Our Team
SustainAgro has assembled a team of experienced leaders in collaborative fields to build a business designed to fast forward to a low-carbon economy.
Joey O'Brien
Chief Executive Officer
Mr. O’Brien is the Chairman & CEO of SustainAgro Ltd. and the President of SustainDriven, an innovative provider of environmental consulting and event operations that executes sustainable water, waste, global greenhouse gas, and energy solutions. His professional passion is environmental sustainability, mitigation, and education.
He is a founding board member of his community’s Green Energy co-op and energy retailer, Rocky Mountain Community Energy, chairs his Rotary’s club Sustainability committee and is also a member of ESRAG Big West Committee and sits on the United Nations – Sports For Climate Action committee and is on the board of ESRAG, Rotary’s international sustainability Rotary Action Group.
He has owned and built companies from the ground up since 1979. In addition, Joey is a hiking guide, a ski instructor, a first-class power engineer, and a lover of nature.
Ryan Houston
Chief Operating Officer
Mr. Houston brings a diverse range of commercial and industrial management experience, spending 20+ years working in cutting-edge industries. Ryan’s career as an electrician started in Calgary, AB, working all over the city, gaining experience on many large projects, his favorite being the ground-up construction of the 52-story Bankers Hall Tower 2.
His management career started in Fort McMurray as a service manager within the integrated automation/security/CCTV industry, ranging from municipal projects such as wastewater treatment & tri-services to projects at large industrial sites. Ryan expanded his management career into asset integrity management, working for a large service provider managing large turnaround maintenance projects, and keeping some of the largest industrial facilities on earth safe. Ryan rounded out his management career as the director of a rope access business unit, helping to commercialize an industry that had yet to be discovered, growing to be the largest rope access business unit in Canada.
Starting a new business by the name of SustainAgro Ltd., he has his site set on improving the carbon footprint of the diesel and agricultural industries.
Currently, he lives in Canmore, Alberta, spending his time in the real estate market, coaching hockey, playing hockey, mountain biking, skiing, hiking, climbing, and pretty much anything else that you can get up to in the mountains.
Scott Travers P. Eng
President, PEI Operations
Mr. Travers is a mechanical engineer by education and a seasoned business executive. Scott ran heavy industry (pulp and paper) in Nova Scotia and New York for 30 years.
As President of various divisions, he has built environmental branding, led process improvements, product development, labour, and government relations, and led large $100,000,000 projects in pulp and paper, and energy sectors. Scott’s project and business management experience is vast, and his industry knowledge is invaluable.
Scott built North America’s first in-stream tidal demonstration facility (FORCE-Fundy Ocean Resource Centre for Energy), he is a shareholder and previous board member of Woodland Biofuels, a leader in the conversion of wood cellulose into Ethanol through pyrolysis. Scott led the position of Chair of the Canadian pulp and Paper Association and led the pursuit of alternate cellulose conversion technologies.
Scott is currently a business mentor for the PEI Bioalliance (a bioscience incubator/accelerator) and is the CEO of AMAR Seafood PEI(land-based Halibut and Wolf Fish farm).
Joachim Stroink
Chief Government & Global Relations Officer
Driven by a vision that determines his role as a father, neighbour, business owner, son, employer, and friend, Joachim Stroink has the ability to combine action and innovation to make things happen. This vision is simple: create a positive and sustainable future for his family, business, and community. Elected to the Nova Scotia Legislature in 2013, he understands the needs of his community, through a focus on building relationships, his inquisitive nature, and a successful career dedicated to community building, sustainable growth, and local economic impact.
In addition to being the owner and manager of the Trail Shop and Rackology family of businesses, Joachim has experienced a widespread and enduring impact on many different communities in Nova Scotia through his contribution to countless endeavors such as The Halifax Oval, Not Since Moses Race, Great Canadian Backyard Campout, the Learning Disability Association of Nova Scotia, and Camp Brigadoon, which included swimming across the Northumberland Strait to raise funds and awareness.
With passion and a connected vision of community, Joachim understands how positive support and social innovation can change lives, and one need only look at his trail of successes and endeavors to understand the impact of his positive energy. By taking the time to discover what matters most to people and seeking creative solutions, Joachim can overcome obstacles and turn ideas into action.
Mark Rossano
Treasurer & Founder of C6 Capital Holdings LLC
Mark Rossano is a financial industry veteran and renowned expert on global financial markets and supply-chain analysis. As Founder and CEO of C6 Capital Holdings LLC, he provides investment and consulting services to clients across multiple sectors with a pronounced focus on global product flows. Mark’s deep-dive supply chain expertise is in high demand—he serves as a consulting executive to several international businesses, is an equity partner in several others, and is now a frequent contributor to Bloomberg TV after serving as a Bloomberg Energy Industry Analyst.
That expertise has been crafted over many years in a variety of roles, including Senior Energy Analyst and Macro-Economist positions at Elevation, Candlewood Investment Group, and South Ferry Capital Management, as well as his formative experiences as a Portfolio Manager at FNY Capital and Morgan Stanley Investment Management, where he managed an eight-person team focused on developing a global trade platform to invest in rates, foreign exchange, commodities, and equities.
Mark received his bachelor’s degree in economics from Loyola College in Maryland and his MBA in Finance from Syracuse University’s Whitman School of Management. During that time, he was a founding member of Syracuse’s Net Impact organization—an international nonprofit that focuses on building businesses with socially and environmentally sustainable processes.