The Odlum Brown Forum Pitch Supporters
Learn more about the people who make this event possible.
Community Panel
The Community Panel represents a diverse cross-section of industries, backgrounds, and geographies. We're grateful to have their support through this year's programming as they lend their expertise to select the Semi-Finalists and 3 Finalists.
Melissa Allen (she/her)
Founding Partner, Capital M Ventures
Melissa Allen began her career in digital marketing at tech companies such as Torstar Digital and Google, before pivoting to an award-winning career in financial services at Desjardins.
Combining her passions for innovation and finance, Melissa became an angel investor in 2019. After selling her financial practice, Melissa began lending her expertise in ecosystem advisory and leadership roles at organizations such as LOI Ventures, League of Innovators, and Capital M Ventures, a pre-seed fund focused on brilliant founders that reflect Canada's diversity.
Mona Minhas (she/her)
Partner, Thrive Venture Fund, BDC Capital
Mona Minhas is a Partner with the Thrive Venture Fund at BDC. Thrive Venture Fund is a $300M Fund that invests in women-led technology companies that are solving some of the world’s biggest problems.
Mona is a former operator, and fractional CFO and COO. She has worked with several recognized venture-backed startups and founders helping them to grow and scale their businesses and secure capital. Plus, she’s an advising partner to Women’s Equity Lab Toronto, a Canada-wide angel investment fund that supports investing in early-stage companies.
Mona is an advisor and mentor to several startups in the ecosystem. She is a passionate advocate for women entrepreneurs, especially companies that are having a meaningful impact.
Nagar Rahmani (she/her)
Nagar is a professional with 15 years of experience spanning technology, investment, and ecosystem development. Possessing a background in capital and corporate development, she has a proven track record in fundraising, capital deployment, and cultivating strategic partnerships. Nagar is deeply entrenched within the tech ecosystem, an advocate for entrepreneurs, with a particular emphasis on fostering opportunities for women in business.
In her most recent role as a Partner at Maverix Private Equity, Nagar played an integral role in the firm's inception, contributing significantly to its establishment and growth. Prior to this, she co-led the Kensington Venture Fund, where she invested in venture funds across North America and early-stage technology companies.
Nagar has served on numerous boards throughout her career, and currently holds board positions at 7Gen and Mindframe Connect.
Rebecca Johnson (she/her)
Investment & Operations Associate, BKR Capital
Rebecca is a business strategy professional who operates at the intersection of people, processes, and technology to help companies advance to their next level of growth. Her experience spans strategy development, operational finance, organizational structure, startup funding, mergers and acquisitions, and stakeholder management.
She is currently an Investment and Operations Associate at BKR Capital, the first institutional black-led VC fund in Canada - where she oversees the fund’s portfolio and post-investment functions. She began her career in a startup and over the years has supported several early-stage companies in different capacities across financial, operational, and strategic roles.
Beyond creating magic at work, you will find her exploring her creative side through singing, designing, and cooking.
Rhiannon Davies (she/her)
Founding & Managing Partner, Sandpiper Ventures
Rhiannon has created, acquired, and led companies in Europe, Asia, South and North America, including as CEO of GVSC B.V, which became a $2Billion revenue subsidiary of GrandVision N.V.. She was Group COO and Board Director, taking the $ 5.5 Billion revenue eyecare company with businesses in 45 countries, through a period of rapid growth expansion into 20 new markets through multiple acquisitions, JVs and organic growth, to a successful IPO on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange. The GrandVision IPO ranked in the global top 10 IPOs in 2015.
This was her second exit, following the acquisition of Royal Numico N.V. by Groupe Danone in 2007. Rhiannon serves/has served on multiple private, public, crown and NGO boards.
As an active investor and mentor for early-stage technology companies, Rhiannon is motivated by the enormous untapped opportunity of investing in women and non-binary technology entrepreneurs as an underrepresented demographic that is overperforming. She is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Sandpiper Ventures, a Seed/Series A stage VC that invests in women technology entrepreneurs solving the world’s wicked problems.
Ziyi Shi (she/her)
Fellowship Director, BKR Capital
Bonjour hi! I’m a corporate lawyer passionate about technology, growth and bridging the informational gap for folks in the investment space.
I love working with mission-driven companies and investment funds. I was previously VP Legal and D&I Lead at Real Ventures. Prior to that, I was an M&A and insolvency associate at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt.
When I'm not lawyering, I love discovering new restaurants, reading about food history and spending time with my dog Timbit.
Activation Committee
The Activation Committee is a passionate group of volunteers who believe in the mission of The Forum and the power of the Pitch program. The committee is comprised of board members, past program supporters, and supporters of the organization. As dedicated members of the community, they support events and fundraising that help women entrepreneurs thrive.
Christina Brown (she/her)
Committee Co-Chair
Jessica Green (she/her)
Committee Co-Chair
Candy Wang (she/her)
Courtney Steeksma (she/her)
Dave Bustos (he/him)
Haleh Alexander (she/her)
Jenny Roberts (she/her)
Kate Dunstan (she/her)
Katie Chandler (she/her)
Mehrsa Raeiszadeh (she/her)
Nicole Parmar (she/her)
Orla O'Malley (she/her)
Ryan Benn (he/him)
Selena Woo (she/her)
Soha Lavin (she/her)
Wendy Hartley (she/her)
Mentors
The program Mentors are experts in growth, investing, and accessing capital. As experienced entrepreneurs and industry leaders, they act as helpful mentors to the Semi-Finalists and Finalists as they prepare and revise their pitches throughout the program.
