We have a strong board of advisors with skills and experience in marketing, business development, finance, management and strategic planning, product development and technology. Our Advisors are Allan Wilson, Brandon Hartsell, W.C. (Bill) Cooke and Paul Duncan.
Allan
Wilson
President
Allan Wilson and Associates
Since 1992 Allan Wilson has been working independently
as Allan Wilson and Associates helping to coach
business through their different stages in development.
Previous to this Allan, had spent over 5 years writing
business news for Canadian daily papers, three years
with a leading market research firm focused on the
information technology industry and six years in
the consulting arm of Ernst & Young.
With his extensive background in marketing and
in working with a variety of companies in many industries,
Allan has been an invaluable source of marketing
expertise and trusted advice during the growth stages
of Open Box Inc.
Senior mentor with the Innovation Synergy Centre
in Markham.
Director of the York Technology Association
for 17 years.
A founder of the Toronto Tech Alliance.
Member of The Toronto Board of Trade ICT Industry
Committee.
CMC, (Certified Management Consultant) and a
member in good standing
of the Canadian Association of Management Consultants.
An Honours BA in Philosophy and a Master of
Business Administration from the University of
Western Ontario.
Brandon
Hartsell
President & Executive Director
Sunstone Yoga
Brandon Hartsell has a degree in Economics, an
MBA and understands the pressures of the corporate
environment. Brandon was responsible for development
and distribution of management reporting for company
head count, utilization, and chart of accounts.
He also developed Access databases to manage and
generate reports, as well as, trained and transitioned
responsibilities to employees when the corporate
office was moved.
Brandon’s current passion and business venture,
Sunstone Yoga®, established in 2002, has grown
to include studios throughout the DFW metroplex;
Austin, Houston, Florida and Colorado. Brandon’s
rare combination of health and wellness expertise
as well as a firm understanding of economics, business
development and psychology has benefited both the
development of Open Box Inc.’s yoga studio
software, PranaStudio and our strategic planning.
Qualifications
President & Executive Director :
Sunstone Yoga Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Health,
Wellness and Fitness industry
Manager Field Finance at marchFirst,
US Web, CKS Public Company; 1001-5000 employees;
Information Technology and Services industry
Senior Financial Analyst, Hearing Science,
Inc
(Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Hospital &
Health Care industry)
Financial Analyst, CareSelect Group,
Inc (Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Hospital
& Health Care industry)
W.
C. (Bill) Cooke, P. Eng.
Bill is a
registered Professional Engineer (Electronics) with
over 25 years of practical, broad-based engineering
and management experience resulting in a realistic
understanding of high-tech manufacturing constraints
and opportunities. His experience as a design engineer,
consultant, general manager, business owner, company
director and past CEO of VIATeC has been helpful
leading Open Box Inc. through tough decisions. Open
Box benefits strongly from Bill’s concrete
point of view and from his extensive experience
mentoring CEO’s of technology startup companies.
Bill’s strengths include strategic planning,
product development, staff development, operational
administration and financial controls and planning.
Qualifications
General Manager of two advanced-technology/manufacturing
companies
Co-founded and managed two consulting/service
companies.
Past CEO of VIATeC (the Vancouver Island Advanced
Technology Centre – www.viatec.ca).
VIATeC is a not-for-profit, service centered,
industry driven venture (with 400 technology company
members) which actively promotes and enhances
the development of the advanced technology industry
on Vancouver Island with a focus on the “business
side” of technology.
Project Manager for VIATeC’s “Access
to Capital” program providing business development,
financing advice and investor referrals as appropriate
to over 300 start-up and early-stage companies.
In this capacity he also developed, and still
maintains, an active “angel” venture
investor and mentor network continuing to work
in this capacity as a consultant to the technology
community.
Paul
Duncan
Senior Vice President, Finance
Coastal Community Credit Union
Paul Duncan’s reputation of integrity is
based on his years of experience, community involvement
and education. He has extensive executive experience
managing change in organizations of significant
complexity. Paul is also skilled in working
with governance boards with differing perspectives,
delivering new products and services to meet evolving
customer needs, motivating staff to translate vision
into action, establishing effective external communications
and is able to build a corporate culture which reflects
corporate values. Paul has been able to channel
much of his expertise clearly and concisely as an
advisor to Open Box Inc. and has been particularly
valuable in helping develop our operational processes
and KPI development, controls and management.
His strong background in finance is also a great
asset to Open Box.
