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About Covis
Founded in 2011, Covis Pharma is a private equity backed global specialty pharmaceutical company that markets therapeutic solutions in 50+ countries, for patients with life-threatening conditions and chronic illnesses.
Our purpose is to turn untapped potential into global medical therapies that improve our patients’ lives. Apollo Global Management, with approximately $600 billion AUM, is the private equity sponsor of Covis Pharma.
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15+ Brands in the current portfolio
Sold in 50+ countries
Long-term supply agreements with 10+ manufacturers ensuring supply chain security
Purpose & Values
Our Purpose
We turn untapped potential into global medical therapies that improve our patients’ lives.
Our Values
One Team
We believe in collaborative teamwork to achieve common goals
Relentless
We are relentless in the pursuit of our mission to serve our patients
Agile
We embrace change, take smart risks, and learn from our mistakes
Genuine
We build trust through transparency
Do the Right Thing
We put patients first by being honest and accountable in all our actions
Team
Michael Porter
Chief Executive Officer
Martin Cepeda
Chief Human Resources Officer
Raghav Chari
Chief Innovation Officer
Chad Collins
Vice President & General Manager, U.S. Business
Albert Dahouk
Chief Information Officer
Fabio Fazio
Global Head of Quality
Nick Kelly
Senior Vice President, Supply Chain
Ozgur Kilic
Chief Financial Officer
Christine Poulin
President, North America & General Manager of Canada
Ronald van der Rol
Vice President, Global Head, Commercial
Andrew Teehan
Interim General Counsel
Daniel Freedman, Ph.D.
Vice President of Clinical Operations
Janine List
Vice President, Head of Business Planning and Analysis
Sara Mastandrea
Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer & Treasurer
Emanuele Pizzo
Vice President, Finance, EU and International
Rajiv de Silva
Chairman
Alexis Heinen
Partner, Cross Ocean Partners
Dhinusha Munien
Global Company Secretary, Hayfin
Claude Noesen
Independent Non-Executive Fund Director
Taavi Davies
Independent director of funds, private equity vehicles, SPVs and commercial companies
Michael Porter
Chief Executive Officer, Covis Pharma
Sean E. Brynjelsen
President and CEO of Eton Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Rolf Hoffman
CEO and Founder NavBio AG
John J. Kiely
Director, Zovio Inc. & Amneal Pharmaceutical
Ildiko Mehes
Pharmaceutical industry board member and an advisor
Partnerships
We partner with the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies and contract manufacturing organizations to deliver an uninterrupted supply of high-quality pharmaceuticals.
Operational Capabilities
Covis has unparalleled expertise across all functional areas with a flawless history of executing commercial onboarding, tech transferring, and launching authorized generic and line extension products.
Business Development
Covis is always evaluating products and corporate acquisition opportunities with significant resources committed from its equity sponsors for tack-on deals and larger transaction opportunities. For all partnering inquiries, please contact us.
Product Development
Covis is devoted to developing new therapeutic solutions to improve patients’ quality of life through line extensions of its existing portfolio as well as selected novel late-stage clinical programs.
Our Operating Partners
Our Business Development Partners
Our Authorized Distributors of Record
Asia-Pacific
Europe
United States
Brazil and Mexico
South Africa
Michael Porter
Chief Executive Officer
Michael Porter is the Chief Executive Officer of the Covis Group and a member of the Board. Mr. Porter was involved in the original founding of Covis as the Senior Operating Executive and a member of the Board responsible for original sourcing, investment thesis and the forming of Covis in 2011 with initial complex carve-out from GlaxoSmithKline. Mr. Porter was previously COO of Covis in 2013 then became CEO in 2015, responsible for the execution and consummation of the partial monetization of the business for $1.2 billion in 2015 and the subsequent sale to Apollo in 2020 for ~$700 million.
Mr. Porter began his career at AlixPartners, LLP in its Turnaround and Performance Improvement Group. Prior to joining Covis, Mr. Porter was a Senior Operating Executive of Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. and has also worked with another large distressed private equity fund. Mr. Porter has over 20 years of experience in private equity and speaks English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Japanese, and Russian. Mr. Porter received his M.B.A. from Columbia University with a concentration in Finance via the accelerated program. In addition, Mr. Porter studied International Business at Senshu University in Kawasaki, Japan.
