Mr. Chan is an executive director of ITC Properties Group Limited (“ITC Properties”). At ITC Properties, Mr. Chan is involved with the investment and development of commercial, hospitality and residential projects. In addition, he is the lead in developing new policies for green and sustainable practices throughout the group. Prior to joining ITC Properties, Mr. Chan worked in the Investment Banking Division of Goldman Sachs Group with a focus on capital
raising, mergers & acquisitions and strategic advisory for financial institutions in Greater China and Southeast Asia. Mr. Chan is a graduate of Duke University majoring in Political Science – International Relations and minoring in Philosophy and Economics.
Mr. Kappel is a former investment banker who now manages a private investment portfolio. A former chartered accountant with KPMG in Vancouver and Frankfurt, he made the transition to investment banking with JP Morgan (New York/Frankfurt) after business school. He also served in senior roles at Nomura, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, Calyon and DVB Bank in London. In the latter three, he was the Managing Director in charge of their respective European Securitisation businesses. He was responsible for many ground breaking transactions, a regular speaker at ABS conferences and a founding and former executive committee member of the European Securitisation Forum of the Bond Market Association. He holds an MBA from the Institut Européen d’Administration des Affaires (“INSEAD”), a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in Economics from the University of Victoria and received his Chartered Accountant designation through the Institute of Chartered Accountants of British Columbia.
Phil Dowad was an audit and professional practice partner of KPMG with over 43 years of experience working with global companies primarily based out of locations across Canada. He held senior positions within KPMG including as a Canadian and U.S. securities partner reviewing filing documents prior to their filing with securities regulators in both countries. Since his retirement in 2022, Mr. Dowad has acted as a consultant to North American based entities as well as acting as an expert witness in certain litigation matters. Mr. Dowad is a former director and Chairman of the Audit Committee of the YMCA of Greater Vancouver.
Mr. Vassallo has over 30 years’ experience in asset acquisition, development and management across several industries in multiple states. As Founder and CEO of Mos RE, LLC, Mr. Vassallo focuses on real estate development, land entitlements, redevelopment and strategic reuse of underutilized buildings by utilizing multi-source financing packages, including historic tax credits, tax incremental financing and state development programs. Mr. Vassallo headed multiple capital raises for a variety of developments and acquisitions. Mr. Vassallo also has experience in purchasing distressed debt for profitable returns. As Founder and CEO of Global Restaurant Systems, LLC, Mr. Vassallo established a multi-faceted management and consulting company providing inclusive restaurant development and operating services including accounting, human resources, real estate analysis and acquisition, legal, marketing, IT and administrative support to its clients.
Mr. Pekar has over 30 years’ of experience in the dairy and food industry. Born and raised in Wisconsin, United States, Mr. Pekar received a full athletic scholarship to attend the University of Iowa to play football. His football career spanned from 1978 to 1987, from playing with the Iowa Hawkeyes to the LA Express and San Antonio Gunslingers, two USFL football teams. In 1994, Mr. Pekar started a dairy based enzyme-modified reaction company, named First Choice Ingredients, which specialized in reaction, fermentation and distillation technologies. First Choice became world renowned for developing dairy based flavor systems and dairy notes using cultures and enzymes in the fermentation process. Started in the basement of his first home, Mr. Pekar grew First Choice from one employee to over 150 employees and three plants (which included 150,000+ square feet of office and manufacturing space) and operated the business successfully for 27 years. In 2021, Mr. Pekar sold First Choice to international powerhouse DSM for US$460 million.
Mr. Bunio has been active in the technology industry for nearly 30 years. Mr. Bunio is a Co-founder and the CEO of TheoryMesh, a Winnipeg, Manitoba based company focused on agriculture and food supply chains. He operationalized TheoryMesh in 2021 to develop technology for traceability solutions leveraging blockchain and machine learning. Prior to founding TheoryMesh, Mr. Bunio spent 18 years with Microsoft, leading strategy, sales and business development globally as a senior director primarily covering public sector industries, including government, healthcare and higher education while being based in Jordan, UK, Turkey and the United States. Mr. Bunio has deep experience in solution architecture, software development and global business development. Returning to Winnipeg after nearly 20 years abroad, Mr. Bunio has been actively engaging in the technology ecosystem in Manitoba and assisting various organizations with planning for strategic development of the tech industry and capacity building. Mr. Bunio completed his degree in Physics at the University of Manitoba focusing on theoretical physics and computational methods.
Mr. Westdal is a founder of B.M.W. Canola Inc., the Manitoba based company that developed the technology acquired by Burcon NutraScience Corporation in October 1999. Mr. Westdal is a professional agrologist, belonging to the Agricultural Institute of Canada. He is President of Agri-Tec International, a consortium of grain based construction companies located in Winnipeg. Mr. Westdal was previously the Director of Marketing for the Canadian International Grains Institute. He has been employed for over 30 years in various positions in Canada and abroad with the Canadian Wheat Board. Mr. Westdal has over 31 years of experience marketing and developing sales of agricultural products around the world. Mr. Westdal holds Bachelor of Arts degree and Master of Science degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Manitoba.