LIFESPEAK - Key Persons
Mr. Goldberg is responsible for formulating, facilitating, and communicating strategic initiatives with a particular focus on critical areas of business and corporate development for the company. Previously, he served as the founder and CEO of Torchlight, which LifeSpeak acquired in December 2021.
Before founding Torchlight, Mr. Goldberg co-founded and directed the Goldberg Center for Educational Planning. He also spent significant time in IT sales and marketing, leading technology companies including EMC and Lucent Technologies.
Mr. Goldberg has appeared on NPR's Here & Now and in the Wall Street Journal and New York Times, among other major US media. He has also been featured in showcases at the DNC, RNC, and The White House.
Mr. Goldberg earned a BS with honors from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business and an MEd with distinction in Special Education and Assessment from Framingham State University.
Aimee Gindin is the Chief Marketing Officer at LifeSpeak Inc. In her role, Ms. Gindin has responsibility for the go-to-market strategy, communications, and growth of the corporation and its full suite of wellbeing products.
Previously, Ms. Gindin was Head of Marketing & Strategy at Torchlight, which LifeSpeak Inc. acquired in 2021. Prior to Torchlight, she co-founded and held multiple leadership positions at Magnetude Consulting, a full-service tech marketing agency, for nearly a decade.
Ms. Gindin graduated from Chatham University with a Masters in Counseling Psychology, and worked as a mental health clinician at the start of her career.
She is a keynote speaker and published author, featured in publications, including USA Today, STAT News, Employee Benefit News, and HR Executive.
Amy Antonacci is responsible for leading the Account Management team to ensure successful onboarding and program management for all clients. Ms. Antonacci works closely with sales and partnerships, content, and product to best shape client services. Before joining LifeSpeak, Amy was a top producer with a real estate company in Chicago, helping buyers and sellers find the homes of their dreams. Amy holds a BS in Finance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Anna Mittag is the Company's Chief Product Officer, and has been with the Company since 2005. Bilingual, Ms. Mittag is based in Montreal and oversees several portfolios and teams: product innovation, content creation and curation, client services, and sales and partnership support. Prior to joining the Company, Ms. Mittag practiced insurance litigation law with Lavery de Billy LLP, and was in-house counsel for Cirque du Soleil. She holds a BA in English Literature, as well as JD and BCL degrees, from McGill University.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member of the Compensation Committee
- Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary of Cineplex Inc
Anne Fitzgerald recently retired as the Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary of Cineplex Inc., where she oversaw all legal, corporate affairs, and insurance matters relating to Cineplex and its subsidiaries. She has practiced law in both Canada and the United States, primarily litigation in the areas of corporate-commercial, securities, criminal, tax, and entertainment. Ms. Fitzgerald volunteers her time and expertise as the chair of the board of directors of Outward Bound Canada and serves on the Duke University Divinity School Board of Visitors. She was inducted as a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographic Society in 2012, honored in 2014 as a National Post and ZSA Legal Recruitment's General Counsel of the Year, and named as one of Canada's Most Powerful Women in 2019 by the Women's Executive Network. Ms. Fitzgerald holds a B.A. in Public Policy as well as a Juris Doctorate from Duke University and holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors and the Rotman School of Management. She currently also serves on the boards of Primaris REIT and NOVA Inc.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member of the Compensation Committee
- Chief Human Resources Officer and Member of the Executive Team at Unified Women 's Healthcare
- Chief Human Resources Officer and Member of the Executive Team at Unified Women 's Healthcare, LP
Ms. Dadras is currently the Chief Human Resources Officer and member of the executive team at Unified Women's Healthcare, LP. In this role, she is responsible for all aspects of human resources, the company's ESG strategy and delivery of the company's people services offering to affiliate practice groups. She chairs the Unified Employee Support Fund, a charitable organization created to support employees experiencing economic hardship.
Ms. Dadras is currently serving as Sr. Talent Advisor to Ares Mgmt Private Equity where she advises investment professionals and portfolio company executives on talent and organizational strategies that accelerate value creation.
Prior to joining Unified, she was President of Starner 2.0, Inc., a consulting firm she began in 2016, solely to advise high growth companies on the best way to align their talent and business strategies to create value. Earlier in her career she also held Human Resources leadership positions at Oakley, Inc. Pacific Sunwear of California, Gap Inc., Chase Bank, YUM! Brands, and Johnson & Johnson.
During her career she was named Executive of the Year by the National Human Resources Association, with special recognition for Innovation in Human Resources.
Caroline holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Relations from Cornell University.
