Leadership

George Prudat was born and raised in Saskatchewan and has been married to Joan for 46 years (1973). They currently reside in St Walburg, Saskatchewan.

He is a retired Royal Canadian Navy Commander and was the Captain of HMCS Nipigon, a helicopter equipped destroyer. He has more than 20 years of seagoing service in ships that operated globally and more than 15 years of experience at the senior executive level.

George is a graduate of Memorial University (BMS), a graduate of the Canadian Forces Command and Staff College (pcsc) and holds a Professional Governance qualification. After retiring from the Navy he was employed at the Centre for Operational Analysis, a research centre within Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC). 
George is a Board Member of the North West College and formerly served as the Mayor of St Walburg.

With a career spanning land claims, private/municipal/provincial/federal legal experience, in sectors like gaming, telecommunications, post-secondary institutions, mining, and agrifood, Leanne’s career has increasingly focussed on fostering mutually beneficial relationships with Indigenous people for economic prosperity with an emphasis on employment and business opportunities.  Her diversity and inclusion efforts increasingly expand to all diverse considerations, particularly Indigenous, gender and LGBTQ2 inclusion. Volunteer and board experience had further exposed her at various depths to public safety and protective services, sustainable technologies, digital economies, culture and heritage, and education.

Currently a co-founder and the CEO of Akawe Technologies, Leanne aims to bridge the digital divide for Indigenous People’s with thoughtful and meaningful digital solutions founded on Indigenous values to exercise the full potential of sovereign and inherent rights among ourselves and with others on-line. The Akawe E-ID and digital wallet founded on control of our own operating system, provide the basis for all of our services and applications and our approach to data sovereignty will ensure “Indigenous data is part of our new buffalo”.  

Leanne is currently a director with Prairie Sky Royalty, a governor of the University of Regina, a member of the CN Indigenous Advisory Council, an advisor to Indigenous Women in Tech with Ethical Digital, an LP in the diverse female VC Phoenix Fire Fund, a member of the Firehood cultivating Indigenous angel investors and Indigenous start ups, and sits on several councils of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. She also supports the campaign for the renewal of Saskatoon’s YWCA.  

Leanne is a member of the Peepeekisis First Nation of the File Hills Qu’Appelle Tribal Council in Treaty 4. She lives and works in Treaty 6, Saskatoon.

Mike Crabtree is President and CEO of SRC, leveraging over 30 years of experience in energy and clean tech with a strong emphasis on innovation and R&D in those two sectors. His international footprint extends across 30 countries in Europe, Africa, North America and the Middle East. Holding a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and a master’s degree in petroleum engineering, Mike chairs several Canadian and US companies and has raised hundreds of millions of dollars from government and private investors for successful new technology ventures. Prior to SRC, he was an executive board member at Carbon Engineering Inc, focusing on direct air capture of carbon dioxide. Mike also founded and led Oilflow Solutions Inc, an oilfield services company, and held numerous senior executive roles at Schlumberger Inc. Currently, he is leading SRC on the development of North America’s first vertically integrated Rare Earth Processing Facility, which will be operational in 2024 and introducing the world's first eVinci^TM microreactor into Saskatchewan before the end of the decade. 

Michael has been President & CEO of Westbridge Capital Ltd., since co-founding in 2007. For the two decades prior to the formation of Westbridge, Michael was actively involved in the Canadian telecommunications industry, initially as Vice President of WorldxChange Communications and finally as President & CEO of Modern Digital Communications Inc. Michael was a finalist in both the 2003 and 2022 Ernst & Young, Entrepreneur of the Year awards and is actively involved on the board of a number of private companies in diverse industries.

Bill Miller has 40 years of environmental protection and resource management experience as a Saskatchewan public servant. Being stationed throughout the province, Bill interacted with a number of cultures, groups, government ministries and industries. Assignments included managing provincial parks, inspection and compliance duties, environmental assessment reviews and developed approvals for oil and gas exploration and developments on resource crown lands. During the last 20 years duties focus on a variety of wood industries, municipal drinking water and wastewater works, as well as hazardous substances and waste dangerous goods storage facilities.

