Meet the visionary team behind Bioenterprise Canada

Lorelei Graham

Board Chair

Lorelei Graham is a Partner at law firm Bennett Jones where she practises intellectual property law with a significant focus on clients in the food and agribusiness sectors. She has developed a practice that addresses all aspects of her food and agriculture clients’ intellectual property needs, from initial consultations regarding IP strategies to drafting, filing and prosecuting patents, trademarks, industrial designs and copyright in Canada, the United States and internationally. Graham has also written extensively on the growing role of precision agriculture in agribusiness.

Colin Farnum

Board Director and Innovation Advisor

Previously the Senior Director, Innovation and New Technologies at Maple Leaf Foods, Colin is a seasoned food science/business professional with 40+ years of food experience. Having worked in multiple food categories he has led teams of 5 to 20 Food Scientists responsible for product and process development, cost containment and cost reduction. Since his retirement he has continued his involvement through a combination of consulting, mentoring and Bioenterprise Board work.

James Meddings

Board Director

James Meddings was in the federal public service for 32 years, and most recently served as the Deputy Minister of FedDev Ontario for the past five years. Previously, he held increasingly senior roles with the Canadian Human Rights Commission, the Privy Council Office, Human Resources Development Canada, Environment Canada, the Canada School of Public Service and Western Economic Diversification. Prior to his retirement, Meddings was a board member with Communitech Corporation and served on the Toronto Region Board of Trade Recovery Framework Steering Cabinet, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce’s Advisory Council on Ontario’s Economic Future, the U.S-Canada Innovation Partnership and the federal government’s Advanced Manufacturing Sector table. He also represented Canada on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Regional Development Policy Committee for the last six years.

Richard Cloutier

Board Director and Innovation Advisor

Richard Cloutier brings nearly 40 years of expertise in the deployment of innovation, business start-ups and business development strategies, including managing partner of the Ecofuel Fund, a venture capital fund that invests in climate tech including agri-tech. He has also been President and CEO of the Centre québécois de valorisation des biotechnologies (CQVB), an organization dedicated to innovation and technology transfer in Quebec’s bio-industry sector, and was the founder, president and CEO of Gelkem, a private biopharmaceutical company involved in controlled drug delivery systems. Cloutier holds a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Sherbrooke University and an MBA from Laval University and is frequently consulted on innovation strategy development.

Joanne Fedeyko

Board Director

Joanne Fedeyko is the Founder & CEO at Connection Silicon Valley (CSV), an organization that helps accelerate Canadian startups from Seed to Scale, and the Founder of the Canadian Women’s Network (CWN). With over 800 members, CWN is the preeminent community that connects Canadian founders to an influential network of U.S. investors, mentors and executives to help them grow locally and scale globally. Fedeyko is the co-founder and general partner of Women’s Equity Lab Silicon Valley, an angel investment fund with the mission to increase the number of female investors in early-stage startups. She hails from Alberta and has lived in Silicon Valley since 1999.

Michael McGee

Board Director, Director of Innovation, and Investment Advisor

Michael has been investing risk capital in small and medium enterprise businesses since the early 90’s, most recently as a Partner with Avrio Capital, a Calgary based fund focused on Agriculture and Food.

Prior to joining Avrio in 2012, Michael spent eight years in senior investment positions at two Calgary based family offices, most notably, as Managing Director – Investments with Werklund Capital Corp. and as Executive Vice President – Investments with Cavendish Investing Ltd.

Michael also has extensive institutional experience in Mezzanine / Sub-debt financing stemming from his seven years with Bank of Montreal Capital Corporation, where he was recruited at its genesis in 1996 and where as Managing Director, he launched its Western Canadian office in 1997. Michael was also a Vice President & Director – Toronto Dominion Bank Capital where he was involved with the launch of their subordinated debt initiative.

