Last year Techvibes named the five people that you should meet at GROW and everyone—including the folks on the list—loved it. So we’re doing it again this year.
Here are five people you should look out for at the GROW Conference in Whistler.
1. Joanne Fedeyko, Executive Director, The C100
This year’s GROW Conference will be Fedeyko’s coming out party. Joanne recently replaced outgoing Executive Director Atlee Clark who recently announced that she is joining Shopify.
An Alberta-native, Joanne has lived in the Bay Area for more than 15 years and brings with her an accomplished career in fundraising, sponsorship, business development, partnerships, donor relations and marketing. Joanne is the new face of the C100 and will continue its mission of serving Canadian entrepreneurs.
2. Sid Paquette, Director, OMERS Ventures
OMERS Ventures continues to actively invest across Canada and Paquette is part of the team responsible for identifying investment opportunities in the Technology, Media and Telecommunications sectors.
Prior to joining OMERS, Sid was a senior manager in the international tax practice of Deloitte, as well as the Ontario Clean Tech leader for Deloitte and a member of its TMT executive team.
3. Chris O’Neill, Buisness Lead, Google Glass, Google
O’Neill was named Managing Director at Google Canada in 2010 but recently took over business operations for Google Glass at their Mountain View headquarters.
Before taking over the company’s operations in Canada, he served in a variety of roles including leading Google’s digital strategy as its U.S. Retail Industry Director. That background should come in handy as Google continues to prepare for a full retail launch of Google Glass.
4. Angela Kingyens, Associate, Version One Ventures
Angela Kingyens joined Version One Ventures last year as their first analyst and is your best route to entreprenuer-turned-angel-turned-VC Boris Wertz.
A data scientist with a passion for leader development, Angela received her PhD in Operations Research and Engineering from the University of Toronto. Located in Palo Alto, Angela is responsible for managing the day-to-day activities of the fund, including helping to identify opportunities in their three focus areas – e-commerce, SaaS, and marketplaces/platforms.
5. Ian McKay, CEO, Vancouver Economic Commission
Ian McKay is the new CEO of the Vancouver Economic Commission. A seasoned senior executive, Ian most recently was the National Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Liberal Party of Canada.
As Mayor Gregor Robertson implements his Economic Action Strategy, Ian will be at the forefront of both supporting local businesses as well as recruiting top talent from around the world to work in Vancouver.
