Meet Your Team

Paula has been a fundraiser for over 27 years. With Paula, it’s all about results — helping ST’s clients raise more money to fulfill their missions. In addition to providing vision and leadership to ST’s Executive Team and staff, Paula keeps abreast of all things fundraising from an international perspective, particularly in the realm of integrated direct response annual giving and brings relevant and innovative insights and thought leadership back to our staff and our clients with a view to making our sector even better.

To that end, Paula serves as a Council member of Rogare, the Fundraising Think Tank, has volunteered with The Non-Profit Alliance (TNPA) and is a long-time volunteer for the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP). She currently sits on the Board of Directors of AFP Toronto, the largest AFP chapter, and has chaired their 3-day Fundraising Congress. Paula is also a founding member of AFP Canada and currently serves as Immediate Past Chair of the Board.

Paula is also passionate about leading a healthy lifestyle, both in mind and body, and loves yoga and practicing mindfulness. She finds healthy living a great way to enhance a busy day at the office. When not engaging with our clients, or serving as a volunteer, Paula enjoys spending time with her kids who are no so little anymore.

Bryan honed his creative and strategic skills at major Canadian agencies including Wunderman/Y&R, Vickers & Benson, BBDO and Ogilvy before coming to ST. As a respected writer and creative director, he wanted to use his years of experience, strategic acumen, and creative ingenuity to help make the world a better place.

Not one to sit on the sidelines, Bryan has served on the board of directors of the Canadian Marketing Association, was founding chair of the CMA’s Direct Marketing Council and founding jurist for the National Advertising Awards. He is a sought-after speaker who has addressed audiences at AFP Congress Toronto, CMA National Conference and many others. His articles have appeared in the Globe & Mail as well as various national advertising and marketing trade publications.

In the rare moments when he’s not hard at work directing the creative at ST or providing strategic counsel to our clients, Bryan can be found walking his beloved golden retrievers Piper and Bennett (named after Tony Bennett) along the shores of Lake Ontario.

Liz is a member of ST’s leadership team and a long-time fundraiser, with nearly 20 years of experience in key areas such as strategic planning, database analytics, integrated account management, and mid-level and legacy marketing. As the leader of our Strategic Services team, Liz provides our clients with strategic insight that will engage donors, connect them to the cause, and drive revenue.

Prior to joining ST, Liz spent three years in London, UK, working alongside some of the UK’s top charity brands. She also brings her clients an international perspective on their fundraising having earned a diploma in direct marketing through one of the UK’s leading organizations, the Institute of Direct Marketing.

Liz has three great loves: family, work, and music. Etched onto the back of her iPhone are the words: Music gives soul to the universe. And Liz feeds her soul every chance she gets —attending concerts (she saw the Tragically Hip twice in two days!) and singing karaoke. Her go-to song, Queen’s “Under Pressure”, is a testament to her resilience and adventurous spirit.

Julie leads ST’s financial management and HR divisions and is a key member of ST’s leadership team. She also provides thought leadership on several ST accounts, drawing on her considerable expertise to develop and guide successful fundraising campaigns that help our clients raise millions of dollars.

Julie’s passion for the not-for-profit sector was sparked in university where she worked on several charitable campaigns and special events. After earning her Bachelor of Arts Degree in psychology from Wilfrid Laurier University, Julie was determined to parlay her fundraising expertise into a full-time career. That decision led her to join ST in 2004. With her intelligence, determination and can-do attitude, Julie quickly moved up the ladder.

Outside of work, Julie enjoys cheering on her son at the hockey rink and watching her daughter dance to her favourite songs.

Philip designed the first online workplace fundraising solution for United Way of Greater Toronto in 1999 – UnitedWay@work. He then became President & CEO of Artez Interactive for a decade, establishing this Toronto-based technology firm as a global thought-leader in digital fundraising.

Philip is an author with two of the first books about digital fundraising: “Fundraising on the Internet” 2002, and “People to People Fundraising” 2007, and he launched a popular podcast entitled “The Digital Fundraising Podcast” in 2009.

Today, Philip brings his skills and expertise to ST as our first contact with U.S.-based organizations looking for an integrated agency that will help them raise more money from existing and new donors, regardless of channel preference.

His brushes with fame include a dinner with Johnny and June Carter Cash when he was in high school in Tennessee, and acting in a college play with Matt Damon while at Harvard.

When he’s not exploring new relationships for Stephen Thomas Ltd, he’s enjoying time with his family in the mountains of Asheville, North Carolina.

