Alliance Grain Traders

Murad Al-Katib – President and Chief Executive Officer

Murad Al-Katib came from being Saskcan's first employee in 2001 to one of Canada’s “Top 40 under 40” and Saskatchewan's “ABEX Business of the Year” winner in four short years. Murad Al-Katib is the President and CEO of Alliance Grain Traders Inc. and acts as the company's guiding vision in all aspects of the business. Murad also services on the company's Board of Directors.

After finishing his studies in 2001, Murad left his role as Manager, International Finance in the Government of Saskatchewan to help found Saskcan Pulse Trading, the original company that provided the nucleus for Alliance Grain Traders. With his guidance, Alliance Grain Trading has grown into a world leader in value-added pulses and specialty crops, expanding into food and ingredient markets around the globe. Murad has served on the Boards of Directors of the Canadian Special Crops Association and Pulse Canada, the national associations for the pulses and specialty crop industries. In 2006, he was appointed to the Advisory Board for Small and Medium Enterprise for the Canadian Minister of International Trade, David Emerson. In 2004, he was selected as the Prairie Regional Winner of the Ernst and Young “2004 Emerging Entrepreneur” award, and in 2005 was named one of Canada's Top 40 under 40 Years Old by the Caldwell Partners and the Globe and Mail. Murad graduated from the University of Saskatchewan with a Bachelor of Commerce with Distinction in Finance and finished his Master of International Management with Distinction from the American Graduate School of International Management (Thunderbird) in Arizona. Bringing all his varied experience to Alliance Grain, Murad has repeatedly proven himself to be a strong financial and strategic business thinker, able to anticipate and mitigate the risks in international trading and commodities.

Huseyin Arslan – Executive Chairman, Board of Directors; President, The Arbel Group

In addition to being one of the founding shareholders of Saskcan Pulse, Huseyin Arslan has guided the operations of The Arbel Group for the past 15 years as President and General Manger. In 2008, he was appointed a trustee of the Alliance Grain Traders Income Fund and was appointed to the position of Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of AGTI after the acquisition of The Arbel Group by the AGTIF in 2009. Mr. Arslan holds a Bachelor of Science in Electronics Engineering from Middle East Technical University in Turkey and has over two decades of experience in the trading of agricultural and food products globally. He is also an elected member of the executive committee of the International Pulse Processors and Exporters Federation.

Lori Ireland is a Certified Management Accountant with over 10 years of experience in Agricultural Accounting. Lori worked as an Accountant for Heartland Livestock (formerly the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, Livestock Division) for 3 years and, in addition to regular accounting duties, managed the implementation and related staff training of the livestock Feeder Finance program through Farm Credit Canada. Lori spent the next several years in Special Crops Accounting at the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, where she led the implementation of a new Grain Accounting Reporting Package for the Grain Accounting and Marketing areas of the company. Lori left this position in 2002 to join Saskcan Pulse Trading as its Chief Financial Officer.

Lori has also been on contract with the Society of Management Accountants for several years and acts as a Moderator for the Strategic Leadership Program. This position involves the mentoring of candidates as they learn various areas of management, including strategic planning, human resources management, treasury, decision making and report writing.

Gaetan Bourassa was born and raised in Radville, Saskatchewan. In 1992, he completed a diploma in Marketing from the Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology (SIAST) and immediately joined the marketing team at Best Cooking Pulses, Canada's first pea splitter. Over the next 12 years, Gaetan built his pulse industry experience as General Manager of Best Cooking. In 2005, Gaetan joined Saskcan Pulse Trading as a Merchandiser for split peas and lentils. In 2006, he assumed the role of Vice President of Marketing and Operations, and in 2009 was named Chief Operating Officer. Gaetan has been a driving force behind establishing Saskcan as the world leader in split and value-added pulse production and export. In his position, Gaetan spearheads a program of export to over 80 countries globally. He is responsible for all plant operations and marketing programs for Alliance Grain Trading including operations in Canada, US and Australia.