Emergence announces five new team mentors to join incubator

January 17, 2023

Seasoned cohort of business professionals will bring wealth of expertise 

Emergence is pleased to announce that five new mentors have joined the incubator program as part of the MIT-inspired Team Mentorship Program. These seasoned business professionals join the existing mentors who are experts in their fields and provide practical advice on key issues and strategic support to companies to advance their business objectives. The new mentors joining Emergence are Cathy Bennett, Tanya Chapman, Branko Jankovic, Kent Summers, and Tom Turi.

“Emergence is delighted to welcome such a highly-skilled group of experienced individuals to join our Team Mentorship Program,” said Jason Cleaversmith, Director of Incubation, PEI BioAlliance. “Our clients will benefit tremendously from the wealth and breadth of their knowledge and professional advice.”

Emergence is a bioscience incubator that accelerates the growth of Atlantic Canadian startups and early-stage companies moving from ideation to commercialization. Emergence provides companies with business incubation services including the Critical Path program, one-on-one and team mentorship, business strategy and advisory services, as well as access to the Emergence Performance Network.

Learn more about our new mentors:

Cathy Bennett
An award-winning former CEO and seasoned entrepreneur, Cathy’s focus today is innovation and growth. With over 35 years of business leadership, Bennett Group of Companies, grew from a small group of service businesses to operations in commercial construction, industrial manufacturing, HR support, service, retail, industrial supply, and real estate investments and operations. Cathy is currently an Independent Board Director with Vigilant Management, Marathon Gold and the Business Development Bank of Canada, and TaskForceNL. Read more.

Tanya Chapman
Tanya is CEO of the The Chapman Group, an organization that she founded to help individuals, teams and organizations transform to perform. Her boutique consulting company tailors custom solutions for each client, aligning strategic HR practices with the overall organizational vision. Tanya is committed to leading positive, progressive, and sustainable growth in NB and across Atlantic Canada. She encourages leaders to think big about their businesses, teams, plans and purpose, and she leads by example. Read more.

Branko Jankovic
Branko has been a CPA since 1985 and has spent much of his career in senior financial roles for various companies and organizations. He has been the Chief Financial Officer of two TSX-V listed companies focused on the development, manufacturing, and sale of ingredients to the global personal care, cosmetic, and food industries. He has served on the board of a TSX listed biotechnology company focused on the development of plasma based and oral therapeutics. Read more.

Kent Summers
Kent Summers is a seasoned technology entrepreneur with four successful startups and a 30-year contribution to the Boston entrepreneurship community in operating, volunteer and board roles. Kent’s passion is working with talented founders to navigate early-stage company formation and growth challenges. Since 2002, he has been an active volunteer mentor with MIT Venture Mentoring Service (VMS), and a volunteer Instructor with the VMS Outreach team, where he works closely with organizations around the world to successfully adopt the VMS Team Mentoring model. Read more.

Tom Turi
Thomas Turi, Ph.D. currently serves as the Chief Scientific Officer for Flagship Biosciences developing and implementing Spatial Biology and Digital Pathology solutions to accelerate drug development programs. He previously served as the Chief Scientific Officer for Nexelis where he assisted in the development of multiple approved and authorized COVID vaccine programs in addition to overseeing R&D activities in biomarkers and preclinical sciences. Read more.