Commonwealth Sport CANADA Foundation

Incorporated in 1982, as Commonwealth Games Foundation of Canada, now operating under the name Commonwealth Sport Canada Foundation (CSCF) raises funds for Commonwealth Sport Canada to fulfil its Mission to foster, finance, assist and support amateur athletics in Canada on a nation-wide basis in support of Canada's participation in the Commonwealth Games, and to foster, finance, assist and support charitable and educational organizations, institutions, projects or enterprises connected to or associated with amateur sports endeavours.

Charity Registration Number:  11922 7924 RR0001

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Commonwealth Sport Canada Foundation is a registered charity led by a volunteer Board of Directors comprised of business people from across Canada. Commonwealth Sport Canada Foundation raises funds through corporate donors, events and through generous Canadians, like you.

Pradeep Sood, President 2020 –

Pradeep Sood is a successful business executive who is based in Markham, Ontario.  He has devoted his time and energies to his family, building businesses and supporting the community.  Pradeep has been a director of the Commonwealth Sport Canada Foundation of Canada since 2014 and was elected President in 2020. He is  co-owner and Director of Highbury Canco Corporation, a food processing company that purchased the Heinz facility in Leamington, Ontario. This acquisition helped save more than 250 jobs. HCC has since expanded and employs more than 600 full time workers. Pradeep is also the founder and owner of XactScribe Inc., a Toronto based Transcription Company. Pradeep has served as Chairman of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and President of the Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce. He has also served on the Boards of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and the Toronto Region Board of Trade. He has also been a Director of Prostate Cancer Canada, Markham Stouffville Hospital Foundation and a member of the Civic Action Steering Committee. He currently is on the Board of Governors of George Brown College. In recognition of his numerous contributions and professional excellence, Pradeep has received the Lifetime Outstanding Achievement Award from the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce, the Bob Marley Humanitarian Award, Professional Excellence Award from the Transformation Institute for Leadership and Innovation, and the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal for contribution to Ontario and Canada. Pradeep has a Bachelor of Arts degree ( Hons. Economics), holds a Chartered Accountant designation from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and is a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors, Rotman School of Management, Toronto.

Sean Shannon, Treasurer 2013 –

Born and raised in Toronto, Sean brings over 40 years of business experience and brand building success to the organizations he is involved with. Since 2019, Sean has been the President and CEO of National Diabetes Trust, the social enterprise which solicits, collects and monetizes used household clothing across Canada since 1985. Previously, Sean was the COO for Busbud Inc., a venture stage online travel service for finding and buying intercity bus tickets around the world. Prior to Busbud, Sean spent 14 years at Expedia, Inc., including over 10 years as Managing Director of Expedia Canada, and 4 years also as leader of Expedia Latin America and Australia/New Zealand business units. During his time at Expedia, Sean led the growth of Expedia.ca from its first days of operations to scaling to well over $2 billion in annual travel bookings by Canadian customers, by far the largest travel agency in Canada. Prior to joining Expedia, Sean held several executive positions including Vice President, New Product Development for Molson Breweries. Upon graduation, Sean began his formal career at Procter & Gamble in brand management following 2 years as a franchisee with College Pro Painters. Sean holds an Honours Bachelor degree from the Ivey Business School at Western University. He currently sits on the Board of Directors for Commonwealth Sport Canada Foundation, is a past Food For The Poor Canada and American Marketing Association of Toronto board member, and served on the Marketing Hall of Legends Canada executive for many years from its inception. Sean lives in Toronto with his wife and has 3 adult children.

Bruce Robertson, Director 2014 –

Bruce Robertson has been actively involved with Commonwealth Sport Canada (CSC) for almost 20 years as a Member-at-Large, Treasurer, Vice President, and as President of the Commonwealth Sport Canada Foundation. Presently, he is Vice President of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) and Ex Officio Member of the CSC Board of Directors. He is also the Chair of both the CGF Marketing and Coordination Committees. Bruce is known professionally for his excellent project management skills as a systems consultant throughout North America. His earlier professional experience included postings in Dusseldorf, Germany and Toronto with a major international consulting firm. As a competitive swimmer, Bruce won 16 medals for Canada in international competitions. At the 1974 Commonwealth Games, he was the most decorated Canadian athlete, winning a total of six medals. At the 1973 World Aquatic Championships, he won the gold medal in the 100m butterfly and a relay bronze medal. At the 1972 Olympic Games, he won one silver and one bronze medal. In recognition of his athletic accomplishments, Bruce was named Canada’s Male Athlete of the Year in 1973 and was awarded the Order of Canada a year later. In 1977, he was inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame. He is also a member of the Canadian Aquatic Hall of Fame, the British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame, and the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame. Bruce is a resident of Manotick, Ontario.

