About
An Information Technology professional with extensive web development skills and over 13 years of full-time professional experience managing data and building web sites and applications for world-class organizations across industries with the latest technologies.
Founder of Vaccine Hunters Canada.
Based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada 🇨🇦.
Selected Speaking Engagements
- April 20, 2023 - Panelist for the National Volunteer Week 2023 Roundtable by Volunteer Canada (Virtual)
- September 28, 2022 - Lecturer on "Hunting for a Vaccine: Helping More Than One Million People Find Theirs" for the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies Lecture Series (Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema, 506 Bloor St W, Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
- May 27, 2022 - Keynote Speaker for the Ontario Higher Education Information Technology Conference (Virtual)
- May 19, 2022 - Panelist for the Engineering Resilient Healthcare Systems: Lessons from the Pandemic session at Engineering Research Day - Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering, University of Toronto (Myhal Centre Auditorium, 55 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
- If you'd like to get in touch: [email protected]
Selected Features
- March 19, 2022 - Vaccination booking tracker 'Vaccine Hunters' announces it will end operations - Toronto Star
- December 26, 2021 - 20 people who took on the biggest job of the pandemic and helped Ontario get its shots - Toronto Star
- November 30, 2021 - Vaccine Hunters are back for kids' vaccines and third-dose boosters - Toronto Star
- November 22, 2021 - Vaccine Hunters is back - CP24
- November 17, 2021 - The Happy Hunters - Toronto Life
- September 5, 2021 - Champion to Champion: Tracy Austin and Andrew Young - US Open
- September 2, 2021 - Vaccine Hunters is winding down. But they'll be back if you need them, says founder - CBC Radio's The Current
- July 19, 2021 - Canada surpasses US vaccination rate as country prepares to reopen its borders - CNN
- May 14, 2021 - Get that vaccine hunter energy - At The End Of The Day (Hannah Sung)
Skills / Abilities
Summary
- Proven ability in initiating and completing project lifecycles from start to finish
- Experienced in building and supporting high-quality web sites and applications, as well as managing data: proficient knowledge on a wide array of software applications, tools and techniques
- Strong work ethic and attention to detail: accustomed to working collaboratively in accordance to usability, structured information architecture, and accessibility guidelines (e.g. AODA, WCAG)
- Excellent communication and analytical skills: experienced in communicating technical data to a diverse set of stakeholders, establishing KPIs, and working with vendors
- Background in developing web and desktop applications to automate processes and significantly increase efficiency at various organizations (e.g. from 2 business days down to 10 minutes)
Expertise Highlights
Content Management / Collaboration Systems
Adobe Adobe AEM (formerly CQ5), Atlassian Confluence, Atlassian JIRA, Google Apps, Git, Interwoven TeamSite, Microsoft SharePoint, Wix, WordPress
Software Experience
Adobe (Dreamweaver, Illustrator, Photoshop, Premiere Pro), Eclipse IDE, FileZilla, IntelliJ IDEA, KDB+ Studio, Microsoft (Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Project, Visio, Word), Rational Rose, SonarQube, SPSS
Security / Privacy Focus
Best practices such as open-source tools, encryption, two-factor authentication, password management, layered filtering, strict privacy settings, data control and sanitization
Programming Languages
ASP, Batch, ColdFusion, CSS, Excel VBA, HTML, Java, JavaScript (AJAX, jQuery), PHP, Python
Data Management
Google Drive, KDB, MySQL, Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel, Oracle
Social Platforms and Integration
Bluesky, Deezer, Discord, Facebook, Google, Last.fm, LinkedIn, Mastodon, Spotify, Telegram, Twitter, YouTube
Resume
Professional Experience
Web Developer/Designer
Toronto Metropolitan University, Computing and Communications Services (CCS), Digital Publishing - Toronto, Ontario, Canada
November 2013 - Present
- Support web projects and over 600 content editors across the University
- Ensure W3C and AODA Accessibility Guidelines are adhered to
- Revamp the campus map to utilize the latest Google Maps version with building polygons, seamless directional services and increased accessibility
- Developed a custom Chrome/Firefox extension to increase the efficiency of the Digital Publishing team with one-click shortcuts and solutions
Web Developer, Office of the Dean
