Will Cadell

Board Chair

Will is the CEO of Sparkgeo, a geospatial technology company, and the Chair of ICS – Hubspace’s Board of Directors. Compelled to create mapping experiences on the web, Will founded Sparkgeo, a geospatial consulting firm, in 2010 and his company has grown to be a leader in the geospatial world.

In the past year, Will’s business has expanded rapidly and taken on a number of new projects. In May of 2021, they opened an international office in the United Kingdom to take advantage of opportunities arising in the UK, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East in the Finance, Sustainability, and Technology sectors. They launched the MERMAID (Marine Ecological Research Management AID) Project with the Wildlife Conservation Society, an open-source platform for coral reef data. This tool will create transparency around coral reef health and empower institutions with the data they need to take action on reef health. Will is an advocate and a leading force in the push for the use of geospatial data to help us make better, more sustainable decisions.

John Kason

Vice-Chair

John is a Portfolio Manager and Certified Financial Planner at Fieldhouse Capital Management Inc. servicing the Prince George Region, the Okanagan, and the Greater Vancouver Area. He is an active member of the community as a mentor and educator. Over the years, John has become a regular contributor to CBC Radio, CBC Online, and CKPG TV/Radio, and has been asked to provide financial training for School District 57, retirement preparation seminars for Canfor and investment planning and entrepreneurship development seminars for the College of New Caledonia. John is an active Rotarian and has been a Director on the Board of the Downtown Prince George Business Improvement Association for several years.

John is a passionate advocate for harnessing the power of financial instruments to advance the needs and priorities of Northern BC. Three years ago he launched the Fieldhouse Enhanced Pension Plus Fund and this year hit $50 million in assets. This is the first mutual fund launched from Prince George.

Dr. Kathy Lewis

Director-at-Large

Kathy Lewis is currently Acting Vice President of Research at UNBC. She is a Professor and former Chair of the Ecosystem Science and Management Program at UNBC. She teaches courses in forest health and researches the ecological roles of biotic disturbance agents in forests and the influence of management practices and climate change on forest health. Recent service to UNBC includes membership on the Board of Governors, the Academic Structure Collaborative team for the Academic Action Plan, and the Senior Lab Instructor Promotion committee. She is also actively involved in outreach and community-based activities. Recently, the Canadian Institute of Forestry granted Dr. Kathy Lewis its Canadian Forestry Scientific Achievement Award. The award recognizes those who have made “innovative and outstanding achievements in forestry research in Canada.

Dr. Dennis Johnson

Director-at-Large

Dr. Johnson is the President and CEO of the College of New Caledonia and brings 29 years of experience in the post-secondary sector to CNC. Prior to CNC, he served in two vice president roles at Saskatchewan Polytechnic including Provost and Vice President Academic since September 2018 and Vice President Strategy and Business Development since 2016. Dr. Johnson holds a Ph.D. Educational Administration from the University of Saskatchewan, Master of Education, Post-Secondary Studies from Memorial University of Newfoundland and a Bachelor of Education, Adult Education from Brock University.

Lynda Pattie

Director-at-Large

Lynda Pattie is an experienced Project Manager who has successfully led and delivered a diverse scope of strategic planning, process engineering and information technology projects in the post-secondary and health care sectors. Lynda has led major process change and re-engineering projects for Northern Health Authority, Yukon College, Thompson Rivers University, University of Northern BC and the University of Victoria. Lynda has over 15 years of implementation and enterprise system planning experience across a diverse platform of industries, platforms and functional areas. She has experience with academic, administrative and business performance metrics and has extensive experience in the design and development of data warehousing initiatives, technical design and implementation and enterprise systems planning. Lynda’s experience in business process analysis and optimization spans across most areas of the administrative sector of the enterprise and several academic areas. Lynda offers extensive program management experience coupled with detailed functional/technical expertise in the health and post-secondary sectors.

Dr. Kafui Monu

Director-at-Large

Dr. Kafui Monu is a recently tenured Associate Professor at the University of Northern British Columbia. He does research and teaches about how information systems can be used in business to make work more efficient and effective. He is currently working on incorporating sustainability into the curriculum for the School of Business and to form even stronger ties between the business community and the School’s programs.

Andrea Sterling

Director-at-Large

Andrea Sterling is a Professional Biologist based out of Prince George. After starting her career working as a researcher for the Federal Government then for a consulting company, Andrea started her company, Sterling Applied Biology Ltd. Sterling Applied Biology specializes in surface water monitoring and restoration, salmon stock recovery options, aquaculture, and marine biology. The technology available to support biological and ecosystem projects is evolving rapidly. Andrea enjoys applying new methods to get the best possible data for a given project. Innovation Central Society highlights opportunities and challenges of applying innovative technologies in remote areas as they support entrepreneurs and innovation in Northern BC. Andrea grew up in Horsefly, BC and loves to spend time there with her two daughters.