Voting Committee
David Au-Yeung
Tech Founder and Advisor, Entrepreneur, Co-Founder of Flipp
David Au-Yeung is a seasoned entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience in the tech industry. David co-founded Flipp, a retail technology company that works with some of the largest retail enterprises to automate, publish, and distribute digitally-native merchandising content, with distribution reach of over 100 million households. During his tenure at Flipp, he played a significant role spearheading the culture at Flipp. As a multi-faceted leader, he also oversaw the Engineering function where his expertise drove innovation in the retail industry to help millions of shoppers to save time and money everyday. Flipp was recently acquired by Truelink Capital in August, 2023. David now spends his time exploring the application of Generative AI in Automotive (Carity.ai), providing advisory for startups, and serves on nonprofit boards.
Kim Furlong
CEO, Canadian Venture Capital & Private Equity Association
A dynamic leader with strong political acumen, Kim Furlong offers a unique combination of government, corporate and trade association experience. As CEO of CVCA she is the spokesperson for Canadian Private Capital and advocates for the best investment policy environment. Kim has been in this role since 2019 and prior to joining CVCA, she spent a decade working for Amgen, a Californian biotech multinational. Kim is a native of Quebec, having grown up on the Gaspe coast. She now lives in Toronto with her husband Howie and her twin boys, commonly known as the peanuts. Kim is an avid cook, having grown up in the restaurant business. She loves great wine and is most happy riding her road bike on the back roads of Prince Edward County.
Keith Gillard
CEO, UpperStage.Capital
Keith Gillard is co-founder and CEO of UpperStage.Capital Inc., an impact-focused private equity firm boosting profitable companies to their next level of success. He is an entrepreneur and investment professional who has focused more than twenty years on impact investment. Keith is co-founder and chair of Foresight Canada, which has grown over the last ten years to become Canada’s largest cleantech accelerator, with over 1,000 client companies to date. He is also a board committee member of the Canadian Venture Capital Association. He has served as chair of Vestaron Corporation, and director of Talius, Keela, Hazel Technologies, NewLeaf Symbiotics, Advanced BioNutrition, Sciona, SDCMaterials, and other companies. Keith served on the advisory boards of ARCH Venture Partners, Chrysalix Venture Capital, and NGEN Partners. He served as advisor to the World Economic Forum on sustainability and collaborative innovation in chemicals and materials, speaking at Davos in 2020.
Sandra Ketchen
President and CEO, Spectrum Health Care
Sandra Ketchen is President and CEO of Spectrum Health Care, a privately-held home health care organization backed by Novacap, a Canadian growth equity firm. Spectrum is one of the largest providers of home care and specialized services in Ontario and Quebec. An advocate for the impact of great governance on organizational performance, Sandra brings a wealth of expertise in this area to both private companies and not-for-profit organizations. A graduate of the ICD-Rotman Directors Education Program, she has served on several boards including Vice Chair of Home Care Ontario and a board member role with NGen, a network of private and public sector organizations working to ensure Canada is at the forefront of advanced manufacturing. Prior to Spectrum, Sandra was Senior Vice President, Operations at SE Health; Senior Vice President, Products at ATS Automation Inc.; and, Vice President, Healthcare at Celestica, a global electronics manufacturing and supply chain services provider. She holds an MBA from the Schulich School of Business, a M.Eng in Civil Engineering from McMaster University, and a B.A.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Waterloo.
Doug McDonald
Trusted Strategic and Financial Advisor
Doug McDonald is a trusted strategic advisor and mentor and has been a leader in the Canadian and international M&A market for more than 35 years. He held senior positions in Canada and the U.K. during his career with major investment banking and professional services firms, including 22 years as a partner at Deloitte where he founded and lead the Corporate Finance and Private Equity practices. Doug has been an advisor to Management, Boards and shareholders on key strategic issues relating to growth and transformational transactions. Doug has deep expertise in the Consumer industry including conventional and on-line retail and all food and beverage sectors from the farm gate to branded and private label products. Doug was Board Chair of the McMichael Canadian Art Foundation for eight years and an officer of the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association for eleven years. In addition to his role on MondouxRollins Partners Inc.’s Advisory Board, Doug is an Advisory Board member to Gray Inc. a multidisciplinary engineering, design, construction and advisory firm, Buddha Brands, a better-for-you snacks and beverages company and Zula Alpha Kilo, a leading North American independent creative agency.
