91ÅÝܽ

Dr. Sarah Lubik is the Academic Director of the Charles Chang Institute for Entrepreneurship. She builds platforms, programming, relationships and shared vision to unleash entrepreneurial mindset at SFU and across the country. Sarah’s  favourite construct within the entrepreneurial mindset is resilience because it allows us to feel confident and thrive in the midst of the constant changes the world throws at us.

Janice OBriain has been at the forefront of engaged entrepreneurship at SFU for almost two decades. She is particularly proud of her work establishing the Institute’s signature incubator program (formerly Venture Connection), which has provided incubation services to 300+ startup teams since 2008 and has helped to launch such impactful ventures as Buyatab, Moment Energy, Employ to Empower and Ionomr.

Janice holds both an MBA in Arts & Media Management and a Diploma in Non-Profit Management from the Schulich School of Business (York University), a Bachelor of Music (Honours) from UVic and was the recipient of the 2020 SFU Staff Achievement Award for Innovation.

Thomas Partridge is the Associate Director of Incubator Programs within the Charles Chang Institute for Entrepreneurship. He manages the mentorship network, early stage Incubator, Science Entrepreneur Accelerator stream, and the Entrepreneurship Co-op, Entrepreneurship Grad, and Post-doctoral curriculum tester programs. He loves working with driven entrepreneurs and mentors and is proud to see the thriving businesses that result.

Thomas has a PMP designation and a BBA with a specialization in Marketing from Capilano University. His background is program and project management in the energy, tech, incubator, and accelerator space. He has worked for BC Hydro, FortisBC, Innovate BC, and Foresight (Canada’s Cleantech Accelerator) among others, and utilizes this diversity of experience to advise, position, and support ventures on their journeys of scaling and growth.

Fiona Li is the Incubator Programs Coordinator at the Chang Institute. She works with pre-incubation programs (Spark, Mentor Meet), incubation programs (Venture Connection incubator, SEA stream, eCoop), and supports general day-to-day operations.

Being a recent SFU alumna, she brings to the role a student perspective as well as a wide range of skillsets, including communications, graphic design, digital marketing, event management, data analytics, and project planning.

Krysta Pallone Helm is the Events and Engagement Manager at the Chang Institute. Where there is detailed information and complex ideas needing to be simplified, you’ll find her right at home developing it into messages that resonate and connect our community together.

Krysta’s passion for bringing people together extends to event planning where she thrives off of seeing her plans result in positive, engaging human connections. Previously, Krysta worked in events at nonprofit organizations and different golf courses in the area. She also has experience in sales and public relations during her time at a biotech company. Krysta is also an SFU alumna.

Formerly Operations Director at the Chang Institute, Ben Chow is the Director of Ecosystem Development & Operations at SFU's i2I Research & Innovation Institute.