The Team

Staff

Rob Grand, General Manager

Rob Grand is an experienced entrepreneur and business manager with expertise creating, developing, and consulting with successful businesses, social enterprises, and non-profits in the Environmental and Renewable Energy sectors. Rob has served as a Director and Advisor to more than a dozen organizations including the TD Friends of the Environment Foundation, Green Enterprise Toronto, The Coalition for a Green Economy, and the LFP Foundation. Outside of the office, Rob coaches hockey, teaches skiing, paddles whitewater, hikes trails, climbs rocks, and can often be found with camping gear strapped to his touring bike.

Photo of Gareth Williams

Gareth Williams, Community Investment Coordinator

Gareth brings a broad range of skills to the ZooShare team, including a professional background in information technology. He is also committed to environmental issues, having served on a volunteer committee advising his local city council on sustainable development. He has demonstrated his commitment to a clean energy future by adding solar panels to his home and making the switch to a fully electric vehicle. He has worked in a variety of settings including Fortune 500 enterprises, public institutions and small locally owned businesses. Gareth holds a B.A. in Political Science. In his spare time Gareth enjoys camping, hiking & kayaking.

Board Members

Vicki Hilborn Headshot

Vicki Hilborn (Board Chair)

Vicki is a Professional Engineer with over ten years of experience working in the biogas, construction and agriculture sectors. She has previously been a director on local and national boards, including the Canadian Biogas Association, and a volunteer for community-based organizations, including Equal Grounds Community Garden.  Her passions include biogas, agriculture, the environment, and diversion of waste from landfills.

Daniel Bida Headshot

Daniel Bida

Daniel is the Founder and former Executive Director of ZooShare, and is the President of ReGenerate Biogas Inc.
He is a Chartered Financial Analyst and holds a B. Comm from McMaster University. Before he founded ZooShare Biogas Co-operative in 2011, Daniel worked as a financial analyst covering the global utilities sector. Daniel is passionate about food, energy and the environment, and is motivated by opportunities to turn waste into value for these industries and for local communities.

Newton Chan Headshot

Newton Chan

Newton is a technology executive with a skillset in strategic planning, program management, P&L management, and business development. He has spent over 11 years consulting Fortune 500 companies and public sector agencies on large-scale technology implementations.

Newton has an MBA from the Rotman School of Management and a Bachelor of Applied Science in Computer Engineering from the University of Waterloo. He is passionate about solving the climate crisis and lends his business expertise to non-profit environmental organizations.

Matt Colautti

I am a Scarborough-based physics educator and former engineer who is passionate about STEM and bringing science to life with experiential, hands-on learning. I am a curriculum writer, technology advisor, and leader in the education sector, and was one of five Canadian teachers selected as a 2022 National Geographic Grosvenor Teacher Fellow. With five years in the engineering sector and over a decade of experience in science teaching, I would bring to the ZooShare Board a unique perspective on how to build educational programming for K-12, further community outreach, and extend the impact of this one-of-a-kind project to the GTA and beyond.

Barry Green

Barry is a retired Electrical Engineer.  He worked for over 40 years in the electric utility industry with Ontario Hydro, Ontario Power Generation and in private consulting, working primarily in Power Systems Operations and Planning, Environmental Affairs and Regulatory Affairs.  In his professional career, Barry participated actively as OPG’s representative on various committees of the Ontario Independent Electricity System Operator, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation and the North American Energy Standards Board.  Barry has a BASc and M.Eng. from the University of Toronto and, prior to retirement, was registered as a Professional Engineer with Professional Engineers Ontario.

Gideon Sheps

Gideon works for Kyndryl Canada Ltd., where he leads technology transformation projects for clients in the finance & energy sectors. He has over 30 years experience in information technology management and software development. He holds a BSc. In Computer Science from the University of Toronto, as well as post-graduate credentials in International Business from the University of Surrey Business School and in Financial Risk Management from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

Gideon’s experience ranges from four person technology start ups to Fortune 50 global giants; in Canada, the USA, Europe and Asia. He has been a volunteer at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehab for over 15 years, and is a former board member/chair of the Ontario Autism Coalition.

Amy Zhang Headshot

Amy Zhang

Amy is a CPA, CA with over a decade of experience working in professional services in the preparation and audit of financial and tax reporting for clients from various industries. Specifically, she has experience working on the structure and tax reporting for limited and general partnerships. In her current role as the Corporate Tax Manager at Fidelity Investments, she is responsible for working with domestic and international stakeholders from Finance, Legal and Operations to manage the tax reporting for all Canadian entities. Outside of work, as a Finance committee member for SolarShare, Canada’s largest renewable energy co-op; Amy works alongside like-minded environmental enthusiasts to review the quarterly financials, offering statement, financing and project cost analysis.

Leona Mitchell, Toronto Zoo Representative

Leona Mitchell is the Director of Facilities and Infrastructure at the Toronto Zoo. Prior to this role she held the position of Project Manager at the Zoo from May 2005 through August 2016. Leona began her career with Centennial College of Applied Arts & Technology, Manager Renovations & Special Projects and Architectural Services Co-ordinator, the same educational institute from where she received both her Architectural Technologist and Project Management Certificates. Furthermore, she attended the International Correspondence School for Gardening & Landscape Design. Leona is currently working towards completing the Facilities Management Administrator (FMA) program through BOMI and is a member of the Aquarium & Zoo Facilities Association (AZFA).