Board of Directors
Jonathan Stone — Chair of the Board
Jonathan Stone brings more than 25 years of experience as a financial advisor, equity sponsor and contractor across multiple sectors and jurisdictions. Most recently as a partner at Instar, Mr. Stone shared responsibility for origination execution and asset management. Mr. Stone was previously Managing Director and Co-Head, Energy, Infrastructure, Power & Utilities EMEA at Scotiabank, where he co-founded the Scotia Waterous Infrastructure Finance Team, an internal joint venture to pursue energy infrastructure opportunities such as storage, midstream and liquified natural gas. Prior to Scotiabank, Mr. Stone served as a Vice President of Plenary Group (Canada) Ltd., and prior thereto, Vice President for CIT Energy and Infrastructure. Mr. Stone currently holds an MBA from Cambridge University (Judge Business School), a Bachelor of Engineering from McGill University and is a CFA® charterholder.
Sarah Borg-Olivier
Sarah is Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President for Instar where she is a member of the executive management team. She is responsible for overseeing fund administration activities and all non-investment operations, including investor relations, corporate communications, business development and fundraising, environmental, social and governance initiatives, human resources and professional development strategies. Ms. Borg-Olivier has more than 20 years of experience in designing and executing various initiatives to drive business value and establish brand leadership. Prior to joining Instar in 2014, she held executive roles with Capstone Infrastructure Corporation, a publicly-traded diversified infrastructure company and Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets Canada Ltd. Ms. Borg-Olivier holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from the University of Toronto and completed the Certified Professional of Investor Relations (CPIR) program sponsored by the Richard Ivey School of Business and the Canadian Investor Relations Institute (CIRI).
Kevin C. Clement
Kevin brings over 39 years of energy industry experience across the midstream market sectors of refined products, natural gas, natural gas liquids, crude oil, asphalt, residual fuels, internal consulting and municipal leases/public finance. In 2016, Kevin founded Lorica Energy, LLC as Managing Director. Prior to that, he held industry roles including President Midstream and Executive Vice President of SandRidge Energy, Vice President of SemGroup Operating GP, LLC, President of SemStream, LP, President of SemGas, LP, President and Chief Operating Officer of SemMaterials, LP. Kevin began his career at Koch Industries, where he served for 23 years, holding various officer positions in natural gas liquids, refined products, asphalt/materials and finance. From 1995-2005, Kevin held the position of Vice President, Western Region, Koch Materials. Kevin currently advises and sits on three private equity backed midstream venture boards, including Jet Infrastructure, LLC, as a non-executive Advisory Board Chairman. Mr. Clement holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from W. Frank Barton School of Business at Wichita State University.
Rob Duguid
Rob has over 25 years of experience in Private Equity and Finance. He is a founding partner of SaskWorks Venture Fund Inc. and a partner in PFM Capital Inc. Since 2003, Rob has held the position of Vice President, Investments for PFM Capital Inc., Apex Investment Fund, and Saskatchewan Entrepreneurial Fund. Rob is also Vice President, Investments and Chief Financial Officer for the general partner of Prairie Ventures Fund Limited Partnership and the Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary of SaskWorks Venture Fund Inc. From 2000 to 2003, Rob was a partner with Crown Capital Partners Inc. From 1994 to 2000, he held the position of Vice President, Investments with the Saskatchewan Government Growth Fund Management Corporation. Prior to this, Rob was Vice President Finance and Investments with the International Centre for Agricultural Science and Technology (ICAST) from 1992 to 1994. Before joining ICAST, Rob was a Manager with KPMG Management Consultants where he was responsible for the Regina practice. He currently holds several directorships in investee companies. Rob holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Regina.
Steve Magus
Steve has over 30 years of experience in the Canadian oil and gas sector in drilling management, engineering, completions and construction. Steve is Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President of Magus Engineering, a leading privately held engineering and consulting firm, with over 70 employees and well site consultants. Steve focuses on assisting upstream oil and gas companies design all types of drilling projects, including horizontal well with multi-stage completion systems, vertical and directional wells, shallow gas wells and oil sands delineation wells. Steve holds a diploma in Petroleum Technology from the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Science degree in Petroleum Engineering from the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology.
