President of FanTrust, a pioneer in fan-building and digital innovation, Catherine has led two decades of digital relationships, rights, and revenues for international entertainment clients in streaming, TV, film, video games and eSports. Prior to founding FanTrust, Catherine was COO of a broadcast tech company that she and co-founders took public on the Nasdaq, growing it to a $300M market cap.
A media-tech innovator, economic development CEO, and seasoned Board Director, Catherine’s leadership has resulted in $3B+ in high-impact investment to Canada since 2018. As Chief Executive Officer of Vancouver Economic Commission, she spearheaded strategic initiatives driving both investment attraction and regional growth, including the Vancouver Film Commission, the world’s largest animation and visual effects sector, delivering $3.8B in annual production; smart cities technologies such as AI, quantum computing and the green and impact economies. Catherine’s portfolio includes building North America’s fastest-growing tech sector in Alberta and establishing an accelerator fund for Edmonton, known as a global AI capital. She has also served as the CEO of Canada's Centre for Digital Media, an innovation district for startups and university partnerships in the heart of Vancouver; and as the Chief Industry & Research Officer for Emily Carr University of Art & Design, where she co-launched the inaugural Master’s degree programs.
A veteran board director and CEO, Catherine shares her enthusiasm for business innovation and AI in an accessible way for executive audiences and boards, delivering strategic relationships and significant capital to global clients. She serves on the boards of media funds and influencer media companies, and spent much of spring and summer 2024 creating a national AI strategy for broadcasting and production. A champion of the AI-media transition since 2016, Catherine has spoken on the topic of “AI for Entertainment” to executive audiences large and small, including at MIPCOM the world’s largest content market held annually in Cannes.
Catherine brings global strategic relationships, deals, and investment to the FanTrust network. She is a member of the Emmy Awards’ International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, serving on the Nominating Committee; and is a longstanding Board Director of the United Nations flagship program World Summit Awards for digital media, representing digital innovation from 182 countries dedicated to the Sustainable Development Goals.
With an academic background in climate physics and journalism, Catherine integrates her expertise in sustainability with a focus on storytelling, guiding clients to do the same. She has a physics degree from Reed College with a focus on climate change, and an MS from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, where she did her original digital work at MIT’s Media Lab, and won the Correspondent Fund Award to report at CERN, the European Council for Nuclear Research, where the Web was launched.