Wayne Chiu is the Founder of Trico Homes and the Trico Group of Companies. A Mechanical Engineering graduate from the University of Manitoba and qualified master builder, Wayne continues to be active in all aspects of strategic land development and investment. Under his leadership, Trico has become one of Calgary’s Top 5 Builders.

Wayne’s corporate and entrepreneurial acumen have reinforced his desire to support the communities that have contributed to his success and to promote and practice the concept of doing well by doing good. In 2008, Wayne and his wife and business partner, Eleanor, founded the Trico Charitable Foundation to combine their passion for entrepreneurship and a keen awareness of the need for creative solutions to ensure sustainability in the non-profit sector.

Beyond his business accomplishments, Wayne Chiu is ardent about supporting lifelong, accessible learning. His significant donation helped Mount Royal University establish the Roderick H. Mah Centre for Continuous Learning. Other donations supported SAIT’s Trades and Technology Complex, University of Calgary’s Chiu Family/AstraZeneca Chair in Cardiovascular Health Promotion and Disease Prevention and helped establish the Chiu School of Business at Bow Valley College. He and Trico have long been supporters of the Kids Cancer Care Foundation. He has also served in various capacities with United Way Calgary, the Canadian Youth Business Foundation, Calgary Stampede Foundation Board, Alberta Champions, Bow Valley College, the TELUS Community Board, and many other organizations. Wayne currently services on the Board of the General Insurance Ombudsman (GIO), an independent organization with the sole purpose of helping Canadian consumers resolve disputes or concerns with their home, auto or business insurers, free of charge. He is also an advisor on the Premier’s Council on Charities and Civil Society which provides advice to government to help civil society groups address pressing social issues across Alberta.

Wayne has been recognized for his business and community accomplishments through various honours, including being named a Member of the Order of Canada and receiving the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee and Alberta Centennial medals. He has received an Immigrant of Distinction Award, the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, the CASE Community College Benefactor Award, and the City of Calgary’s Community Achievement Award. Trico Homes has regularly been recognized as one of “Canada’s Best Workplaces” and among “Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies.” He is a Member of the Order of Canada, a Canadian national order within Canada’s honours system, and one of our country’s highest civilian honours. Wayne is an appointee of the Alberta Order of Excellence. Most recently, Wayne was a recipient of Canada’s Most Admired CEO award.

An active member of the community, Mr. Hopfner enjoyed a distinguished banking career, having joined the Bank of Montreal in 1969 after graduating from the University of Manitoba. He worked with the Bank of Montreal throughout Manitoba and Saskatchewan and held executive positions with the Bank in Alberta and Ontario. He is also a graduate of the Banff School of Management. Since retiring in January 2005, as Vice President of Bank of Montreal Calgary, Chris has remained active in serving on various corporate and non-profit sector Boards. He has maintained his involvement with a variety of organizations in Calgary including volunteering with the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede, and is a past Director of the Calgary Convention Centre Authority, the Board of Governors of Bow Valley College and Calgary Chamber of Commerce.

Eleanor Chiu is a prominent leader in Calgary’s business and philanthropic communities. She is passionate about ensuring that her contributions make a significant difference. Her long list of volunteer roles has included sitting on the boards of Alberta Children’s Hospital, YWCA, and International Women’s Forum Calgary. She and her husband founded the Trico Charitable Foundation – a registered charity with the vision of provoking innovation and building capacity in social entrepreneurship to close social gaps. As Trico Group’s Chief Financial Officer, she helped build the company from a small business to one of Canada’s Best Managed Companies – a testament to her business acumen and professional and personal strengths. She also held directorship of various public and private for-profit companies.

Eleanor holds an FCPA, FCA designation, a prestigious honorary designation awarded to Chartered Professional Accountants who, through their outstanding achievements, bring distinction to the accounting profession and serve as role models to others. She also holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors. Through her endeavours, Eleanor has driven innovation in her profession and demonstrated outstanding achievements in her field and the community. In 2022, Eleanor was invested in the Alberta Order of Excellence.

Al Trellis has 45 years of experience as a custom home builder, speaker and consultant in the home building industry. He is a co-founder of Home Builders Network, which provides management consulting, marketing, residential design, and land planning for home builders throughout the United States and Canada. Collectively, HBN’s clients build 3,000 homes per year with a sales value of $1.2 billion. Six of their clients have been awarded the prestigious “America’s Best Builder” award through the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

Working with Design Basics, the leading home plan service for builders, HBN created the Neighborhood in a Box series of house plans. Al is a noted author of numerous books and articles on residential construction, including his most recent book “Building with an Attitude”. He has served as chairman of the NAHB Custom Builder, Education, and Business Management committees. As chairman of the Custom Builder Committee, he helped create the Custom Builder Symposium, and chaired the symposium for its first five years. A frequent speaker at national and local seminars and workshops, Al has been consistently rated as one of the country’s leading speakers at the NAHB International Builders Show. Al has been actively involved with strategic and operational planning at Trico since 2003, and maintains a significant role in the growth of the company.

Ray DePaul is the Executive Director of the Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Mount Royal University. Ray has been responsible for many innovations in his 35-year career. He has been a successful entrepreneur, selling his company to Intel, and was also a key member of the team that brought the iconic BlackBerry to the world. He is currently a volunteer on the board of Platform Calgary, a board member at Attabotics and the Trico Group, sits on several private sector advisory boards and is proud to be a mentor to many young entrepreneurs. Ray holds a Bachelor of Mathematics in Computer Science from the University of Waterloo and a Masters of Business Administration from Wilfrid Laurier University.

In 2018, Laurel retired from executive leadership at MNP following a 30-year career in professional services. Over that time, she maintained a focus on developing and delivering innovative growth strategies, developing markets and building exceptional teams.

Laurel holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology and an MBA, is a Certified Management Consultant (CMC) and holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors.

Always active in her community, Laurel has been involved in a number of business, educational & charitable boards and committees in Winnipeg, Calgary and Victoria.

In 2009, Laurel was honoured by the Women’s Executive Network as one of the Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada.