Our Team
CICG has four directors who work closely with a diverse, reliable and dedicated team of professional business leads and experienced writers with targeted areas of expertise. This enables CICG to give you the precise support you need at every stage of your project. Our team members can fully lead and manage a project, or they can be brought in to fill specific resource gaps.
Directors
Brian Stewart
Brian has worked in the Commercial and Post-Secondary sectors, and has gained over 30 years of executive level experience.His focus has been on improving operational effectiveness, reducing and eliminating costs, strategic technology management including process innovation and the application of technology to product and service innovation. He is a leading proponent of the ability of digital technologies to transform organizations, co-authoring a book Phantoms Ex-machina, authoring a MOOC, and speaking internationally on Digital Transformation. Brian is a serial collaborator and is on the board of national and provincial organizations. He has been a leading participant in a number of collaborative Higher Education sector initiatives, including Alberta ShareIT and the ARUCC Student Mobility Initiative.
Deanna Douglas (Senior Project Manager)
Deanna leverages networks to achieve strategic objectives. She approaches challenges from the perspective of increasing innovation. A project manager, networker, workshop presenter, and reviewer, Deanna works across and between organizations to seek and deliver projects that present a “win-win” for partner organizations. She holds a BA, and her role on science and engineering, small business, and funding teams serves to round out her ability to support businesses and non-profits alike.
Dietmar Kennepohl
A Professor of Chemistry and former Associate Vice President Academic at Athabasca University who has also worked at major institutions abroad and served in administrative positions on a wide range of national and provincial disciplinary associations, accreditation boards, and government organizations. He is a well-published and sought-after presenter at local, national and international conferences, on topics including learning design, learning outcomes, assessment, PLAR, transfer credit, quality assurance, institutional development and change, distance and online education, and emerging educational technologies.
Margaret Haughey
Brings creativity and innovation to organizational strategic planning. Margaret recognizes the importance of innovative thinking and the need for frequent repositioning of strategic goals to keep the organization focused on the development and realization of contemporary educational models in this turbulent 21st century environment.
A former teacher, instructional designer, researcher, recognized expert in distance education, and senior executive in a range of provincial and national educational settings, she believes in collaborative engagement at all levels to foster the development of authentic learning environments.
Margaret holds doctoral and masters degrees in educational administration from the University of Alberta and an undergraduate degree from Queen’s University, Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Project Managers
Ana Clementin, MPH, PhD
Ana is a scientist trained in business development, management, and the basics of accounting, finances and patent law. Ana has held senior management roles and has been responsible for the operational aspects of most of the public health, healthcare and biotech non-for-profit and private organizations she has worked at. She also has experience in managing manufacturing projects.
Jane Halford, FCA, ICD.D
Jane is driven to help organizations and leaders achieve their goals. By leveraging her experience as a board director, chartered accountant, regulator, entrepreneur, and her passion for leadership development, Jane brings a breadth of experience to the individuals and teams she works with. Jane is an active board member with experience in non-profit, private company, and public sector organizations of all sizes.
Rick Davidson
Rick has experience in advising entrepreneurs with focus on startups and growth stage companies through his over 7 years at Alberta Innovates. He is an experienced sales and business development professional, who also excels at establishing and developing partnerships. He has extensive experience in business and strategic planning; and is well versed in developing and implementing sales, marketing and promotional programs. Rick holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree.
Senior Business Advisors
Chris Lerohl, M.Eng, MBA
Chris is the business development and strategic lead for Honest Dumplings, previously he was the Business Development (BD) Manager at TEC Edmonton where he managed the BD team and developed an R&D program (UA Solve) to $500k revenue within 2 years. His role supported entrepreneurs in both business development and technology development. His strengths include; developing strategic partnerships, people management, identifying market opportunities, analyzing the strength of new technologies and helping to determine the best commercialization strategy. He has technical and research experience in food, agriculture, energy systems, clean technologies, and communications.
Ahmad Yehya, MBA
Ahmad Yehya is a seasoned, versatile, and accomplished executive leader with a wealth of experience in the Consumer-Packaged Goods and Logistics industries. With a proven track record of founding, building, and scaling successful companies, Ahmad combines strategic insight with operational expertise to drive sustainable growth.
As the co-founder of Nabati Foods Inc. in 2014, Ahmad was instrumental in the company's rapid growth and eventual public listing on the Canadian Stock Exchange (CSE). His exit from Nabati Foods in 2021 marked a significant milestone in his career, further establishing him as a visionary leader.
In addition to his entrepreneurial success, Ahmad is the CEO of Green Union Capital, a family investment firm specializing in CPCs, IPOs, and real estate investments. He has also consulted for small cap firms, providing strategic guidance in the go-public process, making him a sought-after advisor for companies looking to scale and succeed in competitive markets.
Business Analysts
James Yip
Drawing from professional experience with public, private, and non-profit sectors, James is a results-driven facilitator of business intelligence and analysis for strategic planning. He is passionate about helping people and organizations develop business and capital planning strategies that are grounded in research and data.
