Michael Held founded the Company in 2004 and is President and Chief Executive Officer. Prior to founding the Company, Mr. Held practiced as a corporate lawyer at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP in the areas of mergers and acquisitions and securities law and, subsequently, as a consultant at Monitor Group where he provided advice to Canadian and global organizations with respect to developing business unit and corporate strategies, evaluating acquisition and merger opportunities, and enhancing strategic planning and organizational processes. Mr. Held graduated with the gold medal from the combined LLB/MBA program at the University of Toronto in 1997.
Jason Von Bank is the Chief Operating Officer of LifeSpeak (LSPK.TO) and President of Wellbeats (a wholly owned subsidiary of LifeSpeak). In his role as COO, Mr. Von Bank has responsibility for the financial and operational health of the organization and works closely with the ELT and other operating leaders.
Previously, Mr. Von Bank was President and CEO of Wellbeats, which LifeSpeak acquired in 2022. Prior to Wellbeats, he held multiple executive leadership positions at Schwan’s, Lifetime Fitness, UnitedHealth Group and General Electric.
Mr. Von Bank graduated from the University of St. Thomas with a double BA in German and International Business. He earned his MBA at the University of Chicago.
Michael McKenna is the Chief Financial Officer of the Company. He joined the Company in 2020 and oversees all aspects of financial strategy and finance platform development. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. McKenna was Chief Financial Officer and a member of the board of directors of Mobile Klinik Inc., where he was responsible for building the company’s financial strategy, capital raising initiatives, and acquisitions, and led the successful sale of Mobile Klinik to TELUS. Mr. McKenna is also on the Independent Review Committee for Waypoint All Weather Alternative Fund and has significant capital markets and M&A experience through over 11 years of telecom, media, and technology investment banking. Mr. McKenna holds an MBA with a focus in Finance & Entrepreneurship (Certificate in Entrepreneurship) from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario.
Anna Mittag is the Company’s Chief Product Officer, and has been with the Company since 2005. Bilingual, Ms. Mittag is based in Montreal and oversees several portfolios and teams: product innovation, content creation and curation, client services, and sales and partnership support. Prior to joining the Company, Ms. Mittag practiced insurance litigation law with Lavery de Billy LLP, and was in-house counsel for Cirque du Soleil. She holds a BA in English Literature, as well as JD and BCL degrees, from McGill University.
Raffi Tchakmakjian is responsible for leading and driving growth opportunities on a global basis, with a focus on the integration of LifeSpeak M&A activities. He was the founder and CEO of LIFT session, which LifeSpeak acquired in October 2021.
Before founding LIFT, Raffi led global business development and strategic alliances at Dell Cloud Client Computing, a $1.4B business unit. Prior to that, he served as VP of product management and business development at Wyse Technology, which was acquired by Dell; and as co-founder and SVP of product management/business development at Trellia Networks, which was acquired by Wyse.
Mr. Tchakmakjian is a mentor and advisor to many growth-stage start-ups. He was awarded mentor of the year in 2019 at Creative Destruction Labs, a global accelerator program. He holds an MBA in Finance and International Business from McGill University and a Bachelor’s in Computer Engineering from École Polytechnique de Montréal.
Doug Berkowitz is the Company’s Chief Administrative Officer and has been with the Company since 2014. He has overall responsibility for information technology and development, human resources, infrastructure, legal, and marketing. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Berkowitz spent the first 22 years of his career involved in the people, process, and technology components of the customer service, sales, and marketing functions. Most recently, Mr. Berkowitz was the V.P./General Manager for a large portfolio of clients at marketing services firm Epsilon Data Management, LLC, when it was an affiliate of Alliance Data Systems Corporation. Mr. Berkowitz holds a B.S. in Finance, with honors, from the College of Commerce and Business Administration at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Ms. Ross oversees all financial and accounting functions for LifeSpeak and Wellbeats including the effective stewarding of organizational resources, maintaining appropriate controls and remaining compliant with applicable legal and regulatory requirements.
Previously, Ms. Ross was CFO of Wellbeats, which LifeSpeak acquired in 2022. Prior to Wellbeats, Ms. Ross held leadership roles at North Memorial Health and the US Bank and was Audit Manager at Boulay Group.
Ms. Ross holds a CPA license. She received a BS from St. Cloud State University with a major in Accounting and a double minor in BCIS/AIS.
Stanley Bergman is the Managing Director of Sales and is responsible for leading the Company’s business development activities across Canada and into the eastern United States and has been with LifeSpeak since 2011. Mr. Bergman has brought the Company’s digital well-being platform to world class organizations of all sizes and industries. Prior to joining LifeSpeak, Mr. Bergman spent his entire career working in the education and professional training industry, beginning as a Business Development Lead at TAPE Educational Services, a live training provider after university and moving to LifeSpeak to sell the company’s digital solution in 2011. Mr. Bergman holds an B.A. (Honours) in Economics from the University of Western Ontario.
Katie Bowkett is the Company’s Vice President of Client Success and has been with the Company since 2012. She has overall responsibility for driving successful results across the client base. This includes increasing renewal rates, reducing churn, expanding revenue in accounts, influencing lifetime value through client satisfaction and overall health scores. She is also responsible for new business opportunities through building greater advocacy and reference ability. Prior to joining the Company, Ms. Bowkett spent the first 15 years of her career with one of the largest corporate recruiters in Western Canada where she rose from account management to Vice President of Worldwide sales, and eventually, Vice President of Global Client Experience. Ms. Bowkett also created and led the corporate initiative, which resulted in the company being listed in the top employers to work for by both Great Places to Work and B.C. Top Employers for five years prior to her departure.
Amy Antonacci is responsible for leading the Account Management team to ensure successful onboarding and program management for all clients. Ms. Antonacci works closely with sales and partnerships, content, and product to best shape client services. Before joining LifeSpeak, Amy was a top producer with a real estate company in Chicago, helping buyers and sellers find the homes of their dreams. Amy holds a BS in Finance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.