About Us
Maple Bear schools offer full Canadian programs utilizing Canadian methodology and curriculum developed by our own experts from the ground up for preschool, elementary, and high school.
We take our responsibility to our students and their parents very seriously. Strict quality controls ensure we deliver the very best Canadian practices in education.
There are currently more than 60,000 students in over 400 Maple Bear Early Childhood, Elementary, and High Schools operating in Albania, Angola, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Brazil, China (Mainland and Hong Kong (SAR)), Guatemala, India, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Oman, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Turkiye, UAE, Ukraine, USA, and Vietnam.
We will be opening soon in Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Ghana, Greece, Iraq, Paraguay, and Uzbekistan.
With its founding roots in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Maple Bear Global Schools team members and faculty work and live in many different provinces across Canada, with our head office in Toronto, Ontario.
The Story of Maple Bear
The idea to develop Maple Bear Canadian schools grew out of the work of the Canadian Education Centre Network (CECN), a non-profit organization supported by the Government of Canada and the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada which was mandated to market Canadian education abroad to attract foreign students to study in Canada.
Maple Bear was founded in 2004 after CECN managers overseas recognized there was a domestic demand for high quality, bilingual Canadian education from emerging middle class parents, many of whom had studied outside of their own countries in general and in Canada in particular.
The first Maple Bear Canadian School to open was in Indirapuram (New Delhi), India in 2005.
In 2007, Maple Bear became a privately owned company with a dozen schools operating in Korea, Brazil and India. Those numbers quickly changed as news of the excellence of Canadian immersion and bilingual education spread, especially among parents who could see the positive outcomes in language, learning and behavior of their children.
Today, there over 400 schools in 39 countries with more than 60,000 students studying at Maple Bear schools worldwide.
We invite you to join the Maple Bear global family as an owner, a student, a parent, a teacher or a member of the Canadian faculty.
Founders
Rodney Briggs
Co-Founder & Board Member
A graduate of the University of Manitoba with an MA in Political Science, Rodney served as a Canadian diplomat from 1981 to 1996 with postings to Canada's Permanent Mission to the United Nations, the Kingdom of Thailand, the People's Republic of China, and the Republic of Korea. He also served as President of the Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers.
In 1996, he joined the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada as the Vice-President responsible for the Canadian Education Centre Network project and in 1997 became the first President of the newly-formed non-profit company, the Canadian Education Centre Network. In this capacity he was responsible for building the network from three centres in the Asia-Pacific region into an entity with a presence in 17 countries spanning the globe. While with the CEC Network, Rodney conceived and developed the Maple Bear education system. In March 2007, he purchased Maple Bear from the CEC Network.
As President of Maple Bear Global Schools he traveled extensively, expanding Maple Bear’s global footprint to over twenty countries.
In March 2021, Rodney retired from his operating role as President & CEO of Maple Bear Global Schools. He remains active as Board Chair and a shareholder in the company.
Gerald Macleod
Co-Founder
Gerald Macleod held both a B.A. and B.Ed from the University of Saskatchewan, a Masters degree from Carleton University in Ottawa, and a Masters of Education (second language and immersion specialization) from the University of Manitoba. In addition he held a Diplôme d’études françaises from the Université de Poitiers, and a Diplôme d’études internationales et du développement from the Université de Toulouse, France. He also received numerous academic awards, including the Government of France scholarship for Graduate Study in France.
His education credentials were extensive, beginning as a teacher in Montreal, Saskatoon and Winnipeg; as Vice-Principal and Principal at all levels of the Winnipeg school system and as a university professor of Education Administration at the Collège universitaire de Saint Boniface, Manitoba.
Gerald served as School District Director of International Education in Winnipeg; Director of International Education in the Department of Advanced Education for the Province of Manitoba, and as a consultant in international education globally. He frequently presented on international education topics to teachers, principals and school boards.
Gerald passed away in early 2021.
Maple Bear Global Team
José Henrique del Castillo Melo
CEO
José has invaluable experience in the education sector that spans over three decades. With a proven track record of excellence and achievement, Jose’s career encompasses a comprehensive history in education, from classroom teaching to holding various senior management positions in renowned organizations, in countries like Brazil, Canada and Spain, where he played a pivotal role in expanding global presence and establishing companies as prominent players in the industry.
Martine Lewis
Chief Academic Officer
Martine is an accomplished leader with over 30 years’ experience in education, curriculum implementation, change management and strategic operations. She holds a PhD in Educational Leadership and has worked as a teacher, Principal and most recently as a Superintendent of Schools for a large public school board. As an educational leader, she is committed to building trust, developing relationships and fostering a culture of collaboration while upholding equitable and inclusive values.
