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.
Ms. Jeanne McCaherty is the CEO of Guardian Energy Management, an ethanol manufacturing company with production sites in Ohio, Minnesota, and North Dakota. These corn dry milling sites produce ethanol, DDGS (distiller’s dried grains with solubles), and corn oil. Prior to joining Guardian in 2016, Ms. McCaherty spent a year consulting in Private Equity in the areas of specialty grains and value-added ingredients. The majority of Ms. McCaherty’s career was in various global management roles in Cargill, Inc. The most recent Cargill role was as the Regional Director of the Global Texturizing Business Unit. This business sourced raw materials, manufactured, and sold specialty food ingredients to food companies around the world. Ms. McCaherty’s R&D career culminated in the position of VP/Global Director of Food R&D. This role included functional leadership for the Basic and Applied R&D, Applications and Sensory groups for Cargill’s Global Food Ingredients businesses. Ms. McCaherty currently serves as the Chair of the Renewable Fuels Association and on the Board of Directors for Renewable Products Marketing Group.
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. Nazur has been involved in the agricultural commodity markets for over 20 years, beginning his career at Archer Daniels Midland Company (“ADM”). During his six years at ADM, Mr. Nazur was involved in nine different agricultural commodities leveraging all logistical conveyances in North America. Being a global food processing powerhouse, ADM’s Ag services unit oversaw arbitraging global commodity markets for both profit and to secure supplies for the vast network of processing facilities. Prior to his departure from ADM, Mr. Nazur was Wheat Commodity Line Manager and oversaw ADM’s North American wheat trading and logistics segments. In 2012, Mr. Nazur left ADM and became an independent commodity futures trader. In the last 13 years, Mr. Nazur has applied the experience gained over his career to build a successful family office that is actively involved in over ten different commodity markets that span across five different continents and is a regular commentator on various nationally broadcasted agricultural shows.
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. 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.