Our Team
More than 150 years of collective experience
Sanjay Laul
CEO AND FOUNDER
Sanjay is a versatile and highly creative entrepreneur who has spent more than 15 years of operational and managerial experience in the international education sector. In April 2013, he founded MSM and to this day remains passionate about international education and new opportunities to improve personal and professional strengths.
Sanjay builds models through common-sense insight, fostering informed risk-taking, creating cultures of innovation, and empowering people. He has successfully conceived, developed, marketed, and implemented solutions for startups, building teams and partnerships in order to accelerate business growth.
His proven track record includes mobilizing an experienced team of more than 250 professionals; creating a vast network of education agents and counselors in Asia, Africa, and other parts of the world; and thinking up customized solutions to international student recruitment globally. He specializes in strategic partnerships, human capital management, marketing communications, and print production, to name a few.
Shawn Swail
CHIEF BUSINESS OFFICER
Shawn Swail is the Chief Business Officer at M Square Media, and he is responsible for coordinating with the CEO, finance head, and other leaders of the organization. He helps the team meet strategic and financial goals, ensuring the company meets federal and provincial regulatory standards. He also oversees contracts, human resources, procurement, compliance, and risk management.
Shawn has worked in the legal industry in British Columbia for 22 years. His business acumen and corporate skills in entrepreneurial ventures prove to be a strong addition to the corporate advisory team of Laul Global Ventures, as well as brands and institutions that MSM owns and operates.
Donna Hooker
PRESIDENT, MSM HIGHER ED
Donna has worked in the international education field for 30 years. She has a comprehensive knowledge of policy and practise in the public post-secondary education system in British Columbia, Canada and worldwide. She is a past board chair for the BC Centre for International Education and has held senior management roles at BC Institute for Technology, Vancouver Community College, and most recently at Capilano University.
Donna has demonstrated excellence in leadership with a focus on international education and services marketing, as well as in her role as interim Dean of Business for 3 years at Vancouver Community College. Donna holds an MBA with a strategic focus on Services Marketing and International Education and has facilitated the professional development of others by teaching general business and service marketing in Canada as well as internationally. Donna joined M Square Media as President after having had first hand experience as an MSM client that was excellent.
Dr. Alex Parnia
PRESIDENT, US
Dr. Alex Parnia brings more than 30 years of experience performing a variety of successful roles at elite academic institutions as a faculty member, campus Dean, Vice-President of Marketing and Enrollment, Executive Vice- President, Provost, and President. He specializes in crafting innovative and scalable solutions and matrices to enable exponential revenue increases for academic institutions. His list of commendable triumphs is never-ending and he has also created leadership programs and taught management and business courses at leading institutions.
Suneetha Qureshi
VICE PRESIDENT, GLOBAL
Suneetha Qureshi has more than 10 years experience in the international education sector. She resides in India and leads MSM’s extensive back of the house operations, including MSM’s human resources, financial management, information technology, and marketing, communications and social media activities. She has an impeccable track record of successfully launching the representative offices in Asia and Africa of many North American and European higher education institutions. Her key strengths include hiring, training and developing teams as evidenced by the successful results of the dedicated in-country college and university client teams.
She is a motivational supervisor who inspires service excellence among MSM staff and rewards high-performing employees with growth opportunities. Suneetha also leverages her excellent leadership, strategic visioning and operational management skills as a critical member of the MSM executive team. She has taken the lead in developing a number of initiatives at MSM, including building robust standard operating procedures, the Rise ‘n Shine team engagement platform, and the organization’s data analytics and audit segments. Among her many talents, Suneetha is a motivational speaker, lecturer and entrepreneur and is proficient in six languages including English, Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Gujarati, and Marathi.
Andrew Disbury
VICE PRESIDENT, UNITED KINGDOM
Andrew has a 30-year career that combines an academic background in international business with education leadership and management experience in China, India, Scotland and England. .
He has held several different positions that include Pro Vice Chancellor for Global Engagement, International Director, Admissions Director, and Principal Lecturer at four British universities. He also served as the British Council’s Education Director in China. Andrew has been a member of MSM’s International Advisory Board since its inception.
His areas of specialization include student recruitment, customer journey improvement, and enhancing enrollment numbers; developing, implementing and reviewing education strategy; multi-office team development and management; and diversity and inclusion both in staff management and customer service.
Apart from his track record of participating in national committees, Andrew is an active member of the European Association for International Education, currently serving as the chair of its Awards and Talent Committee. As a student, Andrew benefited from international exchange schemes that allowed him as an undergraduate student to study in China and France.
Jo Nesbitt
VICE PRESIDENT, UNITED KINGDOM
Jo has over 28 years of notable work and experience in the higher education sector. Her previous roles include Director and Deputy Director positions at the University of Southampton, focusing on international recruitment, international relations, and international development.
In 2014, she spent six months in India at IITRoorkee, developing an international office and internationalisation strategy. Jo went on to become Solent University’s Director of International Development. She then consolidated international activities in the university, becoming Director of the International Office.
Originally from Australia, Jo moved to the UK as an international student to study classics and then completed her MBA at the University of Southampton, specializing in higher education management.
She is consulted regularly by government bodies,, works with the British Council and other organisations, has led several university consortia, and has been an invited speaker at numerous conferences over the years.
Dean Duperron
CHAIRMAN, MSM HIGHER ED
Dean Duperron has more than 34 years of experience in the education industry, overseeing a global network of campuses emphasizing the cohesiveness between academic and vocational disciplines. He has diverse business experience, spanning operations in trades, retail, wholesale, real estate investing, market investing, party and event planning, and mentoring entrepreneurs.
He successfully built two college systems including Sprott-Shaw Community College, which he bought in 1991 and transformed into a profitable operation with 29 Canadian campuses (26 in British Columbia and three in Alberta). He also founded Sprott-Shaw Degree College, now known as Ascenda College, the first private community college in B.C. to be granted the right to confer bachelor’s degrees.
Dean was born in Alberta and grew up in Vancouver. He studied biochemistry and computer science at the University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University. Today he lives in the Greater Vancouver area with his wife, Sherri, and their three children.