Dear Founders, Partners, and Colleagues:

First, let me thank the entire Foresight cleantech community in BC and Alberta for your passion and engagement in the cleantech industry - you are the backbone of what we do and the reason that we do it. None of our programs or services would be possible without you.

Over the last two weeks, we have been closely following the rapidly changing situation with COVID-19. It has become abundantly clear that we need to focus on reducing person-to-person interactions to protect our populations who are vulnerable to the virus. I wanted to pause for a moment to take stock and to let you know what you can expect to see from Foresight in the coming weeks. As such, we are taking the following steps effective immediately:

Educational Programs Will be Virtual

Foresight’s live training programs (Launch, Deliver & Grow) will continue as scheduled but will be all delivered online. All upcoming in-person events, workshops and group meetings, including quarterlies and consultation meetings with EiR’s (Executives in Residence), will be online to respect the recommendations of our public health officials. Current registrants will be contacted individually with further details.

Cluster, Challenges & Special Projects Continue with the Team Online

The Foresight team is hard at work and will continue consulting and working with our strategic partners and companies. Our research and engagement projects, including the CORE Cleantech Cluster Development and our Industry Innovation Challenges programs, will continue on schedule.

Foresight team members are available via phone or email to support you and will continue to work in our usual collaborative way with our clients, partners and members companies. These activities will be online via phone and video conference. 

Here is a list of contact information for all team members should you need to connect:

CORE Cluster
Catriona Power
[email protected]
778 751 3426

INDUSTRY INNOVATION
Jacob Malthouse
[email protected]
778 960 6527

CHALLENGES
Dylan Groven
[email protected]
778 953 3606

OPERATIONS
Stephen Wilson
[email protected]
604 762 6700

SME PROGRAMMING
Tony Dhaliwal
[email protected]
778 281 2177

EVENTS & MARKETING
Astrid Nunez
[email protected]
604 358 5079

COMMUNICATIONS & PRESS
Diane Currie Sam
[email protected]
604 788 8044

ACCOUNTING
Michelle Hunt
[email protected]
604 626 3393

Pulling Together the Community

One of the core values at Foresight is to support the cleantech industry through fostering a sense of community and collaboration. Many of you have reached out to tell us about the devastating impact that the canceling of major industry events, and withdrawing of deal flow and financial opportunities will be and has been to your business, especially the most vulnerable, cash-strapped startups.

We hear you! We are preparing, communicating and rolling-up-our sleeves to do whatever we can as an organization to mitigate the effects of these lost opportunities. We are exploring ways of ensuring engagement continues online, encouraging important outreach and pitch events to continue, and continuing to showcase our companies as strong investment opportunities. We will also be working with our government partners to understand and share all available resources to small businesses to ensure that our cleantech sectors have access to as many resources as possible to recover quickly.

We will continue to update this RESOURCES page often:

RESOURCES FOR CANADIAN BUSINESSES IMPACTED BY COVID-19

Listening to the Experts

We are monitoring updates daily and will be following guidance from our provincial and federal public health officials regarding travel, isolation practices, and support systems. While the Canadian government has reiterated that the risk of spread of the virus remains low, the health and wellness of our community and employees are paramount.

Stay in Touch

For events we have scheduled for later in the year (April onwards), we will continue to monitor the situation and follow best practices as they arise. We will update our schedule of events through our regular communication channels (email, website, Eventbrite, social media and slack channels).

Please contact us if you have other ideas on how we can alleviate the situation in the days ahead. This is a time when we need to pull together as a community, and as a country. We are here to help and support you.

Sincerely,