Aamna Zia

Chief Executive Officer | Fuse Financial

Aamna Zia is the cofounder and CEO of Fuse Financial, a platform that brings together banking, payments, and financial tools to help small business owners grow their business. Aamna has a wealth of experience in growing businesses, having previously served as a founding employee and VP of Operations and Finance at a cybersecurity startup. There, she was responsible for sales growth from $100K to over $1 million, while also raising over $3 million. Aamna holds a Chartered Professional Accountant designation. When she is not working, she enjoys her time hiking in the mountains, performing at open mics, and empowering women and visible minorities.

Adam Bolek

Head of Government Affairs | Binance Canada

Adam Bolek has over fifteen years experience in public and government affairs, politics, campaigns and research. Adam is currently Head of Government Affairs for Binance in Canada, working to improve the policy environment for crypto and blockchain in Canada. He attended McMaster University, before moving to Ottawa to work for the Association of Canadian Distillers. 

Subsequently, Adam joined Crestview Strategy, rising to the position of Vice President, responsible for Ottawa based clients and staff. He has worked across all industries and issues, ranging from mining, trade, telecommunications and technology. He has advised political parties and leaders around the world, as well as corporate and non-profit leaders. 

In the corporate sector, Adam served as Director of Government Relations for TELUS, one of Canada’s most important telecommunications companies. Before joining Binance in 2022, Adam was most recently the Head of Global Government Relations at OpenText, one of Canada’s largest and most dynamic software companies.

Alexis Pappas

Chief Innovation Officer | GuildOne Inc.

The Chief Innovation Officer of blockchain and digital assets firm GuildOne Inc, Alexis has a diverse background in fields including energy, clean technology and digital innovation. A frequent writer and speaker on blockchain, the new economy and sustainability, she is the Executive Director of the Canadian Blockchain Association for Women and a Director of the Canadian Blockchain Consortium. Passionate about inclusion, Indigenous rights and the advancement of women, her vision is of a world where technology always includes the human equation.

Austin Bank

Chief Executive Officer | Crypto Therm

Austin Bank has been designing and building liquid cooling and heating systems in a variety of industries since 2005. With a solid trades and engineering background, Austin has designed and built an extensive amount of immersion mining systems as small as household single miner heating systems to large commercial megawatt mining farms. Austin has a passion for energy capture and reuse. He has designed and implemented dozens of cogen, trigen, and solar power & heating systems across North America. Austin currently operates the manufacturing facility for CryptoTherm in Canada. CryptoTherm’s technology has the potential to revolutionize the heating industry and help combat climate change by reducing reliance on fossil fuels for heat generation. In addition, the use of bitcoin mining allows for a profitable and sustainable business model that can help drive the adoption of this technology. Austin is passionate about bringing this innovative technology to market and looks forward to working with partners, customers, and industry leaders to help drive the transition to sustainable and profitable mining and heating systems.

Asad Akhtar

Associate | Osler LLP

Asad is an associate in the Corporate group and a member of the Digital Assets and Blockchain practice group at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP. His practice focuses on capital markets and he frequently advises clients on Canadian securities regulatory matters. Prior to joining Osler, Asad was a lawyer with the Ontario Securities Commission’s LaunchPad initiative where he developed and led several policy initiatives relating to innovative business models such as the regulatory framework for crypto asset trading platforms, digital asset custodians, non-fungible tokens, crypto asset investment funds and initial coin/token offerings. He also was a member of the OSC investigation team that examined the collapse of the QuadrigaCX trading platform.

Ben Harper

Associate Director of Derivatives | Luxor Technologies

As a Financial Associate with Luxor Technologies, a Seattle-based digital mining services company, Ben helps build the software and financial service infrastructure to support the next generation of digital assets. Before joining Luxor, Ben spent six years working in numerous positions in the public and private sector, in Canada and abroad, as a financial, economic, and public policy analyst. Ben sits on the Canadian Blockchain Consortium’s Policy and Advocacy Committee and is passionate about advancing policy to encourage the development of the blockchain industry, and digital asset mining specifically, in Canada. Ben holds a Master of Arts in Economics from Columbia University, and a Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Arts (Economics) from Queen’s University.

Sarah Guina

Director of Finance | National Digital Asset Exchange Inc.

Accomplished finance professional with more than 10 years in technical finance and accounting. Skilled in driving technology adoption, cross-functional team leadership, and data-driven decision-making. Proven track record of improving team performance and implementing new processes.