Writing Professionals
Regardless of what business they’re in, every successful organization needs a reliable, professional writer. Your written material, whether it be an important grant application or a memo to a client, represents your organization and the qualities it stands for. To an outsider, poor writing reflects poor standards.
Like many organizations, you may not have room on your payroll for a full-time writer. Don’t despair! We have a solution for you: CICG writers can fill this gap in your team’s skill-set without encumbering your team. We work quickly, effectively, and according to your needs.
Our team of trusted professional writers and editors are highly trained and have a long history of providing our clients with exceptional, creative quality work. Together, they have decades of combined years experience executing projects including:
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Grants
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Requests for Proposals (RFPs)
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Business plans
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Company manuals, handbooks, and written policy
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Website copy writing
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Market assessments
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Investor and shareholder reports
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Editing and proof-reading
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Media work
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Other business writing projects
Jurate Motiejunaite
Jurate’s writing expertise involves grant applications for Alberta Innovates and IRAP and Business Plans. She has worked with a myriad of industries including software companies, Oil & Gas companies, small start-ups and NGOs in Europe.
Specialty Advisors
Paul Sparrow-Clarke
Paul has considerable experience in developing complex documentation, including academic program proposals, business plans, technical writing documents, business processes, strategic plans, annual reports, funding proposals, and government reporting requirements. He is skilled in gathering information from multiple sources, writing and editing material in plain language for maximum impact, and managing documentation projects for prompt submission. In the post-secondary realm, Paul has developed and managed academic quality assurance processes, and has created and run workshops on how to do quality assurance in postsecondary education.
Specialty Advisors
Brittney Roy
Brittney’s people-centered approach to writing, research and collaboration allows her to compose clear and comprehensive written materials for her clients. Tackling every challenge with curiosity and enthusiasm, she is skilled at designing, developing and curating information for a wide range of projects including; proposals, grant applications, annual reports, marketing/sales materials, and research reports.
Her unique blend of design facilitation and business development make her an excellent addition to the CICG team.
Specialty Advisors
Specialty Advisors
Trevor Prentice, MSc (Intellectual Property and IT)
Trevor has extensive expertise assessing, managing and commercializing patents and other forms of intellectual property. In addition to his work with CICG he currently runs a business called The IP Link, educating, advising, and supporting entrepreneurs with their patents and other IP. Trevor also has front-end web design and development experience and knowledge on digital data acquisition and management tools and strategies.
Greg Bates (IT Consulting)
Greg brings over 30 years of sales and marketing experience to CICG. He has specialized in the sale of software solutions, technology and professional services. From payroll, financial solutions and IT infrastructure, Greg is passionate about creating a collaborative environment that helps organizations improve their workflow and effectiveness while simplifying their efforts and processes. Greg also enjoys creating marketing campaigns and events that bring different organizations together to solve business challenges. Greg joined CICG to help tech startups realize their vision and them drive towards success. Greg believes that the best solutions come through collaboration and “what if” conversations.
Melvin Stickland (Agriculture)
Melvin graduated from the U of A with a BSc in Agriculture in 1968. Following graduation, Melvin spent many years co-managing and managing his family farm, Stickland Farms, where he grew the business into a
multi-faceted successful seed venture that grew canola, pulse crops, and cereals and doubled the cropping acres. Melvin managed the farm for 46 years, during which time he also helped launch the Alberta Canola Growers Association, served on the Alberta Seed Growers board, the Western Barley Growers Association, and the Western Grains Research Foundation.
Melvin spent 2 years co-managing a CUSO canola project in Peru, and later 6 weeks volunteering in Moldova with CESO, (Canadian Executive Service Overseas), helping a local farm manager set up a farm business plan for a large mixed farm. He also volunteered, again with CESO, to help a group of local farmers in Cameroon Africa set up their business plan for a small coconut palm plantation.
Melvin spent 3 years representing the Central Alberta branch of the AIA (Alberta Institute of Agrology) on its Alberta council as a PAg (Professional Agrologist) and more than 40 years a member of the AIA.
Teresa Wang (Graphic Design)
Teresa graduated from the Universidad de Bogotá Jorge Tadeo Lozano (UJTL) in Bogota, Columbia in 1992, one of the most prestigious graphic design schools in Colombia, South America. Teresa has worked as a graphic designer since 1991, including at Pictograma Ltd. and at Góndola-SA, two of the biggest design firms in Colombia. During this time, Teresa also taught at her alma mater (UJTL). From there, she worked at J. Tang & Associates Design Ltd. as a packaging designer and was at Intuit Canada for 11 years. She has been an independent graphic designer since late 2009.
Teresa has 25+ years of experience designing a variety of projects including logos and brand guidelines, software retail launch campaigns, marketing print collaterals, email campaigns, website design and internal communications. She specializes in print design projects such as annual reports, government reports, manuals, brochures and book covers, etc.
