Our Team
Accelerate business growth by engaging the Fairtax team; our in-depth knowledge of the thousands of government funding and incentive programs will help minimize your risk and internal resources. Our holistic approach finds and secures the maximum possible government funding for your organization. Fairtax’s services include: grant identification, funding program matching (Stacking & Pairing), grant strategy development, funding application development & writing, and compliance reporting support.
Executive Team
Managing Partner
Dan Civiero
Founder and CEO of Fairtax, founded in 1994. Dan assists companies with recovering funding through Grants & Incentives; Indirect Sales Tax, and SR&ED ITCs. He builds a strong rapport with his clients and oversees the operations of the company. Dan provides quality assurance on every level of large file client interaction to ensure no viable opportunity is left behind and the client receives maximum funding recovery.
Managing Partner
Mike Janke
In 2010, Mike founded Onager Solutions, a government incentives firm. Mike grew the firm for 5 years, doubling every year in sales until being acquired by Fairtax in 2015. Throughout that time, Mike gained a Grant Reviewer’s Perspective, after being appointed to a Grant Review Team Board, by the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport. The Funding program was responsible for distributing $100 Million in annual grant funding in Canada. Mike was named Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2013 and received Innovation Awards for the creation of the business. Mike now leads the Fairtax Grants & Incentive technical team.
President
Dieter Eisbrenner
A results-driven executive with over 25 years of experience in government funding, including tax credits, and Government grants and incentives. Dieter’s skill set spans all operational areas with a core focus on maximizing the clients’ recovery strategy across a variety of programs. He has spent several years working with multinational organizations, maximizing their grant funding strategy around the globe. Dieter’s skill set includes Innovation Funding Strategy, Tax Recovery, Government Funding, SR&ED ITCS, and Government Incentives.
Vice President, Operations
Christine O’Brien
Christine’s academic background in International Finance and Accounting has allowed her to develop excellent analytical and report-writing skills, as well as gain a deep understanding of company financial statements. Graduate of the University of Toronto with a B. Comm Specialist, major in Economics and Minors in French and Spanish, Christine spent several years working at TD Canada Trust in audit compliance.
Business Development Team
Manager, Marketing & Communications
Gibson Ingram
Gibson has a diverse academic background that has led him to develop strong analytical and communication skills. Significant areas of study include Social Sciences and Technology, Critical Advertising Theory, Visual Culture, Lean Startup Entrepreneurial Method, Media Theory and Advanced Research Methods. His wealth of experience offers our clients additional competitive advantage and insight to support their success in securing government funding across Canada. Gibson has completed an Honours Communications Studies Degree at Wilfrid Laurier University, accompanied by an Entrepreneurship Core specialization.
Grants & Incentives Team
Senior Funding Analyst
Emma Boylan
Emma obtained Honours Bachelor of Arts degrees in English and History from the University of Toronto and a Graduate Certificate from Humber College in Professional Writing and Communications. During her time with the Region of Halton, she created the Communications Strategy and Plan and can both design and execute strategies that will positively impact not only clients, but communities as a whole. Emma’s educational background in research and writing help her to communicate effectively with clients and collect the data necessary to secure government funding for them.
Funding Specialist
Andrew Cleary
Andrew has a diverse academic background that has provided him attributes in developing analytical and client management skills, as well as successfully leveraging government funding. Andrew is in his 3rd year of study at Wilfred Laurier University with a future degree in Honours Bachelor of Business Administration and a HBA in Financial Mathematics.
Senior Funding Specialist
Rebecca Crilly
Rebecca has developed over 10 years of experience as a Marketing Specialist in consumer and B2B marketing. Her extensive background and knowledge includes specialties in Communication Planning and Implementation, Grant Writing and CRM Management. Rebecca has earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree (B.Com), and Degree in Business Administration and Management from Ryerson University.
Senior Funding Specialist
Ralph MacKelvie
Graduated from the University of Manitoba, Faculty of Management receiving a B. Comm., Honours in 1984. Ralph has held senior accounting positions in the steel manufacturing, grain handling and brokerage industries. While gaining his work experience, Ralph attained the CMA designation and was the Gold Medal recipient for the Province of Manitoba on the comprehensive final. Ralph’s experience in information technology has been invaluable in implementing the data analysis techniques Fairtax employs on large data populations.
Senior Funding Analyst
Chelsey MacNeil
Chelsey’s diverse academic background and experience in economic development and international trade has enabled her to develop effective research, data analysis, and writing skills that can be leveraged in support of our Funding Specialists. Originally from Georgia, Chelsey earned a BS in International Affairs and Modern Languages from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Funding Specialist
Corey McCulloch
Corey’s passion for entrepreneurship has lead him to launch two small businesses and pursue an honours degree in Business Administration and a Diploma in Small Business Management/Entrepreneurship at the University of Guelph-Humber. As president of the University’s Entrepreneurs’ Society, Corey mentored fellow students through business planning and the application process for various start-up funding opportunities.