Greg Pollard
Greg brings more than 35 years of experience in multiple industry sectors. From 2017 to 2019, Mr. Pollard was the interim Chief Financial Officer of Eguana Technologies Inc., a designer and manufacturer of high-performance power electronics for residential and commercial energy storage systems. He led Ernst & Young LLP’s Transaction Advisory Services practice in Calgary from 2008 to 2012 following his return from Ernst & Young’s Houston, Texas office where he served as Gulf Coast Transaction Advisory Services practice and market leader, as well as oil and gas industry sector leader in the Americas. He is a Chartered Accountant (1979), a Chartered Insolvency and Restructuring Professional (CAIRP – 1992) (ret.), and a graduate of the Kellogg School of Management Executive Program (2007). In 2012, he received his ICD.D from the Institute of Corporate Directors. He also serves as a director of Quorum Information Technologies Inc., the Balancing Pool and as a director for a number of legal entities within the Walton Group of Companies.
Gregory J. Smith
Gregory is President and Chief Executive Officer of Instar Asset Management Inc. Gregory has over 20 years of experience in the investment, operation, acquisition, and financing of public and private infrastructure, real estate, power, and utility businesses. Prior to founding Instar, Gregory was Managing Partner and head of Brookfield Financial’s Global Infrastructure Advisory Group from 2010 to 2013. From 2003 to 2010, Gregory was the President of Macquarie Capital Funds Canada Ltd. Prior to Macquarie, Gregory was Managing Director and Co-Head of RBC Capital Partners - Mezzanine Fund from 2001 to 2003 and a Managing Director at Deloitte & Touche Corporate Finance from 1997 to 2001. Gregory has also previously served on the Board of Directors of Canada’s Venture Capital & Private Equity Association, and held positions as Chair and President. Gregory is a Chartered Accountant and a Chartered Business Valuator, and holds an Honours Bachelor of Commerce degree from Queen's University.
Laryssa Topolnytsky
Laryssa is the Head of the CEO and Board Effectiveness Practice, Americas for Heidrick Consulting. Ms. Topolnytsky specializes in CEO succession and executive team performance. She also advises boards on CEO effectiveness, HR strategy and succession issues. Before joining Heidrick Consulting, Ms. Topolnytsky was a Senior Partner and member of Korn Ferry’s CEO and Board Effectiveness Practice. Prior to Korn Ferry, Ms. Topolnytsky worked with Mercer Delta Consulting as a founding member of the firm’s first international office. Ms. Topolnytsky is an accomplished author and has co-authored a book on employee retention and numerous peer-reviewed articles on employee commitment and organizational change. She regularly speaks at conferences and client events as a keynote speaker on these topics, as well as topics related to leading in times of change and advancing women. Finally, she sits on Flanagan Foodservices’ Advisory Board. Ms. Topolnytsky holds a Doctorate in Industrial and Organizational Psychology and a Master’s degree in the same field. Both degrees are from Western University in Ontario, Canada. She also holds an ICD.D from the Rotman School of Business.
Special Advisors
Ryan Kopseng
Ryan was born in Bismarck, North Dakota. He is a graduate of the University of North Dakota with a Bachelors of Business Administration. Currently, he is the Executive Vice President of United Energy Corporation (UEC). UEC has four primary subsidiaries – Missouri River Royalty Corporation, Rainbow Gas Company, Rainbow Energy Marketing Corporation, and United Energy Trading, LLC. UEC, through its subsidiaries, owns an interest in over 4,000 wells in the Williston Basin. Further, it is a purchaser and trader of crude oil, electric power, and natural gas in the Bakken, and throughout North America. Ryan is a Director of the North Dakota Petroleum Council, and is the Chairman of the North Dakota Oil and Gas Research Council. Ryan and his wife Stephanie and their three kids reside in Bismarck, ND.
Dean Potter
Dean holds a Masters of Science in Geology and is a proven and successful oil and gas exploration oriented geologist with over 28 years of experience in the upstream energy sector. Dean is currently the President and CEO of Burgess Creek Exploration Inc. and has founded a number of successful private upstream oil and gas companies, including Elkhorn Resources Inc., Medora Resources Inc., DPX Inc., and SITO Geo-Consulting Ltd. Dean brings to the advisory group strong geological experience and opinion drawing upon a diverse technical background across a wide variety of petroleum reservoirs in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.
Neil Roszell
Neil has over 20 years of industry experience in the upstream energy sector and is currently the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Headwater Exploration Inc. He has founded a number of successful public upstream oil and gas companies including Raging River Exploration Inc., Wild Stream Exploration Inc. (formerly Eagle Rock Exploration Ltd.), Wild River Resources, Prairie Schooner Petroleum Ltd. And Point North Energy Ltd.