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, the North American Construction Group (NYSE/TSX: NOA) and Alcanna (TSX: CLIQ) Board of Directors. She also serves on the Alberta Securities Commission New Economy Advisory Committee, and she is the Honorary Consul for Sweden in Northern Alberta. 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

Operations Manager and Marketing Lead

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

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.