Our Team

Darby Kreitz

Board Chair & CEO
Martin Pudlas

Martin Pudlas, P.Eng.

Board Member & Co-Founder
William Walls

William Walls

VP, Corporate Development
Thomas Papst

Thomas Papst

Director, Project
Mike Beattie, P.Eng., PMP

Mike Beattie, P.Eng., PMP

Senior Process Engineer
Doug McKenzie, P. Eng., CEM

Doug McKenzie, P. Eng., CEM

Principal Engineer - Process
Kris Heshka

Kris Heshka

Director of Biofibre Strategy & Innovation

Ryan Sinclair

Engineering Manager
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Kris Heshka

Kris Heshka

Director of Biofibre Strategy and Innovation
He is a seasoned professional in agricultural logistics, production management and circular economy projects. With a focus on Feedstock Aggregation, Kris is pivotal in developing the relationships and infrastructure required to supply agriculture fibre for North America's first alternative fibre pulping facility. Kris has extensive agri-industrial experience, including work at the Brandt Group of Companies, Economic Development Regina, KF Kambeitz Farms, and Mazergroup.
Darby Kreitz

Darby Kreitz

Board Chair
A professional engineer by training, Darby Kreitz is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Allnorth Consultants Ltd., a privately held Canadian engineering consultancy with over 700 employees. Since the company’s inception in 1995, Darby’s vision and strategic planning leadership have seen Allnorth grow from a single office in Prince George, British Columbia, to multiple offices across Canada and into the United States and Mexico.

Darby’s reputation as a visionary leader is recognized in business circles and by government.

Danielle MacDonald

Corporate Administrator
With an extensive background in operations, special project management, manufacturing, legal and business administration, Danielle brings knowledge and experience in a multitude of capacities. Her experience in general management and as Director of Operations with new technology startups lends itself to establishing the business foundations of Red Leaf.

Commonly referred to as the “Lignin” or “Glue” of the company, Danielle serves as the Corporate Administrator for Red Leaf.
Dara Edmonds

Dara Edmonds

Director Sustainability
15+ years of experience in sustainability reporting, strategy, stakeholder engagement, communications and project management with companies such as Teck, Goldcorp, Vancouver Fraser Port Authority and Lululemon. Dara specializes in the areas of social responsibility, sustainability assurance and reporting.
Doug McKenzie, P. Eng., CEM

Doug McKenzie, P. Eng., CEM

Principal Engineer - Process
Doug is a Principal Engineer – Process with over 35 years of chemical/process engineering experience. Doug is responsible for leading/assisting corporate process engineering initiatives. He has applied his expertise to help clients reduce their conversion costs, debottleneck mill processes, optimize power consumption, and increase their capacity to generate power. Doug is a lecturer and a published author and has been awarded two patents. He also has received a BC Hydro Power Smart Energy Champion award for his leadership in energy reduction. He is a Certified Energy Manager (CEM) and is licensed to practice in both British Columbia and Alberta.
Mike Beattie, P.Eng., PMP

Mike Beattie, P.Eng., PMP

Senior Process Engineer
Mike is a Senior Engineer with over 32 years of experience in the pulp and paper industry. Mike has been involved in all aspects of process engineering/design, energy reduction, project development and project implementation. He has held various pulp mill positions including Senior Engineer/Process Control Specialist, Site Energy Manager, Mechanical Pulping Manager, Senior Operations Specialist and Pulp Mill Superintendent. Mike is a Project Management Professional and brings with him years of expertise managing projects, with a strong focus on plant and process management, and an ability to communicate effectively with the client, project team and other project stakeholders.
Thomas Papst

Thomas Papst

Director, Project
Thomas brings over 17 years of project experience in mining and industrial settings in Europe and North America to the Red Leaf team. His expertise includes project management, engineering, construction, commissioning and start-up of green and brownfield projects. As the designated Owner’s Representative, Thomas oversees project execution and management for Red Leaf.
Joe Hinz

Joe Hinz

Chief Executive Officer
Joe is responsible for advancing the Red Leaf brand, reputation and long-term feedstock supply pipeline with a focus on relationships with local producers, government and First Nations agencies.

He is an accomplished marketing, sales and operations leader with extensive experience developing and empowering high performance teams in the agribusiness industry, such as with Nutrien Ag Solutions, Crop Production Services, Viterra and the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool.
Rob Tarčon

Rob Tarčon

VP, Supply Chain & BioProducts
Rob leads the efforts in evaluating and establishing the conversion and commercialization of by-products from Red Leaf's pulping process.

Rob brings 20+ years of proven and successful experience within the global biomass industry. Serving as Operations Manager, GM of Global Sales & Logistics, GM of Pellets/Project Development for three globally recognized forest product companies and Director/President/Chairman of the Wood Pellet Association of Canada. His involvement in private industry, national association and academia will provide invaluable insight and leadership in the areas of biomass procurement, conversion, sales, transportation and commercial activities.

William Walls

VP, Corporate Development
Will serves as an integral member of the Red Leaf Project Development team. He is a Senior Executive with deep experience supporting other team leaders and establishing a winning corporate culture in the construction, technology, and manufacturing industries.

Over his 30 year career, Will has developed a reputation as an entrepreneurial, performance-driven executive possessing integrity, keen business acumen and achieving strong results across a range of industries. A successful closer, Will has secured more than $10B in senior debt, project debt and equity financings, most recently in P3 infrastructure, renewables and start-ups. He is also an aggressive strategic partnership builder, very experienced in identifying the corporate and community partners necessary to reduce risk, or to assist in developing a diverse and scalable team.

Will has held senior positions in finance and management with Ledcor Group, 360 networks, Corvus Energy and TRAK Capital Limited.
Martin Pudlas

Martin Pudlas, P.Eng.

Chief Executive Officer
Before joining Red Leaf Pulp, Martin was VP Operations and Innovation for Canfor Pulp Products Inc. (CFX-TSX). Martin was responsible for the production of NBSK and BCTMP Pulp, High Performance Paper and Renewable Energy.

Martin has more than three decades of industry experience, with knowledge ranging across Silviculture, Engineering, Operations and Management, Low Carbon Fuels, Renewable Energy and Bio-Products. He has served on the boards of Premium One Paper, the College of New Caledonia and is a member of the Industry Advisory Board for the UBC Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering.

Martin holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of British Columbia and is a Registered Professional Engineer in British Columbia.

Ryan Sinclair

Engineering Manager
Ryan specializes in engineering management, bringing over 20 years of experience, primarily in the Pulp & Paper and Oil & Gas sectors. With a robust background in heavy industry, his expertise lies in managing multidisciplinary engineering teams and project controls. He has served as an engineering manager, project engineer, and lead discipline engineer for industrial projects of varying sizes and complexities across North America and Europe, including multiple annual fibre pulping facilities. Additionally, he has gained valuable hands-on experience in field planning and managing engineering and construction activities for numerous turnarounds and retrofit projects at industrial facilities throughout Western Canada.