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Bilingual growth executive in Toronto

I'm a creative guy who works on complex problems affecting the public good. I also build and scale useful digital products that reach millions. My strengths include incisive, evocative communication, outside the box warehouse thinking, and crafting commercial ventures that make charities financially independent. I've found success in both turnaround and growth contexts. I speak to the media a lot and deal frequently with government.

Media

Play
Daniel Bernhard speaking at Institute for Canadian Citizenship gala 2025
Daniel Bernhard greeting new Canadian citizen

Work

CEO – Institute for Canadian Citizenship

This ICC is Canada's leading organization on immigration and citizenship. My contributions have been to: hyper focusing the organization on driving immigrant retention and integration at scale (from a diffuse prior mandate to promote "inclusion"), resurrecting our research and advocacy capacity (1.52 billion earned media impressions in 2025), and scaling the Canoo app from 15,000 members in 2022 to 1,000,000 in 2026. Canoo now serves more immigrants than all other Canadian newcomer-services combined. Revenue tripled in my first three years.

Executive Director – FRIENDS

My mandate was to evolve this citizens' group from a de facto CBC fan club into a modern advocacy organization championing Canadian culture and sovereignty on air and online. Revenue increased 33% under my tenure, and FRIENDS became a key player in legislative debates about regulating US tech companies like Netflix, Facebook, and Google. With the help of some truly exceptional citizen volunteers, I led two national election advocacy campaigns. We also made some fun public art.

President – Mushroom Cloud Ltd

Advised charities, foundations and government agencies in Canada, the US, the UK, and the Middle East on strategy, radically original program design, operational improvement, technmology adoption, and commercialization opportunities.

Special Projects – Kaiser Associates

Working within the Mergers and Acquisitions practice, my team conducted due diligence for private equity transactions in Canada's oil, gas, and mining sectors, plus a few deals in South America. We also provided strategic advisory services to Fortune 100 companies.

Engagement Specialist – Spice Innovations

My first taste of the charitable sector. I was responsible for implementing Spice's trademark Time Banking method for diverse clients, including charities, school boards, and municipal governments in the UK.

Education

MPhil – University of Cambridge

I studied political economy, with cross-instruction from the faculties of History, Politics, and Economics. My focus was on the political evolution of European liberal economics as it crossed the Atlantic and became American neo-liberalism. I wrote a thesis on Ayn Rand. Don't judge until we've talked about it.

BSC (1st class) – London School of Economics

My course was International Relations with History. I covered a wide range of topics, including early imperialism, Eastern Europe, and international security. Somehow, I won the undergraduate Dissertation Prize.

Social Return on Investment Analysis – New Economics Foundation

Certificate course I've never really used but very much enjoyed.

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Languages

English – Native

French – Fluent spoken, intermediate written

Spanish – Fluent spoken, basic written

Javascript – Advanced