Senior Funding Specialist
Lynda Rickard
Lynda has an extensive background of organizational development and proposal writing knowledge. Her in-depth experience with FedDev Ontario and EODP provides clients with invaluable insight on securing government funding within the Southern and Eastern Ontario regions. Her proven track record offers our clients with a value-added benefit to successfully completing various funding applications.
Funding Analyst
Ivana Jažić
Ivana has obtained an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Criminology and a double minor in Sociology and Education Studies from the University of Toronto. Ivana is currently completing a post-graduate diploma in Risk Management and Business Administration from McMaster University. In addition to her academic background, Ivana’s diverse experience within the banking industry has allowed her to further develop her communicative, funding and client management skills to effectively establish meaningful relationships with clients across sectors.
Funding Analyst
Nick Favero
Nick holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance and a minor in Economics from Wilfrid Laurier University. Nick has recently joined the Fairtax team and is eager to build on past experience as a Financial Advisor and Investment Representative. Nick has a highly analytical mind that enables him to approach complex tasks strategically, and communicate solutions effectively.
Funding Analyst
Lola Bridges
Lola is a new member of the Fairtax team. Graduating in 2015 with a Bachelor’s Degree in English from the University of Calgary, she has excelled in writing and communication courses with a focus on critical analysis. Lola also brings with her over 15 years of experience in customer service, and has prioritized high-quality standards through her work in small business management for the last 5 years.
GrantMatch Team
Senior Software Developer
Ramanpreet Singh
Raman is an innovative and highly technical IT professional, offering superior knowledge of computer systems, analytical projects, and software development for efficient management of enterprise information and technologies. Raman excels in gathering, analyzing, and defining operational requirements and process executing tools, delivering on efficient planning and re-engineering processes, workflows, and technology solutions for business continuity. Raman is a proactive leader capable of initiating and designing high-level technical solutions to improve revenues, and margins in adherence to best practices.
Data Librarian
Trista Morris
Trista holds double major in English Literature and Political Sciences from Nipissing University. She has also completed a Master’s Degree in Library and Information Sciences with an emphasis on information management from Western University. Trista has a highly analytical mind and thrives in tasks related to data manipulation, analysis, detailed reporting and making sense of complex data sets to achieve desired outcomes.
Jr Software Developer
Paulina Khew
Paulina is a first-year Systems, Designs, Engineering student at the University of Waterloo, where she was the recipient of the Motorola Engineering Scholarship. Paulina is currently working at Fairtax as our Junior Software Developer to complete the co-op portion of her program. She uses her experience from a New York Coding Bootcamp, as well as her undergraduate education to help manage the systems and software that Fairtax relies on to deliver all our products and services.
Jr Software Developer
Laura Yu-Shen Dang
Laura is a first-year Mathematics student at the University of Waterloo who plans on majoring in Computational Mathematics and Statistics and minoring in Computer Science. She has interests in software development that include web development and machine learning, which she pursues by competing at hackathons and attending workshops. As a Junior Software Developer on her first co-op work term, she is focused on maintaining internal websites and creating web scraping and NLP related systems.
Sales Tax Team
Sr. Tax Consultant
Andrew Auger
In the past 15 years, Andrew has been a consultant for two multinational firms where he gained most of his national and international experience. In the last 7 years, he moved on from this role and concentrated all his efforts to develop his expertise as a senior consultant in the area of Tax Recovery in Canada. There, he provided advisory and recovery services to a multitude of companies in the variety of industries that he served – particularly for construction and manufacturing. Andrew holds extensive knowledge and solid experience in dealing and negotiating with the Canada Revenue Agency and other government agencies. He continues to deliver to his clients value added services which enable them to make more effective, informed and strategic decisions so that they remain on top. Andrew’s goal is his clients’ success.
Sr. Tax Consultant
Tony Klopp
Tony has a passion for indirect tax, and is optimistic by nature. He effectively expresses ideas and conveys information in business writing, conversations and interactions with others that make an impact and persuade intended audiences. Tony has a well-formed understanding of the importance of quality client service and proactively identifies client needs to create effective strategies to seize profitable business opportunities. Tony is a goal-driven leader who effectively manages self, others, and teams to achieve goals. High ethical standards, honesty, and professionalism contribute to effective leadership and optimal business relationships with his clients and team.
Sr. Consultant
Tom Muir
Tom is an active member of the Fairtax sales recovery team. Fairtax has gained extensive experience from thousands of reviews for both public and private organizations. Our team of experts quantifies all refund opportunities with full documentary support for amounts identified, and provides improved systems and processes for your day-to-day operations.