Meet the 2015 BDC Mentorship Award Winner

“[Jeff’s] enterprise level marketing background was a critical part of meeting our goals. Without him, we would not be where we are today. Due to his help from marketing through to networking and human resources, we are able to change the world for the better… Jeff has never asked for anything, but his contributions have been enormous.”
Matthew Hudson, Mentee
Jeff Ryzner
Winner, 2015 BDC Mentorship Award, Presented by Futurpreneur Canada
Vice President
The Eureka Project
Region Represented: Central
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Jeff Ryzner has been helping companies successfully commercialize technology for almost 20 years. He is a founding partner of three tech startups, including two SaaS-based software solutions for health care facilities in North America.
Jeff is very active in the startup community and works with companies every day through a variety of entrepreneurial support organizations including Futurpreneur, ICTAM, Innovate Manitoba, New Media Manitoba, Startup Winnipeg and The Eureka Project.
Today Jeff is a senior management consultant and the founder of Endgame Business Strategy, an aboriginally owned and operated consultancy that works with technology companies and startup support organizations across Canada.
Read the Futurpreneur Blog to learn more about Jeff Ryzner.
Meet the 2015 BDC Mentorship Award Finalists
These individuals were selected by Regional Selection Committees to represent all of Canada in competition for the 2015 BDC Mentorship Award, presented by Futurpreneur Canada.

“Greg has always been someone I look up to and more importantly trust. His innate ability to mentor is second to none. He listens, processes, and then asks the right questions. He is a true mentor as he is always “coaching” not telling. He knows that I have the right answers deep down and he always finds a way to help me come to my own realizations.”
Katherine Regnier, Mentee
Greg Sutton
CEO
TinyEYE Therapy Services
Region Represented: West
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Greg Sutton is the Co-Founder and CEO of TinyEYE Therapy Services, the first company in the world to provide speech language pathology services online. Greg and his sister/business partner, Marnee Brick, have taken their company from being a small start-up to emerging as the world leader in online speech therapy – providing services in 12 countries and 5 languages. It is TinyEYE’s vision to be the number one advocate in the world for children finding their voice.
Previous to TinyEYE, Greg spent 5 years as the Executive Director for the Saskatchewan Advanced Technology Association. During the dot com boom of the late 90’s, Greg was part of the Management Team for a start-up web based travel guide company in South East Asia. When the tech bubble burst, the company was dot gone, and Greg moved on to South America where he wrote travel guides for the Amazon region.
Greg has a bachelor’s of commerce degree from the University of Saskatchewan, is a windsurfing fanatic, plays hockey year round, and resides in Saskatoon with his lovely wife Michelle.

“Bryan is examplar of what a mentor needs to be. He opens the doors you need to learn, provides coaching when required, and provides a sounding board to work through new challenges. Bryan is an integral part of Toronto’s start up community, leveraging his network and experiences to help young companies like mine. Bryan listens to your unique business needs and does not try to apply a one-size fits all approach. He seeks to understand and works to give you tools you need to be a success. As a solo-founder, it’s been great having Bryan in my corner.”
Mark Lesiw, Mentee
Bryan Watson
President
EP Enterprises Inc.
Region Represented: Central
Toronto, Ontario
A serial and social entrepreneur, Bryan believes that entrepreneurship is a critical life skill and is key to economic growth. For over a decade, Bryan has mentored hundreds of companies believing that strong mentorship can mean the difference between success and failure. Bryan has also indirectly supported entrepreneurs though founding such organizations as StartupDrinksTO as well as advised all levels of government regarding entrepreneur-supporting initiatives. A Chevening Scholar, Bryan has also been Director and Executive Director of organizations such as the National Angel Capital Organization, Precarn Incorporated, CleanTech North and a plethora of growth companies.