Brenda Beckedorf

Executive Director | Alberta IoT

Brenda Beckedorf is the Executive Director of Alberta IoT, a non-profit member- based association established in 2017 to support the growth of all things digital by creating a space for connection, collaboration, and innovation. In her role as Executive Director, Brenda’s focus is to bring our community together to provide a common voice in advancing the knowledge, adoption, and growth of the Internet of Things industry within the province of Alberta and throughout the world.

In her role supporting the innovation and tech ecosystem, the Fast Track Accelerator Program was created along with the New to Canada, Start-Up Visa program. The Science Park is the newest initiative that spearheads industry with post-secondary to support the growth of all things digital by creating a space for connection, collaboration and innovation. The Science Park Model is ultimately a platform to promote economic development/growth through the creation of technology and knowledge flows among companies, institutions, research and development entities Prior to Alberta IoT, Brenda started her career in technology with Graycon Group as Director of Business Development.

She is a current Director of The Calgary Innovation Coalition (CIC), a group of organizations in the Calgary region that support innovation-driven entrepreneurs, startups, and enterprises. Brenda is also Director for AWE (Alberta Women Entrepreneur) AWE supports women in business through business advising, business skills development, financing, and providing networking opportunities. Brenda is a 2020 winner of the Universal Women Network Mentorship Award. Brenda previously served as Vice President of Calgary Women in Energy and until recently as Regional Director for AIoT Canada.

Chelsea Hallick

Business Development Manager, Enterprise Technology | Calgary Economic Development

As the Business Development Manager, Enterprise Technology at Calgary Economic Development,
Chelsea works with business, government and community partners to position Calgary as a location of
choice to invest and do business. As a passionate ecosystem builder, with a strong belief in the power of
entrepreneurship and economic diversification, she’s focused on supporting the economic growth of
Calgary’s innovation ecosystem, by providing resources, knowledge, tools and support services to
technology companies.

Chris Popoff

President, Syzygy Engineering Consultants | Co-Founder, Terrestrial Energy | Investor, Consultant, SYNERGETIC | Syzygy Engineering

Chris Popoff is a risk-taking innovator and doer. He is passionate about people and works to express the act of creativity at the intersection of science, energy and sustainability by building practical solutions of all scales that will sustain and propel humankind today and in the future. Working as a SAGD development engineer, he was called to co-found an advanced modular reactor vendor named Terrestrial Energy, a firm that leads the largest Small Modular Reactor (SMR) technology development project in Canada through the advancement of their proprietary IMSR®400 Generation IV nuclear power plant. SYNERGETIC is a company dedicated to the production of carbon-neutral, drop-in fuels, including clean synthetic benzene for the world’s automobile fleet, clean synthetic kerosene for the world’s aviation fleet, clean synthetic diesel for the world’s marine shipping and mining equipment fleets, and clean synthetic fertilizers for the world’s large and growing caloric intake demand. SYNERGETIC is taking a different approach to old technology, making these fuels at massive scale, by leveraging the immense energy density of innovative nuclear reactors coming to market in the 2020s. The first production facility will produce 3 Billion liters of Jet A aviation fuel per year, using green hydrogen produced with high-temperature electrolysis; clean carbon, capturing carbon from the atmosphere or seawater; and reforming these components into net-zero hydrocarbons. All these processes will be powered by ultra-low-carbon Next Generation Nuclear energy. The result will be drop-in substitutable fuels that are carbon-neutral and cheaper than petroleum-based fuels. Each plant will avoid 10 million metric tonnes of carbon emissions – the equivalent of taking 2 million cars off the road. 120 of these production facilities built around the world can decarbonize the entire global aviation industry.

Crystal Phillips

Vice President | Thin Air Labs Fund I

Entrepreneur, former elite athlete, founder of Branch Out Neurological Foundation and Health Lead at Thin Air Labs Inc. Crystal has a range of experience that provides unique insight into investing in the health care space for significant human impact and outsized returns on investment. She has a nationwide network of public, private, governmental, and charitable leaders. Her experience, network and competitive spirit allow her to bring solutions to ventures that accelerate their growth. As the founder and Director of Branch Out Neurological Foundation she has raised over $3 million for neurological research in universities across Canada.

Daniel Kamau

Founder | Sketchdeck ai

Daniel began his career as a Structural Engineer and worked for almost a decade before going back to school to pursue his post-graduate studies. In 2020, he graduated with an MBA and a Master of Engineering in Construction Management from the University of Alberta. Soon after he launched SketchDeck.ai,  a company focused on bridging the digital innovation gap and accelerating the adoption of software automation in the construction industry by leveraging AI/ML technologies. For the last 2 years, he has spent his time uncovering pain points and opportunities for applying AI/ML technologies to solve manual and repetitive workflows. His company’s flagship product, LIFT, is a material counting tool that automates the process of extracting structural steel quantities from construction drawings. LIFT stands to save early adopter groups hundreds of thousands of dollars while significantly increasing their revenues.

