SolarShare Annual General Meeting (AGM) 2026

On June 16th, 2026, SolarShare hosted its Annual General Meeting over Zoom. During this meeting, SolarShare updated members on our activities this past year, answered questions, and announced our upcoming events. Additionally, Mike Brigham, Pieter de Koning, and Devendra Kalwani were elected to the Board of Directors. Check out their bios on our website. Thank you to everyone who was able to participate in our AGM this year!

Check out the video below!

 

Agenda

7:00 Welcome – Brian Chang, General Manager

7:10  President’s Report – Mike Brigham, President

7:20  Tapestry Presentation – Chris Mohan, Product Manager​

7:25  Treasurer’s Report – Ron Seftel, Chair, Audit Committee

7:35  Finance Report – Doug Finley, Chair, Board of Directors and Finance Committee

7:55 New Business Report – Patrick Collie, Chair, New Business Committee

8:05 Sales & Marketing Report – Pieter de Koning, Chair, Marketing Committee

Election of Directors to the Board 

8:15 Voting instructions

8:20 Candidate Speeches

8:25 Voting & Results

8:30 Meeting End

 

 

Election 

For this year’s election, there were three open positions, with two directors, Mike Brigham and Pieter de Koning, running for re-election..

 

Candidates

Yong Yao

Yong Yao is a senior finance executive and board director with more than 25 years of leadership experience across financial services, healthcare, technology, logistics, and growth-stage businesses in Canada and internationally. He has served in CFO, board, and audit committee roles, with deep experience in financial oversight, governance, risk management, capital planning, and strategic growth. Throughout his career, he has worked closely with boards and management teams to strengthen financial discipline, improve decision-making, and support long-term organizational sustainability. Yong is interested in joining the SolarShare board because he believes community-based renewable energy plays an important role in building a more sustainable future. He is drawn to SolarShare’s mission of expanding access to clean energy while creating meaningful community participation and impact. He would welcome the opportunity to contribute his finance, governance, and strategic experience to help SolarShare continue to grow responsibly, remain financially resilient, and serve its members effectively. As a board member, Yong would bring thoughtful oversight, practical financial insight, and a collaborative approach to governance. He values transparency, accountability, and long-term thinking, and believes strong boards help organizations earn trust, stay resilient, and create lasting value for their members and communities.

 

Devendra Kalwani* ELECTED 

I’m a Toronto based finance executive with 15+ years in finance, the past decade focused on renewable energy. As AVP, Finance at Capstone Infrastructure Corporation, a Canadian renewable power producer with wind, solar, and hydro assets, I lead the financial reporting, risk management, project financing, treasury and board governance functions for Capstone’s solar and wind portfolios. Before Capstone, I earned my CPA at Deloitte serving clients such as Brookfield. I currently serve on SolarShare’s Finance Committee, where I’ve assisted on the co-operative’s financial planning and long-term sustainability. SolarShare is the natural complement to my passion and experience: I’ve built and financed industry scale solar at Capstone, and community owned solar is one of the most practical ways to broaden participation in the energy transition. I also know firsthand what’s ahead as SolarShare’s FIT contracted portfolio matures, I’ve personally led the refinancing and recontracting of Capstone’s own FIT assets. As a director, I’d bring hands on solar project finance and reporting expertise, disciplined financial oversight, and a member first commitment to transparency and long-term thinking.

 

Derek Wills*

Currently I am the Director, HR & Corporate Services for the not-for-profit Institute for Work & Health, overseeing all HR, financial and facilities functions. As a member of the executive committee, I have responsibility to the Board of Directors through the President and I sit on internal committees. My career began in the post-secondary hospitality business as a General Manager at Campus Living Centres – a small startup venture, where I drove exponential growth across Ontario and eventually became the Vice President and Director of Human Resources and Administration. I then accepted a senior HR role with a joint venture between SNC Lavalin and Pacific Architects & Engineers in a civilian project that supported the Canadian military in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Upon returning to Canada, I played a key role in pre-deployment training, securing visas with Afghanistan Embassy officials, and managing a multimillion-dollar travel portfolio with our airline and hotel partners based in Dubai, UAE. Most recently, also with SNC Lavalin, I was the Senior Director of Site Operations at ConocoPhillips’s 3,600 room lodging and dining facility in the Alberta Oil Sands south of Fort McMurray. I managed a world class hospitality operation, introducing unique services to both guests and my staff on rotational schedules creating home away from home experience. I also oversaw the safe evacuation and resource redeployment during the 2016 Fort McMurray forest fire. I earned my BA in Political Science at Brock University and am a active member of the Human Resources Professional Association. I look forward to bringing my extensive experience in human resource management to strengthen governance, support leadership, and help advance the organization’s long-term success. In my current role, I have developed a strong understanding of the importance of effective communication between management and the Board. Lastly, I am particularly motivated to support a not-for-profit organization whose mission aligns with sustainable energy and community impact.

 

Connor Donaldson*

Power expert, passionate about everything power! Have developed, built, operated, bought, sold, traded, litigated and everything in between for most generation types and utility structures in many different jurisdictions. Technically sound. Love development and commercial challenges. Toronto resident. Currently actively employed helping data centers get connected to the grid.

 

Sonia Vinogradova

Sonia is the founder of Spark Source Consulting, where she has installed two small solar arrays: one 5 kW grid-tied system and one 1 kW off-grid system. She focuses on farms because farmers understand the value of owning their own resources and using practical tools to build long-term resilience. Spark Source’s work has also been recognized through Sonia being named a Corporate Knights 30 Under 30 Sustainability Leader. Sonia is interested in joining the SolarShare board because she believes co-operative ownership is one of the most practical ways to accelerate renewable energy while keeping benefits rooted in local communities. She has served on SolarShare’s New Business Development Committee since January 2026 and would be excited to contribute more directly to SolarShare’s next phase of growth. She hopes to support new project development, member engagement, and strategies that make community-owned renewable energy more visible to climate leaders.

 

Pieter de Koning* REELECTED 

Pieter de Koning, P.Eng., MBA is a Professional Engineer and technology executive with more than 25 years of experience in renewable energy, energy storage, advanced manufacturing, and commercialization of clean technologies. He currently operates Nord43 Inc., an independent technical advisory practice supporting energy storage and clean technology companies in areas including system architecture, product strategy, certification planning, and commercialization. Pieter has held senior engineering and strategy leadership roles at e-Zinc, Temporal Power, Hatch, and Xerox, and currently holds two fractional executive leadership roles with Urban Electric Power and Electrovaya. His experience spans battery energy storage systems, microgrids, renewable power integration, manufacturing scale-up, and multidisciplinary engineering leadership. He has served on the Board of Directors of SolarShare since 2017 and has participated on the Operations & Maintenance, Finance, and Marketing Committees. During this time, SolarShare has continued to expand member engagement and community investment participation through its Solar Bond program. Pieter holds a BASc in Civil Engineering from University of Waterloo, an MBA from Rotman School of Management, and has completed executive technology strategy programs through Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is passionate about advancing practical, community-oriented clean energy solutions in Ontario.

 

Mike Brigham* REELECTED 

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.

 

*Board Endorsed