Tyler is program lead for the Mission from MaRS: Climate Impact Challenge, and has been a cleantech and climate thought leader since 2005. Previously, he was a national reporter, columnist and editor writing about the intersection of business, technology and sustainability (Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, Corporate Knights). In 2011, he authored Mad Like Tesla, which examined the various barriers to clean energy innovation and the landscape of some potentially world-changing technologies. A recipient of the Cleantech Group’s “Pioneer” award for his early writings on the sector, Tyler was also recognized in 2016 on Canada’s “Clean50” list for his thought leadership. Today, Tyler is focused on building a network of investors, innovation organizations and government agencies that can help Canadian cleantech ventures raise capital and scale globally. He also sits on the boards of the Ontario Clean Technology Industry Association and the Energy Transformation Network of Ontario.

Martinrea International is a diversified and global automotive supplier engaged in the design, development, and manufacturing of highly engineered, value-added Lightweight Structures and Propulsion Systems. At Martinrea, Bruce leads Martinrea Innovation Development (MiND) dedicated towards incubating, developing, and funding both internal and external innovative technologies. Before leading MiND, for nearly 15 years at Martinrea Bruce has held increasingly progressive roles and was most recently EVP of the Lightweight Structures Group.

Before joining Martinrea, for 10 years Bruce was President and COO of autoparts maker Van Rob. Prior to this, Bruce spent the first 15 years of his career at AGS Automotive, holding a number of technical, operational, and administrative positions ranging from Manufacturing Engineering to Group President.

Bruce holds an MBA from the Ivey Business School, and a Bachelor of Engineering Science from Western University.

Stacy Kauk, P.Eng. is the Director of Shopify’s Sustainability Fund and joined in January 2020. She also serves on the advisory board of the Carbon Management Research Initiative (CaMRI) at Columbia University. Prior to joining Shopify, Stacy was head of the Ozone Layer Protection Program at Environment and Climate Change Canada. Previously, Stacy worked on several chemicals management regulatory initiatives and represented Canada as a member of delegations for the Stockholm Convention and Montreal Protocol.

Stacy began her career as a practicing engineer designing environmental protection measures and pollution prevention controls for a variety of industry sectors. She has worked for the City of Ottawa, Morrison Hershfield, and Golder Associates. Stacy holds a Bachelor of Engineering and Masters in Public Administration from Carleton University.

Jane is a recognized leader in sustainable innovation and has extensive experience growing successful companies at the intersection of business and sustainability. She co-founded, grew and profitably sold a renewable energy company, and leverages over 20 years of experience in venture capital, cleantech and sustainability to help build businesses that matter. Jane is a co-founder of the CanadaCleantech Alliance, sits on the board of Clear Blue Technologies International (TSXV: CBLU), is an advisory board member for StandUp Ventures and Amplify Ventures, and is a member of the Expert Panel on Clean Growth for the Canadian Institute for Climate Choices. She is a Cleantech and Energy faculty member at Singularity University, and holds an MBA from Columbia University.

As the Founder of Futura Funds, Farrah works with both technology start-ups and corporate clients to develop strategies and next practices on how best to integrate technology and innovation into the commercial real estate industry using a collaborative approach. Having worked in the industry in an investment, development and finance capacity for 15 years to now working closely with innovative technology companies, Farrah believes that technology and innovation will be instrumental in the industry’s ability to continue to drive growth and unlock value from its assets. She also understands the importance of diversity when it comes to innovation for the built world and how diversity of thought, background, ethnicity, age, and gender are so integral in building bright, inclusive, and prosperous communities globally.

Rachele Levin has been with the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) since 2015 and has led the OEB Innovation Sandbox since its inception in 2019. In addition to her work leading the Sandbox, Rachele authors a renewable energy policy chapter for an international publication and collaborates with stakeholders throughout Canada on innovation and decarbonization in the energy sector.

Ambrose has 7 years of experience in Real Estate Investment Operations including hands-on experience in Real Estate Accounting, Budget & Forecasts, Property Appraisals, Leasing, ESG Metrics and Commercial Due Diligence. He supports both institutional and private clients and has worked with several high-volume real estate assets across North America. Before becoming an MBA candidate at Schulich School of Business, he has an M.Sc. at Smith School of Business, Queen’s University, and a Post-Graduate Certificate in Real Property Valuation at Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia.