David Chan

Product Lead - Industry | Amii

David is the Product Lead – Industry at Amii. His team works with clients to ensure their needs are understood and met, and to help them advance on their journey along the AI Adoption Spectrum. Before coming to Amii, David led a data science team in the not-for-profit tech sector in Alberta and obtained his PhD from the University of Calgary. David also holds a PMP designation.

Didier Lavallee

Chief Executive Officer | Tetra Trust

Didier has spent the last 16 years in capital markets and asset servicing experience across Canada and the US. Prior to becoming CEO of Tetra, Didier held various leadership positions at the Royal Bank of Canada including Head of Canadian Custody Product for RBC I&TS. Before that, Didier also ran RBC I&TS North American FX Sales Trading team, FX Product and held various roles in capital markets with RBC, UBS and Genuity. Didier holds a B.A. in Finance and Administrative Studies from Western University.

Doug Holt

Associate Vice President, Investments | Alberta Innovates

Ecosystem builder, leader, educator and strategist. 14 years finance & emerging technology. 19 years senior management experience (Investment management, emerging tech, government and education.) Corporate advisory expertise re: investment, strategy, operations and marketing.

Erin Dermer

Senior Vice President, Communications and Culture | Hut 8

Specialties: communications strategy, crisis communications and issues management, corporate communications, social media, media training, media relations, investor relations, labour relations, mergers and acquisitions, internal communications, writing

George Djuric

Senior Consultant, Blockchain & Cryptoassets | KPMG LLP

Background​

George is a Senior Consultant in KPMG’s Technology Risk Consulting practice in Toronto, working directly with the Cryptoassets and Blockchain Center of Excellence (CoE). He has a background in and deep understanding of blockchain networks, digital assets, tokenization strategies and digital assets trading platforms

Professional and industry experience ​

• George has been directly involved in engagements related to digital asset due diligence, ecosystem partner assessments including custodians and exchanges, drafting wallet management policies and procedures, advising on enterprise blockchain platform risk and financial modelling for digital assets products.   ​
• He has experience with George developing financial models and supporting on go-to-market strategies for digital assets products, such as Bitcoin and Ether funds and digital asset investment products. ​
• He has experience in designing and drafting policies and procedures related to digital asset wallet management, such as ensuring that wallets are secure and that private keys are protected, role and responsibilities related to access controls, custody risk mitigation strategies, and smart contract best practices. ​
• He has experience working with Government-affiliated clients on blockchain security risk for enterprise solutions, such as supply chain tracking or identity management systems.​
• He has delivered several education sessions on various subject matters such as, but not limited to: blockchain, digital assets, NFTs, metaverse trends, digital asset regulatory trends, decentralized finance, smart contracts and the Ethereum network.  ​
• He has a deep passion and understanding of the web3 ecosystem and spends a lot of his spare time researching all the latest trends with respect to digital assets, decentralized finance and security tokens.  ​
• Prior to joining KPMG, George advised institutional real estate firms on various portfolio strategies, including approaches to tokenization and issuance of security tokens (STOs). He has experience working with real estate investment trusts (REITs) other real estate investment vehicles on the acquisition, disposition, and leasing of institutional properties. 

Clients:

United Way Greater Toronto (UWGT)
Financial Service Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA)
RAMP Network
Royal Canadian Mint
3iQ Corp Inc.

Education:

B.A., Economics
Carleton University
Ottawa, ON.

Jacques LaPointe

Co-founder and Director | Metiquity Ventures Fund I

Jacques LaPointe is a co-founder and Director of Metiquity Ventures Fund I and the former President and co-founder of Calgary-based ATTAbotics. He led ATTAbotics through its very first equity and non-dilutive funding and the significant investment and growth that followed during his three-year tenure. Jacques brings over 28 years of experience in the Alberta technology ecosystem including over 16 years in operational roles in industry and over 13 years as an investment portfolio manager, angel investor, director and advisor. As a technology entrepreneur, Jacques is experienced in company formation through growth including early-stage business and product development. Jacques has also led or co-led over $43 million of investments into early-stage technology companies.

Jade Alberts

Vice President | Canadian Blockchain Consortium

I am the Founder of Peer Guidance – Purpose Before Profit and an active Angel Investor. I have exited a business and helped three others exit. We help Startups, Entrepreneurs, and Small Businesses through their challenges focusing on Scale, Growth & Raising Capital. I believe in sharing your knowledge with aspiring entrepreneurs because the lack of capital should not get in the way of what you need to succeed.

