Werklund Family Office

We connect businesses with potential to the capital they need to grow and thrive. Since inception, Werklund Ventures has been helping clients in a wide variety of industries that align with our vision.

Werklund Ventures Ltd. (WVL) is a private family-owned investment company holding both private and public investments.

The foundation of WVL is the experience and success of David Werklund, whose unshakeable energy and drive towards creating value through enterprise has formed the basis for the creation of the multi-billion dollar energy waste treatment industry.

The capital invested in WVL is patient with no fixed time horizon, with unparalleled flexibility to take advantage of good opportunities. This approach combined with David’s track record affords WVL the ability to partner with bright entrepreneurs who can create value, progress industry forward and achieve monetary and business success for themselves as well.

In 2006, David Werklund and his daughter, Deanna Werklund began the Werklund Foundation to make a positive difference in people’s lives through initiatives that produced sustainable results. That same year, David and his two oldest children, Mark and Deanna, attended a world-class leadership program that ultimately shaped the future of the family foundation.

When Deanna participated in the program, she realized that all of the participants had the same thought: they wished that they had been given the opportunity to attend this type of program as a teenager. Deanna envisaged providing all teenagers with this type of training as a vehicle to empower students with the skills necessary to excel in life. Deanna shared this vision with her father and with his tremendous support, mentorship and empowerment, they pursued this vision with an innovative leadership initiative called Empowering Minds™.

David's personal business success had taught him to strive for excellence and to measure results. The Werklund Foundation elected to research this leadership program through a formal, long-term independent evaluation with the University of Calgary. In 2008, the study was completed and the University of Calgary found the results profound and unprecedented—the Teen Leadership program delivered dramatic improvements in emotional intelligence, the ability to adapt to change, competence and goal attainment. The results exceeded everyone's expectations and the Werklund family realized they had discovered a catalyst for social change.

The Werklund Foundation's Empowering Minds™ program was managed by the Werklund Foundation until June 2012 when it became its own independent public charity, one that the Werklund Foundation continues to support. Empowering Minds™ continues to profoundly impact students and has helped shape the mandate of the Werklund Foundation with a youth-centred focus on building confidence and resiliency in our youth.

The Werklund Foundation continued to invest in youth through a number of charitable initiatives. Significant donations have been made to SPARK, The Telus World of Science; the AWALI Group to establish an Institute for Educational Development in East Africa; the AWALI reads program to create literacy programs in Tanzania; and to the Werklund Foundation Centre for Youth Leadership at the University of Calgary as a means to propose, develop and publish research focused on youth leadership education - hosting academic meetings, symposiums, and workshops for scholars, teachers and community members.

Other partnerships have also included the Calgary Arts Academy - to embrace new education methods and learning style theories through the arts; and We.Org to establish a comprehensive national youth service strategy to equip all young Canadians with the academic knowledge, personal skill development and social engagement they need to become true leaders of social change in their communities.

David Werklund, Founder & Executive Chairman

Dave began his career in 1965 at Shell Canada where he recognized the need to address environmental and waste management issues in the energy industry. He co-founded Concord Well Servicing in 1979 and grew it to the third largest well service company in Canada. In 1984, he founded Canadian Crude Separators (CCS). In 2012, CCS along with Hazco, Concord, Beck, HMI, Prodrill and seven others were rebranded to Tervita Corporation, a privately-held company with $5+ billion in revenues and over 4,600 personnel.

An entrepreneur at heart, Dave started Werklund Ventures Ltd. ("WVL") to invest in private innovative companies. He is Founder and Chairman of Payload, the CEO and Chairman of Pure Environmental LLP, and currently serves as the Chair of the Board for RS Technologies Inc., and Intelligent Wellhead Systems.

Dave’s success is punctuated by numerous accolades. Among his many honours, he has been recognized as a member of the Order of Canada, member of the Alberta Order of Excellence as well as being inducted into the Calgary Business Hall of Fame and the Canadian Petroleum Hall of Fame. He is also a past recipient of Canada’s Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

Brian Evans

Brian Evans was born and raised in Edmonton. He attended the University of Alberta where he received degrees in Arts and Law. After articling and working as an associate with the Emery Jamieson law firm in Edmonton, he moved with his wife, Debbie, to Canmore and established Canmore's first full-time law office.

After 13 years of practice in Canmore, he was elected the MLA for Banff-Cochrane in 1989 and served as MLA until he retired from government in 1997. During his time in government Brian served as Minister of Environmental Protection and as the Minister of Justice and Attorney General. Upon retirement from government Brian joined the Miller Thomson law firm in the Calgary office. In 2006, Brian left Miller Thomson and joined the Werklund Group as an Executive Director, serving in that position until retiring for the Werklund Group in 2010. Brian is currently CEO of Chiniki First Nation and Executive Advisor of Tecskor Corporation as well as serving on a number of not for profit and for profit boards. Brian is married to Debbie and they have 3 wonderful children, a very supportive son-in-law and daughter-in-law and 5 amazing grandkids.

Tricia Leadbeater

Tricia is Director, Wealth Management and Portfolio Manager at Richardson GMP, with over 20 years of industry experience. Tricia holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA ) designation, an MA in philosophy from Dalhousie University and undergraduate degrees with distinction in English and Philosophy from the University of Calgary. In 2014, she completed the Institute for Corporate Directors Not For Profit certificate.

Tricia has volunteered with several not for profit organizations during her professional career. Tricia is the Vice-Chair at Theatre Calgary and is past chair of the Theatre Calgary Endowment. Tricia is also President of the Calgary Allied Arts Foundation; a past board member of the Calgary CFA Society and committee member for the Calgary CFA Women in Investment Management conference. Prior to joining the financial services industry, Tricia worked in research and teaching positions in philosophy at Dalhousie and the University of Calgary. When not attending art and film events in the city, Trish is usually in the mountains - cross country skiing, hiking, or travelling.

Mark Werklund, Chairman

Having graduated from the Alberta College of Art & Design in 2016 with a BFA in Sculpture, Mark and his wife Lori have settled in the Okanagan where he has his own art studio and is involved in the arts community. In addition to his role as a director on the Werklund Foundation, Mark is also a director of Werklund PTC Ltd.

Address: Suite 4500 Devon Tower, 400 – 3rd Avenue SW, Calgary, Alberta T2P 4H2 Canada

Phone: +1 403 231 6545