Job Titles:
- Chief Administrative Officer
Doug Berkowitz is the Company's Chief Administrative Officer and has been with the Company since 2014. He has overall responsibility for information technology and development, human resources, infrastructure, legal, and marketing. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Berkowitz spent the first 22 years of his career involved in the people, process, and technology components of the customer service, sales, and marketing functions. Most recently, Mr. Berkowitz was the V.P./General Manager for a large portfolio of clients at marketing services firm Epsilon Data Management, LLC, when it was an affiliate of Alliance Data Systems Corporation. Mr. Berkowitz holds a B.S. in Finance, with honors, from the College of Commerce and Business Administration at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member of the Audit Committee
- Member of the Compensation Committee
- President & Chief Executive Officer of University Health Network
Dr. Kevin Smith is President & Chief Executive Officer of University Health Network (UHN), Canada's largest academic health sciences centre. Dr. Smith has spent his career at the interface of the University and Research Hospital and is passionately committed to the mission of education, research, and exemplary clinical care. Dr. Smith is a pioneer in advancing integrated care models spanning the continuum of health and social services. Dr. Smith is a Professor at the Institute for Medical Sciences, Institute of Health Policy Management and Evaluation, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, and at the De Groote School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, McMaster University. Educated in Canada, the US, and Great Britain, Dr. Smith began his career in medical education, followed by leadership roles in university administration, academic hospitals, and health systems. He is professionally certified in Corporate Governance by the Institute of Corporate Directors and the Harvard Program in Effective Governance and completed the Wharton School CEO Program for Health Care Leadership. Dr. Smith currently serves as Chair, Council of Academic Hospitals of Ontario and was privileged to serve in many past roles, including Chair, The Canada Foundation for Innovation, the Ontario Hospital Association, and as a frequent advisor to governments and the private sector.
Jason Campana is the Chief Operating Officer of LifeSpeak. In his role as COO, Mr. Campana has responsibility for our Client teams, Company Operations, and leading the execution of the strategic growth plan along with the Executive Leadership Team. Previously, Mr. Campana was the Operations leader for 10+ years for Wellbeats which was acquired by LifeSpeak Inc. in 2022. Prior to Wellbeats he spent 8 years as an Operations executive in the franchised home services industry.
Mr. Campana graduated from The University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management with BAs in International Business and Entrepreneurship. He also earned an Executive MBA from The University of St. Thomas.
Ms. Ross oversees all financial and accounting functions for LifeSpeak and Wellbeats including the effective stewarding of organizational resources, maintaining appropriate controls and remaining compliant with applicable legal and regulatory requirements.
Previously, Ms. Ross was CFO of Wellbeats, which LifeSpeak acquired in 2022. Prior to Wellbeats, Ms. Ross held leadership roles at North Memorial Health and the US Bank and was Audit Manager at Boulay Group.
Ms. Ross holds a CPA license. She received a BS from St. Cloud State University with a major in Accounting and a double minor in BCIS/AIS.
Job Titles:
- Company 's Vice President of Client Success and Has Been With the Company
- VP, Client Success
Katie Bowkett is the Company's Vice President of Client Success and has been with the Company since 2012. She has overall responsibility for driving successful results across the client base. This includes increasing renewal rates, reducing churn, expanding revenue in accounts, influencing lifetime value through client satisfaction and overall health scores. She is also responsible for new business opportunities through building greater advocacy and reference ability. Prior to joining the Company, Ms. Bowkett spent the first 15 years of her career with one of the largest corporate recruiters in Western Canada where she rose from account management to Vice President of Worldwide sales, and eventually, Vice President of Global Client Experience. Ms. Bowkett also created and led the corporate initiative, which resulted in the company being listed in the top employers to work for by both Great Places to Work and B.C. Top Employers for five years prior to her departure.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member of the Audit Committee
- Member of the Compensation Committee
- Founding Partner and Principal at Origin Merchant Partners
Since 2013 Mario Di Pietro has been the Founding Partner and Principal at Origin Merchant Partners, an independent M&A advisory boutique and merchant banking group in Canada. Mr. Di Pietro serves as Director of Dye & Durham Limited (TSX: DND), a leading provider of cloud-based software and technology solutions for legal and business professionals, where he serves as Chair of the Governance & Nominating Committee and a member of the Compensation Committee. Mr. Di Pietro is also a Director at Raven Connected Inc., a venture-backed, high-growth technology company focused on the development of a video telematics solution for small-to-medium size fleets. From 2011 to 2013, Mr. Di Pietro was Director, Global Technology Investment Banking at BMO Capital Markets, responsible for expanding the technology platform across North America and supporting the expansion of offices and clients in New York, San Francisco, and Boston. Prior to 2011, he was Executive Director in CIBC World Markets' Technology, Media, and Telecom Group. Mr. Di Pietro holds an MBA from Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, and an Honours BSc in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Toronto.