Michael has extensive board experience with both private and public companies, as well as with the Venture Capital Association of Alberta. He remains a Director of Durum Properties Ltd., Chairman of the Finance Committee of St. Michael Catholic Community and Treasurer of the Valley Ridge Community Association.

Michael has a Master of Finance degree from Loyola University, Maryland and an undergraduate degree from Western University.

Scott Ross

Board Director

Scott Ross has been the Executive Director of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture since 2022. Prior to that Scott served as CFA’s Assistant Executive Director and Director of Farm Policy, where he covered a wide variety of agricultural issues. 

Scott has extensive experience in collaborating across the agri-food sector to achieve ambitious goals, most recently including co-founding the Agriculture Carbon Alliance, a coalition of 17 national farm associations advocating on behalf of farmers with regard to carbon pricing and environmental policies.

Dave Smardon

President & CEO

Since 2005, Dave Smardon has led the development of Bioenterprise Canada, Canada’s Food & Agri-Tech Engine, the leading national accelerator focusing solely on food and agriculture technologies. Bioenterprise Canada delivers significant impact to Canada’s economy through Dave’s vision of supporting innovative, high-growth food and agriculture businesses through funding programs and mentorship that match their potential. Dave is advocating for a united agricultural ecosystem nationally, mirroring the collaboration and cross-regional knowledge-sharing that has made other top-performing countries global leaders in technology and commercialization.

His background in venture capital and corporate leadership includes Apple Computer Inc., and Texas Instruments, as well as angel investment and his own entrepreneurial pursuits. Dave is also an advisor for government, family offices, investment companies, and innovation centres nationally, where his leadership has influenced the progression of Canada’s agriculture industry; an industry which is at the forefront of global innovation and economic development. This balance of finance and corporate experience, coupled with public interest ensures a healthy relationship with government, private sector corporations, and multi-nationals. Dave’s leadership continues to educate the expanded agricultural ecosystem on the potential to adopt and expand emerging technologies in sustainability, digitization, and automation.

Dr. Rickey Yada

Scientific Advisor to the Board

Dr. Rickey Yada is Professor and Dean, Faculty of Agricultural, Environmental and Life Sciences at the University of Alberta. From 2014 to 2024, he was Dean of the Faculty of Land and Food Systems at the University of British Columbia. Prior to UBC, Dr. Yada was at the University of Guelph where he held numerous leadership roles, including Chair, Department of Food Science, Assistant Vice President Research, Canada Research Chair in Food Protein Structure, and Scientific Director of the Advanced Foods and Materials Network (Networks of Centres of Excellence Canada).  

Dr. Yada is a co-editor of Trends in Food Science and Technology and serves on the editorial boards of several journals. Aside from Bioenterprise Canada, he is an advisor to other Boards of research and industry organizations, such as the Canadian Food Innovation Network and Saltagen Ventures Limited (Hong Kong). Other positions include External Advisory Committee Member at Arrell Food Institute; Member of the Scientific Advisory Panels at Riddet Institute (New Zealand), AgResearch (New Zealand); and External Advisory Committee, Sydney Institute of Agriculture, The University of Sydney (Australia). 

Dr. Yada is the Past President of the Deans Council of the Faculties of Agriculture, Food and Veterinary Medicine in Canada; Past President and Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Food Science and Technology, and the International Academy of the International Union of Food Science and Technology; as well as a Fellow of the Institute of Food Technologists, and Agricultural and Food Chemistry Division of the American Chemical Society. Dr. Yada has an honorary DSc from the University of Guelph.  

Nevin McDougall

Financial Advisor to the Board

Nevin is an accomplished business executive, entrepreneur, and investor with 30 years experience in industry-leading, innovative agri-business organizations.  He has led business operations for companies such as BASF in both North American and International markets with expertise in commercial operations, R&D, and executive management.  He has also been involved as an investor, entrepreneur, and coach to several small and medium sized companies in the agri-food sector.  He brings broad perspective and governance capability to the organization from past roles in industry associations, non-profit, public and private company boards.