Member of Finance & Audit CommitteeProtein Industries Canada is an industry-led organization created to position Canada as a global source of high-quality plant protein and plant-based co-products, and build a $25 billion industry. We are one of Canada’s five Global Innovation Clusters.

Member of Finance & Audit Committee

New Protein International (NPI) believes there are better, cleaner, and more sustainable ways to feed the world's growing population. Since our company's founding, we have been striving to become a global leader in innovative technologies for the large-scale production of high-quality, cost-effective plant-based proteins and ingredients for the global food and beverage industries. We have developed a unique proprietary BioPur™ extraction process to produce a wide-range of hexane-free, food-grade plant proteins on a commercial scale. The company will shortly begin constructing one of the most sustainable plant protein facilities, to produce this clean-label and sustainable protein.As Chief Development Officer, my role includes:1) Leading overall fundraising strategy and execution, consisting of: - Likeminded equity investors - Private & government debt (building and managing full senior debt syndicate) - Government grants and cost-sharing programmes (over $62M won to date) - Strategic investors - Overseeing formal equity process led by a top global bank2) Leading government relations with many different layers of local, provincial and federal government, as well as government agencies. Strong support at all 4 layers of government has been built and continues to pay dividends, including first-of-its-kind financial participation.3) Leading engagement with global food companies as strategic partners and customers. Three major offtake agreements negotiated and signed to date.

Guud is a women's health brand that elevates women's menstrual health. Its mission is to help women feel great every day of the month. Guud do this by providing clean label supplements, personalized support, and a safe community.I have been an advisor to Guud since its inception. My work with the founders to date includes:- Building business plan- Creating the company's financial model- Fundraising strategy, pitch deck and investor introductions- Setting overall strategic direction- Advice on the entrepreneurial approach of maximising learning with finite resources

LDC is a 168 year old global food business. My role involves ensuring the strategy of the company is optimised for the disruption that is taking place to major food firms. I have two areas of focus:- Downstream Strategy: With a specific focus on plant-based proteins, I performed a strategic analysis to answer the questions of which proteins to focus on, at what stage of the food value chain to get involved, and the market entry strategy. We are now proceeding based on those recommendations.- Innovation: Working with the Global Head of Innovation, I analyse prospective investments for LDC's innovation fund. Areas of focus in the food tech space include businesses which have the ability to augment or disrupt LDC's business model in the years to come (for example, Motif Ingredients).

La Mancha is a private investment company of the family of billionaire businessman Naguib Sawiris. It currently owns two stakes in large existing public companies, and the stakes have a combined value of ~$1.5 billion USD. In January 2018 myself and a team of 5 other professionals were hired to build up a third investment vehicle for the company.I collaborated with La Mancha’s team to generate and evaluate ideas on how to build a significant new business with a coherent strategy and a story that makes sense for the capital markets. This was to be achieved by buying a stake in or all of an existing business, and growing that vehicle organically and via M&A, in a specific region of the world.My role was to project-manage the evaluation and ultimately acquisition of advanced ideas, which includes working with internal La Mancha team, investment bankers, external lawyers, technical consultants, and the target company itself.My time at La Mancha culminated with the acquisition of a 30% stake in Golden Star Resources for a total investment of US$126M, which was signed and announced on 1 August, 2018. Our team then took over as management of Golden Star, but I chose instead to commit my full time to my MBA.

Managed the company’s Corporate Development efforts as part of the broader Finance Team. This included creating all processes for finding, tracking and evaluating opportunities. Also was responsible for all communication to senior management and Board regarding corporate development activities.Lead and project-managed the evaluation of external assets and companies, including financial modelling, due diligence, hiring external consultants where required, engaging investment bankers and process management.Responsible for non-core asset divestitures and portfolio clean-up, including running a successful sale process to sell a non-core asset for US$45m, bringing in a joint-venture partner to contribute capital and expertise to advance a project, and buying out a 50% partner of an attractive asset to consolidate our company's ownership.

Performed corporate strategy analysis for senior management and the Board of Directors with respect to business mix, strategic focus, and growth plans.Analysed competitive landscape by continually monitoring industry trends and competitor activity.Evaluated potential acquisition targets, which involves financial modelling and assessing the qualitative considerations of the transaction.Managed divestiture processes, culminating in the Corporate Development team executing $1.2B of transactions in 2013-14.

Created and maintained detailed financial models of various firms and determined a valuation for their shares. This involved speaking regularly with the senior management of these firms.Wrote initiating coverage research reports on new companies to bring under coverage. Initiated coverage on 16 companies from 2009 to 2011.