Telling It Like it Is LIVE Interview is every Wednesday 9:30am MST. It’s a 25-minute discussion that shares Entrepreneurs, startups and Small Business Owners’ stories.

Founders Coffee is every Tuesday 7.30am at Red’s Diner in Kensington. Founders Coffee YYC is for #Entrepreneurs #Startups #smallbusiness Come on out and meet like-minded people.

Janine Moir

National Digital Assurance Leader | Deloitte Canada

Janine is on the cutting-edge of the profession, serving as the National Digital Assurance Leader at Deloitte. Digital Assurance services are designed to help Deloitte’s clients transform their traditional financial reporting cycles, by empowering finance teams with leading-edge innovation and digital technologies. These technologies include blockchain, analytics, RPA and algorithms. Janine is a founding member of the Canadian Blockchain Association for Women (www.cbaw.io), a board member of the Canadian Blockchain Consortium, and a board member for the Horizon Housing Society. Janine is a CPA, CA with over 15 years of experience providing Advisory and Assurance services and working in industry. Janine has worked in various industries with a focus on bringing the finance function and operations together. She loves bringing this expertise and experience to her clients.

John Cassidy

Director of Canada | SVG Ventures | THRIVE

John Cassidy is Managing Director of Canada at SVG Ventures I THRIVE. He leads the development and implementation of the organization’s strategic plans to expand in Canada and is part of the SVG investment team which has invested in 17 Canadian agri-food tech companies.

John has over 13 years of experience in the technology & Investment industry. Most recently, he served as Chief Executive Officer for a fintech SME in Europe. During his tenure, John led the company through its highest growth period which coincided with its first expansion into new markets. These achievements led to honors such as the ‘SME of Year Award’.

John holds an MBA and a Bachelor of Business (Finance) from the University of Limerick, Ireland. He also holds a Certificate in Technology Management from Stanford University and is a member of the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association.

Jordan Smith

Chief Executive Officer | Quantized Technologies

Jordan graduated from the Haskayne School of Business in 2011 and went on to become a 5-time entrepreneur. His diverse background gives Jordan unique perspective and industry-relevant expertise, and Jordan is a national award winner in Sales. Jordan completed his BSc-Physics with First-Class Honours in 2020, with thesis research in quantum neuroscience. He went on to complete his MSc-Physics in experimental quantum cryptography in 2022. As a result of his work in physics, Jordan has been honoured with several academic awards and scholarships. Jordan brings a collaborative approach to industry, and loves to work with other stakeholders in transforming the Quantum ecosystem and in using quantum technologies to benefit and improve the world we live in. Jordan thrives in overcoming challenges and solving society’s largest problems at the smallest (quantum) scale.”

Julian Klymochko

Founder, CEO, and Chief Investment Officer | Accelerate Fintech

Julian Klymochko is the Founder, CEO, and Chief Investment Officer of Accelerate, a leading provider of alternative investment solutions. He has specialized in running hedge funds and alternative investment solutions since 2009. Prior to founding Accelerate, Julian was the Chief Investment Officer of Ross Smith Asset Management. He started his career as an Analyst at BMO Capital Markets. Currently, he is a Director of the CFA Society Calgary.

Julian is recognized as one of Canada’s leading experts in alternative investments and frequently speaks at industry events. He has been featured in some of the world’s top financial and business media including Bloomberg, CNBC, The Wall Street Journal, BNN, Business Insider, and The Globe and Mail. He is the author of the book Reminiscences of a Hedge Fund Operator and host of the Absolute Return Podcast.

Julian attended the University of Manitoba where he graduated with a Bachelors of Science (Engineering) and a Bachelors of Commerce (Finance), both with distinction. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder.

Kevin Dahl

Director of Alberta | Plug and Play Tech Center

Kevin is a geek at heart. He loves technology and is fascinated by its impact on society. As a Director with Plug and Play Alberta, Kevin is focused on creating impact in Alberta’s Innovation Community by bringing technology and innovation to market faster, driving business growth opportunities through open innovation, and connecting Alberta’s startups and corporate innovators into Plug and Play’s global network. Prior to joining Plug and Play Alberta, Kevin has spent the last 15+ years building companies and community in Calgary.

