Board of Directors
Michael Alkier
After
graduating from Wilfrid Laurier University in 1990 with an Honours Degree in Business
Administration, Michael Alkier, started his business career working for SAP in Germany.
After 4 years with SAP in Germany, Toronto and Calgary, he joined with 3 other partners
to build OmniLogic Systems Group into Canada’s largest SAP consulting partner with
over 550 employees and $90 million in annual sales. The company was sold to PricewaterhouseCoopers
and in 2000 Michael stepped down as CEO to start Ideaca with longtime business partner
Evan Hu. Ideaca spawned 2 businesses, MapleCore (MapleMusic) and Ideaca Knowledge
Services. Michael sits on the board of MapleCore and has helped guide it to be Canada’s
leading independent music company. Michael is Executive Chairman of Ideaca and active
in leading the day to day operations of the company. Additionally, Michael is co-owner
of Alkier Motor Sports ( a chain of automotive dealerships in Southern Ontario)
and he is a member of the board of governors of Wilfrid Laurier University.
Michael Bregman
Michael
Bregman is an experienced entrepreneur and community leader. Michael earned an MBA
degree at Harvard Business School and received his undergraduate degree at The Wharton
School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. He was formerly the Chairman
and CEO of Second Cup Ltd., Canada’s leading specialty coffee retailer. Purchasing
the company for $12 million in 1988, Mr. Bregman took Second Cup public in 1993,
ultimately returning $175 million to shareholders, culminating in the sale of the
company to Cara Operations Ltd. in 2002.
Michael commenced his career in 1977 as Director of Corporate Development for Loblaws Ltd. In 1979, he founded mmmuffins Inc., which operating under the mmmarvellous mmmuffins and Michel’s Baguette banners, became Canada’s leading specialty bakery retailer. After building the company to more than 200 stores in Canada and the U.S., the company was successfully sold in 1994.
Mr. Bregman is the Principal and Chief Executive Officer of Tailwind Capital Inc., which operates an investment fund. He serves on the Board of Directors of Clairvest Group Inc., Allied Global Holdings Inc., General Donlee Income Fund and WarrenShepell.
Michael and his wife Barbara have one son and three daughters. He is an active triathlete and skier. Michael serves various charitable organizations including United Jewish Appeal (2002 Campaign Co-Chair), Mount Sinai Hospital Foundation (Chairman 2002-2005) Birthright Israel (Canadian Chair) and University of Toronto’s Rotman School (Dean’s Advisory Committee).
Christopher Everett
J.
Christopher Everett was a senior partner and board member of the international accounting
and consulting firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers. In his 25 year career, he led PWC’s
global e-Business practice and headed the largest ERP management consulting practice
in the world. Since his retirement, he serves as a director for 4 privately held
companies, taught management strategy at the Kogod School of American University
and consults on systems issues with the variety of companies including PGA, Intertrust,
and Farm Credit.
Mr. Everett is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy, the University of Southern California and Harvard Business School. He is a frequent speaker before numerous professional and trade groups, including the World Economic Forum, on a variety of e-Business, ERP and systems integration topics. In 1999, Mr. Everett was named to Upside magazines; “Elite 100”, - a listing of the most influential e-Business practitioners in the United States.
Muneer Hirji
Muneer is
the founder of 3.0 Corp. an advisory firm focused exclusively on the business side
of the technology business. For the last 25 years, Muneer has had executive positions
with high growth technology companies – start-ups as well as more established firms.
He has been a Vice President of Marketing at SAP Canada, General Manager of i2 Canada,
and most recently, President and CEO of Ideaca, one of Microsoft's largest channel
partners in the country. At Ideaca he was responsible for all aspects of the business
including corporate strategy, sales, marketing, consulting, finance and IT. The
common thread in all these ventures has been the accelerated profitable growth these
companies experienced under Muneer's leadership.
Muneer has an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Guelph.
Evan Hu
With more than twenty
years of experience in the creation and management of successful businesses, Evan
has a proven track record in growing and mentoring successful professionals. He
has worked with many leading Canadian and American companies, guiding them in the
best practices for technology enabled business. Evan’s experience cuts across numerous
industries, including telecommunications, high technology, utilities and oil & gas.
Evan has played an instrumental role in strategic planning, project management and
professional development. Evan has also successfully integrated several corporate
merger and acquisitions.
Prior to Ideaca, he was a founding partner and co-CEO of OmniLogic, an ERP integration consultancy that grew in 8 years to 550 employees in offices across Canada with over $90 million in annual revenues. OmniLogic was acquired by PricewaterhouseCoopers where Evan continued as the partner responsible for North American ERP e-Commerce initiatives and e-Business strategies. Evan also was a co-founder and is an advisor to MapleMusic, Canada’s largest independent recording label and internet distribution firm.
Evan has been involved in local charitable activities and presently is responsible for DonorTrust initiative at Uend, a charity dedicated to help inspire and empower North Americans to refocus a portion of their gift giving budget towards strategic and sustainable projects in the developing world.
Evan is a Professional Engineer with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and Masters in Engineering from the University of Alberta. In addition to his role at Ideaca, Evan is the father of four active boys and is involved in minor hockey and soccer coaching. He also is an avid cyclist, amateur musician and is committed to a goal of lifelong learning.
