OUR PROGRAM FACULTY

Attached below are just 3 of the many amazing professionals joining us this year, whom you will be work with throughout VentureLift.

GEOFF MCKAY, mba

We're excited to fly in Geoff McKay from NYC as our keynote speaker. Geoff is one of Canada's most accomplished businesspeople, formerly the Managing Director of the Canadian Pension Plan (CPP Investments), a federal $550 billion investment fund for millions of Canadians. Additionally, he brings exceptional experience from his other roles at Goldman Sachs, Forstman Little & Co., Vulcan Capital (Paul Allen's firm), and now Weathervane, his own firm. Geoff earned his MBA from the Wharton School, having graduated on the Dean's List in 1997. Students interested in attending his keynote without attending the program can also sign up here.

Darren Dahl, PhD

Professor Dahl is one of Canada's premiere business educators, being the current Dean of the UBC Sauder School of Business. He has published nearlv 100 papers on creativity, consumer behaviour, and product development. Professor Dahl has also received numerous research and teaching awards, including the 3M Teaching Fellow, Killam Research Prize, and Society for Consumer Psychology Fellowship. He studied at UBC during his PhD, graduating in 1998.

Alykhan Sunderji, JD, MIR

Alykhan Sunderji is a distinguished legal professional and founder of Sunder Legal, specializing in M&A for startups, small, and mid-market businesses. Before starting his own firm, he built an impressive career at Amazon, where he served as the Head of Legal for both Amazon Fashion and Amazon.ca alongside an executive leadership position. In addition, he brings experience from Paul, Weiss and Apollo Management, one of the world's largest private equity firms. Alykhan earned his JD from UofT and his MIR from McGill.

Attached below is also the complete list of workshop leaders joining us this year.

Mr. Geoff McKay CA – Founding Partner, Weathervane

Mr. Ryan Beach – CPA, Senior Associate – Assurance, PwC

Mr. Matthew Lau – CPA, Corporate Controller, Artemis Gold Corp

Ms. Kathy Butler – Vice Chair and Head of Capital Markets (BC) CIBC

Mr. Spencer Chan – CPA, Manager Chan & Co. Chartered Professional Accountants

Mr. Alykhan Sunderji – LLP, Sunder Legal

Dr. David Hannah – Beedie Professor of Business, Management Consulting, Simon Fraser University

Dr. Darren Dahl – Dean of Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia

Mr. Benjamin Hagwood – Communications, Debate, Vancouver Debate Academy

Mr. Mike McIsaac – Managing Director, Baker Tilley Capital

Mr. Cameron Hui – Founder & Managing Partner, Ichthus Capital Partners

Mr. Benny Pulver – Associate Vice President Corporate Finance Inc., KPMG

Mr. Alroy Chan – VP, Mergers & Acquisitions, Westland Insurance Corp.

Dr. Ian McCarthy – Beedie Professor of Innovation and Operations Management, Simon Fraser University

We firmly believe that excellence breeds excellence.