The Divergence Family

LAURIE GEENEN

Laurie is driven to work with organizations looking to make the world a better place. She has a varied background centred in building systems to ensure customers get the most value from their products and services while meeting their business needs. She has developed and grown customer success programs for software companies that assist local governments and Indigenous communities in North America, universities, as well as  employee and internal communications. 

Laurie is committed to partnering with clients to help deliver innovative mental health tools and practices to improve well being. She is passionate about using data and customer stories to improve each customer’s experience.

HEATHER HARGRAVES, MA., C.PSYCH., NM-3

Heather Hargraves is a trauma therapist and researcher and passionate advocate for neuro and mental health practices. Heather specializes in the use of neuro and biofeedback technologies to support a broad range of neurologically and/or psychologically traumatized clients within her clinical practice.
Heather’s research interests investigate the neurological underpinnings of various states of consciousness, including dissociation, meditation, psychedelics and various polyphasic states of consciousness, associated with shamanic practices. Her masters research focused on the therapeutic induction of altered states of consciousness, based on research findings related to psilocybin.
Currently, Heather is an advocate for the interface of neurofeedback modalities with psychedelic therapies, with an emphasis on the preparation and integration periods that bookend psychedelic therapies, once they are legalized.

JONATHAN IP, LL.B

Jonathan Ip, the founder of Iterative Law, has over a decade of experience in securities, Mergers & Acquisitions,
corporate finance and corporate/commercial matters as a business lawyer in both private practice and as company in-house counsel, working with entrepreneurs, startups, SMBs and blue chip companies.
Jonathan is passionate about startups, and technology product development that can make the world a better place to live.
Iterative Law Professional Corporation – http://iterativelaw.com/

FARROKH MANSOURI, PhD

Farrokh is a leader in applying data science and machine learning to neuroscience field. Where he works on novel applications incorporating machine learning and artificial intelligence in neuro tech. Farrokh comes from a highly multidisciplinary background with experience applying data science, machine learning, and artificial intelligence in the fields of neuro science, climate science, and finance. He is an experienced leader having previously built and managed technical teams in various start-ups. Farrokh holds a BASc, MHSc and PhD in Engineering from the University of Toronto and has authored over 20 research papers that were published in prestigious scientific journals.
Today, Farrokh is on a mission to make the world a better place. He enjoys using multidisciplinary approaches to solve real-world problems. He is especially interested in the development and adoption of newly emerging technologies to create innovative solutions.

RAGIA MEGAHED

Ragia has cross-industry experience within the field of digital marketing and will be joining our team to help better communicate our mission and brand story to our customers. In the past she has worked on projects within the wellness and beauty industry as well as the non-profit sector. Coupled with a background in both psychology and sociology as well as a keen passion for both, Ragia will be a valuable asset to the team.

JEFF MOORE

Jeff is a seasoned technology executive with a passion for bringing practical software and hardware solutions to real-world business challenges. He brings an unwavering commitment to operational excellence, championship for a culture of transparency, and a propensity for action and progress.

Jeff has held a variety of roles in Enterprise Software and technology companies. Most recently he has held the roles of Director, Technology Development, Director, Professional Services, VP, Product Development and Delivery, VP, Industry Solutions and Alliances, and VP, Sales.

ALEX NI, MBA, CPA

Alex is a seasoned technology leader who is passionate about mental health and neuroscience. Through his career, he has held many titles from developer, architect to delivery manager, innovation lead, and start-up CTO across different industries from mobile, telecom to digital media, neurotech and fintech.
A true tech nerd at heart, Alex is most passionate about building world-class technology companies by creating an open, transparent, and accountable culture that delivers quality. Other than his technical skill set, Alex also holds a CPA/CMA designation, and has his MBA focusing on technology management and valuation.

JEREMY STAIRS

Jeremy is an engineer who wears many hats. He started falling down the endless BCI rabbit hole when he read this article about neuralink: https://waitbutwhy.com/2017/04/neuralink.html while studying electrical+computer engineering and psychology at the University of Toronto. Jeremy works on a wide variety of technologies at Divergence. He is passionate about mental health and neuro technologies, and says that building thinking aids is the best thing to do with his time.

BRAEDEN TERPOU, PhD

Braeden is an ardent researcher who specializes in neuroimaging and mental health. Braeden has published many first-author papers in prestigious neuroscience journals, many of which focus on self-related processing disturbances, i.e., the sense of self, in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the related neural underpinnings. Braeden is currently leading a simultaneous EEG-fMRI investigation to determine the cross-modality neural correlates underlying PTSD and moral injury.

Braeden strives to identify neural correlates underlying psychopathology, as well as how these neural correlates promote the altered phenomenological states observed commonly in mental health disorders. Once these neural correlates are understood more thoroughly, targeted treatments such as neurofeedback and psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy may be used to improve mental health outcomes and build resiliency in mental health populations. Instrumental to the above process will be leveraging machine learning and artificial intelligence to tailor therapy to the individual – a vision Divergence Neuro and Braeden share passionately.

Kees VandenBerg

Kees is a software engineer who likes to build things that make the world happier, healthier and more efficient. After graduating from McGill University, Kees immersed himself in the tech startup scene and emerged with a passion for helping small companies achieve big things. He hopes that his efforts will assist those looking to better understand what’s going on in their heads.