About SolarShare

Ashley Reid

Director

Ashley Reid is a designated Chartered Professional Accountant who holds an MAES in planning from the University of Waterloo and a passion for sustainable economic development. Living in France 25 years ago she became aware of the cultural difference in energy consumption. She has since visited 46 countries on 5 continents and continues to be perplexed why culturally in Canada we are not reducing consumption & migrating to sustainable, renewable energy. After completing her designation, she began a career in the private sector working for publicly traded organizations where shareholder profits were at the core of business decisions. In the search for meaningful employment she spent 6 years working as an internal auditor for a local economic development charity. She currently operates a practice in the Region of Waterloo enabling her to spend time with her small children. Ashley has a strong commitment to her community and has past volunteer experiences including the Kitchener Economic Development Advisory Committee, Waterloo Audit Committee and working with the Kitchener-Centre Green Party of Canada EDA.

Doug Finley

Director

Doug was the President of CCH Canada and worked toward building the complex tax compliance software used by every top accounting firm in Canada. He held full P&L responsibility, overseeing major investment evaluations, as well as marketing and sales efforts, and human resources planning. Recently, Doug has taken on a consulting role, working with founders and investors to execute the growth of small software companies. Doug holds an MBA and an HBA from the Ivey School of Business at Western University and is a member of the Ontario Fundraising Committee for the Nature Conservancy of Canada. He got involved with SolarShare in 2018, as a member of the Marketing Committee, and has subsequently provided invaluable support to staff and other Committee members in achieving annual bond sales targets. In addition, as a member of the Finance Committee, he assisted in the development of the new Offering Statement in 2019.

Glen Campbell

Chair

Glen Campbell is an investor and independent consultant, with a 35-year career as a consultant (with Andersen Consulting and Bain and Company), equity research analyst (Head of Canadian Equity Research and Global Coordinator for Telecom Services Research with Bank of America Merrill Lynch) and corporate management (as Chief Commercial Officer at Wind Mobile and SVP Wireless Planning at Shaw Communications). He has an MBA from UBC and a BA (Economics) from the University of Western Ontario. He owns two MicroFIT solar projects and is the past chair of the Ontario regional board of the Nature Conservancy of Canada. Glen lives in Toronto with his wife and three daughters.  

Graysanne Bedell

Vice-President

Graysanne is a retired corporate-commercial lawyer with experience as a director and officer of non-profit and for-profit corporations. In her role with a venture capital firm she managed investment transactions and fund governance. Previously she was the corporate Secretary of a public company and general counsel to its largest division. She acted as the designee of The Atmospheric Fund (TAF) on the board of a start-up which organized and financed commercial energy retrofits, and is now a director of TAF. Volunteer work has included: helping create the Community Forward Fund (a fund lending money to non-profits); 30 years on the board of a women’s social service charity (Street Haven at the Crossroads); local environmental groups. 

Mike Brigham

President

Mike Brigham is a Toronto-based small business owner with a passion for renewable energy. He designed and installed his first off-grid solar electric system at his island cottage north of Toronto in 1985. Mike is both co-founder and president of SolarShare, still very active today in the operations and maintenance of SolarShare’s 51 projects. His private foundation funds various activities to fight climate change, particularly focusing on promoting the use of electric vehicles.

Patrick Collie

Director

Having worked in the solar industry since 2014, Patrick currently holds the position of Project Manager at Liberty Power, a subsidiary of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp., where he manages the development and construction of 20 - 200+ MW utility-scale solar energy projects. Algonquin actively invests in hydroelectric, wind and solar power facilities, and utility businesses (water, natural gas, electricity), through its two operating subsidiaries: Liberty Power and Liberty Utilities. Prior to Liberty Power, he worked in a variety of Project Management, Engineering, and Construction roles within the Ontario FiT Solar industry at GP Joule, Solar Provider Group, and RESCo Energy. Patrick is a Professional Engineer who studied Mechanical Engineering at Queen’s University and is a NABCEP Certified PV Installation Professional.

Pieter de Koning

Director

Pieter de Koning is the VP Engineering at e-Zinc, a technology start-up developing a zinc-based energy storage system. He has 26 years of experience in technology development, feasibility studies, competitive research, marketing and business development. Prior to e-Zinc, he was the Director of Production for Flywheel Energy Storage company, and before that ran projects in Energy Storage, Renewable Power, and Microgrid at Hatch and as an Independent Consultant for clients including Canadian Solar, NRCan, WindSmart, and Amp Solar. Prior to joining the cleantech space Pieter worked for Xerox and Spin Master Toys and holds several patents for his work. Pieter is a Licensed Engineer with a Civil Structural degree from University of Waterloo and MBA from Rotman at UofT with a double major in Marketing and Technology Innovation. Pieter has been on the SolarShare board since 2017 and is currently the chair of the Marketing Committee.

Ron Seftel

Treasurer

Ron Seftel is a financial executive with over 25 years of experience managing the financial and operational aspects of several small, entrepreneurial led businesses. Currently the CFO of Parity Inc., one of the fastest growing companies in Canada the past 2 years specializing in energy efficiency for multi-family buildings across North America. Prior to Parity, he spent 12 years with Bullfrog Power, one of the leading renewable energy companies in Canada as CFO, COO, and for the past 3 years as CEO. During that time, he obtained an in-depth knowledge of the Canadian renewable energy landscape and negotiated over 50 renewable energy contracts valued at over $100MM.

Shama Ahmed

Director

Shama Ahmed is part of TD Bank's Marketing Operations Team, where she champions strategic projects for the VP, North American Marketing Operations and acts as a process and change manager, driving large-scale initiatives and operating models. Prior to that, Shama was part of the Global Corporate Citizenship at TD, where she oversaw the annual investment of over $15 million in communities across Canada, supporting TD's corporate philanthropic strategy in the areas of Financial Literacy, Social Finance and Indigenous Peoples. Shama also spent 5 years at TD Securities in numerous roles within Global Risk Management. She has extensive experience with the Federal Government, having spent time with the Departments of Finance as well as Indian & Northern Affairs. Shama holds an M.A. in Economics from McGill University and an MBA from the Rotman School of Management.

Audit Committee

The Audit Committee supports the financial audit and related matters, including the integrity of SolarShare’s financial statements and internal financial controls. Specifically, the committee monitors the independence, qualifications and approval process for the external auditor, facilitates and guides the annual financial audit, ensures the integrity of SolarShare’s financial statements and reviews SolarShare’s financial systems and internal controls. The committee is convened when required, generally around the time of the annual audit.

Members:

• Ashley Reid (Chair)
• David Robertson
• Thomas Haubenreisser
• Ron Seftel

Finance and Planning Committee

The Finance and Planning committee supports financial and planning decisions, develops SolarShare’s Offering Statement, annual budget and monitors progress against plan. The Finance and Planning Committee is a standing committee and meets monthly.

Members:

• Doug Finley (Chair)
• Glen Campbell
• Ron Seftel
• David Robertson
• Mike Brigham
• Thomas Haubenreisser
• Amy Zhang

Governance Committee

The Governance Committee provides recommendations to the board with respect to identifying, drafting, maintaining and recommending governance policies and procedures, real or perceived conflict of interest and other governance matters. The Governance Committee is a standing committee that meets at a minimum on a quarterly basis.

Members:

• Graysanne Bedell (Chair)
• Shama Ahmed
• Newton Chan
• Ashley Reid

Human Resources Committee

The Human Resources Committee oversees hiring, performance evaluation, retention, compensation and training of SolarShare employees and provides a direct link for employees to the Board. Specifically, the committee oversees the annual employee performance review, conducts the review of the General Manager, provides input into human resources materials, recommends employee hiring, discipline, termination, compensation and benefits, and provides guidance regarding specific human resources issues. The committee is an ad-hoc committee and meets when required.

Members:

• Shama Ahmed (Chair)
• Ashley Reid
• Jen Aitchison

Marketing, Sales and Communications Committee

The Marketing, Sales and Communications Committee supports the development and implementation of marketing strategies to solicit membership and investment, reviews and provides input into marketing and communications campaigns, and develops strategies on marketing communications, government relations and sales. The committee is a standing committee and meets at a minimum on a quarterly basis.

Members:

• Pieter de Koning (Chair)
• Doug Finley
• Thomas Haubenreisser

New Business Committee

The New Business Committee guides and assists with the identification, negotiation and purchase of contracted or operating FIT projects and portfolios. The committee also identifies, assesses and recommends new business models and supports investigation of new business opportunities.

Members:

• Patrick Collie (Chair)
• Mike Brigham
• Graysanne Bedell
• Richard Sung

Operations and Maintenance Committee

The Operations and Maintenance Committee consults with staff on issues relating to the day-to-day operation of SolarShare’s assets. Specifically, the committee reviews the contracts with third-party service providers, monitors expenditures and monitors expenses against plan, analyses solar facility performance, and advises staff on maintenance, service calls, warranty work, insurance claims, purchasing and inventory, and seeks ways to improve system performance and reduce maintenance costs. The committee is a standing committee and meets on a weekly basis.

Members:

• Mike Brigham (Chair)
• Brian Ross
• Ambrose Raftis
• David Crockett
• Imran Atcha

Bob Ross

Operations & Maintenance Coordinator

Bob has managed over 300 solar projects throughout North America utilizing his skills in design, evaluations, engineering, installation, commissioning and monitoring. He enjoys sharing his knowledge through teaching in the Renewable Energy Techniques program at Conestoga College.  Prior to joining SolarShare, Bob was a Project Manager at Efston Science (eSolar) and Operations Manager at Solar Ontario. He managed his own building contracting company for 25 years.   

Chris Caners

P. Eng., General Manager

Chris is a professional engineer with more than fifteen years of experience in energy and sustainability, and is responsible to the board of directors for the management, operations and strategy of SolarShare. Prior to joining the co-operative in 2016, Chris was a Senior Manager with the consultancy ICF, where he advised business and government on GHG verification and management, renewable energy, energy efficiency and environmental sustainability. He has also worked with the innovative company M-Kopa Solar (Kenya) and was the Manager of the University of Toronto Sustainability Office. Chris is a director of the Ontario Co-operative Association and has acted as a director and committee member for the Clean Air Partnership and the Grants and Special Projects Committee of the Toronto Atmospheric Fund respectively.

Canadian Worker Co-op Federation

The Canadian Worker Co-operative Federation (CWCF) is a national, bilingual grassroots membership organization of and for worker co-operatives, related types of co-operatives (multi-stakeholder co-ops and worker-shareholder co-ops), and organizations that support the growth and development of worker co-operatives. CWCF offers a Self-Directed Registered Retirement Savings Plan and Self-Directed Tax-Free Savings Account Program that enables co-operatives and similar types of enterprises, including non-profits, to capitalize their ventures with securities held within Registered Plans. Many SolarShare investors hold their Solar Bonds in RRSPs and TFSAs with the CWCF.

Tapestry Community Capital

Tapestry Community Capital is a non-profit co-op that supports other co-ops and non-profits in raising and managing community investment. Tapestry provides back-end investment management for SolarShare.

TREC

TREC is Canada’s leader in the development of community owned renewable energy. They are a non-profit co-op supporting other co-ops, Indigenous communities and social enterprises with their Community Member & Investment Services, and informing policy through research and advocacy efforts. In 2009, TREC founded SolarShare.