Paper Excellence Canadian Leadership Team

Martin Palacios serves as Paper Excellence’s Chief Information Officer. He has more than 20 years experience as a global business leader in diverse, multi-national, geographically distributed and data-driven companies.  Martin’s technical expertise has enabled him to successfully build business-focussed global IT strategies, deliver innovative technology, digital transformation, and cyber security. He has a MBA from Royal Roads University and an undergraduate degree in math and science.

Blair serves as Vice President of Canadian Public Affairs and is responsible for government, stakeholder and Rights-holder engagement, partnership and public policy leadership, and Indigenous and community relations, as well as regulatory and corporate affairs. Previously in her career Blair has held leadership roles in the critical minerals and mining sector in the areas of sustainability, Indigenous and community relations and corporate affairs, as well as in government. At Natural Resources Canada she served as Chief of Staff to the Minister working closely with the forestry, energy, and mining sectors. Blair has served on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the Mining Association of Canada, and the Canadian American Business Council. She has a degree in political science and economics and a master’s in business degree from Queens University.

Hamish joined Paper Excellence through the acquisition of Catalyst Paper and today, serves as the Vice President of Supply Chain. He has worked in leadership roles in sales, procurement and supply chain since 2003. In his previous position, he played a critical role managing the acquisition of the Rumford and Biron mills and later integrating them into the Catalyst asset portfolio. Hamish has a strong commitment to continuous improvement and drives change in operations and supply chain, while effectively managing complex supplier challenges. He has a bachelor’s degree in Political Studies from Queen’s University and a MBA from Wilfrid Laurier University.

Andy Reyes is a pulp and paper industry veteran with almost 40 years of. His depth of knowledge and expertise of technical improvements allows him to identify and advance operational efficiencies and successfully implement cost initiatives. He has served in numerous roles for Paper Excellence; he currently oversees a number of Western mills, but has also led mill optimization efforts. He joined the company in 2013 and enjoys serving as a coach and mentor to mill management teams. Andy has a bachelor’s degree in Management and Industrial Engineering from Mapúa University.

Chris serves as Vice President of Fibre for Paper Excellence. He has been practicing as a forest professional in British Columbia for 28 years. At Paper Excellence, he manages the fibre supply team and is responsible for fibre supply at all Paper Excellence mills across Canada. Prior to joining Paper Excellence, Chris held roles as Assistant Deputy Minister, Timber Operations, Pricing and First Nations within the BC government and Chief Forester at both Canfor and Tembec. He holds an undergraduate degree in Forest Management from the University of British Columbia.

Carlo has 30 years of experience in the pulp and paper industry. He has worked in various technical and production roles at the Elk Falls and Port Alberni mills and then in 2008, Carlo took a corporate role with a focus on energy issues and development of new business opportunities. He is also the Project Operations Director for the Prince Albert Mill restart. In addition to his role at Paper Excellence, he has also participated in several committees reviewing energy and conservation policies in British Columbia, and is presently the chairman of the Association of Major Power Customers of BC (formerly JIESC) and the former chair of the BC Pulp & Paper Bioproducts Alliance. Carlo has a master’s degree in Pulp & Paper Engineering from University of British Columbia.

Edwin Widjaja joined Paper Excellence in 2011, bringing 25 years of technical expertise and depth of knowledge in the pulp and paper industry. Edwin’s extensive experience of the commercial side of the industry was gained through his previous experience as head of Fibre Procurement at a global producer of pulp and paper products. Edwin holds a bachelor’s degree in business management.

Funadi Wongso serves as the Vice President of Global Financial Reporting and Treasury for the Paper Excellence Holdings Corporation and is responsible for financial reporting, treasury operations, and risk management. He has over twenty years of financial leadership experience, leading areas of accounting, tax, legal and commercial in several industries, working in North America and Asia. He was most recently the Chief Financial Officer of a US towel and tissue manufacturer and has held positions with RGE, Citibank, and Goldman Sachs, Singapore. Funadi has a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Minnesota, as well as a Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a MBA in Finance and Global Management from the University of California, Berkeley.

Charles Guo has a long tenure with Paper Excellence in Corporate Procurement. Before joining the company, Charles worked as General Manager for a major pulp and paper company for a number of years, and prior to that he worked as purchasing director and purchasing manager for two multinational companies in the US. Charles has extensive experience in purchasing and supply chain management and has a MBA and PhD in engineering.         

Lana joined Paper Excellence as Director, Indigenous Relations in late 2019, having spent almost 20 years in the forest industry managing Indigenous relations programs in Canada.  During this time, Lana has successfully built a best practices Indigenous engagement platform that now includes a leadership vision and enabling policies that drive both corporate and operational giving programs. Under her leadership the company is a member in good standing of the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business, with third party certification under the Progressive Aboriginal Relations program. In its short life span the Indigenous Relations team lead has developed over 10 separate MOUs/LOUs/fibre supply agreements in BC and Saskatchewan and assisted in the securing of significant government funds. Lana Wilhelm builds bridges towards reconciliation between Indigenous, corporate, and government agencies. She is a Registered Professional Forester and holds bachelor’s degrees in both Art and Science from Concordia University PQ and the University of Northern British Columbia respectively.