Koleya Karringten

Executive Director | Canadian Blockchain Consortium

A proud Albertan technology entrepreneur, advocate, and leader, Koleya Karringten has a unique perspective on the challenges and opportunities of product commercialization, ecosystem building and fostering inclusion in the technology industry. As the co-founder and CEO of Absolute Combustion, she has spent over a decade successfully designing and developing ground-breaking cleantech solutions for multiple industry sectors, including aerospace and Oil & Gas. She is a driving force in Canada’s blockchain technology industry as the Executive Director of the Canadian Blockchain Consortium (CBC) and co-founder/board member of the Canadian Blockchain Association for Women (CBAW). In her leadership role at the CBC, she has merged her passions for technology and social good to bring together blockchain companies, corporate leaders and the government to build the country’s largest blockchain ecosystem organization. An influential public speaker, writer, and community volunteer, Koleya strongly believes that uniting diverse voices behind a common goal is the path to creating a fairer, more sustainable and prosperous nation. Koleya also shares her passion for supporting women in STEM through her volunteer role the Vice Chair of Elevate Aviation a Not for Profit organization dedicated to supporting the education and training of women to have technical careers in Aviation.

Krista Rabidoux

Partner | Andersen Tax Canada

I have over 22 years of experience providing US – Canadian Cross Border tax planning and compliance services. As a Partner with Andersen LLP, I work with businesses and individuals to assist them with mitigating tax requirements in both the US and Canada.

My work includes:
– US Citizen tax reporting obligations
– Ensure businesses with operations both inside and outside of Canada and the US meet their tax obligations
– Advise on employer and employee obligations when working outside of their home country
– Work with individuals, estates and/or trusts to ensure they are compliant in Canada and the US
– Analyze Canadian and US domestic tax laws, in conjunction with income tax treaties of various jurisdictions, to come up with favorable tax results

I graduated from the Grant MacEwan with distinction and received my designation as a Certified Management Accountant in 2003. In 2005, I was enrolled to practice before the Internal Revenue Service. I have also completed level III of the In-Depth tax course (2007), CICA Advanced International Tax Course (2008), and CICA Corporate Reorganizations (2011). Throughout 2011 – 2015 I moderated levels 1 & 2 Group Study for the in-depth Course. Most recently (2021) I received my Masters in Legal Studies of Taxation from the University of San Francisco.

In addition to tax, as a certified as a life coach I am passionate about leadership, team building and providing people with the right skills to develop into strong and highly functioning professionals. Throughout my years of experience I have developed a number of highly effective teams providing the best service to my clients.

I am the current Chair of the American Chamber of Commerce West Chapter. Through that role My goal is to foster a chapter to share knowledge and work with various interest groups to aid in cross-border business expansion.

Specialties: US Cross Border Tax, Canadian International Tax, US International Tax, Tax Planning and Restructuring, US Tax Return Compliance, Canadian Tax Return Compliance, Cross Border M&A, FIRPTA, FATCA, Expat and Inpat Employee Programs; US Real Estate; US Citizen Disclosures; Canadian / US Immigration and Emigration; US Estate Tax Planning; Professional Athletes Compliance and Advising

Leland Oberst

Founder | Innovative Fuel Systems

Leland was a Deloitte Edmonton Partner from 2002 until 2016 and the Managing Partner from May 2012 until November 2016. He obtained his CA (CPA) designation in 1993. Leland currently is also an executive advisor to APX Hotels Group and the VETS Group. He also sits on the YPO Chapter Board and the University of Alberta Business School’s Advisory Board.

Megan Lee, PhD MBA

Managing Director | Quantum City

MBA/PhD with for-profit and non-for-profit leadership experience, across the full spectrum of the life sciences research and innovation environment; including investment portfolio management, technical & business due diligence, company creation, organization management of a growth stage, publicly traded biotech company and partnership development in complex health research and care system.

Melissa Smith

Partner | Borden Ladner Gervais LLP.

Melissa is a partner in the Securities and Capital Markets Group in BLG’s Calgary office. Melissa focuses her practice on corporate and securities law with an emphasis on mergers, acquisitions and other business combinations of public and private issuers including take-over bids, amalgamations and plans of arrangement. She also advises clients on financing transactions including public and private offerings of debt, equity and convertible securities, and compliance with corporate and securities regulatory requirements and drafting of a large number of corporate and commercial documents including governance documents, shareholder agreements and other business agreements.

In addition, Melissa assists with plans of arrangement, mergers, acquisitions and other business combinations, prepares a wide variety of commercial, securities and corporate documents, and conducts due diligence on behalf of issuers, agents and underwriters in a variety of contexts.

Melissa is the Chair of the BLG’s Calgary Student Committee.

Mohamed Zohiri

Blockchain and FinTech Adviser | Alberta Securities Commission

Mohamed is the Blockchain and FinTech Adviser at the Alberta Securities Commission. Where he works on all things crypto and the law. He is currently an LL.M candidate at the Faculty of Law at the University of Ottawa with a concentration in Law and Technology. With a specific focus is on all things – #crypto, #blockchain, #CBDCs and #tech – working under Michael Geist and Florian Martin-Bariteau.

