Alberta Enterprise Management Team

Kristina Williams

President and Chief Executive Officer

Prior to joining AEC, Kristina worked for several technology companies where her responsibilities spanned the spectrum of legal, regulatory, international and new business development, corporate strategic planning, intellectual property management, as well as marketing and sales. At Alberta Enterprise Kristina has lead several of the corporation’s investments. In 2014 she was named the President and CEO, and she now oversees the management of the Alberta Enterprise Fund. She is an Associate with Creative Destruction Lab – Rockies, and a member of the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology Board of Governors and the North American Construction Group (NYSE/TSX: NOA). She also serves on the Alberta Securities Commission New Economy Advisory Committee. Kristina holds an MBA from the University of Alberta, a Master of Laws from Uppsala University in Sweden, an accreditation for the Venture Capital Executive Program from the University of California, Berkeley – Walter A. Haas School of Business, as well as an ICD.D from the ICD-Rotman Director Education Program.

Rebecca Giffen

Vice President Investments

Rebecca has over 20 years of experience in the Canadian venture capital industry. She currently serves as Vice President Investments and has been with the organization since 2010. For most of that time, she held a dual role where she was also the Executive Director and Board member at the Venture Capital Association of Alberta. Prior to joining Alberta Enterprise, Rebecca was Director of Fund Investments for BDC Venture Capital, where she was responsible for managing an extensive portfolio of Canadian venture capital and private equity fund investments. Rebecca has a strong background in portfolio management, conducting industry research, performing financial analysis and undertaking due diligence. Rebecca also spent several years as an Investment Analyst with BDC’s Information Technology group. She holds both MBA and Bachelor of Commerce degrees from the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary in addition to the ICD.D designation.

Paul Godman

Vice President Investments

Paul Godman has over 20 years of experience in corporate and venture capital finance, renewable energy, as well as leadership in corporate sustainability. Prior to joining Alberta Enterprise, Paul held roles managing EnCana’s Clean Energy Corporate Venture Fund, and Cenovus Energy’s Sustainability Team. He served with TransAlta hydro operations, worked in environmental consulting and was the Chair of the non-profit Alberta EcoTrust.  Paul holds an M.Sc. from the University of Calgary, a B.Sc. from the University of Waterloo, as well as various accreditations in finance and leadership.

Matthew McGrath

Director of Investment

Matthew is a CPA, CA with over 10 years experience in the financial and professional service industries. Prior to joining Alberta Enterprise, Matthew was the Senior Impact Investment Manager at Vancouver City Savings Credit Union where he managed a portfolio of venture capital funds focused on generating tangible social, environmental, and economic benefits. Matthew also spent several years in the Audit & Assurance group at PwC Canada and PwC Cayman Islands where he provided services to private and public companies in a variety of sectors. Matthew holds a Bachelor of Management degree from the University of Lethbridge.

Carolina Rahikka

Director of Operations and Marketing

During her over 20-year career path as an experienced international business professional Carolina has worked in various industries internationally. Prior to joining Alberta Enterprise Carolina worked for technology and oil field services companies, higher education recruitment, executive custom home building, as well as pulp and paper industry. Her experience spans from international business and project management to sales and marketing, intellectual property, procurement, supply chain management and strategic planning.

Carolina holds a joint BBA from Vaasa University of Applied Sciences in Finland and Fachhochshule Kiel in Germany, as well as certifications from University of Augsburg in Germany. She is fluent in four languages, both written and spoken.

Alan Campbell

Director of Industry Development & Investment Associate

Alan’s career in tech began ten years ago when he transitioned from a business development role at corporate Apple to co-found EZ-Robot. As a first-time founder and COO, he participated in reputable events and programs such as 48Hrs in the Valley and CDL. This led to multiple successful raises from Angels and VC’s across Western Canada and Silicon Valley, which allowed EZ-Robot to scale globally, and consequently, to an exit in 2018.

Since then, Alan’s support of the Alberta tech ecosystem includes bringing Founder Institute to Calgary and participating as a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council for SAIT’s School of Manufacturing and Automation, the Rainforest Steering Committee, and Pitch Advisor at the Hunter Center at the University of Calgary. He also supported in raising funds for and launching Combine Venture Builders, which de-risks venture creation in AI/ML focused startups solving inefficiencies in Canada’s primary industries. Alan has accreditation for the Venture Capital Executive Program from the University of California, Berkeley – Walter A. Haas School of Business and is pursuing a certificate of Business Excellence (COBE) from the University of California, Berkeley.