Martin Cepeda
Chief Human Resources Officer
Martin Cepeda is the Chief Human Resources Officer of Covis Pharma. Prior to joining Covis, Martin worked at AstraZeneca as Head of Human Resources for the Europe Oncology Business, based in Zug, Switzerland, >$2 billion in annual revenue and ~1,750 employees. He was also a member of AstraZeneca’s Inclusion and Diversity (I&D) Council chaired by the CEO, driving the company’s global I&D strategy. Martin brings over 16 years of Global HR experience across multinational pharmaceutical and life science companies.
Prior to AstraZeneca, Martin worked in HR roles of increasing responsibility at Johnson & Johnson and Wyeth (acquired by Pfizer in 2009). In those companies, he held roles in HR Data, Insights and Analytics, Talent Acquisition, and various HR Business Partner roles based in the U.S. and Europe.
Martin received his B.S. in Business Management from Penn State University and his MBA in International Business from Villanova University, both located in the U.S.
Raghav Chari
Chief Innovation Officer
Raghav Chari has 25 years’ experience in the biopharmaceutical arena. Over this period, he has successfully built and led small and large organizations across the R&D and commercialization continuum.
Over the last 5 years, he has founded and continues to be involved in several startups that work at the interface between drug discovery and technology. All these startups seek to improve how novel products are discovered and developed by utilizing approaches involving machine learning, quantum mechanics and various technologies for personalized medicine.
From 2009 through 2016, he was President of Promius Pharma, a dermatology and neurology company, and Executive Vice President of Proprietary Products at Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories. In this role he built an integrated R&D and Commercial business which led to several first cycle NDA approvals for products that were developed organically from inception through commercial launch.
He has also been responsible for over 50 licensing and product development deals in the biopharmaceutical space. Early in his career, Raghav worked at McKinsey and Company, followed by stints at two small drug discovery/early development-stage biotech companies where he played hybrid R&D and commercial roles.
Raghav has a PhD in Physics from Princeton University, and a BS in Mathematics from the California Institute of Technology.
Fabio Fazio
Global Head of Quality
Fabio Fazio is the Global Head of Quality. He ensures compliance of pharmaceutical production to good manufacturing practice and to Marketing Authorizations. Fabio is responsible for the implementation of the quality systems which include the management of regulatory inspections, supplier oversight and audits, technology transfers, and adherence to good distribution practice.
Prior to Covis, Fabio worked at Biogen Idec as Qualified Person and in other technical CMC roles. Previous experiences encompass Process Development at GlaxoSmithKline in support of early stage clinical trials and basic research of novel therapeutic agents at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, CA.
Fabio graduated from the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Siena, Italy, and received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Wuppertal, Germany.
Christine Poulin
President, North America & General Manager of Canada
A leading pharmaceutical professional with in-depth expertise across marketing, sales, product management, stakeholder relations, and communications, Christine brings more than 25 years of Pharmaceutical Industry experience in leading organizations to her role of President in North America and General Manager for Covis in Canada.
Prior to joining the Company, Christine served as the General Manager, Canada at Teva Pharmaceuticals, where she had full P&L and leadership responsibility for a CAD $1 billion dollar business. Prior to Teva, Christine has held roles of growing responsibility in leading organizations, namely Teva, Pfizer, Sanofi in sales, marketing, and medical communications, moving to leadership positions. Her evolving education and industry expertise allows her to successfully support and manage her team to develop, launch and support pharmaceutical products and business development.
Christine holds a Masters of Business Administration (M.B.A.) from l’École des Hautes Études Commerciales, a Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University, and has completed leadership development courses at the McGill Executive Institute and the Advanced Management Program at Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Nick Kelly
Senior Vice President, Supply Chain
Nick Kelly is the Senior Vice President of Supply Chain. He has over 20 years of supply chain experience as a management consultant across multiple industries as well as within the pharmaceutical industry across branded, generics and medical device organizations.
