Wayne Van Damme

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER 

As an executive with over forty years of progressive experience in information management and systems, Wayne has obtained knowledge and understanding of a wide range of business issues for large and complex organizations in both the private and public sector. Wayne has proven skills in leadership along with strategic and operational planning, customer service, timely delivery of large complex projects, team building and staff development. He retired in 2007 but came out of retirement in 2014 to create courses for the Project Management Certificate program at Okanagan College where he stills teaches. It was during this time that Wayne first conceived the idea of Education-as-a-Service (EaaS). Since institutes have limited funds and must be concerned with revenue generation (profitability) they are not always able to deliver quality timely and in demand workshops, courses and programs.  Wayne is committed to providing real world education solutions for such problems in a manner that provide long-term sustainability and global value.

SHAWN VAN DAMME

CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER

Shawn has over 10 years of experience in business and venture development and has built a strong network of investor and corporate contacts. Shawn has cultivated strong relationships with various international partners, which assist in his role as Chief of Operations Officer. Having been a serial entrepreneur for over 15 years, he has played a key role in the development of multiple start-ups. Before this, he was a Sales & Marketing Manager for a large western Canadian retail chain. Shawn’s skills are team building, management and operations, business development, sales & marketing, strategic planning, and mergers & acquisition.

Kimberly Alexander

Director of Curriculum Development + INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN 

Kimberly has over twenty years of experience working in post-secondary and adult education as both an instructor and instructional designer. She has developed courses for colleges and universities, small businesses, and large corporations in both Canada and the United States. Kim has designed and developed online, face-to-face, and blended courses; however, her passion is in the educational development of online courses in creating an accessible learning environment for all who want to learn! She is currently working towards her master’s degree in Instructional Design.

Abhishek Chaskar

Director of Business Development

Abhishek grew up in the financial capital of India, where he found a CSR-based Startup at 19, which is one of the fastest-growing Startups that now operates globally. He is a highly motivated business development professional with a Bachelor’s in Sustainability & Economics. With his extensive network of entrepreneurs and business professionals, Abhishek brings his expertise to the fields of Corporate Social Responsibility, Sustainable Energy Management, and blockchain management. In addition, Abhi is a success-driven professional that focuses on entry strategy, expansion, and business development, hoping to make blocksEDU an irreplaceable asset in the education industry.

JORGE ESTEBAN OSORIO PIÑA

Lead Instructor + Sustainability Expert

Jorge is a Business Administration professional and MBA in Sustainability currently based out of São Paulo, Brazil where he serves as South America Sustainability Impact Advisor and Account Manager for blocksEDU. He studied and worked in Colombia until getting recruited by a Canadian Electrical Engineering Company in 2014. Jorge has professional experience in Canada, Colombia, Chile and Brazil, where he got his MBA certificate, foreseeing the huge opportunities for his career in Southamerican countries.

DAVE LEE

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

Dave is blocksEDU’s head of International Affairs. Dave has over 30 years of education where he taught mathematics, served as a high-school principal, and consulted businesses and institutions on international education and technology. Dave’s work has taken him around the world, including extensive time in China and Latin America. Dave has worked in the education system in schools, technology, and online education, and with the British Columbia Ministry of Education.

Justin Goldston, PhD

Director of Academic Standards

Dr. Justin Goldston is a Professor of Project and Supply Chain Management at Penn State University, where his research is focused on blending the practices of supply chain management, emerging technologies such as blockchain and Artificial Intelligence, and sustainability to create positive global change. Dr. Goldston is a research faculty affiliate for the Center for the Business of Sustainability at the Smeal College of Business at Penn State and an active contributing faculty member to The Sustainability Institute at Penn State.

Outside of being a five-time TEDx speaker where he discussed blockchain and Artificial Intelligence, Goldston has over 20 years of experience consulting with organizations around the world on enterprise-wide digital transformation initiatives. Goldston has also led and assisted in the development of Blockchain, Supply Chain Management, Sustainability, and Business Analytics programs and courses at Georgetown University, Texas A&M University, Rasmussen University, Davenport University, and North Carolina Wesleyan College, and has evaluated doctoral programs for the Department of Higher Education. Goldston serves on the Graduate Advisory Board at various higher education institutions including Georgetown University, is the author of multiple peer-reviewed journal articles on supply chain management, sustainability, and innovative technologies, of Critical Success Factors in ERP Implementations, and of the forthcoming book AI for Good: Achieving Sustainability Through Citizen Science and Organizational Citizenship.

Cameron Jones

Division Head – Innovation and Sustainability

Cameron joins us from the Government of Alberta where he was a Director of Project Management and successfully led multiple projects under the Government of Alberta’s Climate Leadership Plan. He holds a Master’s of Science in Sustainable Energy Policy and has published on both Renewable Energy Markets and Carbon Mitigation Technologies. He was elected Vice President of the Young Professionals in Energy (YPE) in Alberta where he organized a number of sold-out events on climate change and emerging technologies. Prior to Alberta, Cameron worked with the UK Energy Research Centre and helped contributed to energy policy development for the Government of the United Kingdom. He serves an advisor to Flash Forest Inc., YPE, and the Okanagan Zambia Health Initiative.

Gabriel John
Instructor

Gabriel is a professional agrologist and holds a master’s degree in Resource Economics from the University of Alberta. He also holds a certificate in Greenhouse Gas Inventory Quantification (GHG-IQ) with the Canadian Standards Association. Gabriel has over 15 years of diverse experience working in academia, and private and public sector policy and program development. Gabriel’s government and academic work in the past decade has focused on developing strategic policies and innovative programs in the complex energy-environment nexus. Gabriel currently works on strategic environmental and sustainable energy policies and programs, including leading the development of policies relating to renewable development and the de-carbonization of the electricity sector.

Shehin Rahemtulla

Instructor

Shehin was born and raised on the unceded ancestral lands of the xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) First Nations, in what is now known as greater Vancouver. She currently lives in the lower mainland after living and working all over Canada and Internationally.       

Shehin has a background in renewable energy engineering, specializing in microgrid design, feasibility, and technical due diligence. She has extensive experience in the renewable energy sector, working for non-profit organizations, start-ups, academic institutions, and the private sector. Shehin has worked at Wood Clean Energy, Innergex Renewable Energy, BC Hydro Applied Innovation, Suncor, the UBC Clean Energy Research Centre, and Engineers Without Borders. 

Shehin currently works as the renewable energy specialist at Coast Funds, where she supports First Nations in the Great Bear Rainforest and Haida Gwaii in transitioning their fossil fuel-dependent electrical grids to renewable energy sources. 

When not working, Shehin can be found spending time with her family and exploring the coast of beautiful BC with a paddle in her hand or skis strapped to her feet.