Join Canadian Club Toronto on May 8 for a conversation with Chris Albinson, CEO and President of Communitech, and a seasoned tech investor and longtime champion for Canada’s tech ecosystem, and Rasha Katabi, CEO and Founder of Brim Financial. Learn from these thought-leaders as they discuss the state of the Canadian technology industry and examine Canada as a destination spot for tech jobs and businesses. They will also explore the journey of the founder in a fast-paced tech environment, and the impact of the recent U.S. bank failures on the Canadian ecosystem. Chris and Rasha will be joined in conversation by Konata Lake, Partner, and Head of Torys’ Emerging Companies and Venture Capital Group.
*For virtual attendees, please note that the live stream will begin at approximately 12:40pm ET & the link will be provided closer to the event date*
Chris Albinson
CEO & President of Communitech
Chris launched his global investment career at Newbridge Networks and progressed to JP Morgan Partners, Panorama Capital, Founders Circle Capital and BreakawayGrowth Fund.
A five-time founder, Chris has led companies through IPO twice. A proven investor across five funds and more than 70 companies, Chris has achieved a lifetime 3.6x return, returning $1.49B on $410M invested.
Chris is an HBA and MBA graduate of the Ivey Business School at Western University, and has enthusiastically represented Canada on the world stage.
He co-founded the C100, a network of influential Canadians in Silicon Valley, to support Canadian founders at home and abroad. And, in 2021, Chris moved back home to Canada to lead Communitech as President and CEO.
Rasha Katabi
CEO & Founder, Brim Financial
Rasha has over 20 years of experience in capital markets. She began her career at TD Bank with the CFO’s office. She joined Merrill Lynch (BAML) in 2002 where she was Managing Director and Group Head of the Cross Asset Strategic Solutions Group. Rasha led the Debt and Equity Structured Solutions for both cash and derivatives structuring, and was a senior trusted advisor to Canadian pension funds, global sovereign wealth funds, and large institutional clients. She established Merrill Lynch as the leading bank in asset securitization in Canada, focusing on financial services and consumer finance, and built the largest non-bank residential mortgage funding business.
Rasha served as President and Chair of the Mortgage-Backed Securities Issuers Association (MBSIA) for 2 consecutive terms, and as Director of the Board at Russell Investments in Canada, and part of the Russell Investments Audit Committee. Rasha holds a Master of Science degree in Financial Economics and a bachelor’s degree in Economics from McGill University.
Konata Lake
Partner, Torys LLP
Konata is Partner of Torys LLP. Konata’s practice focuses on corporate law, with a focus on investments and mergers and acquisitions. Konata advises strategic and financial parties in all aspects of investing and divestiture transactions, including shareholders arrangements, joint ventures, leveraged buyouts, majority and minority equity investments, co-investments and take private transactions. Konata also advises financial institutions, governments and Canadian pension funds on complex strategic commercial arrangements and transactions.
In addition to Canadian Club Toronto, Konata serves on the board of governors of York University, where he sits on the Investments Committee and the Finance and Audit Committee.
Konata is a recipient of the 2019 Lexpert Rising Stars—Canada’s Leading Lawyers Under 40 Award.
Konata holds a Bachelor of Business Administration and a Masters of Business Administration from the Schulich School of Business at York University and a JD from Osgoode Hall Law School.