Prior to Covis, Nick held several senior management roles at the regional & global level within the pharmaceutical industry, including Cardinal Health, Teva and Johnson & Johnson.
He has solid strategic, tactical and operational management experience, developing and maintaining relationships across the E2E supply chain to ensure an efficient operation.
Nick attended the University of Westminster where he received his BSc (Hons) in Business Information Technology.
Ozgur Kilic
Chief Financial Officer
Ozgur Kilic is the Global CFO of Covis Pharma. Previously Ozgur was the CFO of Vertice Pharma, a specialty generic pharma company in the U.S., backed by Warburg Pincus. Ozgur brings over 20 years of healthcare finance experience ranging from branded and generic pharmaceuticals to vaccines and medical devices both in the U.S. and Europe.
Prior to Vertice, Ozgur spent 14 years at Novartis in progressive Finance roles including Country and Region CFO roles in Switzerland, U.K., Italy and the U.S. He has significant experience in partnering with commercial, manufacturing, R&D and BD&L / M&A teams at operational and strategical level to drive business results.
Ozgur received his B.A. in Business Administration from Koc University in Turkey, MBA in Finance and Investment with distinction from Stuttgart Institute of Management Technology (SIMT), Germany and Executive Education in Finance from Harvard Business School. Ozgur is a Chartered Management Accountant (CIMA UK) and speaks English, Turkish, Italian and German.
Ronald van der Rol
Vice President, Global Head, Commercial
A commercial executive with a successful track record in the (bio)pharmaceutical industry. Ronald brings over 25 years of broad experience in the areas of marketing, sales and commercial strategy & operations and highly values strong cross-functional leadership which he deployed in various roles on global, regional national level. Ronald is Vice President and the Global head of commercial.
Before joining Covis, Ronald served as the global commercial head for cell & gene therapy business at GSK. Prior to GSK, Ronald worked at Celgene/BMS in commercial leadership roles with growing responsibilities in their inflammation & immunology and hematology CAR-T businesses. A significant portion of Ronald’s earlier career was spent at Biogen, where he worked for over 15 years in leadership roles across sales, marketing, country leadership, commercial operations, and led various product launches globally.
Ronald received his Bachelor (Economics & Marketing) of Applied Science from HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht in the Netherlands.
Albert Dahouk
Chief Information Officer
Albert Dahouk is the global Chief Information Officer (CIO) of Covis Pharma. Prior to joining, Albert was an executive partner of a global management consulting firm, with a focus on the Pharma and Financial sectors.
He has worked for several fortune 100 companies where he held various senior executive roles. Albert delivered successful strategies and innovation solutions which helped transform global companies to face today’s market challenges. He brings over 30 years of technology consulting and corporate experience ranging from Telecommunication, Financials, Leisure and Pharma sectors across the Americas, EMEA and APAC regions.
Prior to starting his career as an entrepreneur, Albert spent 20 years in executive roles in innovative corporations where he gained significant experience in building and transforming IT organizations, partnering with internal and external stakeholders, and shaping innovative solutions for their market to drive successful results.
Beside his extensive knowledge in legal and compliance topics, Albert holds a B.S in Mathematics, B.S. in Computer Science and an MBA in Technology Management and speaks several languages, beside his native English. He is a true global leader.
Chad Collins
Vice President & General Manager, U.S. Business
Chad Collins is the Vice President & General Manager, U.S. Business for Covis Pharma. He has more than 20 years of commercially focused US and Global industry experience. Prior to joining Covis, Chad worked for Sanofi and Bausch Health in several commercial roles in these organizations, and his most recent role was the Vice President of Market Access at Bausch and Lomb.
During his time in the industry he held positions in sales, sales leadership, account management, strategy, brand leadership, along with experiences in owning all channels of business and contracting and analytics and customer service. Chad is a graduate of Hardin Simmons University where he double majored in Management and Marketing. Chad also holds an MBA from the University of Houston.
Daniel Freedman, Ph.D.
Vice President of Clinical Operations
Dan Freedman is the Vice President of Clinical Operations and Asset Lead for Ciraparantag. Dan has over 25 years of experience in building and working with cross-functional drug development teams through pre-clinical, clinical, and post-marketing development.