Sunil Sudhakar
Chief Operations Officer
With a remarkable track record spanning over 25 years, Sunil brings extensive expertise working with globally recognized brands, achieving substantial growth on a global scale, and in various locations, such as Dubai, US and most recently in Vancouver and Toronto.
His strategic thinking consistently delivered outstanding results in various areas such as sales, profit, people development and customer satisfaction. He understands the intricate dynamics of managing both multi-unit operations and pan-regional scopes encompassing both business management and development.
Rafael Mangini
Chief Marketing Officer
With over 20 years of management experience in marketing and communication, Rafael brings a wealth of expertise from leading companies in Brazil. For almost 10 years he was instrumental in the rapid growth of Maple Bear schools in Brazil and Latin America as Marketing Director. With a focus on brand management, product development, and attracting and retaining families, he is passionate about delivering outstanding marketing and communication strategies that will drive Maple Bear’s growth, brand visibility, and success.
Lilian Hanson Zirk
Director of Academic Projects
Lilian started with Maple Bear as a trainer in 2018. She is excited to expand her role leading special academic projects for Maple Bear Global Schools.
Lilian worked with the Toronto District School Board for over 30 years, as an Elementary Teacher, Guidance Counsellor, Principal, and Staff Development Consultant assigned to lead policy implementation, program delivery and other system initiatives. Lilian’s experiences in school administration included inner city, alternative school, and several specialized programs (i.e., Special Ed; Extended French; ELL/Newcomers).
Lilian is fluent in Portuguese, as well as English. She currently works closely with the Brazilian Consulate in Toronto, as an elected member of the Brazilian Citizenship Council of Ontario.
Throughout her career, Lilian has always sought opportunities to impact student achievement and has completed an array of additional qualifications, such as: Math Leadership Cadre; Polarity Management; Assessment and Evaluation Data Analysis; Second Step; Tribes (Master Trainer); Cognitive Coaching (Facilitators’ Training); Appreciative Inquiry; Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (Facilitator qualifications); Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (Administrator’s training); Facilitation Skills for School Improvement; among others.
Renan Avanci
Director of Finance
Renan has over 15 years of experience in key areas such as FP&A, Controllership and Business Finance, specializing in the education and technology sectors. He has a degree in Accounting and two MBAs in Controllership, Finance and Business Management. His background includes finance projects, business planning (Budget, Forecast, 5YP), automation, finance transformation, M&A, Plug and Play, and the implementation and integration of systems. He has contributed to Grupo SEB as FP&A Manager for 12 years and recently worked as Global Business Finance Manager at Hotmart.
Rebecca Manning
Director of Operations
Rebecca's career in education has spanned 15 years and included experience as an English Language Trainer, Academic Coordinator, Academic Manager, and National Service Manager. She has lived and worked in South Korea, Hungary, Japan, Russia, and Brazil. In 2017, she opened the Canadian office of Maple Bear Latin America in the city of Toronto, where she now works as Operations Director for Maple Bear Global Schools.
Rebecca holds a BA in Psychology from the University of Guelph, with a minor in Mathematical Science. She completed her Human Resources Management Certificate with the Sprott School of Business and holds the designations of Certified Human Resource Professional (CHRP) in the province of Ontario and Certified Talent Management Practitioner (CTMP) with the Canadian HR Academy. Additionally, Rebecca has a Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (CELTA). She is currently an Executive MBA candidate with Kellogg-Schulich.
Rebecca speaks English and Portuguese.
Diego Léo Braz
Legal Counsel
Originally from Brazil, Diego has lived, worked and studied in many different countries, including Portugal, Spain and France as well as different parts of Brazil.
Diego holds a BSc in Law, a Post Grad in Administration, a Master in Business Administration (MBA) in Corporate Law, a Post Grad in International Law from University Complutense of Madrid - Spain, a Post Grad in Corporate International Law from Lisbon University, and a Law Master Degree (LL.M) in Corporate Law from a consortium between Universite de Rouen Normandie - France and Lisbon University.
With over 20 years of corporate experience, Diego has served as a legal manager throughout Latin America and Europe and most recently as Legal Counsel of Maple Bear Latin America.
Diego is responsible for supporting and structuring new partnerships with MBGS, providing counsel to Joint Ventures, as well as guiding and leading the company with best practices and ensuring its compliance with MBGS directives.
Maple Bear Faculty
Giving Back
As part of this commitment, Maple Bear also believes in giving back in the countries in which we operate by donating charitable funds to local education initiatives impacting on children and families.
In addition to funding projects, the Maple Bear curriculum incorporates themes of social responsibility and community service so that students at Maple Bear schools are exposed to the concept and undertake age appropriate activities. The goal is to turn a whole generation of students on to the joy of giving back.
