Dean Hollis, Chairman

Dean Hollis was appointed to the Board in November 2016 and currently serves as Chair of the Board and is a member of the Audit Committee and Compensation Committee.

Mr. Hollis presently serves as a senior advisor for Oaktree Capital, a $100 billion worldwide private equity firm. Before retiring in 2008, Mr. Hollis served as the President and Chief Operating Officer of the Consumer Foods Division of ConAgra Foods from December 2004 to July 2008. During Mr. Hollis’ 21 years with ConAgra Foods, he held many executive-level positions, including Executive Vice President, Retail Products, President, Grocery Foods, President, Frozen Foods, President, Specialty Foods, and President, Gilardi Foods. Mr. Hollis holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Stetson University and serves on its board of directors. 

Mr. Hollis is currently a director and Chair of the Board of Directors of Hain Celestial Group, Inc., and the Chair of the Board of Directors of Boardriders, Inc., a privately held global action sports and lifestyle company. Previously, Mr. Hollis was Chair of the Board and member of the Compensation Committee of AdvancePierre Foods, Inc. until its sale to Tyson Foods in June 2017. From July 2011 until the completion of its sale to Pinnacle Foods Inc. in January 2016, Mr. Hollis served as a director of Boulder Brands, Inc., a leader and innovator in health and wellness foods, where he also served as Chair of the Board and a member of the Audit Committee. From May 2012 until the completion of its sale to Snyder’s-Lance in February 2016, Mr. Hollis served as a director of Diamond Foods, Inc., a leading branded snacks supplier member of the Audit Committee and Nominating and Governance Committee.

Joseph D. Ennen, Chief Executive Officer

Joseph Ennen was appointed as the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and as a director of the Company on April 1, 2019. Mr. Ennen joined the Company from Columbus Manufacturing, a food processing company specializing in artisanal salami and other prepared delicatessen meats, where he served as President and CEO from early 2015 until its sale to Hormel Foods in December 2017. Before joining Columbus Manufacturing, Mr. Ennen was Senior Vice President and General Manager of Own Brands at Safeway, Inc., a leading supermarket chain, from 2009-2015. Prior to Safeway, Mr. Ennen spent four years as an executive at PepsiCo/Frito Lay Division, including Group Vice President, Innovation, and Vice President Marketing, Core Brands. Previously, Mr. Ennen held various leadership roles and general management, marketing, and finance positions with ConAgra Foods, Kellogg's Company, and General Mills.

Mr. Ennen graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Bachelor of Science degree in business (Finance and Marketing majors) and an MBA (with concentrations in Marketing and Corporate Strategy) from the University of Michigan.

Dr. Al Bolles, Independent Director

Dr. Albert Bolles was appointed to the Board in October 2016 and currently serves as a member of the Corporate Governance Committee. 

Dr. Bolles is currently the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Landec Corporation. Prior to his appointment at Landec, he most recently served as Executive Vice President, Chief Technology & Operations Officer of ConAgra Foods, a leading consumer products food company with net sales exceeding $16 billion. Prior to that, Dr. Bolles was Executive Vice President, Research, Quality, and Innovation for ConAgra, championing the development and execution of multiple new and improved products, realizing incremental growth for ConAgra Foods multi-year pipeline to sustain and advance growth further. Before joining ConAgra in 2006, Dr. Bolles served as Vice President, Worldwide Research & Development (R&D) for PepsiCo Beverages and Foods, responsible for global R&D leadership for beverages (Pepsi, Gatorade, and Tropicana) and Quaker Foods, including product, process, package and sensory R&D, Nutrition, Quality, and Scientific & Regulatory Affairs. Dr. Bolles holds six patents and has won numerous awards for his contribution to the world of food science.

Dr. Bolles is a graduate of Michigan State University with a B.S. in Microbiology and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Food Science.

Dr. Bolles is also a director of Landec Corporation. Before he was appointed CEO at Landec in June 2019, Dr. Bolles was a Compensation Committee member, the Food Innovation Committee, and the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee at Landec. Dr. Bolles also serves as a director for Arcadia Biosciences Inc.

Rebecca Fisher, Independent Director

Rebecca Fisher was appointed to the Board in July 2019 and currently serves as Chair of the Compensation Committee and a member of the Corporate Governance Committee.

Ms. Fisher has been an independent consultant since July 2019. Prior to that, Ms. Fisher was at PepsiCo between 2005-2019, where she most recently served as Senior Vice President of Human Resources. She led significant business and organizational transformation for a 20 billion-dollar North America Beverage business in this role. During her tenure at PepsiCo, Ms. Fisher also led Talent Management for PepsiCo's global functions, the Latin America sector, PepsiCo Americas Foods sector. She held significant human resource roles at Frito Lay. Before joining PepsiCo, Ms. Fisher spent five years with Raytheon, an aerospace technology company, working in several divisions, gaining extensive training in organizational development and executive coaching.

Ms. Fisher earned a Bachelor of Science in Broadcast Journalism from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas.

