Shelley Kuipers

Co-founder and Co-CEO, The51

Shelley Kuipers, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of The51, is an activist in business, entrepreneurship and investment, driving business models that are more equitable, diverse, and sustainable. Prior to co-founding The51, Shelley was Co-founder of IOVIA, a consumer participation platform; Founder of a crowdsourcing company, Chaordix, and Co-founder of a software development and marketing firm, Stormworks. Shelley is also co-founder of her family office – Adventure Capital. 

Shelley is a serial private investor, in startups and entrepreneurs who embody the type of future she wants to see: namely, those that are sustainable, feminist, purpose-driven, and unafraid to disrupt old systems. She has been in early-stage investing for the better part of 20 years, with investment experience that started in energy, but quickly diversified into the tech sector with a focus on innovation-driven companies. Shelley is considered a global thought leader in the community, and she is highly sought after as a champion and mentor for entrepreneurs from around the globe. 

Superpowers: Entrepreneurial Visionary | Investment | Social Impact

Shelley's LinkedIn

Janice Webster

HR Consultant

Janice is a strong HR leader with global experience growing and transforming teams and cultures. Having led People functions in multiple international technology companies, including Solium (Shareworks by Morgan Stanley), Smart Technologies, Westjet, Athennian, and Replicon, she brings strong expertise in leadership development, DEI, organizational redesign, compensation, and team effectiveness at all levels in an organization, at any stage from startup to multinational.

Janice is passionate about transforming and growing organizations, teams, and people into the best they can be for themselves, their colleagues, and their communities.

Superpowers: People Leadership | Startup Culture-Building | HR Strategy

Janice's LinkedIn

Katherine Shierman

Sales Consultant

Katherine Shierman has been a top producing Customer Experience Sales Rep for 20+ years. She has IPO’d with 2 start-up companies as well as worked with large global corporations. Over the past 3 years, she has been working with local entrepreneurs establish sales playbooks and commercialization strategies. 

Superpowers: Commercialization | Customer Experience Sales | Sales Playbooks

Katherine’s LinkedIn

Mike Owens

Founder and Board Member at Absorb Software

Michael founded Absorb Software in 2003, which offers a cloud-based learning management system (LMS) software to over 23 million users at more than 1,400 organizations in 34 countries. The Alberta-based company has offices in London, Dublin, Tampa, Boston, Salt Lake City, and Sydney. An entrepreneur at heart, Mike bootstrapped Absorb for the first 14 years; then after getting their first investment, they acquired and integrated 4 companies into the Absorb family. In 2021 an equity firm made a $500-million US investment in Absorb, and is still headquartered in Calgary, and proud to help grow the tech diversity in Alberta. He is dedicated to mentoring and coaching his staff to reach their full potential.

Super Powers: Scaling Companies | Fundraising | M&A

Mike’s LinkedIn

Laura Davis

CMO at Rimes Technologies

Laura is an international marketing leader known for driving business growth across diverse geographies and industry sectors. With a focus on collaborating with founders, executives, and boards, Laura excels in crafting marketing strategies that fuel revenue growth, customer acquisition, and tangible results. Her extensive expertise lies in successfully scaling and marketing financial services, fintech, and information technology solutions, particularly in AI, cloud, and SaaS-based businesses. 

Super Powers: Brand development | Market positioning and Segmentation | Content and digital strategy

Laura’s LinkedIn

Karla Boskers

Executive Director, Product Management at Morgan Stanley at Work

Karla leads the Shareworks Product team with a focus on global public and private equity plan management solutions. With a robust background spanning over 20 years in software development, Karla started as a developer in large telecommunications before transitioning into various product leadership roles. In 2017, she entered the financial services industry, joining Calgary's Solium Shareworks team as the technology lead for the Morgan Stanley partnership. During the subsequent acquisition, Karla played a pivotal role in leading the integration of product and development teams into the larger Morgan Stanley entity, contributing significantly to shaping the stock plan administration product strategy. 

Super Powers: Product Management | Product Strategy | Partnership Management

Karla’s LinkedIn

Victoria Stephenson

Chief Financial Officer at StellarAlgo

Victoria, a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) with a decade of expertise, specializes in strategic finance for scale-up and high-growth tech companies. Her skills encompass leading corporate governance, spearheading strategic finance initiatives, and facilitating investor communications. With a background at PriceWaterhouseCoopers, she served as a trusted advisor to tech firms and played a key role in scaling the finance function at Symend before joining StellarAlgo. Beyond her professional endeavors, Victoria is passionate about supporting women in technology and sports, dedicating volunteer time to various charities in these domains. Her enthusiasm extends to contributing to the growth of the sports-tech ecosystem.

Super Powers: Corporate Governance | Investor Communication | Finance Operations 

Tory’s LinkedIn

Tahira Jamani

Global Mindfulness Facilitator & Founder at The Chain Reaction

Tahira Jamani, the visionary Founder of The Chain Reaction, is a trailblazing Mindfulness & Emotional Intelligence Facilitator known for her unparalleled dynamic approach to human performance and motivation globally. A certified teacher of the Search Inside Yourself (SIY) Program at Berkeley University, Tahira brings over a decade of expertise to her engaging sessions, seamlessly blending the latest research in mindfulness and emotional intelligence. With a transformative journey that began during her years in human resources and business operations, Tahira's personal exploration of mindfulness, backed by 10 years of practice and study, has fueled her passion and successful career change.

Super Powers: Mindfulness & Emotional Intelligence | Corporate Resilience Skill Building | Leadership Training 

Tahira’s LinkedIn

Nadia Niazy

HR Consultant

Nadia comes with an expertise in strategic People and Culture initiatives along with Talent Management and Employer Branding in scaling organizations, especially technology companies. She has worked in Calgary based tech companies including StellarAlgo, NeoFinancial and Harvest Builders, where she played an integral role in developing high performance teams and coaching leaders to take the start-up business to the next level. As an HR leader, she has focused on bringing on more diverse talent and creating a positive sustainable culture in the workplace. 

Super Powers: Talent Management, Coaching, DEI , Culture and Engagement 

Nadia’s LinkedIn

Sarah Morrill

Partner at 321 Growth Academy

Sarah Morrill has spent the past 15+ years working with big brands, early-stage startups, and tech ecosystem organizations, she has been in the trenches leading teams from strategy and planning to execution. Sarah started her career in advertising working in agencies before moving to client-side marketing with big brands like WestJet. The big ‘ah-hah’ moment happened when she moved to working with tech startups. These fast-paced environments allowed her to flex her strengths in product marketing, brand building, lead gen, people/HR/culture and, of course, strategy. Sarah is a partner at 321 Growth Academy, leading Business Development and leveraging her experience to help entrepreneurs achieve their goals and positively impact our ecosystem. More than 500 companies that have come through 321 Growth Academy's programing to learn the art of selling and evolution of nailing product-market fit!

Super Powers: GTM | Scaling Revenue | Marketing

Sarah’s LinkedIn

Mark Simner

CEO at TMA Systems

With 15+ years of financial leadership, Mark excels in business integration, FP&A, strategic planning, and analytics. He previously served as VP at Catamaran, managing COGS functions with $20+ billion in revenue. As CFO of Accertify, an American Express Company, he played a key role in global operations and business integration. Mark's expertise extends to roles at American Express, GMAC Financial Services, and GMAC in Germany, showcasing his proficiency in financial management, regulatory reporting, and risk management. Although he currently works for an American company, he is an avid supporter of Calgary and values the opportunity to contribute to the local professional landscape. 

Super Powers: Strategic Planning | Operations | Change Management

Mark’s LinkedIn

Vicki Laszlo

Head of Marketing at Virtual Gurus

In a dynamic 15-year career across tech and consumer brands including Twitter, Benevity, and Starbucks, Vicki has excelled in marketing, prioritizing the goal of building enduring customer connections. Her strengths span growth, digital marketing, product launches, competitive analysis, and cross-functional collaboration. As a dedicated leader, Vicki actively champions diversity, equity, and inclusion, integrating these values into innovation and growth initiatives. 

Super Powers: Growth and Digital Marketing | Campaign Planning | Brand Strategy | Data Analytics

Vicki’s Linkedin

Allison Swelin, MBA

Director of Growth at My Normative

With over 10 years in the tech industry, she excels in building high-performing teams through trust and vulnerability. Notable for her role in creating Garmin Health, she orchestrated the development of a global API partner ecosystem, driving its growth to $25M in under 3 years. Currently, she is the Director of Growth at My Normative, a female-focused health platform, Allison contributes to bridging the sex and gender health equity gap through data-driven processes. Committed to diversity and inclusion in Canada's tech sector, she chaired the Chic Geek board from 2020-23 and recently joined the Fast and Female Board.

Super Powers: Product strategy | Go-to-market | Partnerships | Organizational Behaviour and Culture

Allison’s LinkedIn

Amy Wang

Chief Financial Officer at Userful

Amy is a financial leader with over a decade of experience in the FinTech and SaaS industry. As the current CFO at Userful, the leading provider of software-defined AV over IP solutions, she plays a vital role in developing and expanding the Company’s Finance and Administration functions. Known for her proven track record in guiding organizations through scale-up phases, Amy has held key leadership positions at Morgan Stanley and Solium. In these roles, she made significant contributions to M&A activities, financing initiatives, and overall strategic financial management. Amy's passion lies in fostering sustainable growth and profitability within the ever-evolving tech ecosystem.

Super Powers: Financial Planning & Strategy | Financing | Operational Efficiency | Global Expansion

Amy’s LinkedIn