IAC Team

Focus: Leading IAC’s national presence, Mike oversees operations and the implementation of IAC’s strategic programs and services

Background: With 25 years of technical strength and global expertise in IP, Mike is a recognized leader in IP and the patent strategy market. He has worked extensively with the technology practices of major law firms, the in-house corporate counsel teams of key technology companies and external licensing agencies to develop, support and execute complex patent strategies.  

Fun fact: Mike enjoys sports and coaching youth basketball and baseball.

Focus: As Vice President of External Relations at the Innovation Asset Collective (IAC), Ashley leads the team responsible for member experience, ecosystem partnerships, marketing, and events. Her work centers on delivering strategic value to members, expanding IAC’s community of innovative cleantech companies, and forging partnerships that strengthen Canada’s intellectual property and cleantech ecosystems.

Background: Ashley brings extensive expertise in marketing, operations, project management, and partnerships. She previously served as Vice President of Operations at DNAstack, a Canadian startup using software to accelerate AI-powered research. During her time there, she led the team through a period of rapid growth, doubling its size and securing millions in funding through collaborative projects. Earlier in her career, Ashley worked at the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH), where she drove global collaboration among leading genomics experts. Together, this international community developed standards to promote responsible genomic data sharing for health research.

Fun fact: Ashley enjoys spending Canadian summers at the lake where she paddles, swims, and hikes with her dog, Ginny.

Focus: Providing strategic leadership centered on innovation strategy to member companies with the objective of building intellectual property (IP) roadmaps aligned with business objectives and an IP literate workforce.

Background: Erin is a registered patent agent with decades of experience working both in-house, building out ecosystems for innovation and at top-tier Canadian law firms, assisting companies from diverse industries in building/transforming their innovation strategy. Erin holds Master and Bachelor degrees in Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Fun Fact: Erin loves winter and is passionate about cross-country skiing, hockey and sledding.  She was a nationally ranked cross-country skier and competed across Canada as well as in several European World Cups.  These days Erin is all about pleasure skiing and exploring the vast array of trail systems in and around Calgary.

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Background: Dana has over 20 years’ experience in administration and operations. She got her start in operations and logistics, which eventually landed her in event management. The focus of her career for the past 10 years has been incorporating diversity, inclusion, and equity into both the operations and events in the NFP sector.

Fun fact: Dana loves reading and doing really geeky stuff like watching sci-fi and going to conventions. In a past life, she got to hang out with black bears and rattlesnakes – there’s photo evidence of her holding both in her lap, just not at the same time.

Focus: As part of the Education, Strategy and Funding Team, Peggy is passionate about providing strategic support to IAC members in their IP discovery and growth journey.

Background: Peggy has more than 20 years of combined experience as a Canadian and international intellectual property lawyer, with a focus on trademark law, IT, and IP commercialization. Peggy is also a registered trademark agent with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and the US Patent and Trademark Office. Peggy has worked extensively with many international law firms and Fortune 500 companies, along with SMEs and technology start-ups, to help businesses develop creative strategies to manage their intellectual property rights.

Fun Fact: Peggy enjoys swimming and exploring the extensive Toronto bike paths.

Focus: Supports the IP transactions and analytics team, and legal team, with intelligence report production, and IP litigation insurance.

Background: Anna has a solid background in program and project management, specifically in the high-tech and IP professional services sector.

She started her career in integrated circuit design after earning an Electrical Engineering degree from the University of Lund in Sweden.

Fun fact: Anna is a 4th Term Master of the Ohara School of Ikebana (Japanese flower arranging). She has studied with Japanese professors in North America and Tokyo.

Focus: Vivek is focussed in developing structured, business-centric IP content and strategies, including educational modules, toolkits and advisory services. He collaborates with experts to drive IP knowledge transfer, support startups in operationalizing IP strategies, and contribute to IAC’s curriculum, training & funding programs.

Background: Vivek is an internationally trained lawyer (3-year LL.B. Hons. In Intellectual Property Rights) and Industrial & Production engineer. He is a qualified Indian Patent Agent with the Indian Patent Office and a Class 3 Patent Agent-in-Training with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and is currently appearing in Canadian Patent Agent Exams. He brings a vast professional experience of more than 7 years with a deep understanding of Technology, Law and Management skills, spanning various legal domains, notably Intellectual Property (IP) Rights, Contract drafting and negotiation, IP licensing and commercialization, IP risk assessment & mitigation strategy, IP management and IP regulatory & compliance.

Vivek has worked as an in-house Senior Patent Analyst at a multinational company, and with one of the biggest consulting firms and various international law firms, along with SMEs and start-ups to help develop innovative strategies for managing and safeguarding their intellectual property rights.

Fun fact: Vivek is a food-loving traveler who enjoys experimenting with flavors inspired by global adventures. With a passion for photography, he likes to capture the essence of every dish & destination, turning each journey into a feast for both the palate and the lens.

Focus: Working across program streams and with the Leadership team, Colin is responsible for providing project management support for strategic initiatives, as well as ensuring compliance and managing government relations.

Background: Before joining IAC, Colin spent more than a decade working in global development, most recently with Right To Play in a project management capacity where he was responsible for bringing people together to ensure the successful delivery of the full project lifecycle. Colin recently returned to school to study business sustainability. 

Fun Fact: Two young children occupy most of his time these days, but Colin still finds time to cheer on Chelsea FC. 

Focus: Supporting members in establishing sound IP strategies and utilizing IAC programs as they execute on their business strategies.

Background: Spoorthy has a Master’s in Electrical Engineering from New York University and over a decade of experience in IP consulting. She has worked with major semiconductor & other hi-tech clients around the globe helping them with their IP strategy.

