Advisory Council

Wellington Financial LP's Advisory Council reflects a deep and varied group of talented and accomplished individuals, including:

John L. Albright: 

John is Co-Managing Partner of the BlackBerry Partners Fund™ and Managing Partner of JLA Ventures. John has held senior positions with several private equity and venture capital firms. During his tenure in the private equity and venture capital business John gained extensive experience assisting entrepreneurs and managers to shape their vision and capital plans into successful long term growth programs which typically involve an aggressive financing strategy. John has a history of assisting entrepreneurial companies through significant growth and eventually to the public markets. His ability to work with and advise senior management of investee companies, as well as his skills in filling supporting roles where existing management lack the experience or skill set, has been vital to the success of past investments.

John is a Chartered Financial Analyst and received his Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the Schulich School of Business at York University.

John serves as a director of QuickPlay Media, Nexage, Viewdle, B5 Media, I Love Rewards, GlassBox TV, Istopover and the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (CVCA) and is an advisory board member of the North American Venture Capital Association.

Jeffrey S. Chisholm

Mr. Chisholm is the former Vice-Chairman of Bank of Montreal. He retired in 2001 following a highly successful 23-year career in the financial services industry in Canada and the United States. Mr. Chisholm is a past-President of the Royal Winter Fair and is currently a director of a number of public and private companies, including The Amex Bank of Canada and Certicom Corp. (CIC:TSX).

Greg Ebel

Mr. Ebel is President and CEO of Spectra Energy Corp. (NYSE:SE) a US$14 billion energy company. He also serves on the board for DCP Mainstream, a joint venture between Spectra Energy and ConocoPhillips and a leader in natural gas gathering and processing and the production and marketing of natural gas liquids.

F. Lee Green

Mr. Green has more than 20 years in the software industry. He was the North American founder and former Chairman and CEO of Triple G Systems Group, Inc. (TGG:TSX), a world leader in medical laboratory information systems. Triple G was acquired by GE Medical Systems (a subsidiary of General Electric, GE:NYSE) in August 2003 for $84 million. 

Charles S. Jones

Mr. Jones is former President & CEO of Geac Inc., a global ERP software company with more than 2,000 employees. Mr. Jones led Geac's turnaround from its 2001 share price of $2/share to its $12.70/share acquisition in 2006 by Golden Gate for in excess of $1 billion. 

He currently leads Bedford Funding, a US$400 million software buyout private equity fund based in White Plains, N.Y.

Greg Kiessling

Mr. Kiessling was co-founder, chairman and CEO of Sitraka (originally KL Group), formed in 1989. Sitraka was Canada's largest self-financed software company before it was sold to Quest Software (QSFT:Nasdaq) in November 2002 for US$52 million. Mr. Kiessling is now Executive Chairman of Bullfrog Power Inc., Ontario's first 100% green electricity retailer. Mr. Kiessling is also Chairman of the development committee of the Regent Park Community Health Centre's Pathways to Education (P2E) program. 

Capt (N) Senator The Hon. Dr. Hugh D. Segal, C.M.

Member of The Senate of Canada for Kingston-Frontenac-Leeds. Currently a director of several companies, including Energy Savings Income Fund, Gluskin Sheff + Associates, General Motors of Canada Advisory Council, SNC-Lavalin Group, St. Lawrence Cement, Chair of the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation and is a Governor of Kingston General Hospital. Former Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of Canada and Associate Secretary of the Ontario Cabinet, Mr. Segal is one of Canada's better-known public policy experts. Since 1999, Hugh Segal has been President of the Institute for Research on Public Policy of Canada and has taught at Queen's University Schools of Policy Studies and Business since 1993. In 2003, he was awarded the Order of Canada and holds a Doctorate in Law (honoris causa) from the Royal Military College of Canada.

John Varghese

Mr. Varghese is currently a Managing Partner at VentureLink LP., (formerly a wholly owned subsidiary of C.I. Mutual Funds). Skylon is the manager for the VentureLink Group of Funds where Mr. Varghese is responsible for the management and investment activities of the fund. Currently Mr. Varghese is an observer or board member on eight companies, including acting as Chairman of Orion Securities Inc. and Chairman of Ventus Energy Inc. Mr. Varghese's professional experience ranges from venture capital and investment banking to senior management and board of director roles in various industries. He has held senior management roles within multi-national corporations and early stage entities including Royal Bank Capital Corporation, Midland Walwyn Capital Inc. (Merrill Lynch Canada), Dell Computer Corporation and Jim Pattison Industries Ltd. 

Mat Wilcox

Mat Wilcox is CEO & founder of Wilcox Group, one of Canada’s largest national independent public relations firms . Throughout her career, Mat has demonstrated that she is one of Canada’s best-known communications strategists. She has tackled some of the largest and most complex issues in Canada’s recent corporate history, making her expertise unmatched in the country. Mat has managed crises and events that include significant M&A, IPOs, corporate office closures and downsizing, corporate governance issues, avian influenza, the B.C. Interior forest fires and SARS. This year, Mat was honoured as a winner of the Women’s Executive Network Canada's Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Award in the category of professionals.

Mat is a Board Director for XM Canada/Canadian Satellite Radio Holdings and S’Cool Life Fund. She is also a member of the Globe and Mail’s monthly business advisory panel for business incubation.