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THUNDER BAY — Dec. 20, 2021: Northern Ontario Angels (NOA) announced Dec. 20 the appointment of Ian Lane as its new Executive Director from Sudbury, Ontario effective January 3, 2022.
Lane will succeed current Executive Director, Mary Long-Irwin, who will transition into an international consulting role and continue to cover the Thunder Bay area and other parts of Northwestern Ontario, in the coming year.
NOA facilitates connections between Northern Ontario’s entrepreneurs and accredited angel investors to help start and grow businesses. Once again in 2021, NOA has been named the top-performing angel-funding organization in North America by the Angel Capital Association (ACA).
“Mary has led NOA through a significant reshaping and growth phase over the past decade,” says Chris Winrow, Past Chair of NOA. “With Mary’s visionary leadership, NOA has undertaken a regional community expansion and has successfully completed 433 deals as of September 2021, totalling $643 million of investment into the northern Ontario economy.”
Incoming Executive Director, Lane will work alongside Long-Irwin for approximately one year as she moves into her new position as Director of International Development.
Donna Smith, Chair of NOA, was excited when Lane was hired.
“We are very pleased to welcome Ian Lane as our next Executive Director. Given his leadership experience, understanding of funding models and vision of continued growth for NOA, he is an ideal leader to build on the great work of Mary and the rest of the NOA team.”
Ian Lane is delighted to be the new incoming Executive Director of the Northern Ontario Angels. With a diverse career, he is eager to continue fostering connections between entrepreneurs and Angel investors across Northern Ontario.
Prior to moving back to Ontario, Ian was the Manager of Policy Development and Settlement in the Ministry of Innovation and Advanced Learning with the Government of Prince Edward Island. He was responsible for developing policies to attract and retain youth, newcomers, temporary foreign workers, and international students. This role allowed Ian to connect with local businesses and entrepreneurs in strategic innovation sectors to help grow the economy of PEI.
Since 2015, Ian has been the Manager of Research Capacity and Health Innovation at Health Sciences North Research Institute (HSNRI) in Sudbury where he helps researchers and clinicians attract funding and provides strategic planning support. He has facilitated the attraction of over $10 Million in external funding since joining HSNRI.
He has been the Business Manager of ICES North and appointed the Project Manager for the Northern Ontario Health Innovation Cluster, which binds the research activities of seven health research-centric organizations across the region. This role also connects with industry sponsors and local biotech and innovation companies trying to answer the unique health care delivery challenges of Northern Ontario while also stimulating regional economic development opportunities.
Ian holds a MA from Ryerson University in Immigration and Settlement Studies, a BA in Canadian History from the University of Prince Edward Island, and a Diploma in Commercial Music from Humber College. He is a proud Rotarian and has volunteered his grant writing skills to various community and non-for-profit organizations in Ontario and Prince Edward Island. He still enjoys playing music, skiing, hockey, golf, tennis and the odd sail.