SEMI-FINALIST MENTORS
Amy Rae (she/her)
Partner, Vanedge Capital
Amy Rae is a Principal at Vanedge Capital, focused on investing in SaaS businesses. Prior to joining Vanedge, Amy was a Vice President with Ziplocal (USA) where she was responsible for the development of new product rollout.
Amy has experience in both the investment and startup side of the business having been on the Investment side for 11 years and the startup operational side for 7 years.
Crystal Lo (she/her)
Investment Associate, InBC Investment Corp
Crystal Lo is an Investment Associate at InBC and has a deep-rooted belief in the power of capital to create a positive social impact. She has multi-faceted experience in gender-lens investing, impact investing, commercial lending and real estate development, with her professional experience spanning three continents.
Crystal holds a bachelor’s degree in global business from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and a master’s degree in real estate from The University of Hong Kong.
Katheleen Eva (she/her)
Investor, StandUp Ventures
Katheleen Eva is an investor at StandUp Ventures, a $55M AUM venture fund that invests in early-stage, women-led, b2b saas, digital health, and marketplace startups across Canada and the US.
Katheleen has a background in neuroscience and psychology, and being particularly passionate about women's health, was building in the space prior to joining StandUp Ventures in 2020.
Kookai Chaimahawong (she/her)
Executive Director, Centre for Climate and Business Solutions
UBC Sauder School of Business
Kookai is the Executive Director of the Centre for Climate and Business Solutions at UBC Sauder School of Business. She’s widely recognized for her expertise in impact investing and ESG strategies. Additionally, she serves as a Sessional Lecturer in Innovation and Entrepreneurship and is a board chair at the Vancouver Entrepreneurs Forum.
She’s a regular speaker and mentor in startups in sustainability and responsible investment communities globally.
Lina Ismail (she/her)
Co-Founder & General Partner, The Catherine Wheel
Throughout her career, Lina has been focused on working with founders who lead startups at various stages of growth. As an entrepreneur herself, Lina understands the challenges of building and scaling a business. Working with Fortune 500 companies, large enterprises, and innovative startups, Lina has launched and led new business lines and defined the strategic direction of notable brands. Passionate about helping entrepreneurs build industry leading businesses, Lina works with founders to balance entrepreneurial vision and creativity, with strong business fundamentals and rigorous preparation to help their businesses be the leaders of tomorrow. With her leadership and focus on developing the right teams and culture, Lina has helped transform and expand businesses into new markets while achieving exponential growth.
Lina is the General Partner of The Catherine Wheel. As a seasoned innovation and growth practitioner, Lina understands the challenges that entrepreneurs face and is dedicated to working with founders and their teams to create innovative solutions that drive growth. Lina is currently a strategic advisor with MT>Ventures and Holt Accelerator, and is also an Angel Investor and advisor to startups in the B2B fintech space.
Prior to founding The Catherine Wheel, Lina was a Managing Partner of thinki3, a consulting and advisory services firm that focuses on transformation and innovation within large scale enterprises and in the process connecting them with startups to accelerate growth. Her executive leadership positions include serving as Head of Product, Innovation and Marketing at Fundserv Inc., and Vice President of Products and Marketing and later Vice President of Client Relationship Management at Citigroup Fund Services. Lina also served in leadership roles in Larsen & Toubro Infotech Ltd and International Financial Data Services (IFDS) (in Europe known as State Street Bank).
Melanie Ewan
Manager Partner & Director of Operations, Volition Advisors
Melanie Ewan is a startup coach and gender equity researcher known for her work in community-based research and advocacy for women in business and tech.
She is Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Volition, an award-winning startup advisory firm, as well as Lead Researcher and Board Member at Women in Tech World (WiTWorld), a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing community-based research and programming for women in tech.
Raissa Espiritu (she/her)
Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Audaxa Ventures
Raissa Espiritu is Co-Founder & Managing Partner at Audaxa Ventures, an early stage fund investing in climate and health innovations led by diverse women and non-binary founders. She serves as Executive-in-Residence at UCeed Investment Funds, leading the Cenovus EDI Accelerator to dismantle barriers for equity-deserving founders.
A serial entrepreneur and community builder, Raissa has co-founded multiple ventures and is dedicated to systems change, inclusive leadership, and scaling impact through innovation.
Sarah Willson (she/her)
Associate, Panache Ventures
Sarah is an investor at Panache Ventures, a pre-seed and seed stage VC firm supporting inspiring Canadian founders at the earliest stages of building transformational companies.
Sarah is also an active member of the Tech4SickKids advisory council, Velocity investment committee, and Schulich ExEd Pitch Deck Advisory Group.
Thealzel Lee (she/her)
Founder, Director & President, e-Fund
Thealzel Lee is the co-founder and director of angel investment funds VANTEC Entrepreneurs (VCC) Fund Inc. dba eFund, Nelsa Investment (VCC) Inc. and the Montfort Capital Corporation (TSX.V:MONT) and a General Partner with Phoenix Fire Fund, an Archangel Fund.
She manages the monthly VANTEC Angel Network (VANTEC) and the Vancouver chapter of the Keiretsu Forum (Northwest Region) for the local startup community of entrepreneurs and angel investors.