Our Team

Altitude Accelerator came into existence under the visionary guidance of Pam Banks; now Altitude Accelerator’s Executive Director. With over 20 years of economic and business development experience in Ontario, Pam’s expertise is in developing and implementing entrepreneurial support programs by rallying collaboration from industry, educational institutions and government stakeholders. She strategically works to develop and grow the innovation capacity of emerging companies, assisting the innovation ecosystem in Peel Region to meet its full potential.

James is an entrepreneur and veteran of the financial and environmental industries, bringing to the table over 25 years of experience from these sectors. He is Chairman of Environmental Business Consultants and serves on several boards including Actual Media, WE Communications and BlueZone Technologies. As an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Altitude Accelerator, he coaches business owners and technology developers through the process of commercialization. He is also on the Board of Directors for CHAR Technologies. 

Learn more about James and how he’s helped startup reach success on our blog.

Paul is a business leader and strategist with more than thirty years of experience helping technology based businesses outperform. He has deep insight into technology trends and the challenges and strategic opportunities they present. As an entrepreneur in residence at Altitude Accelerator, he uses those insights to help entrepreneurial startups translate technologically driven disruption into innovative products that achieve market success.

Learn more about Paul and how he’s helped startups grow on our blog.

Angela Bourne is a creative, friendly, and dynamic marketing professional with 15+ years of experience directing and implementing high-profile, cross-functional strategies for renowned brands in luxury hospitality, entertainment, education, and technology. She has deep marketing experience across a variety of sectors including AI, wearables, proptech, VR / AR, and neuroscience, in Silicon Valley, Canada, and Europe. As an Entrepreneur-in-Residence, she helps companies with marketing strategy, GTM, PR, advertising, and brand differentiation.

Learn more about Angela and her successes on our blog.

Geoff brings over two decades of experience in starting, operating and successfully exiting multiple companies acting as a principal, advisor, investor, board member, mentor and/or consultant. He is also President of Pinelands Capital, an investment management firm that invests in and advises early stage technology companies with the potential for rapid growth.

His specialties include: Long-term partnerships with high growth companies and dedicated entrepreneurs, and supporting the execution of strategic transitional events.

Learn more about Geoff and how he’s helped our startups reach success on our blog.

Niousha brings to Altitude Accelerator her experience in Business Strategy, Innovative Solutions, Project Implementation and Process Improvement, especially in the tech sector. Niousha been helping businesses and start-ups at different stages by leveraging various resources and networks to make progress from ideation and validation to product launch and scale up. Her educational background includes a Masters of Management of Innovation from Queen’s University and an undergraduate degree in Computer Science, Mathematics.

Learn more about Niousha here.

Jenny is a generalist with a passion for entrepreneurial spaces. As the Programs and Operations Manager at Altitude Accelerator, she works to support innovative tech startups in the Peel region through program development, event coordination, and partnership building. She strives to make meaningful connections to help our tech ecosystem prosper. With a colourful background in innovation management from her Masters in Management of Innovation from the University of Toronto Mississauga, human biology, as well as the fine arts from her undergraduate degree in Human Biology and Visual Arts, she brings a unique perspective wherever she goes.

Carolyn has over 20 years of experience working on materials technologies.  During her time in industry, she gained expertise in sensing and IOT, 3D printing and prototyping, and conducting collaborative projects with industry and government partners.  As director of CAMDT at Sheridan, Carolyn develops the strategy and mandate of CAMDT as an advanced manufacturing centre. Her role focuses on applied research, particularly within highly relevant and advancing areas of manufacturing, such as automation, modelling and simulation, and cybersecurity.