Alok Mukherjee has been Chair of the Toronto Police Services Board since September 2005. He is the first South Asian to occupy this position. As a Vice President of the Ontario Association of Police Boards and Secretary-Treasurer of the Canadian Association of Police Boards, Dr. Mukherjee is actively involved in efforts to promote community-based policing under civilian oversight provincially and nationally. He is frequently called upon to speak on policing issues to a variety of audiences. He brings a unique perspective to law enforcement issues from his experiences in a highly multicultural and multiracial environment. Dr. Mukherjee has worked as an educator and a consultant. He has written extensively in a variety of areas including diversity and inclusive employment equity for racially visible and aboriginal people, and anti-racist education. Dr. Mukherjee has held several public appointments, including membership on the Toronto District School Board Safe and Compassionate School Taskforce and the Ontario Civilian Commission on Police Services, and has served as Vice Chair and Acting Chief Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission.

Mark Bolger is currently Regional Manager of Asia with the International Business Development Group of Export Development Canada (EDC). He started at EDC in 1990. For the past 21 years Mark has been actively involved in EDC’s Asian portfolio and is now responsible for helping manage EDC’s business and partnership relationships in the region, providing strategic advice to Canadian companies on export risks and opportunities and creating, with his colleagues in Asia, business linkages between EDC’s clients and many of Asia’s leading corporate and public sector entities.

Sampat Poddar is the founding president and CEO of Byrex Gems Inc. He built the company from its inception to a major supplier of precious stones and jewelry to the jewelry industry in Canada. Its current office locations include Montreal, New York, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Jaipur (India) with over 50 employees. He has been an Adjunct Professor, Business Finance, Pace University, New York, NY and a Partner in a gem stone supply House in Jewellery District, New York, NY. He was also a senior tax advisor, Tax Policy, Government of Alberta, Edmonton and developed various tax and royalty incentive programs to promote Oil and gas Exploration and development activities in Alberta. He is treasurer, American Gem Trade Association (AGTA) and Chairman, Budget and Finance Committee, AGTA, since 2008.

Immigrants have different stories and reasons for choosing Canada as their future homes. Few have contributed as much to their chosen domicile as Steve Gupta, who came here from India with $3.08, 40 years ago. What defines him and makes him worthy of recognition is not only his stunning success in business but his determination to be the very best kind of Canadian: humble, yet creative and ambitious for the country of his adoption. Steve Gupta has built a new hotel every year since 2004, and currently owns and operates 15 hotels comprising more than 2,700 suites valued in excess of $400 million, thus creating 1,250 new jobs.

Vasu Chanchlani is a serial entrepreneur and a passionate philanthropist. His technology ventures attracted world class strategic investors such as Cisco Systems and venture capitalists likes of Kleiner Perkins. He co-founded Canada India Foundation for deepening engagement between Canada and India using public policy platform and endowed one million dollar for “CIF Chanchlani Global Indian Award”. Vasu also donated one million dollar each towards $10 Million endowment for starting a “Chanchlani India Public Policy Center”, University of Waterloo and for Chanchlani Health Research Centre, McMaster University.

Vikram Khurana is the founder and CEO of Prudential Consulting Inc. in Toronto, an IT-enabled service provider. Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, Mr. Khurana worked with Toronto Dominion Bank in Commercial Credit. Since then, he has founded many India-centric businesses such as Leading System Consultants, a company engaged in IT staff augmentation, established in 1995, and Prudential Chem Inc., a company involved in marketing pharmaceutical formulations and ingredients, established in 2004. He is also a shareholder and Board member of Global Reach, a company that owns IT consulting companies in India, the US and the United Kingdom. Mr. Khurana has been an advisor, consultant and served on the board of numerous multinational companies and community organizations in the field of Information Technology and Information Technology Enabled Services for a number of multinational companies in Canada and India.