Karen McKnight
Executive Coach, Advisor and Leadership Consultant to Private Companies
For over 20 years, Karen McKnight has worked extensively with private companies and founders/entrepreneurs; coaching one-on-one, facilitating groups of CEOs and senior leaders, as well as creating and delivering leadership development programs. Karen started her private executive coaching practice “Transitions’ Edge Ltd.” in 2002, providing coaching and consulting to individuals and organizations. Her critical objectives are to support, challenge and guide her clients in establishing and achieving goals, as well as successfully navigating change, both in business and in their personal lives. She took that passion and wrote “And Just Like That – Using Life Jolts to Create the Next Best Version of Yourself in Leadership and Life” in 2021. Karen holds a Master of Education degree in Adult Learning from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto
Colette Miller
Partner, Wilde Advisory Group and Director, Canadian Business Growth Fund
Colette Miller FCPA FCA, ICD.D is a partner with Alberta-based Wilde Advisory Group. Her current Director roles with the Canadian Business Growth Fund, AVAC Ltd and Covenant Health Audit committee and her previous Director roles at ATB Financial and Athabasca University have honed her strategic and governance skills. Colette’s own experience with grain and cattle farming enhance her service to clients with complex succession, tax, and estate manners. For over 40 years, she has also helped businesses navigate complex financial matters and has expertise with audit, internal control assessments and course instruction for NPO’s and municipalities. She remains an active volunteer with both CPA Alberta and CPA Canada, previously serving on the provincial Awards Committee and the national Competency Map Committee. Colette is also very involved with her community chairing the Elk Island Community Foundation and serving as a director of Wendy Brook Music Festival Association.
Robert Olsen
Vice Chair, Private Capital, Nicola Wealth
Robert Olsen is Vice Chair of Nicola Wealth’s $3.5 BN Private Capital arm (“NPC”) which includes Private Equity, Infrastructure, Private Debt, Mortgages and Venture Capital. In this role he is tasked with helping to develop and grow the Private Capital team, Chair NPC’s Investment Committee, build new investing verticals and continue to grow its funding base. Prior to joining Nicola, Robert was Vice Chair of Deloitte and was Leader of its Private Equity segment. He was also Chair of Deloitte’s Corporate Finance practice and was on the Global Executive team for Corporate Finance. Robert has 20 years of investing experience and another 15 years of advisory experience. He has directly acquired or invested equity and private debt in over 50 companies in a variety of industries and helped advise over 50 corporates, government bodies and real estate companies with respect to buy side and sell side opportunities and capital raising.
Ronald Richardson
Corporate Director, Private Investor, Entrepreneur
Ronald Richardson is a corporate director and private investor, with active roles and investments in the technology, energy, space and not-for-profit sectors. As a director, Ronald serves on the board of James Richardson & Sons Ltd., Tundra Oil & Gas Ltd., Calian Group (TSX:CGY), Tough Commerce Inc. (formerly Brokrete Inc.), Mission Control Space Services, and the Queensway Carleton Hospital Foundation. As a private investor, Ronald manages an investment portfolio of over 50 companies, is a member of the Capital Angel Network, an advisor to L-Spark, SheBoot and the Next36 program cohorts. He co-founded Benbria Corp., is a licensed Professional Engineer (P.Eng.), a certified Corporate Director with the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD.D) and an honours co-op graduate from the University of Waterloo (BSE, Bachelors of Software Engineering).
George Rossolatos
CEO and Managing Partner, Canadian Business Growth Fund
George Rossolatos has over 20 years’ experience as a private equity investor and entrepreneur. George is the founding CEO of the Canadian Business Growth Fund (CBGF), a C$545 million growth capital investment fund backed by Canada’s largest financial institutions, focusing on helping mid-market companies in Canada reach their full potential since 2018. Prior to CBGF, George was CEO of Avante Logixx Inc. from 2010 -2017 where his mandate was to determine the public company’s strategic direction and execute a successful operational turnaround and organic and acquisition growth strategy. Prior to Avante, he worked in the private equity industry for 10 years. He was a Partner and co-founder of TorQuest Partners Inc. from 2002-2010. As a Fellow of the Chartered Public Accountants (FCPA - Ontario), George holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management and a B.Com. (Honours) from Queen’s University and was recognized in 2007 as one of Canada's Top 40 under 40.
Abdullah Snobar
Executive Director, DMZ and CEO, DMZ Ventures
Abdullah Snobar is the Executive Director of DMZ and the CEO of DMZ Ventures, DMZ’s for-profit investment arm. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, DMZ is a startup incubator that provides founders with access to the coaching, capital, customers, and community needed to build world-class companies and has helped 820+ startups raise over $2.58 billion. Under Abdullah’s leadership, DMZ was ranked #1 incubator in the world by UBI Global and named one of Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Cultures. As one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40, Abdullah serves on the Board of Directors for the Rideau Hall Foundation and is a Forbes Tech Council member. He was a former Board Director for the Business Development Bank of Canada and the Ontario Trillium Foundation. Abdullah has held previous roles with the Canadian Armed Forces, Fairmont Hotels, and Marriott Hotels & Resorts and has spearheaded international development in Kenya. Abdullah holds an ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors and has MBA and B.Com. degrees from Toronto Metropolitan University.