Arnold Drung |
Arnold has been with Conestoga Meat Packers Ltd. since 2002 both as the General Manager and more recently, the President. He has also held positions at J.M. Schneider Inc., McNeil Consumer Products and Maple Leaf Consumer Foods. Arnold has extensive Board experience and currently serves on the Board of the Canadian Meat Council. |
Avvey Peters |
Avvey Peters is the Chief Strategy Officer with Communitech. She focuses on strategic communications, advocacy, and partnership development to advance the Waterloo Region tech sector. Avvey is also cross appointed as Managing Director of the Canadian Digital Media Network - a group of 26 innovation hubs across Canada, which support the growth and success of small and mid-sized digital companies across the country. Before joining Communitech in 2007, Avvey spent seven years working in communications and government relations at the University of Waterloo. She has also worked as a news writer for CTV Southwestern Ontario. She is a member of the boards of directors of Junior Achievement Waterloo Region, Wavefront, and the Technology Councils of North America. |
Barbara Fennessy |
Dr. Barbara Fennessy is the Vice President, Applied Research and International Education at Conestoga College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning. Prior to joining Conestoga College, Barbara has held management positions in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors, and has operated her own management consulting firm. She has worked in collaboration with private and public partners to create community-based enterprises and has led international projects in several countries. In addition to Waterloo EDC, Barbara serves on the Board of Directors for Waterloo Accelerator Centre, and Grand Innovations. |
Charles Cipolla |
Charlie is a Chartered Professional Accountant and the former President of Rockwell Automation where he worked for 33 years. He is past Chair of the Board for the Gore Mutual Insurance Company and the Electrical Safety Authority and Energy+ Inc. In addition, Charlie has served on a number of charitable Boards and he has extensive experience in business management. |
David Fransen |
David is the Chief Operations Officer of Next Generation Manufacturing Canada, former Special Advisor to the President of the National Research Council, former Chair of the Waterloo Innovation Summit, a Fellow of the Public Policy Forum, the Institute for Quantum Computing, and Quantum-Safe Canada. Over his 34 year career, David has served as a senior executive in government, academia, and the diplomatic corps. As a senior official at the Privy Council Office, Health Canada, an Assistant Deputy Minister at Industry Canada, the first Executive Director of the Institute for Quantum Computing, and Canada’s Consul General in Los Angeles, David has provided strategic leadership across a wide range of economic policy and program sectors. David led in the creation, and then served as a member, of the founding Board of Governors of the Council of Canadian Academies. |
Erica Tennenbaum |
Erica is the Vice President, Wealth Advisor and Associate Portfolio Manager at RBC Dominion Securities. Erica began her career with Dominion Securities after graduating from the University of Guelph in 1994 with her degree in Economics and certificate in Human Resources Management. She has completed her Chartered Financial Planning designation (CFP), her Canadian Investment Management designation, her Partners, Directors and Officers course, her Options and Options Supervisory licenses, Level Two Estate Planning/Insurance, and Fellowship in the Canadian Securities Institute as of 1996. |
Gerry Remers |
Gerry is the recently retired President and COO of Christie Digital Systems Canada and has served in leadership roles for more than 20 years. He was Chair of the Waterloo Region Economic Development Strategy Advisory Committee and has taken an active role in the economic development of Waterloo Region for many years. He brings extensive Board, Advisory Board and Leadership Council experience having served in these capacities for the University of Waterloo, Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada's Technology Triangle Inc., Communitech, Perimeter Institute, Shad Valley, and more.
|
Greg McCauley |
Greg is a chartered professional accountant and has recently retired from EY as the office managing partner for Waterloo Region. In his 34 year career with EY, Greg served a variety of entrepreneurial businesses in the technology and advanced manufacturing sectors. He currently advises a number of privately owned businesses in the region. Greg has volunteered on committees with a number of community organizations including United Way, K-W Community Foundation and the local Universities. |
Jay Shah |
As the Director of Velocity, Jay advocates for entrepreneurship and provides guidance to startups to help them build successful businesses. Jay is passionate about enabling all contributors of the Waterloo-Toronto startup ecosystem to punch above the region’s collective weight. Jay began his entrepreneurship journey in 2006 at the University of Waterloo while pursuing a degree in Mechatronics Engineering. During his studies, he co-founded BufferBox, which was ultimately acquired by Google, where Jay worked as Product Manager for 3.5 years before joining Velocity. |
Jeff MacIntyre |
Jeff runs three small businesses in the Waterloo Region. He brings perspective and expertise in sales and management from many sectors, including retail, manufacturing, technology and the development community. Jeff mentors many people and assists a number of community organizations including the Greater Kitchener Waterloo Chamber of Commerce, Conestoga College, and the Grand River Hospital Foundation. |
Jennifer McCredie |
Jennifer has been in the Tech Industry for over 25 years and moved to Waterloo in 2003 as an Executive with OpenText where she was a key member of the leadership team for 11 years. Currently Jennifer is a leader with Oracle in their North American Strategy and Business Development team driving business transformation and innovation. Jennifer is passionate about helping her community and has served on a number of boards including Communitech and as Chair of the Covent Garden Market. Most recently Jennifer completed the Director's Education Program (DEP) from the Rotman School of Business and received her ICD.D. |
Krystal Darling |
Krystal Darling is the CEO at Tri-Mach Group Inc. Krystal is responsible for establishing and directing the sales & marketing activities of Tri-Mach Group Inc. Notable awards: Prime Minister Awards Evaluator – Prime Minister’s Office (January 2011), Top 40 Under 40 – K-W Record (March 2010), Outstanding Leadership Award – Volunteer Action Centre (May 2009) and Miss Oktoberfest – K-W Oktoberfest (2005). |
Martha George |
Martha is President of the Grand Valley Construction Association and participates in construction industry consultation at both the provincial and national levels. She has also played an important role in promoting excellence in industry, working closely with Conestoga College to develop award winning education and technology programs for skilled trades, and pioneering mentoring programs for both women and young leaders to help them succeed in industry and transition into leadership and ownership. Martha is a member of the College of Trades Appointments Council and serves on the Board of Governors for the University of Waterloo. |
Mike Kirkup |
Mike is the CTO of Encircle and has previously served as Director of Velocity, the University of Waterloo's startup incubator. He spent 10 years at BlackBerry in various roles, including Senior Director of Global Developer Relations where he built a global-focused team. He is passionate about building companies in Waterloo Region and has travelled extensively gaining knowledge and collecting best practices to accomplish this goal. |
Murray Gamble |
Murray is the President of the C3 Group, an engineering, construction and applied technology organization based in Waterloo Region. He is a Professional Engineer and member of the Dean's Advisory Council for the Faculty of Engineering and the Board of Governors at the University of Waterloo. Murray also serves on the Board of the Golden Triangle Angel Investor Network, the Kitchener Waterloo Community Foundation and has served on the Boards of several arts and culture organizations including THEMUSEUM, the Centre in the Square and the Kitchener Waterloo Art Gallery. |