Toronto Metropolitan University, Ted Rogers School of Management - Toronto, Ontario, Canada
September 2012 - September 2013
- Provided technical web support and training to 6 Schools in the Ted Rogers School of Management, the Career Centre, the MBA program, 11 research centres and institutes, and 26 student groups
- Engaged stakeholders to create an inclusive site architecture as a foundation for the new website
- Established a web site change request ticketing system using Google Forms that has notably improved efficiency and transparency of the change request process
Project Analyst
The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) - Toronto, Ontario, Canada
February - August 2012
- Managed and prioritized simultaneous projects to ensure milestones, deliverables and timelines were met
- Created training material and trained a total of 15 new and existing employees on the in-house project management system
- Corresponded with various vendors worldwide to gather data and complete several RFPs
Intranet Publishing Associate
TD Bank Financial Group - Toronto, Ontario, Canada
June - September 2011
- Contributed to a large-scale data migration project from Microsoft documents to TeamSite
- Developed 3 web-based tools to increase branding consistency and efficiency of online document publishing by at least 25%, such as a web document conversion tool and intranet crawler
Business Analyst/Data Analyst
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) - Toronto, Ontario, Canada
January - August 2010
- Automated vendor data repost deployment and loading process, improving turnaround time of approximately two business days to one day
- Created various applications to automate daily processes
Web Application Developer
Toronto Metropolitan University, Computing and Communications Services (CCS), Application Development and Support - Toronto, Ontario, Canada
May - August 2009
- Developed the Honorary Degree Nomination system, which reduced manual work and rework from 5 days to 5 hours through digitizing a paper-based process
Web Developer
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) - Toronto, Ontario, Canada
May - December 2008
- Created 3 web applications to improve productivity by 33%, one of these was an Employee Vacation Tracker system which replaced a tedious Excel-based tracking process
- Member of BIM Fun Committee that planned and ran events to encourage team interaction and fundraise for charitable organizations
Education
Bachelor of Commerce (Co-op, Honours) - Business Technology Management, Digital Media Solutions
Toronto Metropolitan University - Toronto, Ontario, Canada
2006 - 2011
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Accomplishments:
- 3.82 / 4.33 CGPA (88.2%)
- One of the Top 100 Student Leaders at the Ted Rogers School of Management
- Served as President of the IT Management course union for 2,000+ students
- Achieved Dean's Honour List standing throughout undergraduate career
- Recipient of Entrance and 3 consecutive Renewable In-Program Scholarships
- Member of the Golden Key International Honour Society
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Awards:
- Canada Millennium Excellence Award: national award for academic excellence
- Dennis Mock Student Leadership Award: outstanding voluntary extracurricular contributions and participation in University affairs
- Sapphire Canada Award: high standing in Managing Information Systems
- Diane Dunn Memorial Award: outstanding academic performance in Business and Information Systems and Fundamentals of Programming
- Pearson Education Award: highest grade in Business and Information Systems
Volunteering
Founder and Director
Vaccine Hunters Canada - Toronto, Ontario, Canada
March 2021 - March 2022
- Oversaw a team of 100 volunteers across Canada to help eligible Canadians find vaccines by sharing the latest updates almost in real-time
- Social media accounts were followed by half a million people
- Estimated to have contributed to helping millions of Canadians receive COVID-19 vaccinations
- Established relationships with public health, pharmacy, and city partners to get the latest verified vaccine information and availabilities
- Featured over 123 times in national and international media, including the US Open
- Developed the core platform through which contributors across Canada were able to post vaccine updates to multiple social media platforms in one click
- Diverse team was able to translate material in over 10 languages
- Key events:
- April 28, 2021: City of Toronto announced partnership with Vaccine Hunters Canada
- May 18, 2021: virtually met with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in a livestreamed event on Twitter