In 2003, Bill was asked to lead the unit responsible for licensing and inspecting drinking water and wastewater facilities in the northern 2/3 of the province. Responsibilities included strategy and protocol development, managing up to 10 environment officers, oversight of the unit’s investigating complaints and regulatory compliance and spill/upset response regarding water and sewage works.

Raised on a farm in southern Saskatchewan, educated with a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture and a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Saskatchewan, Mark Pickard is the founder and President of InfraReady Products Ltd. InfraReady is an industrial food ingredient manufacturer, utilizing infrared cooking technology to process a wide variety of plant constituents. In 2018, InfraReady was awarded the ABEX Award for Innovation and was a previous winner of the Saskatchewan Trade and Export Partnership Exporter of the Year Award.

With 40 years’ experience and a devotion to value-added processing, Mark has had past Board roles at AgWest Bio, STEP, POS Pilot Plant, PAMI (Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute) and the Saskatchewan Food Industry Development Center. Currently, Mark is a Board member of the National Food Processing Skills Council and a member of the Advisory Committee of the Agricultural Development Fund.

Norm is the former Sr. Vice President, Potash Operations for The Mosaic Company. While at Mosaic, he had overall responsibility for the Potash Business Unit’s (PBU) six mining operations in Canada and the USA. Under Norm’s leadership, the PBU launched a $6.0 billion expansion campaign to add in excess of 5 million tonnes of production capacity in the Saskatchewan operations. 
 
Norm has a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Saskatchewan. In addition to sitting on SRC’s board, he is currently Chair of the Tourism Saskatchewan Board. He is a former board member of SaskEnergy and Technical Safety Authority of Saskatchewan (TSask) and the former Chairperson of the Canadian Fertilizer Institute. Norm is Past President of the Saskatchewan Mining Association, Past Chair of the Saskatchewan Potash Producers Association, and was a board member for the Regina Symphony Orchestra and the Hospitals of Regina Foundation. He is the past honorary chair of the Saskatchewan Roughriders Centennial Advisory Committee.

Norm holds the Public Sector Governance Certification from the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy in 2018, and completed the Harvard Business School Agribusiness Seminar in 2008
 
In 2022 Norm was presented with the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal (Saskatchewan) and  in 2005, Norm was honoured with a Centennial Medal from the Government of Saskatchewan. In 2002, he was named one of the ten most influential businessmen in Saskatchewan by the Saskatchewan Business Magazine.
 
Norm and his wife Jocelyn Souliere have three children and are based in Regina, Saskatchewan. They contribute to their community by serving on various boards and committees and enjoy time with their family, golf, the arts, and travel.

Kurtis is the Director of the Water, Waste and Environment Department at the City of Regina. In this position he is responsible in overseeing the water, wastewater, drainage and solid waste services within the City of Regina. This position allows him to work with a diverse group of colleagues to ensure reliable service is provided to the residents of Regina.

Kurtis grew up on his family farm outside of Moose Jaw, SK. Kurtis graduated from the University of Saskatchewan with a degree in Agricultural and Bioresource Engineering in 2005 and a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering in 2007. Kurtis has been registered as a professional engineer in Saskatchewan since 2010. Kurtis was elected as an APEGS Councillor from 2018-2021 and has volunteered with the APEGS Environmental and Sustainability Committee for about 6 years, from 2011-2016. In addition, Kurtis is on the board of directors of the Saskatchewan Waste Reduction Council since 2021.

Kurtis is married and has two young boys and enjoys spending time at the lake, including fishing, kayaking and boating, and helping out on the family farm.

Kari Harvey is CEO of Innovation Saskatchewan where her responsibilities include working with community partners to nurture an environment that supports the success of start-up tech companies in the province, and with the research community to ensure Saskatchewan research and commercialization interests are maximized.

Her 25-year public service career includes senior leadership positions in the Ministry of Agriculture such as Director of the Agri-business Development Branch, Executive Director, Capital and Regional Services with the Saskatchewan Ministry Health, and Executive Council and Office of the Premier as Assistant Deputy Minister, International Relations and Protocol. Kari is currently a board member with the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO), the Canadian Light Source (CLS) and Saskatchewan’s first tech incubator, Co.Labs. In the fall of 2020, she was also appointed to the National IRAP Advisory Council.  

