certified Social Media Professional.

DJ holds an MBA in Marketing from Gujarat Technological University, India, and a PG Diploma in Business Analytics from Seneca College. He has published two research papers on Consumers Attitude and Perception towards doing Cashless Transactions and Buying Behaviour of Millennials for Online Shopping and Social Media Channels.

Paula Benedé

Digital Strategist

Paula is a Digital Marketing Specialist at Sensei Marketing. She has over ten years of experience working in different fields of communications, such as public relations, event planning and marketing.
In the last couple of years, she has specialised in digital marketing and social media management. Paula holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Relations from UADE (University in Argentina).

Jason Chong

Data Analytics Specialist

Jason is the Data Analytics Specialist at BONDAI. Bringing an analytical mindset and past project management experience within the nuclear energy industry, Jason leverages his skill set to identify key insights and help make data-driven decisions. With expertise in data manipulation, Jason is responsible for BONDAI’s data operations, dashboard visualizations and reporting.

Jason holds both a Master of Engineering Degree specializing in Data Analytics, and a BASc in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Toronto.

Justin Yoon

UI/UX Designer

Justin is a Graphic Designer at Sensei Marketing. As a graphic designer, he creates graphic materials in various projects in branding, marketing materials, UI/UX, and video production.

Justin holds a Bachelor of Design from OCAD University.

Gina Sung

UI/UX Designer

Gina is a Graphic Designer at Sensei Marketing. She uses innovation and creativity to provide both captivating and functional designs.

Gina has worked with various clients in a range of industries and managed multiple design projects including graphic design, web design and branding.

Gina holds an Advance Diploma in Graphic Design from Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology as well as a Certificate in UX/UI Design from University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies.