ALBERTA ENTERPRISE - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Member of the Alberta Enterprise Management Team
- Director of Industry Development & Investment Associate
Alan's career in tech began ten years ago when he transitioned from a business development role at corporate Apple to co-found EZ-Robot. As a first-time founder and COO, he participated in reputable events and programs such as 48Hrs in the Valley and CDL. This led to multiple successful raises from Angels and VC's across Western Canada and Silicon Valley, which allowed EZ-Robot to scale globally, and consequently, to an exit in 2018.
Since then, Alan's support of the Alberta tech ecosystem includes bringing Founder Institute to Calgary and participating as a member of the Dean's Advisory Council for SAIT's School of Manufacturing and Automation, the Rainforest Steering Committee, and Pitch Advisor at the Hunter Center at the University of Calgary. He also supported in raising funds for and launching Combine Venture Builders, which de-risks venture creation in AI/ML focused startups solving inefficiencies in Canada's primary industries. Alan has accreditation for the Venture Capital Executive Program from the University of California, Berkeley - Walter A. Haas School of Business and is pursuing a certificate of Business Excellence (COBE) from the University of California, Berkeley.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Alberta Enterprise Management Team
- Director of Operations and Marketing
During her over 20-year career path as an experienced international business professional Carolina has worked in various industries internationally. Prior to joining Alberta Enterprise Carolina worked for technology and oil field services companies, higher education recruitment, executive custom home building, as well as pulp and paper industry. Her experience spans from international business and project management to sales and marketing, intellectual property, procurement, supply chain management and strategic planning.
Carolina holds a joint BBA from Vaasa University of Applied Sciences in Finland and Fachhochshule Kiel in Germany, as well as certifications from University of Augsburg in Germany. She is fluent in four languages, both written and spoken.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Alberta Enterprise Management Team
- Director of Investments With
Christiana is the Director of Investments with Alberta Enterprise. During her tenure at AEC she led the growth of the Start Alberta Deal Flow Platform as well as spearheaded the 2021 Alberta Tech Deal Flow Study. She leveraged this experience during her year in Lisbon and Amsterdam working as Director of Government Marketing with Dealroom.co.
Christiana's career has spanned industries from financial services to fashion, chiefly working as a management consulting on strategic planning, marketing strategies and international expansion projects. She was part of the inaugural Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) - Rockies cohort and served as a member of the Hunter Hub Executive Team Advisory Committee. Over the past several years she has served as a Group Leader within the C100 Fellows Selection Committee, as well as a member of the Canadian Venture Capital Association (CVCA) Data Committee and Invest Canada Planning Committee. Christiana holds an MBA and BComm from the University of Calgary, and accreditation for the Venture Capital Executive Program from the University of California, Berkeley - Walter A. Haas School of Business. Christiana has completed several ILPA Institute courses in Private Equity, Legal Documents, and Investment Due Diligence, with accreditation from the University of Chicago Booth.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Alberta Enterprise Management Team
- Senior Accountant
Deepashree is an accounting professional with over seven years of experience in corporate and public accounting. She is a qualified Chartered Accountant from The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and is working towards obtaining her CPA designation. She is also a holder of Global Diploma in IFRS from ACCA, London. Deepashree has extensive experience in auditing, taxation and financial reporting.
Prior to joining Alberta Enterprise Corporation, she briefly worked with Office of Public Guardian and Trustee, a department of Government of Alberta as a Financial Services Clerk.
Her previous work experience encompasses various functions in full-cycle accounting which include preparation and processing of journal entries, general ledger reconciliations, expense payments, payroll, bank reconciliation and preparation of financial documents.
She holds a Master of Commerce degree from University of Mumbai.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member of the Alberta Enterprise Board of Directors
- Fellow of Creative Destruction Lab
- President and CEO of Bluesky Equities Ltd
Derrick Hunter is the President and CEO of Bluesky Equities Ltd., an investment management company with interests in real estate, energy, distilling, technology and alternative strategies. Previously, he co-founded Wild Rose Properties Inc. - a real estate investment company with assets in ten states.
Bluesky is one of the most active angel investors in Southern Alberta having invested in over eighty-three start-up businesses since 2012. In 2019, Derrick was named Canadian Angel Investor of the Year for 2019 by the National Angel Capital Organization as well as Technology Investor of the year by Start Alberta.
Derrick is a Fellow of Creative Destruction Lab - Rockies. He is an Advisor to the UCEED venture capital fund, NACO West and Platform Calgary. He was a member of the Innovation Capital Working Group which reported to the Government of Alberta in April 2020. He is Chairman of the Council for Innovation and Entrepreneurial Leadership" at the University of Calgary and sits on the External Advisory Committee of the "Hunter Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation" at the Haskayne School of Business.
In the not-for-profit sector, he serves on the boards of Futurpreneur Canada and the Beakerhead Creative Society. He was a co-founder of EvolveU, which supports unemployed workers in their efforts to develop new career opportunities in technology.
Derrick is a graduate of Queen's University and the University of Calgary. He is a member of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA). He was the 2018 recipient of the Management Alumni Excellence (MAX) award from the Haskayne School of Business.
Job Titles:
- President
- Vice Chair of the Alberta Enterprise Board of Directors
- Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada
Dr. Elizabeth Cannon is president emerita of the University of Calgary after serving as president and vice chancellor from July, 2010 until December, 2018. Prior to her term as president, Dr. Cannon was dean of the Schulich School of Engineering at the University of Calgary. An expert in geomatics engineering and a Professional Engineer, Dr. Cannon's research has been on the forefront of Global Positioning Systems (GPS) since 1984 in both industrial and academic environments, and she has commercialized technology to over 200 agencies worldwide. Dr. Cannon's work has been recognized with many national and international honours including the Johannes Kepler Award from the U.S. Institute of Navigation, an NSERC Steacie Award and the Gold Medal Award from Engineers Canada.
Dr. Cannon is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Canadian Academy of Engineering as well as an elected foreign associate of the National Academy of Engineering. She served as co-chair of the Business-Higher Education Roundtable, was a past chair of Universities Canada, and was a member of the federal Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development's Science, Technology and Innovation Council (STIC) in addition to many other boards and advisory councils. Currently, she is a member of the Board of Trustees the Aga Khan University, a Fellow of the Creative Destruction Lab - Rockies and a Director of the Gairdner Foundation and the Rideau Hall Foundation. She is a corporate director and seed-stage investor, particularly in female-founded companies.
In 1998, Dr. Cannon was selected as one of Canada's Top 40 Under 40 and in 2006 was named one of Canada's Top 100 Most Powerful Women by the Women's Executive Network. She has received five honorary degrees. In June, 2019, she was named an Officer of the Order of Canada and in 2021, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Axis Connects Calgary Influential Business Awards.
Job Titles:
- Chief Financial Officer
- Member of the Alberta Enterprise Management Team
Jennie brings expertise, leadership capabilities and over 15 years of experience in the financial sector including banking operations, banking regulations, accounting and financial reporting. Prior to joining Alberta Enterprise, she most recently served as Chief Financial Officer at the Credit Union Deposit Guarantee Corporation, an agency of the Government of Alberta mandated to provide risk-based regulatory oversight and deposit guarantee to the Alberta credit union system. In this role, Jennie was responsible for managing the deposit insurance for the Alberta credit union system, accounting and finance operations, enterprise risk management, corporate governance and corporate services.
Jennie earned a Bachelor of Management, Major in Accounting with Distinction from the University of Lethbridge and holds a CPA, CA designation. She articled at PricewaterhouseCoopers where she provided assurance services to private and public companies in various industries. She is also a graduate of the Alberta Credit Union Young Leaders Program.
Justin Ferrara's main practice is in securities law, with a focus on mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance. Mr. Ferrara has represented a number of both publicly traded and privately held clients in a broad range of matters, including mergers and acquisitions, public and private equity financings, corporate reorganizations and corporate governance issues. Mr. Ferrara has also advised special committees regarding numerous types of strategic and related-party transactions.
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer
- Member of the Alberta Enterprise Management Team
- President
Prior to joining AEC, Kristina worked for several technology companies where her responsibilities spanned the spectrum of legal, regulatory, international and new business development, corporate strategic planning, intellectual property management, as well as marketing and sales. At Alberta Enterprise Kristina has lead several of the corporation's investments. In 2014 she was named the President and CEO, and she now oversees the management of the Alberta Enterprise Fund. She is an Associate with Creative Destruction Lab - Rockies, and a member of the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology Board of Governors and the North American Construction Group (NYSE/TSX: NOA). She also serves on the Alberta Securities Commission New Economy Advisory Committee. Kristina holds an MBA from the University of Alberta, a Master of Laws from Uppsala University in Sweden, an accreditation for the Venture Capital Executive Program from the University of California, Berkeley - Walter A. Haas School of Business, as well as an ICD.D from the ICD-Rotman Director Education Program.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Alberta Enterprise Management Team
- Investment Associate
Prior to joining AEC, Leon worked as a Surety Bond Underwriter helping secure debt obligations for a variety of companies in the commercial sector and managing a $20 million bond portfolio. He was highly effective in securing partnerships and growing the bond portfolio in Western Canada accounts by over $8 million during his career. He is a Dean's List graduate from the MacEwan School of Business where he successfully competed in various CASE competitions, placing as a finalist in each competition and was awarded the Alberta Stock Exchange Award. During this time, he worked as a CFO and COO for a fitness tech startup where he was able to take the company from idea to seed stage, developing the operations of the company and participated in various pitches. Leon is a CFA Charter holder, completing each of the CFA exams on the first attempt in consecutive order, earning the CFA charter in a little over one year.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Alberta Enterprise Management Team
- Director of Investment
Matthew is a CPA, CA with over 10 years experience in the financial and professional service industries. Prior to joining Alberta Enterprise, Matthew was the Senior Impact Investment Manager at Vancouver City Savings Credit Union where he managed a portfolio of venture capital funds focused on generating tangible social, environmental, and economic benefits. Matthew also spent several years in the Audit & Assurance group at PwC Canada and PwC Cayman Islands where he provided services to private and public companies in a variety of sectors. Matthew holds a Bachelor of Management degree from the University of Lethbridge.
Job Titles:
- Manager of Industry Development
Milanne has 5 years' experience as an ecosystem builder within Calgary's tech and venture community. Prior to joining Alberta Enterprise Corporation, she worked in a variety of high-impact roles at Platform Calgary including Lead of Growth, where she spearheaded Platform's investor engagement strategy and launched the Digital Commerce Fintech Awards - North America's Largest non-dilutive cash prize for fintech startups. As a result, Milanne brings a wealth of experience working with a range of diverse stakeholders to launch successful and impactful initiatives.
Milanne is a Dean's List graduate from the Okanagan College School of Business. Throughout her education, she was an active member of Enactus, participating in entrepreneurial projects focused on waste diversion, financial literacy and tech education for the elderly.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member of the Alberta Enterprise Board of Directors
Neil Sadaranganey has extensive industry experience in board governance, start-ups, technology, and industry including Silicon Valley. He is currently the Managing Director of NTT Docomo Ventures where he leads the team responsible for all fund and direct investments in the US and Canada. Some of his notable investments include Coinbase(COIN), Mist Systems(JNPR), Couchbase(BASE) and Centrify. Previously, he was General Partner at Bay Partners where he drove the investment in Eloqua which was founded in Canada and was acquired by Oracle for over $1B Cdn. Mr. Sadaranganey has served on the board of many public and private companies including Cornerstone on Demand (CSOD), Like.com (GOOG), Eventful(CBS) , Hiplogic, LiveMedia, and Applied Identity. Before becoming a venture capitalist, Neil was a software product executive at Good Technology and RealNetworks. Mr. Sadaranganey was a founding team member of Afara Websystems, a company acquired by Sun Microsystems whose technology is still core for a multi-billion dollar server line for Oracle. Neil started his career as a consultant with IBM and Accenture Canada.
