About Me
This page is a personal introduction. If you are looking for general site navigation, please go Home. If you are looking to understand the services I offer, please see Consulting.
Hi, It's Me!
I'm Eric and I'm based in the great city of Toronto. I grew up in the GTA and I am proud to call this region, Ontario, and Canada my home. I love this city - for its vibrancy, its culture, its opportunities, and (yes) it's great food. I am a Consultant, an Entrepreneur, and a Housing Advocate. You may know me as the founder of More Neighbours Toronto. I am also a proud gay man and part of Toronto's Italian diaspora.
Like so many people, I value time with my friends and family above all else. I have a twin sister, Julia (the first ever fact about me), and am thrilled to say that I am now an uncle to my beautiful niece, Maia. I am passionate about cities, public policy, climate, technology, space, and effective altruism. I love to travel, read, and cook.
In work and in life, my passion is for problem solving. I approach all problems thoughtfully - by breaking down systems, challenges, and scope into component parts, I identify variables that influence their outcomes, and then create a plan to change them for the better. I consider myself an "Ideas" guy, but I fundamentally believe ideas mean nothing without execution.
Toronto, Via Waterloo & San Francisco
I grew up as a lover of sci-fi, fantasy, history, and politics. Fortunately, I had great childhood friends who wouldn't let me drone on about them, less I bore someone to death. My passion for chemistry, physics and math in high school led me to the University of Waterloo, where I completed my Bachelor's of Applied Science in Nanotechnology Engineering in 2017.
While I don't do anything related to nanotechnology today, the program gave me a strong foundation in systemic thinking and basic sciences. Its famous co-op education sent me to San Francisco where I discovered my passion for the business side of technology. I spent 8 months as an engineering program manager building wireless chips at Broadcom Inc, followed by another 8 months working in Paytech & BizOps at CAKE Corporation.
Moving from Waterloo to San Francisco as a co-op student was the spark for my interest in housing issues. I went from paying $450/mo in rent to over $2,000/mo - It was jarring and I wanted to understand why. It was a bigger question than I thought!
Why Consulting?
After graduating from Waterloo, I wanted to accelerate my transition into the "business side" of technology and joined Capco, a consulting firm specializing in financial services. There I advised Canadian financial institutions on their technology strategies. I worked with large teams and delivered multiple platform products to market, including a big digital transformation for a major American Financial Institution.
That's when I was approached by former colleagues at CAKE, who wanted me to join their new startup, Codify AI (now Cut+Dry). Their goal? Digitizing the entire foodservice supply chain and to drastically reduce food waste as a result. It was a tantalizing opportunity and I joined them as their first non-founding employee in San Francisco in 2019.
At Cut+Dry, I worked on product, I worked on financials, I worked in business development, I worked in operations, frankly, I wore every hat the business needed me to. I learned a ton and honed my skills as a specialist generalist. As we scaled to over 60 employees and thousands of active users, I became Chief of Staff to the CEO, stickhandling our most strategic priorities.
During the pandemic we went remote, and I had a chance to move back to Toronto. The pandemic had me missing family and friends, and eager to finally set roots down. In 2022 a former client approached me with the opportunity of a lifetime - to lead their product team as they develop a platform for embedded finance. Not wanting to leave my work with Cut+Dry totally behind, I became an independent consultant.
My Passion For Advocacy
As a proud Canadian, I believe in the unparalleled potential of this country, of Ontario, and Toronto. Yet, as Toronto gains global recognition, the demand to live here has surged, and we've not been as welcoming as we should be.
This has resulted in a housing crisis, ranking among the world's worst. Disheartening traits I witnessed in San Francisco, like neglect for the growing homeless population, are now present here. Political leaders hesitate to make tough decisions, fearing voter backlash. Meanwhile, many of my friends from university and childhood have moved away or plan to, abandoning hopes of building their lives here.
My generation is witnessing the middle-class ladder being pulled away in real time, which is devastating. How can we address climate change or maintain a thriving democracy when property wealth divides society? How can we offer opportunity when family wealth is a prerequisite for a good life? How do we foster the next wave of world-leading businesses or attract international talent?
Fueled by anger and passion, I founded More Neighbours Toronto. Volunteer driven, we've become one of the most influential housing advocacy groups in the city, striving for a more inclusive and equitable Toronto. While I will continue to do housing advocacy through More Neighbours, I created this website to explore even more ideas for our incredible home. Thanks for being here!