Besides work, he enjoys volunteering at Toronto Humane Society for veterinary and licensing support for adoptions, and traveling the world with his partner and backpacker friends. His favorite travel destinations include Kotor, Montenegro; Okinawa, Japan; and Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, to name a few.

At Spring Lane, a sustainability focused private equity group, Nathaniel is responsible for origination, due diligence, structuring and execution of investments across the energy, water, waste, mobility, and food sectors.

Before joining Spring Lane, Nathaniel worked with CPCS, an infrastructure consulting group, where he co-managed their infrastructure development unit. At CPCS, Nathaniel developed infrastructure projects and advised public and private clients with a focus on renewable energy, distributed infrastructure and emerging markets.

Nathaniel holds an MBA from Cambridge University, an MA from Carleton University’s Norman Patterson School of International Affairs and BA from McGill University. He lives in Montreal with his family where he also sits on the investment committee of the Climate Fund of Greater Montreal.

Michael has an outstanding track record of success leading companies to significant profitable growth results in large global public traded and mid-size private equity owned companies.

Michael is a recognized leader in business growth strategy, sales excellence processes, product portfolio management, merger and acquisitions, change management and lean process execution. He supports several privately owned companies as an investor; board of directors’ member; and, personal coach for CEO’s.

Michael has a BS in political science and economics from Texas Lutheran University and completed certification studies at the Institute for Organizational Management at Notre Dame University.

Chris Makris is a business design strategist captivated by the intersection of technology and social benefit. At MaRS, Chris is focused on shaping the policy and structures which underline the smart city initiatives in communities across Canada. He harmonizes the often-divergent business and human-centred goals and approaches, and has implemented strategies that capture this unique blend across industries. Chris holds a Masters of Business focused in Business Design and Innovation from the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto.

Norio Matsunaga oversees the entire North American operations of the power businesses of Mitsubishi Corporation, ranging from renewable power generations to trading to retailing. Prior to the current position, he served as the first CEO of Mitsubishi’s power retail subsidiary in Japan when Japan’s electricity retail market was fully liberalized. His C-level experience includes a representative director of an energy consulting JV between Mitsubishi and Tokyo Electric Power Co. where various energy saving techniques and practices are implemented. He led a carbon emission reduction team to develop and manage 71 UN-registered projects worldwide under Kyoto Protocol. He earned an MBA degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Born and raised in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Ian is passionate about helping cleantech innovators create a better world. He’s focused on building relationships with climate-economy partners globally to support Canadian innovation. For Mission from MaRS, Ian is focused on building corporate and government partner support, from sponsorship opportunities to active coalition participation, helping remove barriers and accelerating technology adoption. Ian holds a bachelor degree in marketing from the University of Ottawa and an MBA from the Smith School of Business at Queen’s University.

Faisal Moola, PhD, is an associate professor in the department of geography, environment and geomatics at the University of Guelph and the former director general of Ontario and Northern Canada for the David Suzuki Foundation. He is the director of the people, plants and policy lab at the University of Guelph, which does research on the ecology and ethnoecology of cultural keystone species with Indigenous Peoples in Canada and overseas. His favourite plant is wild blueberry — preferably picked from heathlands and barrens in coastal Newfoundland and washed down with a mug of strong black tea.

Margo Morrison is the Director of Conservation for the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s (NCC’s) Atlantic Region. She oversees the strategic direction of the conservation department which includes planning, protection and stewardship of significant landscapes across New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador.

Margo grew up in Ottawa but came to Canada’s east coast to attend university, where she graduated from the University of New Brunswick with a degree in Forestry and Environmental Management with a minor in Geographic Information Systems. She has a passion for using technology to support conservation outcomes. Margo is a registered professional forester in the province of New Brunswick. Her favourite thing to do outside of work hours is spending her summers at the family cottage along beautiful Wolastoq River, with her husband and two daughters.

