Leadership

An Albertan through and through, Justin Riemer has dedicated his career to strengthening the province he loves. As the Chief Executive Officer of Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA) and its Fuel Innovation Fund subsidiary, Justin leads the team dedicated to advancing innovations that are reducing Alberta’s greenhouse gas emissions and diversifying its economy. He has earned a reputation for skillfully navigating Canada’s innovation system, building relationships inside and outside of Alberta, and developing a strong network in support of innovation and economic development.

For more than 25 years, he has achieved results in regional economic development, industry expansion, investment attraction, and innovation. Before joining ERA, he led the Alberta Region of Prairies Economic Development Canada in the federal government to support economic development across the province. Prior to that, he held several senior positions focused on innovation and investment attraction at the Government of Alberta and briefly at Alberta Health Services. Justin graduated from the University of Alberta with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Political Science and went on to earn a Master’s Degree in International Affairs from Carleton University. Justin is happily married, has two grown boys and a daughter in law. He is a leader. A connector. A changemaker.

Heather Stephens, Chief Operating Officer of ERA and the Fuel Innovation Fund, has played a pivotal role in the organization since its inception in 2009. Currently, Heather oversees strategic areas including marketing and communications, investment impact, partnerships, government and industry engagement, and finance. She continues to provide leadership across ERA’s operations, drawing on her deep expertise in governance, contract management, IT, and human resources.

A Chartered Professional Accountant, Heather brings over two decades of experience from PricewaterhouseCoopers, where she worked in both Edmonton and London, UK, and was instrumental in helping establish ERA (formerly Climate Change and Emissions Management Corporation). In recognition of her leadership and contributions, Heather was awarded a Fellowship with CPA Alberta in 2025 and was recognized by the Women in Energy Transformation Series—a collaboration between the Pembina Institute and Globe Series—for her role in advancing Canada’s clean energy transition. Heather holds Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Commerce degrees from the University of Alberta.

Chris Owttrim is the Executive Director of Technology and Innovation for Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA) and the Fuel Innovation Fund. He oversees ERA’s strategic direction in technology investments, spearheads competitive funding calls, and provides thought leadership on clean technology garnered from ERA’s investments. Chris has spent the last seven years in a variety of roles with Alberta Innovates and ERA, most recently serving as ERA’s Technology Investment Lead.

Chris is a clean technology and green energy specialist with experience supporting research, development, and commercialization projects for emerging technologies as well as researching, modelling, and analyzing energy systems and decarbonization pathways. He is highly passionate about the intersection of climate, energy, economics, and policy. Chris holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Alberta.

Syed Ayub is the Executive Director of Corporate Services at Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA) and the Fuel Innovation Fund. He provides strategic oversight across Information Technology, Human Resources, Board Governance, Legal, Contracting, and Data Management. A values-driven leader, Syed is committed to advancing ERA’s mission to deliver environmental sustainability and economic growth.

Syed brings more than 21 years of leadership experience in the public energy sector, with expertise in regulation, policy analysis, and corporate operations. Before joining ERA, he led key corporate functions at the Canada Energy Regulator, developed methane emissions reduction regulations at the Alberta Energy Regulator, and advanced biofuels policy at Natural Resources Canada. Syed holds a Master’s degree in Management from Harvard University, a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Calgary, and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Queen’s University.

Cameron is passionate about building the business case for clean energy investments that progress the energy transition. His career has been primarily focused on the Canadian energy industry, mainly oil and gas, as a process engineer, greenfield project development engineer, and sustainability consultant who helped companies develop decarbonization strategies and comply with Canadian regulations such as Alberta’s Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) Regulation and Canada’s Clean Fuel Regulations (CFR). Cameron brings deep technical expertise to the role along with expertise in lifecycle assessments and economic modelling.

Cameron has a B. Chem Eng and Mgmt from McMaster University. He also received a MSc Sustainable Energy Development from U of C where his capstone project covered the techno-economics and GHG impact of biofuel co-processing in a refinery. He is a co-author on five papers examining the GHG impacts and economics of hydrogen in the Western Canadian economy.

Jennifer Haskey brings over 25 years of domestic and international experience in the energy sector, spanning both technical and commercial roles. She has served in advisory capacities focusing on mergers and acquisitions, corporate strategy, and value creation at Deloitte and BMO Capital Markets. In addition to gaining valuable business development and portfolio management expertise at Repsol (formerly Talisman Energy), Jennifer has held key investment decision-making roles at an international private equity as well as a global investment firm. Earlier in her career, Jennifer worked as a Reservoir Evaluations Engineer at McDaniel & Associates Consultants. She is a Professional Engineer and holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Saskatchewan.

Kevin is a seasoned communications, marketing, and public relations professional with a diverse background spanning government, industry, post-secondary, not-for-profit, and community organizations. Since 2008, he has worked on all manner of marketing and communications efforts for Emissions Reduction Alberta including developing strategic and integrated campaigns to attract applications to funding programs, coordinating major media announcements with Government of Alberta Ministers and Premiers, securing press coverage for numerous technology projects, and spearheading the brand development and launch of the Fuel Innovation Fund subsidiary. His work has also included oversight of digital platforms, including websites, social media, newsletters, and content creation.

Prior to this role, Kevin spent nearly a decade at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, where he honed his expertise across the full spectrum of marketing and communications disciplines. Earlier in his career, he worked as a producer for Rogers Sportsnet and, for one memorable summer, with the Toronto Blue Jays—supporting broadcast teams with game statistics, post-game interviews, and operating the radar gun behind home plate. Kevin is also an accomplished freelance writer whose work has appeared in Alberta Views, Kootenay Mountain Culture Magazine, and Where Magazine.