Meet our board members who help us execute our mission with passion and dedication, providing invaluable guidance and expertise. Their collective experience and strategic vision ensure our continued success and growth.
Michelle Sklar
Board Member | LinkedIn
Michelle Sklar is a strategic communications leader with expertise in performance driven growth marketing, storytelling, community building and entrepreneurship. With over two decades of comprehensive achievements in both B2B and B2C industries, Michelle has a proven track record as an executive leader in digital marketing, PR, strategic partnerships, and company building. She has focused her professional career development on scaling ideas to impact in the Emerging Technology, Digital Media, Events, Retail and Nonprofit industries. Michelle is the Head of Venture Growth with entrepreneurship@UBC, Board Executive for the Vancouver Entrepreneurs Forum, and most recently the recipient of BC Business Woman of the Year – Community Builder.
Francis Steiner
Board Member | LinkedIn
Francis Steiner is a specialist in building early stage companies from idea identification to team building through to business development and sales. He has launched 5 companies with the last one exiting to Phillips. He has worked in the UK as a strategy consultant across multiple industries for PE firms. He has a BA from the University of Toronto and an MBA from London Business School.
Sergio Berretta
Board Member | LinkedIn
Over twenty-five years of industrial experience on the scale-up, de-risking, and detailed engineering design of novel process technologies, including fifteen years working in the design and commissioning of large chemical plants worldwide, with projects in four continents. Past vice-president and chief operating officer of BC Research, a Canadian research and development service provider with international reach. One of the founding executives of the Carbon Capture and Conversion Institute in Canada. Designer and developer of UBC’s SPE 505 course, Technology Commercialization for the Manufacturing Industry, and co-designer and co-developer of UBC’s CHBE 488-588 Carbon Capture, Conversion, and Sequestration Technologies.
Angèle Beausoleil
Board Member | LinkedIn
Dr. Angèle Beausoleil completed her PhD in Innovation Process and Pedagogy at UBC (Fall 2016), following a 25 year professional career as a strategist, marketing and innovation executive for creative consultancies, technology companies, international consumer packaged brands, and non-profit companies. A recovering entrepreneur, she leads research on educating and advising global to hyper-local organizations on design-driven business models and market-driven products and services. As an award-winning teacher, she is passionate about developing future innovators and customer-centred intrapreneurs/entrepreneurs. Angèle formerly taught business design and innovation management at UofT's Rotman School of Management, and is a guest lecturer at the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business.
Mariia Radaeva
Board Member | LinkedIn
Mariia is a Bioinformatics PhD student at UBC, specializing in computer-aided drug discovery for prostate cancer. She has a strong interest in data science and currently contributes her expertise to a digital health startup by providing valuable insights from patient biometric data. She is equally passionate about entrepreneurship and organizes networking events that facilitate connections between scientists and business-minded individuals. Currently, she is doing an internship at McKinsey in Toronto.