Supporting MindFuel’s Vision
Board of Directors
Jim (James) Gray
Founder & Honourary Chair
Dan Semmens
Chair | CTO, Central 1
Read Bio
Cassy Weber
CEO, MindFuel
Read Bio
Shahauna Siddiqui
Former Chair | Partner, DHR Global
Read Bio
Stephen Burns
Partner, Bennet Jones LLP
Read Bio
James Pettigrew
Director
Read Bio
needs of rapidly-growing companies. A CPA, Pettigrew’s past experience includes: Chief Financial Officer at Benevity, Inc., Partner and Market Leader at Deloitte LLP., and Parter and Technology Industry Leader at PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers). He brings a wealth of experience in communicating strategies and financial results with clarity, financial and operational management in a high-growth environment, creating high-performing teams, board governance, and managing capital and working with private equity investors.
Raja Panwar
Retired, Ministry, Alberta Education
Read Bio
During his time with Alberta Education, Raja led many teams responsible for the design, development and implementation of large-scale, multi-year provincial curriculum projects for the development of programs of study and learning and teaching resources. Raja is passionate about curriculum design and implementation; in particular, a responsive and relevant science curriculum that addresses evolving students’, and societal and economic needs.
Peter Kinash
Director
Read Bio
Peter Kinash sits on the boards of many companies and is active in the technology sector. He has over 25 years’ experience in the fields of mergers and acquisitions, corporate financing, and securities filings. He is a chartered accountant and specializes in guiding growing high-tech companies to maturity. Peter is the former leader of the Information, Communication, and Entertainment practice of KPMG Calgary. He holds the Institute of Corporate Directors ICD.D designation, and earned a B.Comm. from the University of Saskatchewan.
Georgine Ulmer
President, Churchill Strategies Inc.
Read Bio
Georgine Ulmer has been President of Churchill Strategies Inc. since 2002, where she has assisted both private and not-for-profit organizations with leadership development and organizational change. She has held a number of leadership positions within Calgary for over 20 years, including leading the economic development authority for Calgary as its President and CEO for five years, directing the Southern Alberta office of Hill & Knowlton and Directing the Southern Alberta office of Industry Canada as well as directing the Corporate Communications function for the department for the Prairie Provinces and Northwest Territories. Prior to moving to Calgary as a Federal Partner representative for the 1988 Olympics, Ms. Ulmer worked for various Cabinet Ministers and Departments in the Government of Canada in Ottawa.
Ms. Ulmer was the Executive Director of the New Science Centre 2011 Project overseeing the early planning and development of the project and then directing the successful $160 Million capital campaign. Currently, Ms. Ulmer is working with several non-profit organizations where
she advises both CEO’s and Boards on governance, strategic planning and facility development. A trained facilitator, Ms. Ulmer has facilitated workshops, visioning sessions, mediation negotiations, and planning sessions for a number of public, private and non-profit organizations across Western Canada.
Dr. Danika Goosney
President & CEO, Canadian Museum of Nature
Read Bio
Dr. Danika Goosney began her five-year appointment as the President and CEO of the Canadian Museum of Nature on September 1, 2022. Danika is passionate about science literacy and building public trust in science, as well as improving equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility in STEM.
She obtained her Bachelor of Science (first class honours) from St. Francis Xavier University and her PhD in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology and the Biotechnology Laboratory (now the Michael Smith Labs) at the University of British Columbia, for which she was awarded the Governor General’s Gold Medal, among other awards. She conducted her postdoctoral training as a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Immunology at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California.
Following her postdoctoral research, Dr. Goosney worked as a research scientist at two Vancouver-based biotechnology companies. She joined the federal public service in 2006 where she served in increasingly senior executive roles. She held several director general positions at CIHR in the Research, Knowledge Translation and Ethics portfolio, before taking on the role of Associate Vice-President, Tri-agency Institutional Programs Secretariat, at the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. Most recently, she served as the Vice-President, Research Grants and Scholarships at the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
Amit Anand
SVP Product, Zonar Systems
Read Bio
Amit Anand brings over 20 years of expertise in technology and entrepreneurship, leading ez enRoute Ltd. to develop innovative IoT platforms and AI/ML solutions. As CTO of Treefort Technologies, they advanced AI-driven identity fraud prevention, aligning technology with business goals. Serving on the Edmonton Advisory Council on Startups and NAIT DMIT Advisory Council, they bolstered startup ecosystems and educational programs.
As President of Maanaw Seva Association and a member for Alberta’s cricket associations, they champion youth education, mental health, and sports development. Their strategic vision and commitment to innovation and social impact align with MindFuel’s mission.
Shazia Sobani
VP Fibre Networks, TELUS
Read Bio
Shazia is an accomplished senior executive with domestic and international experience for almost two decades of experience leading transformational multi-stakeholder complex technology driven projects. She brings a deep understanding of technology as both an enabler of economic development and a tool for social equity. Her leadership is guided by the social purpose which has motivated her to serve multiple non-for-profit boards that focus on technology and gender diversity.
In her current role as Vice President Fibre Networks and Customer Solution delivery at TELUS, she is focused on enhancing customer and community experience.
Nannette Ho-Covernton
Executive Director, The ETC Foundation
Read Bio
A proud University of Calgary alumna (BSc Chemical Engineering), she chaired the Schulich School of Engineering Career Centre Advisory Council, serves on the advisory for WISE Planet, and has dedicated decades of volunteer leadership to the Olympic Oval. Her legacy includes heartfelt mentorship of youth and athletes, and a deep commitment to honouring others.
Avnish Mehta
Principal, Stand and Command
Read Bio
He is an active in the community volunteer and currently sits on the Board of Heritage Calgary and Globalfest, is a committee member for the Calgary Foundation’s Impact Investing and, thanks to his son, is a Scouter in training with Scouts Canada.
Advisors
Wafa Kadri
Advisor, Former Board Member
Read Bio
Kadri is a seasoned community builder with an extensive background in leading large scale initiatives, most recently with Cenovus Energy. Her diverse background in leadership, transformation, and building cross-sector partnerships to drive change bring critical insights to best practices.
Don Bell
Advisor, Former Board Member
Read Bio
Neil Camarta
Advisor, Former Board Member
Read Bio
Neil Camarta holds a degree in chemical engineering from the University of Alberta. With more than 35 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, Neil has held senior leadership positions with Shell, Petro-Canada and Suncor — in Canada and internationally. During his time with Shell, Neil led the successful development, construction and start-up of that company’s $6 billion Athabasca Oil Sands Project. Neil is currently a partner in a technology start-up venture with a focus on energy.