- July 19, 2021: featured in CNN article titled "Canada surpasses US vaccination rate as country prepares to reopen its borders"
- September 5, 2021: featured alongside tennis champion Tracy Austin during the US Open
Webmaster
Earl Haig Secondary School - Toronto, Ontario, Canada
September 2005 - Present
- Completely redesigned the main site in accordance to recommendations from teachers and parents
- Created an online school calendar, alumni database, clubs/councils system, and parent/teacher interview booking system which facilitates more than 3,000 bookings every term
Webmaster/Database Manager
Ted Rogers Management Conference, Toronto Metropolitan University - Toronto, Ontario, Canada
November 2009 - Present
- Part of founding team for the inaugural Ted Rogers Memorial Conference (later renamed to Ted Rogers Management Conference)
- Created an online registration process for internal and external delegates
- Designed several marketing materials for different media (site, posters, postcards)
- Developed delegate registration/attendance check-in system using RFID tags and readers
President
Information Technology Management Students' Association (ITMSA), Toronto Metropolitan University - Toronto, Ontario, Canada
September 2010 - April 2011
- Assumed responsibility for all actions undertaken by the ITMSA and all associated committees
- Established and strengthened relationships with the Ted Rogers Students' Society and other course unions through emphasizing collaboration on events
- Aimed to increase engagement of the entire student body through overseeing initiatives such as the Junior IT Case Competition, Networking Night, video interviews, selection of ITMSA apprentices, and a stronger web presence
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Vice-President of Advancement (September 2009 - April 2010)
- Promoted the ITM brand and program to the University and all surrounding communities
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Webmaster (April 2007 - April 2009)
- Worked with team to ensure site contained information to benefit the student body
Media Communications Manager
Ted Rogers Students' Society (TRSS), Toronto Metropolitan University - Toronto, Ontario, Canada
January - August 2010
- Created and maintained an informative website to represent the TRSS to students in all four schools in the Ted Rogers School of Management and the public
- Provided technical expertise to support new initiatives undertaken by the TRSS
Committee Member (Student Representative)
Director Search Committee, Ted Rogers School of Information Technology Management, Toronto Metropolitan University - Toronto, Ontario, Canada
January 2009 - April 2009, October 2009 - April 2010
- Provided input and made decisions based upon the best interests of the student community in the Ted Rogers School of Information Technology Management
- Worked alongside faculty members and the Dean of the Ted Rogers School of Management
Recognition
- Canada's Volunteer Awards (Employment and Social Development Canada) - Community Leader (Ontario) - outstanding individual volunteers or groups of volunteers who have taken a lead role in developing solutions to social challenges in communities
- UK Commonwealth Point of Light - an award for inspirational acts of volunteering throughout the Commonwealth by Her Majesty The Queen
- Toronto Metropolitan University - Alumni Award of Distinction - achieved true distinction in professional life and performed distinguished personal service in the community
- #1 on Toronto Life's Top 50 Most Influential Torontonians
- #5 on Bay Street Bull's Power 50: Canada's Most Impactful Companies - game-changing companies that are redefining their respective industries to be more resilient, efficient, and thoughtful
- Dalla Lana School of Public Health's Pillars of the Pandemic - deep commitment and exemplary contribution to public health and safety during the COVID-19 pandemic
- The Peak's Emerging Leaders (Social Impact) - up-and-coming young leaders shaping Canada's economy, culture, and society
- OTLA (Ontario Trial Lawyers Association) Safety Leadership Award - an individual or organization that has made a remarkable and extensive contribution towards enhancing safety awareness in their community in Ontario and prevented injury to those around them
- Urban Hero Award - award by Metroland Toronto that recognizes community champions
- Ontario Minister of Colleges and Universities' Award of Excellence (Everyday Heroes category) - faculty or staff members who have stepped up and made a difference during the COVID-19 pandemic
Thank you for learning about me!
If you'd like to get in touch - [email protected] - or: