Board of Directors

Geoff Catherwood, Director

Geoff is a Director in the Business Development Bank of Canada's Venture Capital Division. He is a registered Professional Engineer and has 14 years experience in industrial automation and process control. Prior to joining the BDC in 2001, he worked for a large multi-national industrial process control supplier. He brings diverse operational experience in the process automation industry including field service, system commissioning, engineering, management and sales. He currently administers BDC Venture Capital's "Advanced Technology" portfolio in Western Canada. This portfolio includes investments in companies that focus on Alternative Energy, Electronics, Advanced Materials and Clean Technologies. He is active on the boards of a number of early stage companies.

Geoff holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of British Columbia and an Executive MBA from Simon Fraser University.

Peter Charbonneau, Director

Peter Charbonneau joined Skypoint in 2001 and is a principal of Fund II. Prior to Skypoint, Peter was a senior executive with Newbridge, where he played a key role during the company's period of extraordinary growth and success. He joined Newbridge in its early days as chief financial officer and over the next 13 years was promoted to the positions of executive vice-president, president and chief operating officer, and vice-chairman. He was also a member of the company's board of directors from 1996 until 2000. As the CFO of Newbridge, he led the company's successful cross-border IPO in 1989 and its second cross-border offering three years later. As vice-chairman, he focused on enhancing the company's relations with key external stakeholders. He also worked closely with the chairman and management team to chart the company's strategic direction. While at Newbridge, Peter was instrumental in establishing the company’s Affiliates Program and was involved in the funding of more than 40 affiliate companies. He represented Newbridge as a board member for many of these affiliates.

Peter is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario. In June 2003, he was elected a Fellow of the Institute in recognition of his outstanding career achievements and leadership contributions to the community and his profession. Peter holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Ottawa and an MBA from the University of Western Ontario.

Kevin Fielding, Director

Kevin joined Alta Berkeley in 2003 and has a 20-year track-record of building and managing companies in the semiconductor industry both in Europe and in the US. Prior to joining Alta Berkeley, Kevin held the position of President and CEO of ParthusCeva (NASDAQ: CEVA). He also led several successful high-technology start-up activities, including Parthus Technologies plc (NASDAQ: PRTH) which had a successful IPO on the LSE and NASDAQ in 2000, and the StrongARM microprocessor business, acquired by Intel (NASDAQ: INTL) in 1998.

Prior to returning to Europe in 1998, Kevin spent 10 years working on several high performance microprocessor businesses. He was the General Manager of the StrongARM business in Palo Alto, CA prior to its acquisition by Intel in 1998, and also worked on the original Alpha microprocessor for Digital Equipment Corporation. Before moving to the United States, Kevin worked on high-speed processor design for Philips BV in Eindhoven and in Dublin. He also spent four years working in the research labs at the NMRC (National Microelectronics Research Centre) attached to University College, Cork, Ireland.

Kevin earned a Master's degree in Business Administration in 1992 from Northeastern University, Boston. In addition he received both Master's and BSEE degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Ireland at Cork.

Don Listwin, Director

A 25-year veteran of the technology industry, Don Listwin previously served as CEO of Sana Security and Openwave where he built the company into the worldwide leader in mobile Internet solutions. Prior to Openwave, Don was an executive vice president at Cisco Systems, where he oversaw business units totaling more than $12 billion in annual revenue. 
Don is currently founder and chairman of the Canary Foundation, a non-profit organization devoted to early detection of cancer, and also serves on the board of directors at Calix, Clustrix, Dwave, Genologics, Plumgrid, Joyent and the National Cancer Institute’s Board of Scientific Advisors. Don has previously served on the public company boards of Openwave Systems, JDS Uniphase, Redback Networks, TIBCO Software and E-tek.

Don holds a Bachelors of Science in Electrical Engineering and an honorary doctorate of Law from the University of Saskatchewan.

Maria Pacella, Director

Maria Pacella joined Pender in January 2017. She has been investing in emerging growth companies, with a focus on technology businesses since 2001. She spent 11 years with one of Canada’s largest venture capital firms where she invested in multiple early-stage ventures and served on a variety of boards, mostly in the areas of enterprise software, e-commerce and med-tech. Prior to that she worked at a digital media firm assisting the company in operational activities and strategic initiatives. She also worked in financial and technology M & A for the Canadian subsidiary of an international investment firm.

Maria’s experience includes operational roles at early‐stage companies, serving on boards, facilitating M & A’s and leading financings. She has built an extensive technology network across North America, notably in Silicon Valley, and has been a member of C100. She is currently a director on the board of Clarius Mobile Health and BasicGov and an observer on the board of Tantalus Systems. She is also on the SFU Beedie School of Business Advisory Board.

Maria holds a BBA from Simon Fraser University, is a CFA charterholder and an active member and a past President of CFA Society Vancouver.

Daniel Rubin, Director

Daniel I. Rubin joined Alloy Ventures in 1999. From 1991 he was a co-founder of Artisan Components, the initial VP of Sales and Marketing and subsequently, the VP of Business Development through their initial public offering in 1998. Prior to Artisan Components Dan worked at Ultratech Stepper in many roles including Director of Product Marketing and Managing Director of Asian Operations. Dan is a director of Teradici, Molecular Imprints, Gradient Design Automation and Scifiniti.

Dan received a BA in Physics from Pomona College (1982).

David Smith, Director

David is a high tech executive with 36 years of progressive management and leadership experience. A strategic thinker, natural leader and a savvy political tactician. A solid track record in building relationships, forging deals and driving business development activities. A team player with excellent communication skills, high integrity and a winning attitude. A passion for success and the ability to excel in a highly charged capacity.

David holds a BSCEng (Mechanical Engineering) from University of New Brunswick and an MBA (Finance and Marketing) from McGill University.