David is a seasoned C-Suite leader who has worked for many of Canada’s leading corporations including Algonquin Power & Utilities, Bell Canada, MetroNet, 724 Solutions, Zerofootprint and eFunds Canada. No stranger to Innovation, he has served as an Entrepreneur in Residence at the MaRS Discovery District specializing in Cleantech. Mr. Pasieka holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Waterloo, an MBA from York University, a Chartered Director designation from McMaster University and a Certified Executive Coach certification from Royal Roads University. Consistent with his commitment to Governance, Diversity and Sustainability, Mr. Pasieka served on the Faculty of the Directors College and the Caribbean Governance Training Institute where he had shared his perspective about Climate Change, Corporate Social Responsibility, Enterprise Risk Management, Cybersecurity and Competency based Boards. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Oakville Enterprise Corporation and Aleafia Health.

Cooper Robinson is committed to making sustainability profitable at scale. As a result of this commitment, Cooper has had deep involvement in many first-of-kind carbon projects in the energy sector, and built a business focused on scaling them (Cap-Op Energy; acquired in 2019). In particular, he has played an important role in establishing novel carbon monetization pathways for entrepreneurial innovators and world class energy sector clients – focusing on high-impact projects such as CCS/CCUS, methane abatement, waste-to-energy, and refinery co-processing of bio-crude/bio-intermediates. Cooper is a guest lecturer at the Haskayne School of Business and University of Calgary, and a mentor for the HBA Sustainability Certificate at Ivey Business School’s Centre for Building Sustainable Value.

Serena Rourke is a Master’s student at Carleton University completing her MA in International Affairs. She holds a BA (Honours) in Political Studies from Queen’s University. Serena has developed her passion for sustainability and climate change innovation through work in sustainability law, climate consulting, and federal government policy development. Currently, she is working at Global Affairs Canada in Trade and Environment. As the Coalition Fellow with MaRS, she is supporting StormFisher’s work in the renewable natural gas sector to address barriers to adoption and increase their impact on reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Alex Ryan leads partner solutions at MaRS, helping government and corporate partners accelerate the adoption of innovation in their organizations, markets and cities. He oversees teams that are helping decarbonize electricity grids, design inclusive smart cities, improve community health and well-being, employ thousands of NEET youth, strengthen the impact investing market, and grow Canada’s innovation economy. His writing on smart cities, data governance, policy innovation, social innovation, systemic design, and complex systems science has been published by the World Economic Forum, Fast Company, Axios, Stanford Social Innovation Review, and Complexity.

Alex is also co-founder of Alberta CoLab, the first provincial government innovation lab in Canada. He is an executive-in-residence at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. And as a consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton, Alex previously helped introduce operational and strategic design into the U.S. Army, and established strategic design capabilities for U.S. Strategic Command, U.S. Special Operations Command, and U.S. Cyber Command. He serves on several advisory boards, including Participatory City and Energy Futures Lab. His dissertation in applied mathematics advanced a multidisciplinary approach to complex systems design.

Himanshi Sharma is an MBA candidate at Schulich School of Business and has a passion for sustainability. She is currently working with the Small-Scale Food Processor Association to help the organization design a gender-equity fund. Himanshi has previously worked as an Assistant Professor at University of Delhi for around four years, where she taught English Literature, and Business Communication.

Michael is a Policy Advisor at Deloitte Consulting and currently resides within Deloitte’s Future of Canada Centre. During his time at Deloitte he has focused on all levels of government transformation, from small-scale municipal projects to large federal modernization efforts. Michael has also led Deloitte’s Government of Canada Climate Change Centre of Excellence, focusing on bringing climate change to the forefront of government priorities and operations. Prior to joining Deloitte, Michael worked in international development, working with the United Nations Population Fund in Geneva within their Humanitarian Fragile Contexts Branch, and with Youth Challenge International, a small Canadian non-profit working in Northern Ghana supporting youth start-ups. Michael has an undergraduate degree in Global Studies and Political Science from Wilfrid Laurier University, and a Masters of Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of Waterloo.

Mitch Stambler worked for 35 years in the Operations and Planning areas of the Toronto Transit Commission – twenty-two of them as Head of Planning and Strategy. He oversaw a number of landmark projects for the TTC, including the Ridership Growth Strategy, the Toronto Light Rail Plan, Automated Fare Collection, Transit Plan for the 2015 Pan Am Games, Accessibility Plan for the TTC, and various environmental assessment, business case, and transit technology reports. He has Masters Degrees in Transportation Planning and Business Administration, and has held positions in the International Union of Public Transport (UITP), Canadian Urban Transit Association, Institute of Transportation Engineers, American Public Transportation Association, and Canadian Institute of Planners.