Prior to joining Covis, Dan held roles in Research, Clinical Operations, Regulatory Affairs, and Program Management developing small molecules, biologics and small interfering RNAs across several therapeutic areas at AMAG, Alnylam, Vertex and Biogen.
Dan received his Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Massachusetts and completed his postdoctoral training in the Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology Department at Harvard Medical School.
Janine List
Vice President, Head of Business Planning and Analysis
Janine List is the Vice President Head of Business Planning & Analysis. A senior Finance leader with a passion for improving profitability, results driven with over 20 years of experience in Finance. Prior to joining Covis, Janine worked for 16 years at Novartis in different roles of increasing responsibilities in the US, UK, Russia and Switzerland including CFO UK for their Vaccines & Diagnostics Division. She supported senior management in delivering top line and bottom line growth with her proven skills in business partnering, strategic planning and financial management.
Janine holds a Master degree awarded by the Faculty of Economics from the University of Basel, Switzerland.
Sara Mastandrea
Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer & Treasurer
Sara Mastandrea is the Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer & Treasurer of Covis Pharma. Sara has nearly 20 years of pharmaceutical industry finance experience.
Prior to joining Covis, Sara worked at Novartis portfolio companies for 12 years in roles of growing responsibility within the Accounting, Financial Planning & Analysis and Treasury functions. She is a subject matter expert in revenue accounting, having managed $1.5B gross-to-net accrual portfolio for one of the largest global generics companies and trained employees globally on the subject for 5 consecutive years.
Sara was previously an auditor with PricewaterhouseCoopers, where she primarily focused on audits of pharmaceuticals and life sciences companies. Sara received her B.S.B.A. in Accountancy from John Carroll University.
Emanuele Pizzo
Vice President, Finance, EU and International
Emanuele Pizzo is the Head of Finance International and a proven leader with over 22 years of experience in all aspects of finance with an emphasize on transformations and change management.
He started his career at KPMG in audit and moved to the M&A advisory department thereafter. In 2008 Emanuele joined Syngenta, global market leader in agribusiness, and assumed several roles at the headquarters followed by CFO positions in Eastern Europe and Latin America.
After that he worked for Paine Schwartz Partners, a San Francisco based Private Equity firm, as the CFO of Eurodrip SA, a mid-sized multinational player in the drip irrigation market. In this role Emanuele was pivotal for the financial turnaround of the group and heavily involved in the merger with Rivulis Irrigation, the third largest market player at the time. Post-merger he stayed at Paine Schwartz Partners to support other portfolio companies on a consulting basis.
Emanuele has a bachelor’s degree from Zurich University for Applied Sciences, is a Swiss CPA and holds an Executive MBA from IMD Business School in Lausanne, Switzerland. He is bilingual in German and Italian, fluent in English and French and has good command of Spanish.
Andrew Teehan
Interim General Counsel
Andrew Teehan is the Interim General Counsel for Covis Pharma Group. Before joining Covis, Andrew was General Counsel for The Flowr Corporation, a publicly traded, federally licensed global cannabis producer.
Andrew has previous pharma experience as Vice President, Legal Affairs for Concordia International Corp., now Advanz Pharma Corp. Limited. At Concordia, Andrew focused on M&A and corporate finance including the successful completion of a recapitalization transaction which reduced the company’s total debt by approximately US$2.4 billion.
Andrew has also practiced law in Toronto with Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP and in Halifax with Cox & Palmer. Andrew is a graduate of Mount Allison University, where he majored in History and he received his Bachelor of Laws from the University of Victoria.
Claude Noesen
Independent Non-Executive Fund Director
Claude has worked in the financial industry since 1982. He is an Independent Non-Executive Fund Director. He has extensive knowledge in the Alternative Fund Industry, particularly, in Hedge Funds, Alternative UCITS, Funds of Hedge Funds, Real Estate and Private Equity.