Donna has a pioneering spirit, especially when it comes to fundraising solutions. Having worked directly for non-profit organizations as well as on the agency side, she has an in-depth understanding of the motivations that inspire Canadians to volunteer and donate.

Donna began her fundraising career at Stephen Thomas Ltd back in 1990 and spent much of her career here providing strategy and project management for a variety of not-for-profit clients. She went on to work in development roles with several charities including Sinai Health Foundation, Branksome Hall and Variety Village, where she worked for 10 years with committees, boards and staff to grow revenue through major and planned giving and events. Donna rejoined ST in 2015, where she is now putting her knowledge and expertise to work to help our clients achieve ever greater fundraising success.

Donna’s pioneering spirit impacts all aspects of her life. She makes her own bread and cheese, cans food for the winter and has even raised ducks so she can collect fresh eggs. If not for the lack of central heating and her cherished blow dryer she would love to live off the land.

Jennifer has more than 25 years’ experience working in the non-profit fundraising sector in the U.S. and Canada, leading several national multi-channel fundraising programs at agencies and on the client side. Jennifer began her fundraising career as the direct mail manager for the League of Women Voters in Washington, DC, before moving agency-side to develop and implement direct response fundraising programs for non-profits such as UNICEF, American Civil Liberties Union, Greenpeace USA and WNED-TV (New York).

As a Senior Account Director at ST, Jennifer provides strategic planning, budgeting, and analysis for a number of clients including Alzheimer Society of Canada and Susan G. Komen. In her role as Lead Data Strategist, Jennifer shares her passion for data managing ST’s Analytics & Insights department.

Jennifer loves spending time with her husband and kids, hiking along nature trails or just playing a game of tag at their local park. She’s also an avid gardener and is always looking to find time to enjoy a good book.

Taslim leads digital initiatives for clients at ST. This is Taslim’s second tour of duty at ST, which says a lot about both Taslim and the agency’s culture! Over the course of her 20-year career in digital marketing, Taslim has spent more than 10 working with dozens of non-profit organizations – large and small, local and international.

Taslim has a deep understanding of core fundraising principles and applies them strategically in both online and offline channels. She has helped organizations expand their online footprints and raise dollars for non-profits through multichannel fundraising campaigns, symbolic giving catalogues, website redesigns, Giving Tuesday campaigns, disaster communications plans and more.

Taslim holds an undergraduate degree in International Development Studies from the University of Toronto and an MBA from the Schulich School of Business.

Tonie is an accomplished marketing leader. Over the years, she has been instrumental in the development of award-winning strategy for national financial institutions including BMO, TD Canada Trust and CIBC. She also has experience working with the non-for-profit including organizations such as SickKids Foundation, CIBC Run for the Cure, and the Heart and Stroke Foundation among others. Her broad digital transformation strategy experience has been key in helping start-ups, venture risk free into the complex digital ecosystem.

For ST, Tonie will apply her strategic expertise as a member of our Strategic Solutions practice delivering strategic planning for digital marketing in the service of fundraising. Those strategies will be driven by ST’s proprietary Discovery Process resulting in audits, content management, donor journey and analytics with a goal to deliver engagement and drive revenue for ST’s clients.

In addition, her passion to support tomorrow’s leaders led her to George Brown and Seneca College as marketing professor. She recently added executive in-resident at Simon Fraser University Venture Labs to her list of accomplishments. She is a champion of improving students’ life through real world experience in the classroom. Tonie is a CMA Chartered Marketer and was recognized by the worldwide branding association as Top Female Executive.

In her role at Stephen Thomas, Lisette delivers marketing and communications solutions that drive measurable results, across traditional, digital and social channels. She brings to the table a fierce combination of CRM and brand building expertise, leadership qualities that can pull together any team to produce outstanding results, and marketing plans that work within very small or very large budgets.

Over her 25+-year career Lisette has extensive experience in marketing for brands large and small, including Kraft, Microsoft, Ford, Muskoka Tourism, Cochrane Polar Bear Habitat, Muscular Dystrophy Canada, Salvation Army, Canadian Cancer Society, Tufts University. In addition, Lisette is on the curriculum development and teaching team for the Canadian Marketing Association, where she is helping to create the curriculum for the CMA’s new professional designation Chartered Marketer program.

Lisette is also an active volunteer and has served as the chair of the board for the Open Arms Children’s Foundation for the past 11 years. She is also the Chair on the board of the Adoption Council of Ontario, where she provides board leadership and advises the organization on communications, marketing, and fundraising efforts.

