CO-OPERATIVE
EDUCATION
LIISA ATVA
liisaatva.com
Liisa Atva graduated from Simon Fraser University in 1986 with a
Bachelors degree in Business Administration. She articled as a
Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) and Charted Business
Valuator (CBV). Liisa was one of the first accounting Co-op students
completing 5 work terms. She is now a freelance writer and has
been published in The Globe & Mail, The Vancouver Sun and
Province, The Journal of Business Valuation, Huffington Post, and
local newspapers.
EDUCATION
1981 - 1985
SFU Bachelor of Business Administration
Accounting Co-op Designation
1981 - 1993
Simon Fraser University, 1975
“I traveled around BC
counting everything
imaginable: groceries,
hardware, building supplies,
sporting goods etc.”
Articled as a CPA and CBV
WORK EXPERIENCE
1973 - 1978
Western Inventory Services, BC
Inventory Clerk
1979 - 1980
Cassiar Asbestos Corporation, BC
Inventory & Purchasing Clerk
1981 - 1985
Coopers & Lybrand (now PwC), BC
Co-op
First Co-op Job, 1981
“I was one of their first co-op
students, completing five work
terms that counted towards the
CPA articling requirement”
1985 - 1987
Mackay & Partners, BC
Manager Business Valuations
“My first stint overseas,
sunny Bermuda.”
1987 - 1988
Continental Risk Services, Bermuda
Account Executive
“Not yet ready to return
home I landed a job in
Sydney, Australia.“
“Back in Canada learning
the manufacturing
business.“
“A stint in venture capital
launching start-ups.“
1988 - 1989
“My dream job – putting
together $500 million structured
finance deals.”
Ernst & Whinney, Australia
Senior Manager Corporate Finance
1990 - 1992
Exchange-A-Blade, BC
Controller
1993 - 1997
Perks of the job at Coventree, learning
to drive a Formula One race car
Columbia Capital Management, BC
CFO
1999 - 2008
Coventree Capital, Toronto
Principal, Capital Markets
2008 - Present
liisaatva.com
• Freelance Writer
• Chairperson CADO Group of Fund’s
Independent Review Committee
• Mentor and Volunteer
• Considering new business ventures
PERSONAL LIFE
When I was a teenager I wrote in my journal that I wanted to be a writer, travel the world, and not work nine to five.
Many years later and that's what I'm doing, but only because I had a career in business first. I'm also the proud
mother of a son in his third year of a business degree – maybe I had some influence there.
MEMORIES FROM SFU
I was taking a 3rd year Accounting course and had an assignment due on a Monday morning. Although I was usually
quite diligent I'd gone camping the weekend before and didn't get around to starting the assignment until the Sunday
night. Soon realizing that I couldn't do it justice I decided not to hand it in at all. A few days later the teacher asked if
perhaps she'd misplaced it. When I told her that I'd chosen camping over homework she said, "These thing happen"
and didn't penalize me for not handing it in. Years later when I taught the same course one term at SFU I did the same
for a student in my class.