Michael Held - CEO, Founder, President
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer
- Founder
- Member of the Executive Management Board of Directors
- President
Michael Held founded the Company in 2004 and is President and Chief Executive Officer. Prior to founding the Company, Mr. Held practiced as a corporate lawyer at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP in the areas of mergers and acquisitions and securities law and, subsequently, as a consultant at Monitor Group where he provided advice to Canadian and global organizations with respect to developing business unit and corporate strategies, evaluating acquisition and merger opportunities, and enhancing strategic planning and organizational processes. Mr. Held graduated with the gold medal from the combined LLB/MBA program at the University of Toronto in 1997.
Michael McKenna is the Chief Financial Officer of the Company. He joined the Company in 2020 and oversees all aspects of financial strategy and finance platform development. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. McKenna was Chief Financial Officer and a member of the board of directors of Mobile Klinik Inc., where he was responsible for building the company's financial strategy, capital raising initiatives, and acquisitions, and led the successful sale of Mobile Klinik to TELUS. Mr. McKenna is also on the Independent Review Committee for Waypoint All Weather Alternative Fund and has significant capital markets and M&A experience through over 11 years of telecom, media, and technology investment banking. Mr. McKenna holds an MBA with a focus in Finance & Entrepreneurship (Certificate in Entrepreneurship) from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario.
Job Titles:
- Executive Chair
- Member of the Compensation Committee
- Founder and Managing Partner of Bederman Capital Corp
Nolan Bederman is the Executive Chair of the Company. Mr. Bederman is also the founder and managing partner of Bederman Capital Corp., a private equity business focused on investing in North American growth companies. In addition, Mr. Bederman currently sits on the board of directors of Harbor Diversified, Inc. (owner of Air Wisconsin). Prior to founding Bederman Capital Corp., Mr. Bederman was a co-founding partner of Genuity Capital Partners, where Mr. Bederman led and participated in numerous private equity investments focused primarily on specialty consumer/retail and business services. Prior to joining Genuity, Mr. Bederman was an Executive Director in private equity at CIBC Capital Partners. In 2018, through Bederman Capital Corp., Mr. Bederman formalized a partnership with New York-based Reynolds Channel Capital Partners, a private equity fund focused on making similar investments. Prior to 2002, Mr. Bederman was a Vice President in the U.S. Mergers & Acquisitions group of Merrill Lynch & Co., where he focused on advising global companies in the capital/consumer goods, transportation, food, and pharma sectors. Mr. Bederman graduated with a gold medal from the combined JD/MBA program from the University of Toronto, as well as a B.A. (Econ.) from the University of Western Ontario, where he won the Chancellor's prize and the Gold Medal in Economics.
Mr. Tchakmakjian is responsible for leading and driving growth opportunities on a global basis, with a focus on the integration of LifeSpeak M&A activities. He was the founder and CEO of LIFT session, which LifeSpeak acquired in October 2021.
Before founding LIFT, Mr. Tchakmakjian led global business development and strategic alliances at Dell Cloud Client Computing, a $1.4B business unit. Prior to that, he served as VP of product management and business development at Wyse Technology, which was acquired by Dell; and as co-founder and SVP of product management/business development at Trellia Networks, which was acquired by Wyse.
Mr. Tchakmakjian is a mentor and advisor to many growth stage start-ups. He was awarded mentor of the year in 2019 at Creative Destruction Labs, a global accelerator program. He holds an MBA in Finance and International Business from McGill University, and a Bachelor's in Computer Engineering from École Polytechnique de Montréal.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member of the Audit Committee
- Member of the Compensation Committee
Sanjiv Samant joined Round13 Capital in 2020 to establish the Round13 Growth Fund as a Founder and Managing Partner. Mr. Samant has spent over 20 years in the technology and healthcare sectors. Prior to establishing the Round13 Growth Fund, Mr. Samant headed the Technology, Media, Telecommunication, Sustainability, and Healthcare investment banking group at a Canadian bank-owned dealer. During his professional career, Mr. Samant has advised a wide variety of Canadian growth companies on mergers & acquisitions, initial public offering, and capital raising initiatives, including leading transactions for several of the most prominent public software-as-a-service companies in Canada. Mr. Samant holds a Bachelor of Arts, Economics from the University of Western Ontario, and a Joint LLB/ MBA from Osgoode Hall Law School/Schulich School of Business at York University.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director of Sales
Stanley Bergman is the Managing Director of Sales and is responsible for leading the Company's business development activities across Canada and into the eastern United States and has been with LifeSpeak since 2011. Mr. Bergman has brought the Company's digital well-being platform to world class organizations of all sizes and industries. Prior to joining LifeSpeak, Mr. Bergman spent his entire career working in the education and professional training industry, beginning as a Business Development Lead at TAPE Educational Services, a live training provider after university and moving to LifeSpeak to sell the company's digital solution in 2011. Mr. Bergman holds an B.A. (Honours) in Economics from the University of Western Ontario.