Cathy Preston (she/her)
President & Founder
Cathy held senior leadership roles during her 17 year career in the marketing services sector followed by 20+ years of executive search experience in which she has built a stellar reputation for her client service orientation and her ability to source and recruit ‘best in class’ talent.
A graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University, Cathy began her career in Marketing at Colgate Palmolive and later joined a contingency-based search firm where her efforts were focused on marketing roles primarily within the CPG sector. In 1984 Cathy was recruited by Marketing & Promotion Group (M&PG) and was instrumental in that company’s exponential growth, including the founding of Mosaic Direct, a sister company to M&PG which became one of Canada’s leading direct marketing agencies. In 1998 she assumed the role of President, Mosaic Marketing Services, the largest marketing services company in Canada, and consistently delivered increased growth and performance. In 2001 Cathy returned to the executive search industry to bring her breadth of business and client service knowledge to her clients and help them build their senior leadership teams.
Cathy is a past member of the Canadian Marketing Association (CMA) Leadership Committee and a past member of their Board Nominating Committee, and a Past Board member of the CMA itself. She also served as a board member for five years for Covenant House, a resource for homeless youth. Cathy is a founding member of the steering committee for the Judy Project, a Rotman School of Business executive program for the Advancement of Women in Leadership. Cathy also volunteers with Scala Network, an organization targeted at helping women at multi levels advance their careers which is a personal interest and passion. She is also working to help executive women who are 50 years of age and older with beginning to strategize around their “Next Chapter”.
In her spare time you'll find Cathy whipping up a healthy meal or walking her mini-schnauzer with her husband.
Lindsay Preston (she/her)
managing Partner
Lindsay joined PHC in January 2017 following a successful career in marketing (Cundari Group, PayPal Canada). She has since forged a path of continuous success and growth. Over the past eight years, Lindsay has emerged as a leader in senior-level searches across various sectors. Known for her trustworthiness and dependability, Lindsay is a passionate, creative, and people-first executive recruiter, reflecting the Preston core value of treating others as you would like to be treated. She has built a strong reputation for delivering exceptional client service while effectively identifying and attracting top-tier candidates. Clients trust Lindsay because she listens intently to their unique needs, offers realistic and forthright solutions, and consistently delivers successful outcomes. Her inclusive approach and commitment to following through make her a reliable partner.
Candidates are drawn to Lindsay because of her deep understanding of the organizations she represents, the roles she recruits for, and the clients she serves. From the very first interaction, Lindsay earns their trust with her respectful and transparent approach.
Lindsay’s career is marked by a rich diversity of experience across multiple sectors before she joined PHC. She gained valuable insights working in the marketing department at Artez Interactive, in Corporate Philanthropy at SickKids Foundation, and in the global marketing department at Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts Corporate. After completing her undergraduate degree at Dalhousie University, Lindsay joined Cundari Group, Canada's largest independent full-service marketing services agency, where she honed her skills in time and project management and built client relationships based on trust and integrity. Her clients ranged from not-for-profit organizations like the Canadian Cancer Society to educational institutions like George Brown College and financial firms like First National Bank. Lindsay joined PayPal Canada as their Consumer Marketing lead, where she focused on engaging the 5.5 million Canadian consumers who use PayPal annually. Lindsay led her team to produce PayPal Canada’s most successful marketing engagement campaign to date, earning a global award for Innovative and Game-Changing Creative.
Lindsay holds a certificate in Human Resources Management, with a focus on Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (IDEA), from Toronto Metropolitan University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Management from Dalhousie University, where she specialized in Leadership & Organizations.
You’ll find Lindsay at the nearest park with her two young children and beloved French Bulldog, and spending time with her husband and dear friends - often in the kitchen, where any good conversation begins.
ian mishkel (he/him)
Partner, interim & Strategic Advisor solutions
Ian has over 30 years of experience in organizational growth and development operations, specializing in strategic transformational funding in the private, public, and non-profit sectors. He has worked extensively in the post-secondary space, with institutions large and small, public, and private, at both the college and university level. Ian is an experienced communicator with a deep understanding of marketing and communications, branding and messaging, donor relations, public and government relations, and commercial and not-for-profit operations. Drawing on a breadth and depth of knowledge around product and service delivery, brand promise, impact and impact measurement, his focus is helping organisations of all kinds create large and replicable transformational funding opportunities.