The major research component, of his graduate studies at the University of Ottawa, is in relation to the risks and challenges posed by fiat-backed stablecoins in the context of Canadian regulatory regimes.

He has a burning entrepreneurial spirit. Who has been part of numerous traditional start-ups as a founder and team member. Coming from a proud immigrant family he learned the value of hard work, integrity and empathy. These along with his grit and leadership skills have been at the helm or part of many successful, and unsuccessful, businesses. Gaining the experience of bootstrapping a business allowed him to learn many practical skills and develop cost-effective innovative solutions to address unique challenges.

Independently he is passionate about the intersection of human rights with the fast moving space of technology and innovation. This led him to curate a university radio show “Maia’s Voice”, named after his daughter, to discuss the legal and socio-economic impacts that crypto/blockchain has on everyday people, specifically the global south.

Mohamed holds the unconventional view that Batman would beat Superman in a fight!

Nannette Ho-Covernton P.Eng

Sustainability Leader | Spartan Controls

Joined Spartan Controls in 1995 after spending 8 years in the EPC community working in project engineering and project management.

Since joining Spartan Controls, have been in several roles from an application specialist, technical sales, EPC Segment account manager and now as Spartan’s Sustainability Leader.

Spartan Controls is the leading provider of automation, valves, measurement, process controls solutions,
and services to all Western Canadian industrial sectors for 58 years with a focus on ‘Creating a sustainable modern world with Innovative Automation.’

With many special interests, Nan has a particular interest in volunteerism – currently serve as Vice Chair of Sport Production of Organizing Committee Calgary – volunteer team that organizes international speed skating competitions, past Chair of the Schulich School of Engineering ECC and Two Wheel View – Development Committee.

Specialty skills include project management, event planning, sport production, and protocol.

Neeraj Gupta

Founder & Angel Investor | Lawcubator

Neeraj is expert on AI/ML/IOT, Product Management, Innovation Management, Strategy, International Business Expansion, Patent Consulting, Legal-tech. Neeraj is Chairman at India Alumni Chapter for KTH, Sweden and is on the Board of KTH Alumni Advisory Board. He is Governing Council Member at IIT Alumni Centre Bengaluru, IITACB .

Neeraj is one of the experts at Swissnex India and advises Swiss startups. He is also senior Technology Advisor at Sweden-India Business Council. Neeraj holds Bachelors of Technology degree from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Metallurgical and Material Sciences and Masters of Science Degree from Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Sweden in Scientific Computing and Mathematics. Neeraj is PGPX in General Management from UCLA Anderson School of Management. Neeraj is author of book “Creating & safeguarding a strong Intellectual Property Portfolio” which was written in collaboration with SIDBI, Adelphi and KFW Bank Germany. Neeraj is senior mentor and visiting faculty in several engineering and MBA colleges.

Nicole Janssen

Co-Founder and Co-CEO | AltaML

Nicole Janssen is the Co‐Founder and Co‐CEO of AltaML, a Canadian artificial intelligence scaleup that designs and implements applied AI solutions for businesses. In her role, Nicole is responsible for overseeing the growth of AltaML’s business, which spans multiple sectors including agriculture, financial services, health and energy. Nicole is actively involved in helping Canadian business leaders understand the importance of ethical AI, and has been recognized by the Responsible AI Institute for this work. Prior to AltaML, Nicole co‐founded Janalta Interactive Inc., as well as Stratus Holdings Inc. Currently, Nicole serves as a Director at Edmonton Unlimited as well as at Mitacs. In 2021, Nicole was selected as the recipient of the Emerging Entrepreneur Award by Alberta Women Entrepreneurs. Nicole is a member of the Forbes Technology Council, the A100 and the C100, and holds a B.Comm. in international business from the University of Alberta.

Nitin Sathawane

Head of Alberta Business | Mphasis

A growth driven leader with entrepreneur mindset, Nitin has over twenty two years of expertise in building large scale operations in business and technology services globally. At Mphasis, he is responsible for spearheading growth strategies, client pursuits, client services, partnership with University of Calgary & Govt institutions and heading newly launched Calgary Development Center and building Quantum City in the Alberta region, a strategic initiative for Mphasis. Nitin’s priority is to help clients accelerate enterprise digital transformation through Mphasis’ customer-centric Front2Back™ approach, harnessing cloud and cognitive for a hyper-personalized (X2C2TM) digital experience. Prior to his current role, Nitin led number of strategic clients in USA, Canada and Europe and was a large deal principal for Service Transformation, leading large deals and execution across all verticals, channels and geographies. This included developing and implementing next- generation sourcing solutions to deliver outcome-based service and new business models. Nitin brings a strong track record as an entrepreneur wherein he built two successful business from scratch in short span. He has also led some of the large technology transformation and integration programs, delivering on business objectives and establishing operating models for value creation. Nitin had worked with top employers servicing some of the fortune 100 clients globally. Nitin has proven record as global sales leader (North America, Europe & Asia) developing new regions, managing strategic accounts (PnL ownership) and large deal sales leader with an expertise in large transformation deal sales, opening and building multi-million-dollar accounts from early stage and building new sales pipeline.

