Drexel Industries Announces Board of Advisors Chaired by Michael Abram
LONDON, Ontario (PRWEB) March 27, 2018 -- Today Drexel Industries announces the launch of a Board of Advisors comprised of some of the most entrepreneurial and talented leaders from multiple industries with core competencies in: Executive, Legal, Human Resources, Advertising, Finance, and Sales. Michael Abram is Chair of the Board of Advisors and is joined by Jason Salmon, Anne Bowie, Diana Praskey, and Karen McKay.
"As we look toward the future of Drexel, it is critical for us to have the best minds, best talent, and best connectors advising us on being competitive", said Jason Salmon, President of Drexel Industries, he continued "Drexel's Board of Advisors, led by Chairman Michael Abram, represents the leadership, creativity, work ethic, and entrepreneurial spirit we aspire to as a company and they will help us make Drexel a company unlike any other.”
Michael Abram - Chairman
Michael Abram is a retired Canadian senior business executive.
He received his Bachelors’ degree from the University of Calgary, Alberta.
His business career commenced at Xerox of Canada; transitioned through a variety of positions to become President, Ikon Office Solutions, Southern Alberta. Subsequently he was appointed President of Ikon Canada a leading office technology enterprise. He left the technology world to join Shaw Communications as President of Shaw Ventures, Shaw’s venture capital initiative. He also served as President of Big Pipe (now Shaw Business Solutions) and Star Choice (now Shaw Direct).
He has served on several private and public Boards as a Director. He was also on the Board for Junior Achievement as well as the Alberta Theatre Projects. He was a member of the Young President’s Organization for many years.
He is married to Carol and has two adult sons.
Jason Salmon
President – Drexel Industries
Jason Salmon is President and founder of Drexel Industries. Founded in 2011, Drexel Industries is a wholesale distribution and 3rd party logistics service provider focused on retail and telecommunications distribution and e-commerce order fulfilment. Through a strong core of strategic partners, including telecommunications service providers, national retailer partners, and regional players, Drexel connects homes to a myriad of products and services throughout Canada.
Mr. Salmon is a general management executive skilled at driving growth and profitable financial performance in cutting edge companies and is experienced at navigating complex transactions, negotiations, marketing, and strategic planning imperatives.
From July 2004 until December 2008, Mr. Salmon was the Director of Business Development and Retail Administration for Shaw Direct (formerly Star Choice). As the Director of Business Development & Retail Administration for a $700 million a year satellite service provider, he was responsible for providing ongoing direction towards Shaw Direct’s Business Development, Strategic Planning, and Retail Administration initiatives, including: set top box product development (EPG, Interactive TV, and core stability & functionality), satellite space segment procurement and planning, strategic partnerships, retail administration for an excess of 3,000 retail locations, and strategic planning initiatives.
From February 2000 until July 2004, reporting to the President of Shaw Ventures, the Venture’s group was responsible for a $2.9B investment portfolio. Shaw Ventures was dedicated to identifying, evaluating, structuring, negotiating, and managing equity investments in broadband technologies, products, services, and infrastructure in support of Shaw’s strategic interests. Experienced in all stages of the acquisition and investment process, including: initial screening, short listing, financial modeling, due diligence, negotiating and leading transactions, and presentation of recommendations to the investment committee.
From November 1998 until February 200 Mr. Salmon reported to the Senior Vice President, Strategic Planning. Prepared institutional investor Road Show Presentations on behalf of Shaw’s senior management and conducted analysis, financial modeling and due diligence on target portfolio company investments and key strategic partnerships.
Jason Salmon received a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Alberta.
The Salmon family resides in London, Ontario.
Anne Bowie
Vice President, Client Leadership, Bond Brand Loyalty
Anne has 20 years’ agency experience working across a variety of sectors, including Consumer Packaged Goods, Financial Services, Retail, Technology, Entertainment, Pharmaceutical and Automotive. Anne has a proven track record of securing, effectively leading and growing multi-million-dollar business with tier one brands and is skilled in collaborating with multi-faceted groups to build and deliver integrated solutions.
