Board of Directors

John is recently retired from Alberta Education after dedicating over 24 years of service. 

During his tenure with Alberta Ed., he was a Curriculum Consultant, Policy Consultant and a Senior Education Manager. He has been associated with the field of education for the past 44 years during which he has worked as a teacher (elementary, junior high and senior high), an administrator, a consultant, and a university instructor.

John also has experience as a small business owner, in government departments, and in radio and television. He currently runs a management consulting firm.

He and his wife Martha live in Calgary and have two daughters. His interests lie in politics, extensive travel, sports, photography, and writing.

Michael is a Senior Fellow and Honorary Director at The Fraser Institute, and Chairman of the Fraser Institute Foundation. From its inception in 1974 until 2005, Michael directed the research activities of the Fraser Institute and was its Chief Executive Officer. His principal concern has been to promote the examination and use of competitive markets as a method for enhancing human development. Michael has provided policy advice in this pursuit on 6 continents, and as an economist, has also authored numerous books and articles on other popular and technical economic issues. Michael was a Founder (1984) and longtime Director of Collingwood School located in West Vancouver. Collingwood comprises a student body of 1,200 from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 12 on two campuses and is one of Canada’s outstanding private schools.Earlier in Michael’s career, he worked at the Bank of Canada and the Federal Department of Finance, and then subsequently taught Economics at both Western University and Carleton.

Michael is the co-founder, with Milton and Rose D. Friedman, and a Director of the Economic Freedom of the World project, which is now a collaboration of institutes in 80 countries and produces the annual Economic Freedom of the World Index. The Index is one of the most widely cited such measures in the current academic literature.

He is a Director of a number of other enterprises, including The Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation, The Canadian Constitution Foundation and Port4Homes Ltd. He was a founding Director of Sydney Research (a pioneer Canadian software company), an owner-Director of Mackenzie Fiemann Chemicals Ltd., a Director of Canaccord Financial and the Max Bell Foundation.

Michael is past-Chairman of The Pacific Academy for Advanced Studies which hosts the annual meeting in Alamos, Mexico of the “Chicago Boys” who have been instrumental in the economic reform process in Latin America and elsewhere. Michael received his Ph.D in Econometrics at the University of Western Ontario.

Michael and his partner Ellis Ripley Trafford have between them separately four children and four grandchildren. Michael is an avid singles tennis player and the pilot and owner of an amphibious airplane.

Aki has over 20 years of private equity and merchant banking experience, currently as Co-founder and Managing Director of Rio Investment Partners, a Canadian based merchant banking firm focused on tech-enabled investing primarily amongst companies engaged in sustainability, health and wellness. Aki co-founded the firm and has been integral in establishing Rio, and its predecessor Avrio Capital, as the global center of influence for food and agricultural investing. Engaged as a principal investor since 2002, he led the majority of the firm’s investments where he has played an active role in defining and monitoring overall strategic plan development and execution thereon. Before he became a venture capitalist, Aki was a Vice-President at Deloitte Corporate Finance in Calgary. He advised Canadian companies on public and private placements, mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, and strategies for maximization of shareholder value. At Deloitte, Aki led several assignments in the biotechnology, agri-food, health care, manufacturing, and oil and gas sectors. Previous investments include Farmlead Inc., Fody Food Co., Hortau Inc., Farmers Edge Ltd.,(Acquired by Fairfax), SunSelect (Acquired by Canopy Growth), Allylix Inc., (Acquired by Evolva), Ascenta Health Care Ltd., (Acquired by Nature’s Way) Brookside Foods Ltd. (Acquired by Hershey Co.), Agribiotics (Acquired by Merck), Bioniche Life Sciences (TSX: BNC), MCN Bioproducts (Acquired by Bunge) and Ensyn Technologies. Aki currently serves as the Executive Chairman of Creations Foods, and is on the Board of the Pyure Company. Aki is a Chartered Accountant, holds the Corporate Finance Qualification Program, is a CFA charter-holder and holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Saskatchewan. Aki serves on the Board of Directors of the North Point School for Boys and has been active as a community football coach for ten years, most recently as the Head Coach of the Springbank Community High School Phoenix.

Karen has been practicing law, in Calgary, for over 30 years and is currently a partner in the Advocacy Department of a large international firm where she focuses on all aspects of health law. Karen is a frequent lecturer in advocacy and medical legal issues.Karen’s volunteer activities include past Chair and Board member of the Calgary Women’s Centre, past Chair and current Vice Chair of Calgary Alpha House Society, Chair of Hockey Calgary and Chair of the Board of Governors of Brentwood College School on Vancouver Island. She is also on the Conduct Committee of the Law Society of Alberta.