Katrina L. Houde, Independent Director

Katrina L. Houde was elected to the Board of Directors in December 2000.  She currently serves as Chair of the Corporate Governance Committee.

Ms. Houde has been an independent consultant since March 2000.  From January 1999 to March 2000, Ms. Houde was President of Cuddy Food Products, a division of Cuddy International Corp. Before that, Ms. Houde was the Chief Operating Officer of Cuddy International Corp. from January 1996 to January 1999.  She also held operations management roles with Johnson Controls and Scotiabank. Since her appointment to the Board, Ms. Houde has served as Chair of the Compensation Committee, a member of the Audit Committee, and Chair of the Corporate Governance Committee. On two different occasions, Ms. Houde has served as Interim Chief Executive Officer for the Company. 

Ms. Houde earned her Honors Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Windsor.

Ms. Houde is also on the Board of Directors for Landec Corporation, where she serves on the Food Innovation Committee and the Audit Committee. She is also a director of several private and charitable organizations.

Leslie Keating, Independent Director

Ms. Keating was elected to the Board of Directors in July 2019.  She currently serves as a member of the Corporate Governance Committee and Audit Committee. 

Ms. Keating served as Executive Vice President of Supply Strategy and Transformation for Advance Auto Parts from March 2017 until her retirement in December 2018. While in that role, she led the development and execution of the re-architecture of the business model to deliver transformative financial value. Prior to joining Advance Auto Parts, Ms. Keating was with PepsiCo for over 31 years. She served as the Senior Vice President of PepsiCo Supply Chain from 2008 until her retirement in 2017 with responsibility for Frito Lay's North American Supply Chain.  In that role, Ms. Keating was accountable for all aspects of Frito Lay's supply chain, including manufacturing, warehousing, and transportation.  Before her role as Senior Vice President of Supply Chain, Ms. Keating served as Senior Vice President of Commercialization and Supply Chain, where she oversaw the innovation commercialization and service agendas for PepsiCo. Ms. Keating has held numerous executive roles throughout her career at PepsiCo. Before joining PepsiCo, Ms. Keating started her career with Procter and Gamble.  

Ms. Keating earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech and her MBA from Georgia State University. 

Ms. Keating is also on the Board of Directors of Chesapeake Energy Corporation, where she serves on the Audit and Compensation Committees.

Diego Reynoso, Independent Director

Diego Reynoso was appointed to the Board in March 2023 and currently serves as a member of the Audit Committee.

Mr. Reynoso presently serves as the Chief Financial Officer of the Prepared Foods division of Tyson Foods. Prior to joining Tyson Foods in 2021, he led the $5 billion beer division at Constellation Brands as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the division from 2017-2021. Prior to Constellation Brands, Mr. Reynoso held various senior finance, tax, treasury and operations roles over a 12 year period at Beam Suntory Inc. He also held multiple roles at Allied-Domecq, Danone and Procter & Gamble across Latin America, Europe and the U.S.

Mr. Reynoso holds an MBA from the Instituto Panamericano de Alta Dirección and a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de México.

Mahes S. Wickramasinghe, Independent Director

Mahes Wickramasinghe was appointed to the Board in July 2021 and currently serves on the Audit Committee.

Mahes brings with him extensive expertise and international experience, having served in a variety of senior executive roles across some of the largest companies in Canada – Canadian Tire Corporation, CIBC, BCE and Rogers Communications.

He retired from Canadian Tire Corporation where most recently he was Executive Vice President International, CEO of the Canadian Tire Bank and Chairman of Helly Hansen.  Prior to that, Mahes was Chief Corporate Officer with responsibilities for strategy and M&A, Supply Chain, e-commerce and Human Resources.  

Mahes started his career in public accounting and was a partner with Arthur Andersen. He then joined CIBC as Head of Audit for CIBC World Markets Europe and Asia, based in London, and went on to hold the roles of Chief Administrative Officer of CIBC Retail Bank, Chief Financial and Administrative Officer of CIBC Amicus/President’s Choice Financial, and Chief Administrative Officer of CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank based in Barbados. He has also served as Senior Vice-President Corporate Finance at Rogers Communications Inc., Executive Vice-President at Bell Aliant and Senior Vice-President at BCE. With decades of experience across a variety of industries, Mahes has had an international career advising corporations on strategic matters. He has managed complex acquisitions and restructurings and has also led functions in operations, technology, data and finance. 

Mahes began his career as a Chartered Accountant in Sri Lanka. He is a Certified Public Accountant (U.S.) and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (UK).

The Board of Directors of SunOpta, Inc. (the "Company") sets high standards for the Company's employees, officers and directors. Implicit in this philosophy is the importance of sound corporate governance. It is the duty of the Board of Directors to serve as a prudent fiduciary for shareholders and to oversee the management of the Company's business. To fulfill its responsibilities and to discharge its duty, the Board of Directors follows the procedures and standards that are set forth in these guidelines. These guidelines are subject to modification from time to time as the Board of Directors deems appropriate in the best interests of the Company or as required by applicable laws and regulations.