Maxime Rivet, Senior Account Director is an extremely driven, results-focused marketing strategist with more than 14 years of agency account management experience in both the not-for-profit and private sectors. Max developed a strong track record of revenue-generating success for his clients by understanding the intricacies of their businesses and developing strategies to suit their specific needs and objectives.

Prior to joining ST, Max worked at one of the largest health communications groups in the world. He has deep experience having helped to raise money in the fight against diabetes, Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis, depression, muscular dystrophy and cancer. Today, Max brings his results focus, as well as integrated fundraising & marketing best practices, to ST’s clients having worked with some of the best and well-known organizations. His expertise includes the discipline of direct response, product launches, awareness campaigns, websites and app development, and educational collateral in both print and digital formats.

Born and raised in Montreal, Max is fully bilingual and has in-depth understanding of the francophone market. He moved to Toronto in 2009 and now has a young family. He plays team sports regularly, especially ball hockey. And even though Max is now a Toronto resident, he will always be a die-hard Habs fan!

At ST, Candice brings solution-based customer service and a great sense of humour to her accounts. Before joining agency in 2009, Candice played a critical role in the advancement and execution of CIBC Wealth Management’s highly successful client e-communication program. She was also the Managing Director of the Toronto International Improv Festival, where she devoted her energy to infrastructure development, administration and volunteer management.

Shelley’s wide-ranging experience spans both the not-for-profit and commercial sectors. Shelley has worked at major Canadian agencies in Regina, Winnipeg and Toronto, including Wunderman/Y&R and Rapp/DDB, where she also served as Creative Director for 10 years. A member of the ST team since 2011, Shelley is relied on for her creativity, ability to write compelling fundraising appeals, and her guidance to co-workers and clients alike in her role as Creative Director.

After living and working in Toronto for 17 years, Shelley moved back home to Winnipeg in 2014 to be closer to her family. She works for ST remotely, and is grateful that Zoom and Teams have made collaboration with teammates and engaging with clients virtually seamless. Although her beloved labradoodle Brindy does make the occasional appearance.

Jessica started her Direct Marketing career at ST over eleven years ago. She has had the opportunity to work with regional and national organizations on both sides of the US/Canada border while with ST in Toronto, as well as after she moved to the US. Jess was thrilled to rejoin the ST team in 2021.

Jess is able to connect high level strategic thinking with day to day coordination for her clients. She is results orientated and data driven, with a keen eye for fundraising brand and messaging.

Jess currently resides in Virginia Beach, VA with her husband, three young sons and dog. When she isn’t helping her clients reach their goals or running after her kiddos, she likes to spend as much time as she can outdoors, especially at the beach.

Often described as the “Guru” of Canadian direct response fundraising, Steve continues to play an active role at ST. He will gladly lend you his accumulated wisdom and experience, and be available to you as necessary, particularly during the strategic-planning sessions.

A fundraiser for over 40 years, Steve founded Stephen Thomas Associates (now Stephen Thomas Ltd or ST) in 1980. It was Canada’s first direct response fundraising agency working exclusively in the non-profit sector. His contribution to the sector has been recognized through many awards including Directors’ Choice Lifetime Achievement Award (Canadian Direct Marketing Association), Outstanding Fundraising Executive Award (AFP Greater Toronto Chapter) and an award from Amnesty International for 25 years of service.

Steve has been a volunteer boys’ basketball coach at local high schools for 28 years. He has taken Malvern Collegiate and Greenwood College School teams to the Finals. It’s a very different world from fundraising and that’s why it’s his perfect hobby.

Neil joined ST in 2006 as CEO and successfully guided the agency in that role until 2020. Even though Neil has relinquished his CEO responsibilities, as Chair of the Board he continues to provide strategic insights to the current executive team.

As a fundraiser of more than 30 years, Neil still works with ST clients as strategic counsel, assisting our account teams develop the best fundraising approaches for their particular challenges. Prior to joining ST, Neil had his own database analytics and strategic marketing consultancy which advised a range of national and international clients on how to understand their donor data and develop marketing strategies based on that understanding. Other highlights of Neil’s career include: national director of donor-based campaigns for the MS Society of Canada; founding chair of the CMA’s Not-For-Profit Council; and founder of Cornerstone Fundraising Services, the leading fundraising database management and donation-processing firm in Canada, and now a Deloitte company.

Passionate fundraiser and insightful leader by day; wine connoisseur and foodie by night. That’s Neil in a nutshell. Neil also collects art and is a proud volunteer with the Art Gallery of Ontario. When he travels, he seeks out art galleries, and art gallery cafes, which he says are almost always excellent.