Leon Thai

Investment Associate

Prior to joining AEC, Leon worked as a Surety Bond Underwriter helping secure debt obligations for a variety of companies in the commercial sector and managing a $20 million bond portfolio. He was highly effective in securing partnerships and growing the bond portfolio in Western Canada accounts by over $8 million during his career. He is a Dean’s List graduate from the MacEwan School of Business where he successfully competed in various CASE competitions, placing as a finalist in each competition and was awarded the Alberta Stock Exchange Award. During this time, he worked as a CFO and COO for a fitness tech startup where he was able to take the company from idea to seed stage, developing the operations of the company and participated in various pitches. Leon is a CFA Charter holder, completing each of the CFA exams on the first attempt in consecutive order, earning the CFA charter in a little over one year.

Christiana Manzocco

Director of Investments

Christiana is the Director of Investments with Alberta Enterprise. During her tenure at AEC she led the growth of the Start Alberta Deal Flow Platform as well as spearheaded the 2021 Alberta Tech Deal Flow Study. She leveraged this experience during her year in Lisbon and Amsterdam working as Director of Government Marketing with Dealroom.co.

Christiana’s career has spanned industries from financial services to fashion, chiefly working as a management consulting on strategic planning, marketing strategies and international expansion projects. She was part of the inaugural Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) – Rockies cohort and served as a member of the Hunter Hub Executive Team Advisory Committee. Over the past several years she has served as a Group Leader within the C100 Fellows Selection Committee, as well as a member of the Canadian Venture Capital Association (CVCA) Data Committee and Invest Canada Planning Committee. Christiana holds an MBA and BComm from the University of Calgary, and accreditation for the Venture Capital Executive Program from the University of California, Berkeley – Walter A. Haas School of Business. Christiana has completed several ILPA Institute courses in Private Equity, Legal Documents, and Investment Due Diligence, with accreditation from the University of Chicago Booth.

Jennie Allen

Chief Financial Officer

Jennie brings expertise, leadership capabilities and over 15 years of experience in the financial sector including banking operations, banking regulations, accounting and financial reporting.  Prior to joining Alberta Enterprise, she most recently served as Chief Financial Officer at the Credit Union Deposit Guarantee Corporation, an agency of the Government of Alberta mandated to provide risk-based regulatory oversight and deposit guarantee to the Alberta credit union system.  In this role, Jennie was responsible for managing the deposit insurance for the Alberta credit union system, accounting and finance operations, enterprise risk management, corporate governance and corporate services.

Jennie earned a Bachelor of Management, Major in Accounting with Distinction from the University of Lethbridge and holds a CPA, CA designation. She articled at PricewaterhouseCoopers where she provided assurance services to private and public companies in various industries.  She is also a graduate of the Alberta Credit Union Young Leaders Program.

Deepashree Bagul 

Senior Accountant

Deepashree is an accounting professional with over seven years of experience in corporate and public accounting. She is a qualified Chartered Accountant from The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and is working towards obtaining her CPA designation. She is also a holder of Global Diploma in IFRS from ACCA, London. Deepashree has extensive experience in auditing, taxation and financial reporting.

Prior to joining Alberta Enterprise Corporation, she briefly worked with Office of Public Guardian and Trustee, a department of Government of Alberta as a Financial Services Clerk.

Her previous work experience encompasses various functions in full-cycle accounting which include preparation and processing of journal entries, general ledger reconciliations, expense payments, payroll, bank reconciliation and preparation of financial documents.

She holds a Master of Commerce degree from University of Mumbai.

Milanne Desfosses

Manager of Industry Development

Milanne has 5 years’ experience as an ecosystem builder within Calgary’s tech and venture community. Prior to joining Alberta Enterprise Corporation, she worked in a variety of high-impact roles at Platform Calgary including Lead of Growth, where she spearheaded Platform’s investor engagement strategy and launched the Digital Commerce Fintech Awards – North America’s Largest non-dilutive cash prize for fintech startups. As a result, Milanne brings a wealth of experience working with a range of diverse stakeholders to launch successful and impactful initiatives.  

Milanne is a Dean’s List graduate from the Okanagan College School of Business. Throughout her education, she was an active member of Enactus, participating in entrepreneurial projects focused on waste diversion, financial literacy and tech education for the elderly.