Ryan is the President and CEO of Whipcord. He received a Bachelor's degree and a Master's degree in geography from the University of Lethbridge. In 2000 he started a small geomatics company in Lethbridge that, through his leadership, grew to the third largest imaging company in the world – BlackBridge Geomatics. Ryan’s commitment to Lethbridge has continued through his ownership of Whipcord, founded in 2009. He was the founding president of the U of L Graduate Students’ Association and in 2005 was inducted into the U of L “Alumni Honour Society.” In 2005 Ryan was recognized by Alberta Venture Magazine as one of 13 leaders of the next generation and again in 2012 as one of Alberta’s 50 Most Influential people.
Godard is the Chief Operating Officer & General Manager of Whipcord and oversees all aspects of the core products, including sales, marketing, technology, and operations functions. He received his Ph.D, Master's, and Bachelor's degrees in Aerospace Engineering from Ryerson University, Toronto. He has over 10 years of leadership and strategy execution experience specializing in program management and M&A execution. Prior to joining Whipcord, Godard served as the Vice President PMO for the BlackBridge group of companies for 4 years. He was responsible for managing BlackBridge's project portfolio and future space systems program.
Wilson is the Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs & General Counsel at Whipcord. With an extensive background in law and agriculture, Wilson holds a bachelor degree in Agricultural Economics and a Juris Doctor. As a transactional lawyer, Wilson assisted a wide range of businesses across a host of matters from seed capital raises to strategic acquisitions, including some of the largest and most complex M&A transactions in Canadian history. Wilson’s passion to build and grow companies from the ground up is a welcomed asset to the Whipcord team.
Matt is the Chief Financial Officer at Whipcord where he brings 15 years of experience in corporate development, finance, strategy, risk management, trading and business development. He joins Whipcord from one of North America’s largest infrastructure companies, where he spent his time in the corporate development group which was responsible for materially expanding the core infrastructure business through M&A activities totaling over $100 billion. Matt also worked to build and partially monetize one of the world’s largest renewable energy businesses with assets across North America and Europe.
Kam Shahid is the VP of Operations where he applies his extensive operations knowledge along with his scaling and automation experience to leverage technology to drive customer solutions. He received his Ph.D, Master's, and Bachelor's degrees in Aerospace Engineering from Ryerson University, Toronto. He has over 10 years of technical management experience and is skilled at building efficient operational teams. Prior to joining Whipcord, Kam served as the Director of Space Operations at Planet, where he oversaw operations for all satellite and ground station assets.
Dan brings more than 20 years of very diverse experience from hardware and software development to critical facility infrastructure, and is responsible for Whipcord’s overall IT strategy and direction. With Dan’s wide range of technological experience, he unites diverse IT specialists and keep the big picture in mind while managing complex multi-disciplinary projects.
Karla brings 13 years of experience to Whipcord in public accounting, taxation and consulting, having obtained her CPA designation in 2004. As the Corporate Controller of Whipcord, she oversees all accounting, taxation and financial reporting, as well as risk management and treasury functions. She received her Bachelor of Commerce (hons) from the Asper School of Business at the University of Manitoba and plays an active role in the community, serving as treasurer for various associations.
As the Customer Success Manger at Whipcord, Nudrat actively manages client relationships from deal closing to customer onboarding. As an experienced IT specialist, Nudrat brings 15 years of experience with extensive knowledge in research, profit map analysis, financial data, pricing and internal business tools and software. She received her degree in Management Information Systems from Central Connecticut State University, US and a Bachelor of Commerce degree from National University of Bangladesh.
Jana has many years of experience with Alberta’s largest energy companies and as a previous Enterprise Account Executive, her focus was on high bandwidth fibre infrastructure. Her IT knowledge, particularly in cloud solutions is a welcomed addition to the Whipcord sales team. Jana also sits on the Board for Calgary Women in Energy (CWIE), which is dedicated to promoting, supporting and empowering women in the energy sector in Calgary.
Ron has worked in strategic business development and marketing roles with several industry leaders and has experience in managed services, software and Telecom. As the Regional Sales Manager of British Columbia, Ron thrives on learning his customers’ business challenges and creating successful solutions. Prior to joining Whipcord in 2016 he gained expertise in the retail, manufacturing and public sectors.
As the Program Manager, Agriculture, Matt brings the unique ability to connect technology directly to farmers. Matt graduated from the University of Saskatchewan with a Bachelor of Commerce in 2015 and joined Whipcord with First Pass Technologies. Matt is excited to be playing a key role in Whipcord’s expansion into the AgTech market.
