Barb Ells, COO, Venn Innovation, Inc. 
Bio:
I joined Venn (formerly Tech South East) in March 2010 when it was in its infancy – just three months old. My role at that time was Manager of Programs and Member Relations and was involved developing programming and policies from the ground-up, in addition to meeting with companies to understand their challenges and connect them to the appropriate resources.
With the rebranding of Venn, my role changed to COO. Given the lean nature of our organization, in addition to the tasks outlined above, my role also has oversight on a number of projects that deliver value to our members, including projects that provide market research to companies and connect youth with careers, career coaches and companies in New Brunswick. I am heavily involved in planning and organizing of workshops and seminars, scheduling of events taking place in our new Venn Centre, email communication to our network, as well as administrative tasks for Venn.
Prior to Venn, I was a co-founder in an instrumentation company that was a spin-off from the National Research Council in Ottawa. I was the Product & Marketing Manager at that company which was acquired by a US-based multi-national company that focuses on laboratory equipment.
I have a background in analytical chemistry and hold a Ph.D. from the University of Alberta and a B.Sc. (Hon) from Dalhousie University.
What is the most notable change that has impacted your members during your tenure at the Venn Innovation? How has Venn responded to this challenge/opportunity?
I believe the most notable change has been the development of the ecosystem that supports innovation-based businesses in our province. The New Brunswick government introduced an innovation strategy that is still being implemented. This has produced movement among the supporting organizations, and we seem to be moving toward a greater alignment of resources and an increase in communication between the stakeholders.
What is one program you’re most proud of at your organization? Why?
New Brunswick finds itself in a situation of many of its youth leaving the province for greener pastures and opportunities that they feel only exist elsewhere. We have recently started a project called InspireNB that is focused on increasing the awareness of youth on the companies, careers, and opportunities that exist in New Brunswick in hopes of keeping more of our youth here, or at least providing them with a resource that they can access when they want to move back. Over time, this project will give companies the ability to see the talent pipeline coming through our education system, and the ability to engage with students, and their future workforce, earlier. This project resonates with many of us who have not followed the career path that we originally envisioned, and wish that we would have had access to this type of information when we were making career decisions.
Name one way you’ve changed your work based upon something not going as well as you hoped the first time? In other words, what would you recommend to someone doing similar work so they learn from your previous experience?
For us, there are always lessons to be learned from the workshops and seminars that we hold – whether it be the time of day of the sessions, the bandwidth that our entrepreneurs have to attend events, or the topics that draw the most interest. We strive to present high value sessions with great presenters who are providing content that is otherwise difficult to find in our small market. If the topic is one that is being addresses by another group, than it is not the topic for us.
Name one tool, website, app, etc that you find very helpful professionally.
MaRS, based in Toronto, has built out a fantastic website (www.marsdd.com) that is very rich in content for entrepreneurs and tech start-ups. We reference it often and highly recommend it to companies with whom we work.
When you’re not working diligently on behalf of your members, what do you do for fun in your spare time?
My spare time is spent with my family. Our two children keep us very busy with piano lessons, swimming, basketball, and hockey, and through these activities we have met lots of great friends.