Kari holds a Master of Public Administration and a Bachelor of Business Administration, both from the University of Regina. She also holds the ICD.D designation with the Institute of Corporate Directors.

Byron is a graduate of the University of Saskatchewan with bachelor’s degrees in science and education. He is an education consultant to 15 First Nations schools on 11 First Nations in northwest Saskatchewan, where he uses data for strategic planning and provides administrative support. He has worked in Saskatchewan’s education system for over 40 years, as a teacher, an administrator and as a consultant for the Treaty Six Education Council. 

Byron has extensive municipal governance experience, including 15 years on Edam’s town council, 12 of which as mayor. He served on the Red Pheasant Cree Nation’s Treaty Land Entitlement board for 10 years as an Independent Trustee and 9 years on the North West College board, including 3 years as board chair. He also served on the Saskatchewan Elocution and Debate Association board for 24 years, 10 of which as chair, and as board chair on the Highway 26 Rural Development Corporation for 3 years. He received training from Brown Governance.

He is a recipient of the Saskatchewan Centennial Premier’s Medal for Leadership.

Byron lives in Edam, Saskatchewan, with his wife, Lorna, and has three children. He enjoys spending time with family, fishing and golfing.

Mike Crabtree is President and CEO of SRC, leveraging over 30 years of experience in energy and clean tech with a strong emphasis on innovation and R&D in those two sectors. His international footprint extends across 30 countries in Europe, Africa, North America and the Middle East. Holding a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and a master’s degree in petroleum engineering, Mike chairs several Canadian and US companies and has raised hundreds of millions of dollars from government and private investors for successful new technology ventures. Prior to SRC, he was an executive board member at Carbon Engineering Inc, focusing on direct air capture of carbon dioxide. Mike also founded and led Oilflow Solutions Inc, an oilfield services company, and held numerous senior executive roles at Schlumberger Inc. Currently, he is leading SRC on the development of North America’s first vertically integrated Rare Earth Processing Facility, which will be operational in 2024 and introducing the world's first eVinci^TM microreactor into Saskatchewan before the end of the decade.

Ryan Hill is the Chief Operating Officer at SRC. He previously served as Chief Financial Officer, Senior Vice-President, Mining and Energy, Associate Vice-President, Finance and the Controller for SRC. In addition to corporate management and leadership, Ryan is a Chartered Accountant and has more than 15 years of financial management, audit and tax experience.

Wanda Nyirfa is responsible for numerous functions at SRC, including communications, corporate social responsibility, competitive intelligence, government relations, impact measurement and legal and risk. She is SRC’s Privacy Officer. In addition to corporate management and leadership, she has more than 20 years of experience in marketing and communications; formerly working as a partner in a communications and event management company, as well as in economic and business development. 

Jesse Merilees previously served as SRC's Director of Operations in its Environment and Biotech Division. In addition to corporate management and leadership, he has experience in strategy development and financial management.

Toby Arnold is responsible for SRC’s Nuclear Division. This includes the licencing and deployment of a microreactor in Saskatchewan. She previously served as SRC’s Vice-President of Organizational Effectiveness. Prior to joining SRC, Toby worked in the telecommunications manufacturing industry.

Dr. Muhammad Imran previously served as Director of Operations, Energy Division at SRC. He started at SRC as a research engineer in the EOR Field Development Business Unit and then became Business Unit Manager. He completed a PhD degree in Chemical Engineering. Career highlights at SRC include many research projects involving innovative proofs of concept; development and optimization of medium and heavy oil EOR processes; lab-scale equipment design; and physical and mathematical modelling. He is skilled in planning, coordinating and executing successful strategic business programs and managing high performance teams.

Sereena King is responsible for Safety, Human Resources, Information Technology and Facilities at SRC. She has over 20 years' experience in global organizations across manufacturing, engineering consulting, mineral exploration and mining industries. She brings experience as a senior leader for complex organizational challenges with a focus on human resources, facilities and major capital projects.