Fun fact: Spoorthy has lived and worked in 10 different cities in North America & India before she settled in Toronto. In her free time, Spoorthy likes to bake with her two girls and she loves making fun birthday cakes. She is also a certified Yoga teacher with a strong passion for making Yoga accessible to everyone.

Focus: Veronica has joined the IAC team to support the organization, administration and delivery of IAC’s Education and Strategy initiatives.

Background: Veronica has worked in program and project management roles in a variety of industries. She brings experience from her previous roles in government, healthcare, agriculture and academics to IAC.

Fun fact: Veronica plays in a weekly trivia league. She also loves swimming and playing volleyball.

Focus:  Working as part of the Freedom to Operate team, Ron helps with identification of key markets and technical areas to acquire patents and freedom to operate licenses.

Background: Ron has 20 years of experience in the high-tech sector,16 of which in the intellectual property space.  As Director of Licensing at WiLAN Technologies, Ron negotiated patent licensing agreements; managed University research partnerships for Huawei Canada, and most recently, he managed multiple aspects of a government funded clean-tech demonstration project.

Fun Fact: ”Before I decided to fully embrace the aerodynamic advantages provided by a shaved head, I was often told that I looked like Ray Donovan…”

Focus: Helping cleantech organizations protect and maximize their intellectual property by developing and implementing strong strategies, ensuring smooth market entry while reducing IP risks.

Background: Stuti is an international lawyer with a wealth of experience spanning across biofuel, OLED, and medical robotics industries in four countries over three continents. Her proficiency spans various aspects of intellectual property, from strategic planning and harvesting to analytics, management, and risk assessment. Stuti holds an LL.B. (Honors) in Intellectual Property Law from India and a Bachelor’s degree in Biotechnology. She is a qualified Indian Patent and Trademark Agent and is currently preparing for the Canadian Patent Agent exam.

Fun fact: Stuti’s educational and career journey has taken her through 11 cities across North America, Europe, and Asia, covering six countries. Her goal is to explore every continent on this beautiful planet someday. When not travelling, she enjoys reading and binge-watching during snowy days.

Focus: Support the delivery of IAC’s IP Intelligence product stream, as well as the Patent Access stream, aimed at securing FTO (Freedom-to-Operate) for our member SMEs, including performing patent and market landscape studies, patent reviews, and prior art analysis. 

Background: Mayur worked as a patent searcher with an IP service provider firm in India for about 3 years and almost a year writing technical content for other such firms on their websites. Mayur is motivated by the purpose-driven work at IAC in helping Canadian SME’s leverage their IP

Fun fact: Having made his first international trip to Canada in February 2022, Mayur is looking forward to exploring Canada and its vast cultural diversity. 

Focus: As part of the Education and Strategy team Issar supports the development and delivery of upskilling programs to enable Canadian clean tech SMEs to build and execute on their IP Strategy.

Background: Issar has over 17 years of international education and program management experience, with a focus on teaching, curriculum development, stakeholder management, and strategic planning. She graduated from Royal Roads University with a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership and Management. She looks forward to incorporating all of her previous skills and education to the clean tech sector and helping SMEs and IAC grow.

Fun Fact: Issar speaks 4 languages fluently: English, French, Farsi and Spanish. She’s also lived abroad in several countries. Her passions are learning about other cultures, culinary experiences, and dancing.

Focus – Keep financial processes running efficiently to facilitate growth. Assist with financial reporting requirements from IAC team members and external stakeholders.  

Background – Over a decade assisting Canadian small businesses with their accounting and financial reporting needs, working in public accounting and startup environments. 

Fun Fact – Natasha played tennis semi-professionally in her youth, alas, she ultimately became an accountant. 

Focus: Working as part of the Freedom-to-Operate (FTO) Team, Lamine helps in identifying potential opportunities for patent acquisitions, including performing portfolio reviews and making recommendations for acquisition. 

Background: Lamine is a Canadian Patent Agent with 20+ years of experience in the IP space including patent licensing, litigation support, acquisition, drafting and prosecution. Lamine earned an M.Sc. and B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from Laval University and holds a math and physics degree from Dakar University. 

Focus: Support the overall success of IAC by supporting the background administration of key internal processes and accounting practices.

Background: Over 5 years office management in the construction industry with a key focus on accounting Kristine has learned a lot about business processes and best practices.  Now looking to develop a new skillset in the IP sector and contribute to the overall success of IAC.

Fun fact: Kristine is an artist with a goal to eventually have a piece displayed in a gallery or coffee shop.

Focus: Belén is the Partnership and Relationship Manager at Innovation Asset Collective (IAC), working with stakeholders in the IP, Cleantech and Innovation space.  

Background: Belén has 15+ years of experience supporting Canadian businesses from startups to high growth/potential businesses; either already established or expanding into Canada.  She has worked with the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) providing flexible financing and advisory and previously with the NB provincial government reporting to the investment attraction team. Belén has also vast experience providing training, resources and mentorships as well as solidifying partnerships and agreements to provide the best backing to local businesses. Belén recently finished a certification in International Digital Business from Ecole supérieure de Commerce de Paris (ESCP) and is passionate about tech innovations.

Fun Fact: Belén loves travelling and keeping active, her best days are when she can have a slot of time to be productive, active and learn something new all in the same day.

Focus: David leads the content strategy across the organization, contextualizing IAC’s invaluable support to key audiences.

Background: With a background in journalism and over six years of experience in B2B marketing, David has led content programs at fast-growing companies in sectors including market research, education, and creative services. At IAC, he’s focused on amplifying the value of IP strategy for Canadian innovators.

Fun Fact: David likes music, making vegan meals, and being made fun of for making vegan meals.