Neil was a charter member of the C100, a global non-profit association of technology thought leaders committed to helping advance Canadian innovation. Mr. Sadaranganey holds a Bachelor of Systems Engineering degree from the University of Waterloo and an MBA from the Stanford Business School.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Alberta Enterprise Management Team
- Vice President Investments
Paul Godman has over 20 years of experience in corporate and venture capital finance, renewable energy, as well as leadership in corporate sustainability. Prior to joining Alberta Enterprise, Paul held roles managing EnCana's Clean Energy Corporate Venture Fund, and Cenovus Energy's Sustainability Team. He served with TransAlta hydro operations, worked in environmental consulting and was the Chair of the non-profit Alberta EcoTrust. Paul holds an M.Sc. from the University of Calgary, a B.Sc. from the University of Waterloo, as well as various accreditations in finance and leadership.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Alberta Enterprise Management Team
- Vice President Investments
Rebecca has over 20 years of experience in the Canadian venture capital industry. She currently serves as Vice President Investments and has been with the organization since 2010. For most of that time, she held a dual role where she was also the Executive Director and Board member at the Venture Capital Association of Alberta. Prior to joining Alberta Enterprise, Rebecca was Director of Fund Investments for BDC Venture Capital, where she was responsible for managing an extensive portfolio of Canadian venture capital and private equity fund investments. Rebecca has a strong background in portfolio management, conducting industry research, performing financial analysis and undertaking due diligence. Rebecca also spent several years as an Investment Analyst with BDC's Information Technology group. She holds both MBA and Bachelor of Commerce degrees from the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary in addition to the ICD.D designation.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member of the Alberta Enterprise Board of Directors
- President of Annelida Soil Solutions Ltd
Sharilee Fossum is currently the President of Annelida Soil Solutions Ltd in Nisku, AB and an active board director. She currently serves on the boards of Alberta Enterprise Corporation, Alberta Safety Codes Council, Edmonton Global, and Pilgrims Hospice. Sharilee has a Bachelor of Commerce, a Masters of Business Administration, is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA), and is a graduate of the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD.D). Sharilee is a versatile leader drawn to building organizations, driving innovation, and leading teams through change to enhance performance culture. She has been privileged to lead in profit and non-profit organizations across a variety of industries. An experienced executive in operations, corporate services, and finance, Sharilee has held CEO, COO, and CFO roles.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Board
- Member of the Alberta Enterprise Board of Directors
- M & a Advisor
Ted Redmond has more than 25 years of operating, transactional and business advisory experience for Energy, Technology and Industrial businesses. He has worked with many venture capital and private equity backed companies and their owners to raise funds and profitably growth their businesses.
Mr. Redmond's senior roles in publicly traded and private companies include President & CEO of ZCL Composites (a Toronto Stock Exchange company), President and CEO of NCSG Crane & Heavy Haul the largest private equity backed crane & heavy haul company in Canada, EVP of Energy Products & Services running the largest business segment of McCoy Corporation (a Toronto Stock Exchange company), CEO of Clean Air Power a San Diego based clean tech startup, and CEO of Lacent Technologies an Edmonton based venture capital backed start-up.
As both a CEO and M&A advisor Mr. Redmond has led numerous venture capital and private equity backed companies through successful turnarounds as well as buy-side and sell-side M&A transactions.
As a management consultant for the Boston Consulting Group for 7 years he provided senior level strategy and operations advice to Global 1000 companies.
Mr. Redmond has lived and worked in numerous parts of the world including the U.S., Europe, Malaysia, Mexico, and Canada. He is Alberta born and currently lives in Edmonton.
Mr. Redmond has an MBA from the Stanford Business School, an M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering with a specialization in Computer Software/Hardware from the University of Toronto, and a B.Sc. in Computer Engineering from the University of Alberta.
Job Titles:
- Board Director
- Chairman
- Director
- Member of the Alberta Enterprise Board of Directors
Tracey Scarlett is an experienced Board Director and Chair, currently serving on the boards of Business Development Bank of Canada, Alberta Enterprise Corporation, Sawridge First Nation Trusts, Sawridge First Nation Group of Companies and The Centre for Innovation Studies. She has held numerous other Crown corporation, non-profit, and private company board roles over the past 20 years.
As a prior CEO and Executive, she is a strategic business leader and executive who has started and scaled innovative and technology-based ventures and has been recognized for her leadership in developing ecosystems to support entrepreneurs and communities. Tracey has built a reputation as a strategic, entrepreneurial thinker, grounded in strong governance practice and collaborative, inclusive community building. She is well respected in political, business and community networks for her strong personal integrity, exceptional communication skills and commitment to purpose. She holds an MBA in Technology Commercialization and a degree in Medical Lab Science from the University of Alberta and has an ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors.
Tracey is a current mentor with Threshold Impact Venture Mentoring Service at the University of Alberta, is an active speaker and presenter on topics related to entrepreneurship and women in leadership and is an active mentor of students and entrepreneurs.