BOARD OF DIRECTORS
“In one of my past lives, my wife and I started the Kensington Riverside Inn in Calgary. This adventure put me in touch with a number of extremely able and talented people who helped us with the Inn either as board members, advisers or in the trenches. So it should not come as a surprise that I have drawn on this talent pool to build the O2G Team. Our directors have varied backgrounds but with the common threads of success in business and enjoyment of an adventure.”
BOB BROWN, B COM, CA
Chairman & CEOBob graduated with a B.Com from Concordia University in 1962, received a CA designation in 1964 and a diploma in Business & Security Valuation from the University of Toronto in 1976. He joined KPMG in 1964, becoming a tax partner in 1970 and subsequently Regional Director of Taxation. He established his own professional practice in 1981, returning to KPMG as National Director of Aboriginal Services in 1994. In 1998, Bob and his wife Karen co-founded the Kensington Riverside Inn, Calgary’s first boutique inn.
Bob has served on the boards of public, private and not for profit corporations including the National Board and Executive Committee of the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business and as Chair of its Alberta Division. He has served on professional committees including the Taxation Committee of the Canadian Bar Association and the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants and as a Governor of the Canadian Tax Foundation. He lectured in taxation and finance at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Alberta and the Banff School of Management and has written over 250 papers as well as a co-authoring a book.
KAREN BROWN, LID
Karen graduated in interior design from Mount Royal College in 1975 and joined Tavender & Associates, later becoming a partner of the new firm Tavender Brown & Crittenden Interior Design. In 1988, she left interior design and became involved in silk import and special events.
In 1999, Karen built and then operated the Kensington Riverside Inn, Calgary’s first boutique inn. The Inn was sold in 2007. She now is a full-time visual artist focusing on abstract painting. Karen has been involved as a volunteer with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and as a board member of Discovery House.
MICHAEL FLATTERS, BL, LLB
CLOMike attended Yale University where he graduated with a BA in 1974. He then attended Queens University, graduating with a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1977. He was called to the Bar in Ontario in 1979 and in Alberta in 1981. Mike is a partner with Burnet, Duckworth & Palmer LLP and practices in the areas of taxation, corporate finance, and aboriginal law. He has had extensive experience in drafting and negotiating the taxation and finance chapters of aboriginal land claims agreements with Canada.
Mike has acted as the General Editor for “Taxation and Financing of Aboriginal Businesses in Canada”, and has written and lectured extensively in his areas of expertise. He is a member of a number of professional associations, including the Canadian Bar Association, the Canadian Petroleum Tax Society, and International Fiscal Association. He is named in the Canadian Legal Directory as a repeatedly-recommended leading practitioner and in Best Lawyers in Canada.
Mike has served on a number of corporate, charity and not-for-profit boards. Mike was legal counsel to the Kensington Riverside Inn.
HEATHER GORE-HICKMAN, B.COM, CA
CFOHeather graduated from the University of Calgary in 1981 with a B.Comm (with distinction) and was Gold Medalist (Alberta) in the CA finals and recipient of the CICA Certificate of Merit for Honours Standing (placing eleventh in Canada). She then went on to earn a CFO Certificate and PDO Certificate from the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada.
Heather has served as a board member and/or audit committee member of many charities, trusts and not for profit corporations, including the YMCA, Girl Guides of Canada, McDougall Foundation, KHTF Trust, Langley Non-Profit Housing Development Corporation in Langley, Va. and as Chairperson of the Family and Home Network, a national non-profit organization in Washington, DC. Heather was an investor in the Kensington Riverside Inn.
Following her articles with KPMG, Heather moved to Bermuda as Manager of Corporate Services for Tyndall International Limited in Bermuda and consulted to Clay Findlay inc. in New York, both international investment management firms. Upon returning to Calgary in 1995, she formed a consulting company and acted as CFO for Global Hunter Securities Ltd., Ross Smith Energy Group Ltd., RESG Trading Group Ltd., Milestone Asset Management Ltd., and McLean & Partners Wealth Management. She is currently the CFO for Iris Asset Management Ltd. and Perry Securities Ltd. in Alberta.
JILLIAN LAM, B Comm, CPA, CA
Jillian received a B. Comm. degree from Queens University and followed this with a CPA, CA designation in 2014. After attending Queens, she worked in accounting and audit functions with Nexen Energy ULC and then Ernst & Young as a Senior Accountant, Assurance. She is currently Director of Capital Markets at ATB.
Jillian is conversationally fluent in Spanish and Cantonese and has volunteered for a number of charities as well as the Chartered Accountant School of Business. She has many interests including photography, travel, languages, and sports.
Jillian’s role with Open to Grow includes preparing grant applications, fund-raising initiatives, and accounting and financial matters.