Between 1998 and 2002 he was Treasurer for Europe and The Middle East and Global Head of Foreign Exchange with the Bank of Bermuda Ltd, later acquired by HSBC. In 2002, he took on the position of Sales Director for Continental Europe for the Bank covering hedge fund administration. During this time, he also headed the Relationship Management team. He was promoted to the position of Head of Business Development and was responsible for the local Client Relationship Management and Sales teams. He was also responsible for Marketing, Credit Origination and Product Management. In 2008, he joined Fortis Prime Fund Solutions in Luxembourg as Director of Sales & Relationship Management. In 2010, he was Managing Director of ABN AMRO Fund Services (Luxembourg) S.A. and of ABN AMRO Bank Ltd. Ireland, Luxembourg branch. Following the sale of ABN Amro Fund Services to Credit Suisse, he took on the role as Director Sales Management. In 2013, Claude decided to become an Independent Non-Executive director for Investment Funds but took on a part-time role as Head of Business Development for a US based Class Action Recovery Services company, a role that he has since given up. Claude sits presently on the board of a number of UCITS, AIFs and other Luxembourg domiciled companies.
Claude is resident in Luxembourg and is fluent in English, French, German and Luxembourgish. He has followed the INSEAD International Directors Programme (IDP-C) in order to seek the Institut Luxembourgeois des Administrateurs’ (ILA) Director Certification which he successfully achieved in 2016.
Rajiv de Silva
Chairman
Mr. Rajiv De Silva is the Managing Partner of Asiri Advisors, a firm focused on advising private equity, and other corporate and financial institutions on the biopharmaceutical sector. He has broad international experience, having managed businesses in the United States, Europe, Canada, Latin America, Asia, South Africa and Australia.
He was President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Endo International, Plc, a publicly traded multinational pharmaceutical company, from 2013 to 2016. Prior to joining Endo, he served as the President of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. from 2010 to 2013 and served as its Chief Operating Officer, Specialty Pharmaceuticals from 2009 to 2013. Prior to joining Valeant, Mr. De Silva held various leadership positions with Novartis AG. He served as President of Novartis Vaccines USA and Head, Vaccines of the Americas at Novartis. Mr. De Silva also served as President of Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada. He originally joined Novartis as Global Head of Strategic Planning for Novartis Pharma AG in Basel, Switzerland. Prior to his time at Novartis, Mr. De Silva was a Partner at McKinsey & Company and served as a member of the leadership group of its Pharmaceuticals and Medical Products Practice. Mr. De Silva was a Director of AMAG Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from 2012 to 2013. He served on the Board of Rx&D, the Canadian Pharmaceutical Association from 2005 to 2007, was a member of the Board of Trustees of The Kent Place School in Summit, NJ, and is currently a member of the Board of Trustees and Treasurer of The Gill St. Bernard's School in Gladstone, NJ.
Mr. Rajiv holds a BSE, Honors from Princeton University, an MS from Stanford University and an MBA with Distinction from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Alexis Heinen
Partner, Cross Ocean Partners
Alexis Heinen is a partner of Cross Ocean Partners, a global credit management firm. Mr. Heinen was appointed as a director of the Covis Board in May 2023.
Mr. Heinen has been with Cross Ocean since its inception in 2015. Prior to Cross Ocean Partners, Mr. Heinen worked as part of the same investment team at Capula Investment Management since 2013 which span-out to form Cross Ocean Partners in 2015. Prior to joining Capula, he worked in the mergers & acquisitions team at UBS.
Mr. Heinen received a first class honours Bachelor of Science Degree in Philosophy and Economics from the London School of Economics.
Dhinusha Munien
Global Company Secretary, Hayfin
Miss Munien is the Global Company Secretary of Hayfin and manages all corporate and fund governing bodies and deal related bodies across various jurisdictions.
Prior to joining Hayfin, Miss Munien worked at Arendt Services S.A (Luxembourg) where she focused on corporate services of various AIF’s and other Luxembourg domiciled funds.
Miss Munien began her career at Calulo Investments where she spent 10 years as the Assistant Company Secretary and Legal Advisor of the Calulo Group as well as holding various board seats for the group. Dhinusha holds a Bcom Law Degree from the University of Pretoria, a Post-Graduate Diploma in Business Management and has completed exams towards an MBA, both from the Mancosa Graduate School of Business. She is a member of the Institut Luxembourgeois des Administrateurs (ILA) for Governance Professionals in Luxembourg and holds a number of board seats in Luxembourg, Sweden, Dubai and Jersey domiciled companies.
