A Bold Stage for Entrepreneurs

As the Scientific Manager with FBIC, Ana Cristina is responsible for managing the research/student team and resources required for all product and process innovation, food safety, analytical lab and label compliance services, and other technical service and applied research activities.
A trained food engineer and scientist with a PhD degree in food science, Ana Cristina has 10 years’ experience in food science and commercialization, including in development, troubleshooting and applicable packaging science and technology. Her most recent position was with Hela Spice Canada as a senior product developer.

Nick loves using data to find ways to succeed in the consumer goods sector. He particularly loves brands trying to take on important issues in the world around health, sustainability and other social impact issues while still being a market leader on traditional metrics. Nick has worked at NielsenIQ for over seven years on various clients (large and small), supporting them on various important issues from consumer insights to pricing and much more. Today, he supports mostly SMB CPG brands to help them win in a very competitive Canadian marketplace.

Mary Scianna is editorial director and co-owner of Grocery Business, the only national Canadian-owned trade publication for the grocery industry in Canada. She is actively involved in the grocery industry and has served as a judge for food competitions for more than seven years for the natural and organics products sector and CPG sector.

Jake Karls is a different type of business leader – unapologetically authentic, refreshingly relatable, and completely free of BS.
He is the Co-founder and Chief Rainmaker of Mid-Day Squares, the better-for-you chocolate snacking brand that turned a kitchen-table dream into a North American household name. Mid-Day Squares is leading the disruption of the chocolate industry.
Jake is recognized as a rising star in the business world. He’s currently a finalist for EY’s Entrepreneur of the Year awards, lead the category for Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list for (Food and Beverage), and is featured as a regular contributor to media outlets across North America.

Richa is a passionate entrepreneur and marketer with 20+ years of experience in Canada, USA and India spanning consumer packaged goods, retail, and fashion industries. Richa has experience building an award winning, values driven food brand from ground up. Her brand Good Food For Good is now available in stores across Canada and USA. Richa’s background in fashion, retail and Consumer Packaged Goods give her a unique mix of skills from trendspotting to consumer understanding to creating win-win solutions for all stakeholders. She mentors new businesses in Canada and USA about how to scale sustainably. Richa has an MBA in strategy and, marketing from Schulich School of Business and is actively involved with the entrepreneur community in Canada.

Martin started his career working as an art director on several national and international brands. He later shifted gears to join the client service side. Over the years, he has worked closely with brands in several segments such as CPG, healthcare, fashion, home décor, finance, alcohol, and cannabis to name a few. Martin’s ability to think strategically and creatively, develop deep and long-lasting relationships with clients and deliver high-quality work hasn’t gone unnoticed. He is an imaginative thinker able to seize opportunities, making it a launching pad for creating rich brand experiences.
As Head of Client Service, Martin oversees Pigeon client services team, who help drive all 360 integrated marketing and communications, design and packaging work, as well as all related client service.
Martin has been a key part of helping build and drive Pigeon’s client services team. He has brought in several new business clients since his start in the Fall of 2017. Martin will be collaborating on brand strategy development and bringing the agency’s brand narrative of “Making Brands Come True” to life.

An award winning multi-passionate serial entrepreneur, Ben is no stranger to the startup world having been involved with a number of early stage companies and organizations. In fact, he discovered an entrepreneurial streak at the ripe age of 14 while others where striving for good grades. Ben has always thought he would have done much better in school if only the child next to him had applied themselves a little more.

With the last 25 years being involved in technology companies, his current roles include President at InsightArk Inc., Co-Founder of ReactForge Inc and Board Member at AR Medical Technologies while also serving on a number of senior leadership roles at not-for-profit and community organizations. An invaluable advisor by some and a leadership chiropractor to others, no matter how Ben is described, clients and partners regularly welcome the impact and benefits that result from their work together.

In 2000, Ben co-founded the North American Association of Asian Professionals-Toronto (NAAAP Toronto) and currently serves as President. With Ben’s leadership in the community and steadfast stewardship, NAAAP Toronto is recognized as one of the leading Chapters in the NAAAP network encompassing 30 cities. Ben was Co-founder & Chair of the NAAAP Presidents’ Council (2015-2019) at NAAAP National.

Ben has served as a member of the Chinese Advisory Cabinet at SickKids Foundation and AFP Foundation for Philanthropy (Canada). His prior experiences include being Co-founder and COO of Xystar Technologies, Co-founder of Global Connexxions and was awarded the 1998 Chinese Canadian Entrepreneurship Best Business Startup Award, served on advisory committee for Enterprise Toronto, City of Toronto Economic Development Office. As Co-founder of United Nations Trade Point Toronto, Ben was involved with the United Nations Conference on Trade & Development and played a critical role in fostering the efficiency of world trade with industry partnerships.