“Serge gives 110% all the time. He is available to gives advice and provides help and solutions every step of the way. He listens and speaks his mind. He shares his knowledge as best he can with all of his mentees. If he can’t meet a need or answer a question, he does some research and finds mentors in his network who are able to help. He is always available.”
Karen Alexandra Preston, Mentee
Serge Dion
Engineer and economist
Hydro-Québec
Region Represented: Central
Montréal, Quebec
Serge Dion is a typical intrapreneur from a great Québec corporation. Now retired, after a fruitful career at Hydro-Québec, Serge worked in every major division as an industrial engineer and economist.
Serge is active among many mentoring cells in Montreal. In the last 5 years, he has mentored more than a dozen entrepreneurs at different stages of their business development, even start-ups. Thanks to this experience, Serge has developed a new approach to enhance the efficiency of mentoring interventions and he gives frequent workshops on business model generation for young entrepreneurs.

“Entrepreneurship is a tough, but Ellen makes herself available to listen. Ellen is up to date with current trends, is well connected and has been a valuable resource for my company. Ellen was the first person I contacted when I had an idea about starting a business. She was the first to pilot our software and has never looked back. Without her guidance and taking a risk in me and my product, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”
Matthew Fanning, Mentee
Ellen Farrell
Associate Professor
Saint Mary’s University
Region Represented: East
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Ellen is a PhD in Entrepreneurial Finance and leads the Entrepreneurship programs at Sobey School of Business. She is on the Board of SMU Enactus and has coached dozens of entrepreneurs to hundreds of thousands of dollars in finance. Some of her mentees have successfully exited very profitable firms, and others have gone on to lead publicly traded companies. Ellen’s entrepreneurial portfolio in manufacturing, communications, and real estate development contribute to her credibility. She is so inspired to help entrepreneurs that she created the Order of Entrepreneurship — an award that recognizes students who are putting themselves through university by running their own businesses. Her ground-breaking work in Entrepreneurial Ecosystem research contributes to her insight with the entrepreneurial community, and she has won and been nominated for 12 teaching and mentorship awards. Part of her value proposition is to provide all of her mentees with access to great contacts and relationships derived from her own personal network.

“Dr. Cooper is one of the most motivating, positive individuals I have ever met. He sees the potential in everyone and allows them to reach higher levels of achievement by encouraging them to develop their skills while still providing a realistic perspective on the situation as a whole. Many, many people have learned from his efforts. He is involved in many different activities all with the eventual goal of encouraging others to better themselves and achieve their goals.”
Niraj Shukla, Mentee
Tom Cooper
Associate Professor – Faculty of Business
Memorial University
Region Represented: East
St. John’s, Newfoundland
Tom is currently an Associate professor at the Faculty of Business Administration, Memorial University in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador.
He lectures in the areas of strategy, risk management, management consulting at both an undergraduate and graduate level. His research is primarily focused on the interplay between strategy and risk management.
Tom also acts as an advisor to a number of organizations in Canada and is a Certified Management Consultant. He is the current Chair of StartupNL and a private investment firm Freshwater Capital. He is also a past Board Member with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Newfoundland and Labrador.

“Devon is so much more than just a mentor. She is now family, she is now a friend, she is a coach and an advisor. She has helped us grow both personally and as a business. Life is beyond business and Devon has always made sure that we are finding balance between our personal lives and our business lives.”
Zach Berman, Mentee
Devon Brooks
Advisor and Activator, Co-Founder of Blo Blow Dry Bar
Devsdevelopment
Region Represented: West
British Columbia
Devon defined a new market category, co-founding Blo Blow Dry Bar in 2006. Born from a second-year university project, the company spans four countries, with 52 locations, and has collaborated with international mega brands like Mattel, Guess and Gwenyth Paltrow. PROFIT Magazine, and MSN.com have named her 1 of the 30 most Fabulous entrepreneurs in Canada. Devon believes in elevating ecosystems through entrepreneurship and activism. Canada’s Minister of Labour and The Status of Women, featured her this year during Women’s History Month; and, McGraw-Hill Ryerson have highlighted Devon in the textbook edition of ‘Balderson: Canadian Entrepreneurship & Small Business Management’ set to be released in 2014.
Devon Brooks has recently joined the Futurpreneur Canada Board of Directors. As a result, she has withdrawn her application to the 2015 BDC Mentorship Award. Futurpreneur Canada is delighted to have an outstanding mentor like Devon join our Board of Directors and add her experience, knowledge and passion to the mission of promoting youth entrepreneurship in Canada.