Pamela Draper

President and Chief Executive Officer | Bitvo Inc and Pateno Payments Inc

Pamela Draper is the President and CEO of Pateno Payments Inc., a firm that provides development solutions in the payments space, as well as the President and CEO of Bitvo Inc., a crypto asset trading platform launched in Canada in 2018. Prior to joining Pateno and Bitvo, Pamela spent approximately 14 years with top tier Canadian banks, in the areas of corporate and investment banking. Most recently Pamela held the position of Director in BMO Capital Markets’ Equity Capital Markets group in Toronto where she was responsible for assisting North American corporate clients raising capital in public and private markets. Pamela obtained an Honours Business Administration degree from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario. Current voluntary positions include acting as a Director for the Canadian Blockchain Association for Women and for the Calgary Public Library Foundation. Pamela also serves as an Advisory Committee Member to Rallie, a financial technology company on a mission to get more women investing.

Paul Twigg

Chief Technology Officer | Digital Commerce Bank

Geek! A dynamic, experienced, award winning CTO who specialises in leading strong innovative technology teams. Possesses a successful track record in the planning and delivery of projects as well as the strategic outlook for consulting clients. Innovation, new ideas and cutting-edge technologies, like Blockchain, Machine Learning and Facial Recognition define the paths forward.

Philip Hoetger

Inspector | Calgary Police Service

Phil Hoetger has 23 years of policing experience with the Calgary Police Service. Phil is the Commander of the Technical Investigations Section, where he oversees Cyber Crimes, Digital Forensics, Economic Crimes, Money Laundering, Electronic Surveillance, Robbery and Arson. Throughout his career he has undertaken extensive advanced police training and has served in senior multi-agency positions. Phil serves on a number of local and national police committees and boards and is currently Co-Chair of National Police Service CyberCrime Committee.

Roshan Achal

R&D Scientist and IP Manager | Quantum Silicon Inc.

Roshan earned his PhD in Physics from the University of Alberta in 2020, where he used creative approaches to push the vision of atomic-scale manufacturing using atomic silicon quantum dots forward for better electronic devices and memories. He also worked in collaboration with Quantum Silicon Inc (QSi) during this time to help commercialize the resulting technology. Roshan is now working with QSi full time to develop application-specific quantum-dot-based devices such as a quantum random number generator. He additionally manages and coordinates the company-wide intellectual property strategy and portfolio. Some notable demonstrations of atomic silicon quantum dot fabrication include creating the “World’s Smallest Maple Leaf” from just 32 atoms to celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday and storing and playing back the first 24 notes of the Mario theme song with just 62 atoms in the “World’s Densest Solid-State Memory”. Most recently, Roshan has developed a technique to improve the scalable manufacturing of atomic-scale devices even further using “Molecular Erasers.”

Sam Gabor

Lawyer | Gowling WLG

Sam is Counsel in Gowling WLG’s Calgary office. He has a longstanding litigation and solicitor practice focused in restructuring, insolvency and bankruptcy law. Sam also has extensive expertise in intellectual property matters. Sam advises and acts on behalf of companies, borrowers, lenders, court-appointed officers (such as receivers, trustees and proposal trustees), and other interested parties in lending, restructuring and insolvency scenarios. Sam provides advice pertaining to out-of-court and court supervised restructurings, insolvency related court proceedings, debt enforcement, personal property security, and other matters. Sam has written several publications regarding digital assets, the metaverse, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). He has consulted with the Government of Alberta regarding amending Alberta’s Personal Property Security Act to specifically incorporate a framework for digital assets. Sam has further presented on amending personal property security legislation to specifically incorporate new laws and regulations for digital assets.

