Tarah Ferguson is the Operations Manager at the BC Innovation Council (BCIC) in Vancouver and the Founder and Creator of the interview series, Tarah Talking Tech. Capitalizing on the incredible entrepreneurs and events she was privy to working at BCIC, she founded Tarah Talking Tech, an interview series featuring entrepreneurs, CEOs and VCs working in tech. In September 2014, she launched her Women In Tech interview series to empower and inspire the next generation of women to pursue careers in technology and become future founders themselves. In this series, Tarah focuses on celebrating the achievements and abilities of women, by providing role models for the next generation of career driven women.  As a result of this initiative, Tarah was nominated for the 2015 YWCA Women of Distinction Award in the category of Community Champion. Tarah holds a BA, Honours in Psychology from Carleton University, sits on the Programs Committee for the Science World Equity Giving Committee, and is an Advisor for Business in Heels Vancouver, a networking group for female entrepreneurs.

Meredith Powell is a serial entrepreneur, rule breaker, tech geek and creative.

Meredith built brand management and business strategy agencies in the fashion industry, opening showrooms across the US and Canada, all before the age of 27. Quickly she partnered with top global brands including H&M, Saks Fifth Avenue, Urban Outfitters and Amazon, dressed the likes of Sarah Jessica Parker and Julia Roberts, and was featured in NY Times, InStyle and Vogue.

Today, Meredith pays it forward as the Creator of event group The Collective, Advisory Board member to RAW Beauty Talks and Founder of national charity, The Next Big Thing Foundation, with her dear friend Ryan Holmes (CEO, Hootsuite).

Meredith’s work has been recognized by CTV, Wall Street Journal, BC Business, Techvibes, The Province, Globe & Mail, Notable.ca ("Entrepreneurship", 2014) and YWCA Women of Distinction Awards among others.

Grace Quan is the CEO of Hydrogen In Motion Inc. (H2M), which specializes in developing mobile hydrogen storage tanks. Grace has a vast range of financial and managerial experience in private and public sectors from managing a Flying School, to working in a Provincial Minister’s office, to acting as Senior Advisor to the CFO helping to manage the $2.7 billion dollar budget for the Treasury Board Secretariat of the Government of Canada. Her career in the federal government also includes international development with both the Canadian International Development Agency and the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development.

Maryam Sadeghi, director of Digital Health Hub and CEO at MetaOptima Technology Inc., completed her PhD in Computing Science at SFU in the Medical Image Analysis lab. She is interested in e-Health and m-Health applications and innovative patient-centric digital health solutions.

Maryam took home the Gold award at the World Congress of Dermatology in Seoul, Korea, for creating a computer program that uses images to detect signs of skin cancer and was awarded the Silver Medal at the International ACM Student Research Competition from Microsoft Research and the Anita Borg Institute for her research.

In 2012, she founded MetaOptima in Vancouver, Canada, developing intelligent technologies for health related real-life problems. It was one of ten companies shortlisted for the 2013 BCIC New Ventures Competition and in February 2015, MetaOptima was listed as a “Ready to Rocket” emerging tech company in Life Sciences by Rocket Builders.

Maryam continues her research and projects as a University Research Associate and the Director of Digital Health Hub at SFU in Surrey. She is co-chair of the Mayor’s Health Working Group for Surrey’s Innovation Boulevard project and also works with high-school students in programs such as Let’s Talk Science and Try/CATCH.

Donovan Woollard, Director, RADIUS Ventures

Donovan’s work focuses on translating great sustainable business ideas into great sustainable businesses.   

In 2013, Donovan became the director of RADIUS Ventures, an impact business incubator at SFU’s Beedie School of Business.  Through RADIUS’ six-month Slingshot and seven week Trampoline programs, Donovan helps impact businesses become market and investor ready. 

Since 2010, Donovan has also run Transom Enterprises to launch and grow sustainability sustainability-oriented businesses. These include Persephone Brewing Company, Victoria Car Share Coop (now part of MODO) and Local Garden, a large-scale vertical farm in downtown Vancouver.

Prior to Transom, Donovan spent four years as COO of Offsetters, Canada’s leading carbon offset and carbon management firm.  He has also worked for Vancity, BC Hydro, and Ecotrust and worked the graveyard shift at a half-way house. 

Donovan has an MBA from UBC’s Sauder School of Business, a Post-Baccalaureate Diploma in Community Economic Development from SFU, and an undergraduate degree (Hon.) in philosophy.