Ian endeavors to bring the discipline and rigour of private sector practice to public and non-profit operations. His extensive work in the varied disciplines of post-secondary education has shown that in pursuing the resources necessary to fill funding gaps, the fundamental best practices from sales and marketing consistently apply, regardless of the organization’s specific mandate. His goal is to help professionalize non-profits through funding diversification and growth—not incremental growth, but sustainable, exponential growth. Ian believes in a holistic approach, starting with the fundamentals of organizational vision, mission and values, and aligning these with strategy and execution.
Ian is an effective manager with the ability to attract, develop, and motivate enterprise-wide, high-performance teams that are fully engaged in co-creating funding plans they can take ownership of and execute. Driven by a firm belief that fundraising is a “team sport”—it is the responsibility of all areas of the organization—he insists on the importance of building a collaborative and engaged fundraising culture throughout the entire enterprise. With all units coordinated around a funding plan and unified in their objectives and communications, the organization’s imagination and potential can be fully realized.
lori radke (she/her)
Partner
Lori has thirty years of progressive leadership experience in fundraising, business development, and marketing, across the not-for-profit sector and the sports industry. She thrives on building and nurturing long-term, authentic relationships with diverse stakeholders.
Lori began her career in the sports industry, with a focus on corporate partnerships, marketing, and events, bringing her passion for sports to roles at Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, IMG Canada, and the NHL Players’ Association.
Most recently she was the President and CEO at Crohn’s and Colitis Canada (CCC), leading the organization since early 2021. She partnered with the board and community to develop and execute on CCC’s Impact Strategy, which launched in 2022.
Prior to CCC, Lori led the campus-wide development strategy at Wilfrid Laurier University and spent several years in executive roles at Multiple Sclerosis Canada (MS Canada). Lori served as the VP of Development and Marketing at MS Canada and was the Executive Director of the MS Scientific Research Foundation, where she worked closely with the foundation chair, board members, and others to lead cultivation and solicitation of the $75 million Acts of Greatness campaign. Lori’s has held leadership roles at organizations such as the Baycrest Foundation and Ronald McDonald House Charities of Canada.
Lori resides in Stratford, Ontario with her 15-year-old daughter Gracie, and enjoys time in the summer in the Tiny Beaches area of Georgian Bay.
Ian Preston (he/him)
managing director, operations & finance
After graduating from Dalhousie University with a Bachelor of Commerce degree, Ian began his business career with General Motors where he held positions in Sales, Distribution and Customer Service departments. He then joined Spalding Canada and gained experience in sales and marketing initiatives before moving on to Nestle where, in a career that spanned nearly two decades, he held various senior positions in Marketing, Supply Chain Management and Sales. His many accomplishments at Nestlé included spearheading the significant development of Nestlé Canada’s sales with Walmart and subsequently in helping establish the Ice Cream business for Nestlé as Director of Sales.
In 2001 Ian entered the retained search industry focusing his efforts primarily on senior Sales and Marketing roles as well as non-profit organizations. Ian possesses well honed strategic thinking abilities; communication skills; and a keenly developed, intuitively insightful ability to gauge interpersonal relationships that he has developed during his marketing, sales and search career. As Vice President & General Manager Ian manages the day to day requirements of the firm's operation and provides sage council on search mandates as required.
Ian is a graduate of The Gestalt Institute of Toronto’s four year Training Program as well as the Gestalt Training Program for Professionals. As an accredited Gestalt Therapist he ran a private therapy and personal growth practice from 2005 through 2016 that assisted individuals in addressing challenges that they were experiencing in dealing with everyday life.
Ian has taught sales and marketing courses at George Brown community college and a past-board member of the Gestalt Institute of Toronto.
advisory board
Over the course of nurturing our 15+ year practice we’ve had the good fortune to establish a number of deep trusted relationships with some very talented professionals who we often turn to for their expertise and sage council.