Scott Jenkins

Co-founder & Chief Executive Officer | ZS2 Technologies

Scott Jenkins is a Co-Founder and CEO of ZS2 Technologies Ltd., a company focused on the research, development and commercialization of innovative construction technologies which are stronger, safer and healthier. ZS2 has developed advanced building technologies including proprietary fire-rated, non-toxic, low-carbon building materials which are prefabricated providing our clients with cost certainty, accelerated construction timelines and lower building operating costs. Prior to ZS2, Scott was the President and a Director of DIRTT Environmental Solutions and was part of the leadership team that oversaw sales growth from $6 million annually to $300 million over 11 years. During his time at DIRTT, Scott led the successful IPO (initial public offering) on the Toronto Stock Exchange and helped oversee the manufacturing expansion of two major manufacturing locations in Georgia and Arizona along with the opening of sales offices in the U.K. and Singapore. Prior to joining DIRTT, Scott helped guide another high-growth company as the Chief Financial Officer of Pure Technologies Ltd., a public company providing innovative infrastructure monitoring technologies to a variety of international clients. Scott began his career at KPMG LLP, and is a member of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Alberta (CPA, CA), Young Presidents Organization (YPO) and a graduate of the University of Alberta. Scott is also a former Director and Founder of Decisive Dividend Corporation (DDC – TSXV), a Canadian investment company.

Simon Raven

President | NPS Industrial Power Corp.

Simon Raven graduated from the University of Calgary in 2000 with a B.sc in Geology and has 23 years of

diverse experience in the energy sector. He holds MBA’s from Queens University and Cornell University

and has held numerous senior leadership positions within the Canadian Energy Industry. In 2022 he

joined a major cryptocurrency exchange and has focused on real world blockchain applications, as well

as innovative approaches for developing Bitcoin mining and integrated power production in Canada.

Terry Rock

President & Chief Executive Officer | Platform Calgary

Terry’s previous experience has covered a wide variety of contexts and industries. He was the Executive Director of the Alberta Small Brewers Association and founding CEO of the Calgary Arts Development Authority. He worked on Civic Partnerships at the City of Calgary and was an Assistant Professor in Strategy at the University of Calgary. Dr. Rock holds a Ph.D. in Management with a focus on Strategic Management, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation from Texas Tech University and a Bachelor of Commerce in Marketing (with Distinction) from the University of Saskatchewan.

Tiffany Linke-Boyko

VC Principal | Flying Fish Partners

Flying Fish Partners are seed investors that invest in the rapidly growing artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) sector, primarily software and mixed hardware that use AI or ML as foundations to their business, provide AI and ML products and services to others, or provide tools to AI and ML practitioners. The firm invests across the U.S. and Canada and has a particular focus on the Pacific Northwest and Western Canada.

Tyler Argue, CCFI-C

Vice President | Risk Control Canada Inc.

Tyler is a thought leader who has demonstrated his ability as a business accelerator while building collaborative business ecosystems and developing impactful teams. As an entrepreneur and business advisor, Tyler is actively engaged in guiding startups from inception to maturity.

His professional experience consists of oversight of investigation services, physical and cyber security, blockchain infrastructure, corporate governance, information security, and risk management. Throughout his career as a professional investigator, Tyler has conducted various complex investigations on behalf of some of Canada’s premier law firms, businesses, governments and corporations, including speaking engagements with the Canadian Bar Association and insurance benefits providers. Tyler is the Vice President of Risk Control Canada and the program principal for the ISMS support services offered by the firm. Visit riskcontrol.ca or email Tyler at [email protected]

As a shareholder and senior advisor, Tyler currently chairs the InfoSec Advisory Board at Gray Wolf Analytics Inc., a blockchain analytics and cybersecurity firm founded in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. Visit graywolfai.com or email Tyler at [email protected]

Tyler holds a designation as a Canadian Certified Fire Investigator and serves as Director and Board Member for the Canadian Association of Fire Investigators. He also served as the Vice President and Executive for Calgary Crime Stoppers Association where he worked closely with southern Alberta’s law enforcement partners and Government stakeholders in developing crime reduction initiatives. Tyler is licensed as a Private Investigator in Alberta and has post-secondary education in Paramedicine (EMS), Information Security (ISO 27001;2022), Risk Management and Applied Police Sciences.

Board appointments:
• Regional Director, Canadian Association of Fire Investigators (CAFI)
• Past Vice President, Calgary Crime Stoppers Association
• Chair of InfoSec Advisory Board, Gray Wolf Analytics Inc.
• Director, UCP Highwood Constituency Association

Zachary Storms

Founder and Chief-Organizer | Startup TNT

Zack Storms has a PhD from McGill University. He spent 10 years in academia conducting research in biochemical engineering and synthetic biology. After completing an MBA at the University of Alberta, he launched a happy hour to bring entrepreneurs, scientists, and investors together every single week to have fun, make friends, and build companies. It’s called Startup TNT.