Taavi Davies
Independent director of funds, private equity vehicles, SPVs and commercial companies
Taavi Davies is an independent director of funds, private equity vehicles, SPVs and commercial companies. As a lawyer specialising in investment funds, he has over 20 years’ experience advising on governance, legal and regulatory, compliance and operational matters across a range of structures and jurisdictions.
Prior to moving to Luxembourg in 2011, Taavi practised law in England and the United States with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Sullivan & Cromwell and D Harris & Co International. He also held in-house counsel roles at Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch. Mr. Davies holds an MA (Hons) and an LLM from Peterhouse, Cambridge University. He is currently William Pitt Fellow at Pembroke College, Cambridge University. He is qualified as a lawyer in England and California, and previously practised as a Luxembourg lawyer.
Sean E. Brynjelsen
President and CEO of Eton Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Mr. Brynjelsen has served as Eton’s president, chief executive officer and a member of the board of directors since 2017. Prior to joining Eton, Mr. Brynjelsen served as a corporate officer and executive vice president at Sagent Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he made a number of successful M&A transactions. Prior to his tenure at Sagent, he was senior vice president of Global Business Development for Akorn Pharmaceuticals, Inc. where he led the company’s business development group. Earlier in his career, Mr. Brynjelsen spent a number of years as a product development scientist with a focus on sterile pharmaceuticals at both Baxter and Pfizer (formerly Hospira). Mr. Brynjelsen earned an MBA degree from the University of Notre Dame and holds a Master of Science in Chemistry and a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from the University of Illinois.
Rolf Hoffman
CEO and Founder NavBio AG
Mr. Hoffmann headed Eli Lilly operations in Germany, Subsahara and South Africa as well as Latin America, before moving on to Amgen to take on their International Operations and subsequently the United States Operations out of U.S. Headquarters. Since retiring from Amgen in July 2016, he has built a significant portfolio of board mandates.
John J. Kiely
Director, Zovio Inc. & Amneal Pharmaceutical
Mr. Kiely is a director of two public companies, Zovio Inc., an educational technology company, and Amneal Pharmaceutical, a generic and specialty pharmaceutical company. For both companies, he serves as Audit Committee Chair, and as a member of the Nominating Committee. Mr. Kiely is also a director of the Partnership for A Healthier America, a nonprofit organization.
Mr. Kiely retired from PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in 2019 where during his 39-year career he had significant leadership roles, including Assurance Chief Quality Officer, Assurance Leader of the Private Equity Sector, and Leader of the U.S Pharmaceutical Industry Sector. During his PwC career, he had extensive experience working with Fortune 500 companies and Private Equity portfolio companies.
Mr. Kiely earned a B.A. from St. Francis University (Pa) and is a certified public accountant.
Ildiko Mehes
Pharmaceutical industry board member and an advisor
Ms. Ildiko Mehes is a pharmaceutical industry board member and an advisor to investment management firms, consulting firms, and pharmaceutical companies about a wide range of risks and opportunities in the pharmaceutical industry.
She previously spent 12 years at Teva Pharmaceuticals in a variety of business and legal roles including Senior Vice President & General Counsel. Ms. Mehes' areas of responsibility spanned New Product & Portfolio, R&D, Regulatory Affairs, and Legal Affairs. She has extensive expertise in intellectual property, portfolio selection and optimization, and pharmaceutical M&A. Prior to Teva, Ildiko was a pharmaceutical patent and commercial litigator.
Ildiko is admitted to the Bars of Massachusetts, USA and Ontario, Canada. Ms. Mehes is the recipient of several awards, including the National Post Canadian General Counsel Award for Litigation Management and the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Global Award for Litigation Management. Ms. Mehes holds a B.A. (Honours) in Economics from Queen’s University, a J.D. from Osgoode Hall Law School, both in Canada, and completed the Advanced Management Program at the Wharton Business School.