Leadership Team
FEBRUARY 2 & 3, 2012 |
FAIRMONT PACIFIC RIM | VANCOUVER, BC
|
Chair, Canadian Financing
Forum
Dr. Don Kjosness
CEO, President & Director, CapitalRoad
Don Kjosness has nearly 40 years
experience in the management and commercialization of advanced
technology, particularly in ICT and space systems, with 30 years of
executive and board experience. He graduated from Electrical
Engineering at the University of Alberta with a B.Sc. (with
distinction) in 1966 and a PhD in 1971. Don joined SED Systems, one
of Canada's premier space and defence communications firms in 1971
and rose through a variety of engineering, project management and
executive positions, becoming Chief Operating Officer in 1986.
After leaving SED in 1988, Don became a senior technology
management, planning and commercialization consultant to the
private sector and government. In 2002, he co-founded the Poynt
Corporation, the developer of the Poynt mobile, location-based
service application, currently available in Canada and eight other
countries. Poynt is the most popular application on BlackBerry and
is also available on the iPhone and Android platforms.
Don is active in many industry
associations - CapitalRoad (CEO, President & Director) / Banff
Venture Forum (CEO, President & Director); Canadian ICT
Federation (2007 Chair); WiTec Alberta (Director); and the Alberta
ICT Council (Director). He also is the immediate past-Chair of the
TELUS World of Science - Calgary which is building a new, $160
Million science centre; the first totally new science centre in
Canada in 25 years. He has also served on many previous private
sector boards and industry/government committees.
Vice Chair, Canadian
Financing Forum
Dave Thomas
Partner, Rocket Builders Inc.
Dave Thomas is an executive,
business consultant and advisor for a number of technology
companies and manages the Rocket Builders 'Market Readiness
Program'. Recent positions and projects include; Equity Capital
Program Evaluation in conjunction with UBC and a guest lecturer at
New Ventures BC.
Dave has worked with a series
of start-ups over the past decade and was a member of the
management team for four venture backed tech companies.
He has an MBA from UBC and was a
member of the coaching staff for Canada's Olympic Sailing Team on
four occasions. An enthusiastic sailor, Dave is a partner in
two sailing schools, one at Jericho in Vancouver and a second in
Shenzhen China.
Executive Director,
Canadian Financing Forum
Marc Elrick
Principal, Critical Path Group
As the founding principal of
Critical Path Group, Marc has positioned his firm at the
intersection of high growth companies and the private equity
community. A graduate of the Royal Military College of Canada, Marc
was an operational naval officer for eight years, serving in
Halifax Class warships with allied navies around the world before
being recruited by a global management consulting firm. Being
passionate about working with entrepreneurial teams, he founded
Critical Path Group to serve private and public sector clients in
two underserved areas: strategic planning, and recruiting A-players
for companies committed to building world class teams.
Marc holds a BA (Hons) and an MBA
specializing in technology commercialization and new venture
planning. He also holds the CMC (Certified Management Consultant)
designation and is a dedicated member of the Canadian Association
of Management Consultants. Marc believes strongly in distinguishing
between leadership and management - defining management as coping
with business complexity, and leadership as coping with the human
element of change.
A prolific networker, Marc invests
heavily in professional development leadership roles that are
directly aligned with addressing the challenges and "pain points"
facing his client organizations. He is a founding delegate to the
Canadian ICT Federation, the Executive Director of the Canadian
Financing Forum and the Banff Venture Forum, Canada's largest
annual technology financing forum for emerging high growth
companies, and has served on a number of advisory boards.
When not leading the firm, Marc
practices being an "earth astronaut" - skiing, mountain biking,
kayaking, mountaineering, and fly fishing. He has lived in Canada,
the UK, Germany, and Australia.
Associate Executive
Director, Canadian Financing Forum
Erynn Shannon
Senior Consultant, Critical Path Group
Erynn is a Senior Consultant at
Critical Path Group, managing multiple client projects exclusively
within the venture capital and technology industries. Her project
portfolio includes developing strategic business plans and managing
financing forums and entrepreneur training activities in the
technology sector. Erynn is also the Associate Executive Director
of the Banff Venture Forum and the Canadian Financing Forum.
With a background in the life
sciences sector and public administration, Erynn has held positions
in the Faculty of Medicine at both the University of Alberta and
the University of Toronto. Prior to joining Critical Path Group,
she was in charge of marketing and public relations for one of
Canada's leading cancer research centers.
Erynn holds a BMgt in Accounting
from the University of Lethbridge and an MBA specializing in
International Business from Toronto's Ryerson University. A
classically trained pianist, Erynn also enjoys exploring the globe.
She has travelled extensively throughout North America, New Zealand
and Europe, having completed the final semester of her MBA program
in Linz, Austria.