Anne joined Bond as an Account Director in 2012, where she quickly led her account team to substantial growth in just 2 years. She then transitioned to leading two different Practice areas, and now runs a large, multi-disciplinary team of client leaders and subject matter experts in service of delivering brand loyalty to one of Bond’s leading Global clients. In addition, Anne is a member of and collaborator with Bond’s Senior Management Team, collectively responsible for leading the organizations’ objectives and results across a balanced scorecard.
Anne prides herself on developing deep relationships with clients that go beyond simply delivering on their business needs, to forming meaningful, trusted partnerships. A self-motivated, passionate and energetic leader, Anne builds and mentors high performance teams in a collaborative, supportive environment.
Anne received her BA from Huron College at the University of Western Ontario and lives in Toronto with her husband and two children.
Diana Praskey
Vice President, Human Resources – Voortman Cookies
Diana Praskey is an HR Executive with 18 years of Human Resources experience. Diana is passionate about the work she does and the people she works with, having worked across globally recognized firms such as Merrill Lynch, CIBC, Diageo and Edelman Public Relations, in the Financial, Consumer Packaged Goods, and Public Relations industries.
Most recently Diana holds the position of VP of HR for Voortman Cookies. As the head of Human Resources, Diana has established the foundation for best practices and HR infrastructure for all it’s employees across Canada and the United States, while partnering with her executive peers to grow the business under private equity ownership.
Previous to Voortman Cookies, Diana was VP, Human Resources at Edelman. She oversaw the Canadian Human Resources function for the firm across five offices, which included Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto. Diana was member of the executive team that drove the business from 2014 – 2017.
Diana holds a CHRL designation since 2003, a B.A. Psychology from the University of Waterloo, and her HR Post Grad Diploma from Humber College.
Diana volunteers her time as a Board Director, a for not-for-profit, abstinence-based, live-in addiction treatment centre for men and women (Hope Place Centres).
Diana is an avid traveler. In her spare time, you can be sure she is planning her family’s next big global adventure.
Karen McKay
Partner, Harrison Pensa LLP
Karen is a partner with HARRISON PENSA™ and Co-Chair of the firm’s Business and Financial Services Group, specializing in mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructurings and equity financing for both private and public companies. She provides ongoing corporate, commercial and governance advice to her public and private company clients, in both regulated and non-regulated industries. She has a Hons. B.A. in political science and economics from the University of Waterloo and received her LL.B. from Queen’s University in 1998.
Karen is actively involved in the community. Since moving to London in 1998, Karen has been a member of several charitable and non-profit boards, including Junior Achievement of London and District, Western Area Youth Services, and has participated on various committees in support of The Grand Theatre, Orchestra London and Kings College, Lawyers Feed the Hungry, and the London Health Sciences Foundation. Karen is sits on the Board of Trustees for Brescia University College and chairs one of its committees. She is a past Trustee of the Middlesex Law Association and was a founding member of London’s Young Tax Practitioners Group in 2002. She was awarded the Volunteer of the Year for the London Small Business Centre in 2003 in recognition of her pro bono work with the Centre and its patrons.
LL.B., Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, 1998
About Drexel Industries
Drexel Industries is a wholesale distribution and 3rd party logistics service provider focused on retail and telecommunications distribution and e-commerce order fulfilment.
Through a strong core of strategic partners including Telecommunications service providers, national retailer partners, and regional players, Drexel connects homes to a myriad of products and services throughout Canada, including: Amazon, Bell, Best Buy, Canadian Tire, Costco, Giant Tiger, Home Depot, Hudson Bay Company, Rogers, Shaw, Staples, Telus, The Shopping Channel, The Source, TJ Max, and Walmart. Drexel’s automated process offers all customers enhanced service and superior order fulfilment capabilities through same day shipping convenience.
Drexel represents quality and trusted brands, including: Affinity, Bragi, Case-Mate, Core Micro, Deltrans Battery Tender, DigiPower, Energizer, Escalade Sports, Huawei, iBolt.co, iDeal of Sweden, Jabra, Kalorik, Kenu Airframe, LifeProof, Losbu, Maxwest, Nokia (through HMD), OtterBox, Nite Ize, NuPower, Pelican, Samsung, Speck, and Vetta.
Additional information about Drexel Industries can be found at Drexel.ca.
Jason Salmon, Drexel Industries, http://www.drexel.ca, +1 (226) 984-7393, [email protected]
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