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.
Partner
Bruce Braithwaite
CPA, CA with over 30 years experience in providing advisory services. Owner of tax credit, grants, and sales tax refund advisory firms operating in Canada, the UK, Ireland, Brazil and the US. Firms have in total over 115 technical and scientific personnel on staff. Currently taking the firm through a major international expansion. Bruce’s Specialties include; assisting companies in obtaining tax credits for R&D expenditures, government grants, and sales tax refunds.
Business Development Team
VP of Sales & Marketing
Michael Grach
Sales and marketing professional with over 10 years of experience selling in the financial sector. Michael started his career with Manulife Financial working for their banking division. He has been with Fairtax since 2010 and his client centric focus has helped Michael develop a broad base of clients for Fairtax across a diverse range of industry sectors. Graduating from Carleton University in 2002 Michael’s skill set includes Sales Tax Recover, Grant Strategy, the SRED program, Apprenticeship management and Government Incentives.
Manager of Marketing & Communications
Melisa Talsma
Melisa is a strategic, creative professional with 10 years of experience in marketing & brand management. She is responsible for implementing and maintaining the Fairtax brand standards while fostering and developing relationships with our national strategic partners. Her diverse skill set includes; advertising, graphic design, corporate branding, digital photography, event coordination, email marketing, and social media management.
Grants & Incentives Team
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 Analyst
Tyler Brizland
Tyler holds Honours Bachelor of Arts Degrees in Political Science and History from McMaster University and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Queen’s University. Tyler’s knowledge of government processes and laws allow him to identify the best government funding opportunities for our clients to make their businesses as lucrative as possible. Tyler previously worked in the non-profit sector at Habitat for Humanity in Government Relations. During his time here he used his writing, communication skills and understanding of political bodies to successfully partner with property developers for future affordable housing opportunities. His analytical skills help him easily break down and comprehend government documents and can help clients understand the process and requirements needed for grant approval.
Funding Analyst
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.
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.
Funding Specialist
Carissa Furguson
Carissa has a background in the Not‐For‐Profit sector and is passionate about achieving tangible results. Her passion and attention to detail have helped many clients secure critical government funding needed to improve businesses and the community. Carissa has earned a BA in Anthropology from Trent University and a Diploma in Culture and Heritage Site Management.
Funding Specialist
Melissa Judson
Melissa has been writing funding applications for 10+ years across a variety of sectors including manufacturing and agri-processing. Prior to joining Fairtax, Melissa previously administered the approval and distribution of a government funding program with a budget in excess of $1 Million. Melissa has earned a BA in Psychology at Queen’s University.
Funding Specialist
Melissa Lodge Rodney
Melissa has an extensive background in non-profit program planning and development. Prior to joining Fairtax, Melissa administered the approval of Employment Ontario government grants upwards of $1 Million to businesses in Southern Ontario. Her wealth of experience offers our clients additional benefit and insight to support their success in securing government funding across Canada.
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.
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 Analyst
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.
Manager of Analyst Group
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.
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.
GrantMatch Team
Director of Partnerships
Sam Eisbrenner
Experienced Facilitator of Client Relationships and Corporate Partnerships with a background in finance and business development supported by Business Administration degrees in both Corporate and Personal Finance. Skills have been demonstrated in a variety of roles such as small business operation and management of new business strategies. Past experiences have proven abilities in the management of special projects and the identification of unique synergistic relationships that drive the bottom line.
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.
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.