Executive Team
Emilie de Rosenroll was appointed Inaugural CEO of the Centre for Ocean Applied Sustainable Technologies (COAST) in 2021.
She is also Group CEO of South Island Prosperity Partnership (SIPP), Greater Victoria’s economic development agency. SIPP’s branches include COAST, the Indigenous Prosperity Centre (IPC) and the Rising Economy Colab.
With 15+ years of experience in leadership positions, Emilie was the founding CEO of SIPP in 2016. She is tri-lingual and has worked in different sectors in cities in Canada, U.S., France and Mexico. Emilie is passionate about creating a resilient, innovative, sustainable and equitable — or RISE — economy. She is a director on the boards of InnovateBC (Crown Corp), the Victoria Hospital Foundation and COAST.
Emilie has received many awards, including the Business in Vancouver Forty Under 40 Award (2020) and Victoria Community Leadership’s Award for Belonging & Engagement (2022). She was also a Woman of Influence Western finalist for the 2022 RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards.
Jason Goldsworthy – Executive Director
Jason Goldsworthy, P.Eng. joined the COAST team as Executive Director in April, 2023.
With over 20 years of international experience in managing engineering businesses and projects, Jason brings leadership, technical and commercial aptitude to the team. His experience spans multiple industries including renewable energy, urban development, environmental consulting, mining, and commercial and infrastructure construction.
He has worked with large multinational corporations as well as being involved in several startups. He has acted on several corporate boards in both Canada and Australia.
Jason holds a PHD in Engineering from the University of Adelaide, Australia, and is a member of the Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia.
Dallas Gislason, COO
Dallas has been developing award-winning regional innovation and economic ecosystems for most of his career. He helped launch the South Island Prosperity Partnership (SIPP) in 2016, where he serves as Director of Economic Development.
He trained as an economic development professional through programs at the University of Waterloo, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and through specialized programs through Business Retention and Expansion International (BREI), and Cluster Navigators in New Zealand. Dallas is about to complete a Masters in Global Management from Royal Roads University with a research focus on Innovation Districts.
As founding COO of COAST Dallas will focus on public-private-academic consortiums, program development, global partnerships development and ensuring that COAST projects have financial resources and are meeting the needs of stakeholders and funders alike.
Ashutosh Sharma – Ocean Ecosystem Navigator
Dr. Ashutosh Sharma is the Ocean Ecosystem Navigator for the Ocean Startup Project, in partnership with COAST. In this role, he will help create partnerships and opportunities to build and enhance Canada’s robust ocean startup ecosystem, so that ocean-based technology companies can thrive and grow in our country and scale globally.
He holds a Ph.D. in Structural Engineering, with the majority of his work focusing on the impact of marine environments on concrete structures. He has worked extensively in the construction industry primarily with design and project management teams. He came to Canada from India in 2020 to work at the University of Victoria as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow. He worked at the Facility for Innovative Materials and Infrastructure management (UVic) and worked towards developing smart technologies including crack-free smart sensing pavements and other water treatment strategies. He is also a board member at the Project Management Institute Vancouver Island Chapter (PMI-VI) and serves as the volunteer director since 2021.
David Ferran – COAST Advisor
David Ferran is the CEO of Torrey Project in San Diego, a non-profit organization that mentors first-time founders on building businesses that create wealth for shareholders, while simultaneously creating value for all other stakeholders.
The entrepreneur opened his first business, an electronics company, with his father. In the years since he’s become known as a public company turnaround specialist, M+A advisor and serial entrepreneur. In 2015 he negotiated the acquisition of the San Diego division of Reno Sub-Systems and, with the financial support of Sumitomo Heavy Industries (SHI), created Ferran Technology.
In 2018, SHI exercised its option to acquire Ferran Technology, and he became an advocate for Stakeholder Capitalism, environmental protection, and a more inclusive and equitable approach to the allocation of early-stage investment capital in North America.
David is a member of the University of New Hampshire Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame, the ASBN Climate and Energy task force and is a member of the UNH Sustainability Institute’s advisory board.
