Tyler Engel, CFA, is the Director of Partnerships for Avatar Innovations. In this role, Tyler spearheads the development of connections Avatar has with government, academia, and industry alike. Prior to this role, Tyler spent 9 years at a large midstream energy company in Capital Markets.

Tyler is passionate about leadership development, alongside advancing conversations around the energy transition. He is eager to work with the EFL Partners Council in creating a dialogue everyone can get behind!

Lynda Beach embarked on her career journey 28 years ago in pursuit of interesting work, professional challenge and a meaningful career.  Lynda graduated in 1996 from the University of Calgary with a degree in Chemical Engineering. 

After working as a facilities engineer in gas processing for 4 years, she became convinced that she needed to direct her career toward using her Engineering degree to improve Environmental performance.  In 2001 she completed an M. Sc. In Clean Technology out of the Chemical Engineering department at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in England.  She worked in northeast England for 4 years as an environmental consultant for the food industry, local municipality, brick making and chemical plants.

In 2006, Lynda moved back to Calgary and started working for Shell Canada.  Inside Shell she’s worked as a Risk Advisor, Technical Safety Engineer, Non-Technical Risk Integrator, Business Advisor, Environment Manager and currently as the Global Discipline Head for Environment and Carbon.  Lynda both has a personal and professional passion for responsible business and believes that there has never been a better time to be an Environment professional.  

Along the way, she met her husband and together they have 2 teenage girls, and lots of fun!

An Albertan through and through, Justin Riemer has dedicated his career to strengthening the province he loves. Now the Chief Executive Officer of Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA), Justin leads the team dedicated to advancing innovations that are reducing Alberta’s greenhouse gas emissions and diversifying its economy. He has earned a reputation for skillfully navigating Canada’s innovation system, building relationships inside and outside of Alberta, and developing a strong network in support of innovation and economic development. For more than 25 years, he has achieved results in regional economic development, industry expansion, investment attraction, and innovation.

Before joining ERA, he led the Alberta Region of Prairies Economic Development Canada in the federal government to support economic development across the province. Prior to that, he held several senior positions focused on innovation and investment attraction at the Government of Alberta and briefly at Alberta Health Services. Justin graduated from the University of Alberta with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Political Science and went on to earn a Master’s Degree in International Affairs from Carleton University. Justin is happily married, has two grown boys and a daughter in law.

Mark Summers is the Associate Vice President for Agriculture and Environment at Alberta Innovates. In this role, Mark leads the strategic development and oversight of funding initiatives for Alberta Innovates in the areas of agriculture and food innovation, sustainable materials, and environmental sustainability. Prior to his current position, he was the Chief Innovation Officer and previously the Chief Strategy Officer at Emissions Reduction Alberta.

Mark serves in various volunteer capacities professionally, including as Chair of the Faculty Advisory Committee for the Faculty of Business, Environment, and Technology (FBET) at NorQuest College, as a member of the Future Energy Systems Strategic Leadership Advisory Board (FES SLAB) for the University of Alberta, and as a representative on the Energy Futures Lab Partners Council.

Mark is passionate about technology, innovation, collaboration, and perpetual betterment across all facets of professional and personal endeavour. Mark is a Professional Engineer who holds a BSc in Engineering Physics and a PhD in Nanostructured Engineering from the University of Alberta.

Colleen Collins joined the Foundation as Vice-President in 2015. She brings her research, business and policy expertise to the Foundation’s work as part of a team commitment to quality, clarity and usefulness. She is a frequent media commentator and experienced speaker on a wide range of issues important to the West.

Her broad range of experience in administration, government and academia reaches back to her early career in the late 1970s as a researcher in the office of then-Alberta premier Peter Lougheed. Collins earned her PhD in Marketing at the University of Alberta before joining the faculty at the Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University. She has taught extensively on marketing, research, and technology adoption as well as taking on administrative duties as Associate Dean. Her published academic research includes public policy, export development, entrepreneurship and marketing.

Among her many notable accomplishments, Collins drove the establishment of the Executive MBA in Aboriginal Business and Leadership, and created a collaboration with graduate schools in the U.S., Mexico and Brazil to create the Americas MBA for Executives.

Luisa Da Silva, B.Sc, MBA. Luisa began her career in the fossil fuel industry of northern Alberta, has diverse experience in the energy, mining, education, and not-for-profit sectors, and is influenced by her mining experiences in Canada and abroad. After a successful career as a professional geoscientist, Luisa worked with one of Canada’s top environmental charities before joining Iron & Earth.

Tom Du has over 15 years of consulting and corporate finance experience with experience in the for-profit, not-for-profit, and public sectors. He currently works at RBC as an Associate Director, Climate Risk Integration and was a Fellow with the Energy Futures Lab in 2022. He has worked overseas in Europe’s Sustainable Energy sector, and given sustainability talks in Germany, Greece, and Canada. Tom has written for various publications, including a book, Corporate Knights magazine, and the Globe and Mail newspaper. He specializes in sustainable finance and energy, with a particular interest in the design of alternative financing and business models to support the energy transition. Tom holds three degrees: a MBA from Schulich School of Business, a Master’s degree focused in sustainable energy systems, and a corporate finance degree. He also has a post-graduate diploma in business & sustainability as well as responsible investing and other certifications from the RIA, PMI, ECO, and CSI.