Julie spent nearly a decade in the public service with the BC and Ontario governments working on sustainable policy development related to land, water and waste, as well as climate change. This was followed by three years managing sustainable operations at lululemon. She then managed government relations and sustainability for a clean technology startup, and provided consulting services prior to her role at HSBC. She studied Politics and English at Queen’s University, and completed her Masters in International Development at the London School of Economics. In her spare time, she supports refugee and climate causes, and enjoys writing, teaching yoga, road cycling and hiking.

Sasha is director of smart cities with MaRS Partnerships. This includes working closely with industry and government professionals, major user groups, civil society and academics to address key transportation sector challenges around congestion, GHG emissions, access and equity. Sasha helps catalyze the adoption of innovative mobility solutions in the sector. These efforts are currently focused on stakeholder engagement, iterative prototyping, business model development and market capacity development to support innovative transportation solutions in Ontario and Canada.

Sasha is also engaged with the Advanced Energy Centre, where he advises and leads some of their Building Energy Efficiency and Energy Data Access programs. Sasha is an active member on the Board of Directors of the Green Button Alliance that oversees the evolution of the standard. Sasha also led the adoption of the Green Button utility data standard in Ontario, where he steered engagements with energy stakeholders, facilitated technical standard review, and managed pilot deployments and business case development. His work resulted in government expansion of Green Button adoption in Ontario to include natural gas and water data.

Prior to joining MaRS, Sasha led the design and delivery of Ontario’s smart-grid-enabled conservation and demand response programs at the Ontario Power Authority (now IESO). He completed his masters in environmental change and management with a distinction from the University of Oxford.

Jason led the Mission from MaRS’ GHG emission reduction potential quantification process in collaboration with Rho AI and CRANE, and is a Coalition Lead for Brainbox AI. He advises clients across sectors on how to develop strategies to deploy and attract capital in the impact investing market. He’s also leading the MaRS efforts to help ventures and partners develop impact measurement and management strategies to optimize their performance while improving social and environmental outcomes. Prior to joining MaRS, Jason worked in international development, building and financing social enterprises with the Clinton Foundation while living in Colombia and New York. He has an engineering degree and an MBA from the University of Toronto.

Anh is a 4th year BBA student at Schulich School of Business, York University. She specializes in Operations and Finance. Anh is a passionate, detail-oriented, and curious person. In the past 3 years, Anh has experiences from various industries – from consulting, banking, CPG, to telecommunications – where she interned at KPMG, Techcom, and Bell Canada. In school, Anh was a President of a university club called Ascend YorkU. Outside of academic, Anh loves to learn about different cultures, which is why she has a passion for travelling. Environment is also a topic that Anh enjoys learning and cares deeply about. Anh follows a sustainable lifestyle, educates herself on environmental news and participates in projects that support protecting the environment.

Ed is a public policy professional focused on clean energy and climate change. He is the co-host of the Energy vs Climate podcast series, a Public Policy Forum fellow and a Creative Destruction Lab mentor. He was executive director of the Pembina Institute, and served on the World Economic Forum’s Council on the Future of Oil and Gas. In 2016 Ed was named one of Alberta’s most influential people by Alberta Venture magazine. His op-eds have been published in newspapers and magazines across Canada and internationally.

Former Ontario Cabinet Minister John Wilkinson is the CEO of Wilkinson Insight Incorporated, providing strategic insight and counsel to various private and public sector clients. He is a former Senior Vice President, Sustainability for Greenfield Global.

John currently sits on numerous corporate, not for profit and advisory Boards, including Greenfield Global, the Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Energy, the Centre for Next Generation Nuclear, Life Sciences Ontario and the Council of the Great Lakes Region.

Of note, from 2003 – 2011, he was elected as the Member of Provincial Parliament for Perth-Middlesex and then Perth-Wellington. He was called to Executive Council and served first as Minister Research & Innovation, then as Minister of Revenue and finally, as the Minister of the Environment.

Sammi is a fourth-year student at the Schulich School of Business at York University, specializing in Finance and Economics. She has a variety of interests ranging from cleantech to developing sustainable solutions. With previous work experience in investment research, she is looking to incorporate her passion for ESG issues to make an impact with her career. She continues to search for meaningful opportunities that will equip her with the necessary tools to do so.