Lorraine Lafrenière, Director 2017 –

Lorraine is a strategic thinker with excellent people skills and an enthusiastic approach to challenges who has played a leadership role in the sport community for many years. Her passion for sport goes back decades to when she saw the incredibly powerful role athletes play in inspiring younger generations to stay active and healthy while making a contribution to society. She began her sport career with the Canadian Intramural Recreation Association 25 years ago before moving to the Canadian Olympic Committee in 1989. During her tenure as the COC’s Media Relations Manager, she held several leadership positions with the mission staff at numerous Olympic Games, Pan American Games, and World Championships. In 2002 she was appointed Chief Operating Officer for the Coaching Association of Canada (CAC), a position she held for four years -- playing a key role in establishing sponsorship programs and strengthening the organization’s relationships with the provinces/territories and federal government. Following the CAC, she went on to head the Canadian Cycling Association where she restructured the organization and instilled financial stability. In 2009, she was hired as Director General of CanoeKayak Canada where she was instrumental in creating the teams and environment which led to CanoeKayak’s three-medal performance at the 2012 Olympic Game. In total, she has participated in 9 Olympic Games, both summer and winter.  Lorraine also has a strong volunteer commitment having sat on the boards and committees of many organizations, including the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame, Canadian Cancer Society (Ottawa-Carleton), Run for the Cure, Big Sisters of Ottawa, and Ottawa-Carleton Epilepsy. She was also the co-chair of the 2004 Ontario Summer Games held in Ottawa and was named twice to the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women in Sport and Physical Activity’s (CAAWS) Most Influential Women List in 2015 and 2014. Lorraine became the Chief Executive Officer of the CAC in December 2013.

Arlene Lebovic, Director 2023 –

Arlene is a marketing and advertising professional with progressive experience in transforming brands through innovative and strategic brand activation, and successfully driving growth in Consumer packaged goods, retail businesses, not for profit organizations and B2B and B2C services. Having worked for some of the world's most recognized Tier 1 brands such as The Coca-Cola Company in Canada and Australia, Canadian Olympic Committee, Labatt Breweries of Canada  The Minute Maid Company Hasbro Toys, Molson Breweries of Canada, Concert Productions Int (AKA Live Nation} Commonwealth Sport Canada Foundation has allowed Arlene to lead many first to market projects, lead world wide cross functional initiatives, gain recognition for innovative concepts, and successfully steward Corporate Sponsorships and Partnerships and C-Suite Hosting Programs.  Arlene has been instrumental in marketing  Coca-Cola’s sponsorship of the Olympic Games for over fifteen years. Her successful 25+year marketing career working for top tier corporations has provided her the learnings and foundation to successfully launch two successful service based businesses. In 2011, recognizing a need in the marketplace she launched a niche sales and marketing company providing full range of business planning, digital and content marketing services to Entrepreneur start-ups and forward thinking Organizations. Over the 8 year period more than 5000 entrepreneurs were set on their path. In 2017, recognizing the growing number of pets owners that have less time to accompany their pets to appointments  she launched a first to market Pet Taxi Concierge business. This start up was recognized and received the 2021 Business Innovation Award, 2021 Canadian & Global Business Award, 2023 Top Choice Award. Arlene holds an Undergraduate and Graduate degree from McGill University, she is also a Graduate of the International Olympic Academy in Greece.  Arlene is very excited to join the Board of Directors for the Commonwealth Sport Canada Foundation.

Samantha Rogers, Director 2023 –

Samantha is a social capitalist, and over the past 15 years has created a purpose-driven career for herself specializing in building capacity and generating revenue for good. Samantha is co-founder of Relate Social Capital, a sport philanthropy-focused social enterprise that creates sustainable growth and builds strategic partnerships. From grassroots to pro sports, Samantha has led fund development and engagement initiatives within all levels of sport, as well as worked alongside athletes, leagues, sportsbooks, teams and sport leaders, empowering them to use their status for greater community impact. Whether it’s raising millions of dollars of philanthropic support or creating award winning partnerships and campaigns, sport for good remains her guiding principle when it comes to building strategies for her clients and advancing the landscape of sport philanthropy to drive sustainable impact and change. Samantha is a proud bilingual Montréalaise who gave Vancouver and Toronto a chance, but decided that ultimately home is where the bagels and Habs are. To learn more about Samantha and the work at Relate Social Capital, click here.

Kelly McCarten, Director 2023 –

Kelly McCarten is an award-winning marketer and business leader with over 30 years of experience working with clients and leading businesses. She has worked with some of the largest Consumer Packaged Goods and retail companies. Kelly was recognized in 2020 as one of the Top US Women in Grocery. She was the CEO of LAUNCH! Brand Marketing transformed the business and sold it to one of the largest experiential agencies. She is currently the Chief Growth Officer of Brizi, a global sports technology company working with the NHL, NBA, NCAA, UEFA and ATP. With her strength in mentoring and coaching others, Kelly founded and is President of The Women’s Club; she’s a member of LeadHERship Global and a LeadHership Board Advisor, C-Suite Network and WISE (Women in Sports and Events) Toronto member and has been on the Board of Directors for MADD Toronto for 5 years. Kelly started mentoring 20 years ago the next generation of men and women who will impact the industry and created the Lang School of Businesswomen in Leadership Entrance Scholarship to provide financial support to young girls to attend university. She is a past professor at Humber College and sits on the Advisory Committee for the College.