Joel Young, Founder & Advisory Council Chair
Joel has been involved with entrepreneurship in Canada & U.S.A. for more than 24 years, originating both national and provincial entrepreneurship initiatives and associated with the Kauffman Entrepreneurship Foundation and Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education in the U.S. He has lectured at the university and community college level and produced two entrepreneurship television series along with nine years as an entrepreneurship columnist.
He is currently Vice-President, Investment & Ven Cap, Stoneset Equities, Calgary and is affiliated with the Harvest Group of Companies, Lethbridge & Calgary and the ComCap Financial Corporation of Vancouver.
Rae Stonehouse, Chairman/Vice Chair Education
Rae is a Registered Nurse/Entrepreneur who has worked in the healthcare industry for over thirty years. His business, Live For Excellence Productions, provides meeting, seminar, workshop & event planning for the Okanagan Valley. Very active within the Toastmasters organization Rae has taken on increasingly challenging leadership roles in entrepreneurial educational and mentoring programs. His passion is helping others to succeed.
Click here to learn more about Rae.
Colin Parker, Vice Chair Membership
Colin is the CEO of Red Giraffe, a sales and marketing consulting firm that is an innovator in positioning, messaging, and strategy, boasting clients across North America. His leadership skills help to guide the OVES Board to deliver value-added products and services to OVES members. His entrepreneurial eye and extensive experience make him the "go-to-guy" for many businesses when a unique perspective on marketing is needed.
Daniel Joseph Vice Chair Business Development
Daniel brings a passion to entrepreneurship to OVES with a solid background in management and leadership, having started in logistics with
the family business to taking initiative in roles such as Branch Manager in the Fraser Valley at Total Office, to Project Manager on projects 100K + in the dynamic Vancouver business scene, to his current role as Marketing and Technical Director at Total Office, at the head office here in the Okanagan valley.
A large part of his success is due to his ability to spearhead a strategic development team and focus on sales and growth strategies through careful planning and consistent execution.
Karen Girouard Vice Chair Finance
Karen is the owner of Dynamic Accounting and has over 30 years experience in public practice and various industries.
She is proficient in both Simply Accounting and Quickbooks and provides bookkeeping services designed to meet her customer's specific needs: payroll, preparation of year end package for your accountant and personal income tax.
Margaret Jenei Director assigned to Membership
Margaret is an Independent Associate at Legal Shield.
Melonie Dodaro Vice Chair Social Media Relations owns and operates Top Dog Social Media, a premier Kelowna social media marketing company utilizing 21st century networking platforms, collaborative strategies and expertise to assist service professionals, entrepreneurs and small businesses to increase their visibility, competitive edge and potential revenue by harnessing the power of social media to strengthen their position in their industry and business environment.
Melonie wrote a book and developed a program with Bob Proctor in 2008 and then in 2009 authored a couple of books of her own. She is the author of The MindBody FX Lifestyle and 28-Day Fat Blast. She is currently working on her next publication The Social Marketing Profit Formula which is scheduled for release in fall 2012.
Joel Young Vice Chair Sponsorship (Acting)