Who We Are

Ian Dawson is a proud Canadian, born and raised in Vancouver. He is a graduate of the University of British Columbia (BA Economics) and Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario (MBA). Ian’s career has covered a wide range of activities.

He has delivered newspapers, worked with crushing, paving, drilling and blasting crews, and estimated construction projects. He has sold vacuums door to door, earned a brokerage license, and became a stockbroker.

Ian worked for the Bank of British Columbia as assistant to the Vice-Chair; corporate and commercial bank manager. Subsequently, he joined a merchant banking group at Kaiser Resources Ltd.

Ian became a director of Dawson Construction, his family’s business, in 1986. The company entered the privatized road maintenance business in 1988. In 1989, Ian was named as Dawson’s Chief Financial Officer and a few years later, he was appointed President of Dawson Construction and its sister companies.

Ian is an active member of his community and has served as a director for public and private enterprises, including Chair of BC Road Builders and Heavy Construction Association. His family’s philanthropy has benefited students, wildlife and the environment and healthcare faculties and services. He has participated in Virgin Unite activities and supported Jaha Dukureh’s “Safe Hands for Girls” initiative.

Ian has played soccer, baseball and rugby, coached soccer, and won many championships as a player and coach. He also likes to ski, golf, bike, hike as well as read and dabble in music.

Lena Secord is passionate about excellence. A leader for more than 15 years in the construction and financial services industries and a self-described corporate idealist, Lena believes that in today’s world, business can be a force for responsible practices. She brings this conviction to her role as President & CEO (interim) for Dawson Group.

Lena received a Bachelor of Business Administration from Thompson Rivers University with a focus in Human Resources in 2003. She joined Shaw Communications in Calgary, Alberta in 2003. Over the next eight years she held progressive HR roles in the retail and distribution industries. 

In 2011, Lena went to work for Western Financial Group, which is a subsidiary of Desjardins General Insurance. She joined their executive team in 2014 and served as the Vice President of Human Resources. Lena relocated back to Kamloops, BC where she joined Dawson Group as Chief Human Resources Officer in October of 2017.

Bill is an experienced, professional financial leader with extensive industry experience. He has worked in finance for his entire career, most recently serving as the VP of Finance for Bird Construction based in Alberta. He has also held other senior leadership roles for the company, overseeing its corporate finance and financial operations. Bill is a Chartered Accountant and received his professional designation in 1996.

Nobody wakes up and expects to be involved in an incident that causes seriously injury – but it happens each and every day!

As Dawson Group’s current Director of Health, Safety & Environment and Vice President of Operations (interim) for Dawson International Truck Centres and Dawson Idealease, Mike is passionate about workplace safety and that we must all hold our own personal safety to the highest level. We have the most to gain and also the most to lose.  With a strong set of values, Mike believes that all incidents are preventable, that serious injuries are unacceptable and can cause a ripple effect into the lives of others around us.  These values and beliefs have driven Mike over the past 20 years in various operational and safety leadership roles in mining, construction, and wood product manufacturing.

After hours Mike continued to learn and received a Bachelor of Business Administration from Thompson Rivers University with a focus in Finance in 2008.  He then continued his education and in 2013 obtained his Canadian Registered Safety Professional designation and completed the Occupational Health and Safety program at the British Columbia Institute of Technology.

In 2018, Mike joined the Dawson Group and is committed to developing strong safety leadership throughout the organization and implementing risk management strategies to build safe and sustainable operations.

Gord joins us with a lengthy career in various transportation industries and holds a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Alberta.

In his most recent role of Chief Operating Officer with Seaspan Marine Transportation in Vancouver, Gord was responsible for multiple business lines including Seaspan Marine, Seaspan Ferries, HaiSea Marine and Seaspan LNG. Prior to his time with Seaspan, Gord spent almost 30 years working in the railway transportation industry with Rocky Mountaineer and CN Rail.

His time in the railway had him working in the city of Kamloops and after taking a position with Dawson Road Maintenance in the spring of 2023, was happy to return to the area. With his strong operational leadership experience, Gord is excited to start a new challenge in road maintenance.

Len Kazakoff has a long history in the construction industry. He grew up traveling from project to project throughout British Columbia, and the Northwest Territories with his family in the late 70’s and 80’s. Len learnt at a young age how to build roads and operate equipment. Now, with nearly 30 years of experience at Dawson, Len has built and lead many projects of varying sizes for the private sector, Ministry of Transportation, Transport Canada, and other provincial/federally funded works.

Len is based in Kamloops and overseas Dawson Construction through out B.C. and Alberta. He works closely with Dawson Construction and other Dawson Group managers to ensure we provide the highest quality of work for our clients and owners while focusing on the utmost safety for our sites and crews. Among his many achievements, Lenny is extremely proud to have been named to the Board of Directors for the B.C. Road Builders, leading the paving sector committee.

Brian leads the Information Technology department, which provides shared support to all businesses within Dawson Group.  With 17 years of experience in IT and an education background in Computer Engineering and Business, Brian brings a unique, collaborative perspective on technology and business management to the organization.

A graduate of the University of Alberta’s Computer Engineering program, Brian’s career began in hardware development, then progressed in software development and soon after into software management.  His interest in management and business led him back to school to complete an MBA at the University of Calgary.  From there, he launched into a role at Deloitte Consulting in Calgary in their Technology Strategy group, and for six years worked with clients in the oil and gas industry and public sector, managing and delivering client offerings in technology advisory, enterprise architecture, project management and delivery, enterprise content management and more.

Brian’s wife is originally from Kamloops, so with a young family starting they decided to make the move back to her hometown.  There, he began work with the British Columbia Lottery Corporation as the Manager of Data Centre Transformation.  In 2018, he joined Dawson Group to lead the IT group, at a time when the company faced growth into new road maintenance contracts and emerging needs to bring productivity, security, innovation and collaboration through the use of technology.

Brian is passionate about working on the boundary of business and technology, leading change and building strong teams.

Nicole McIntyre is the leader of the Human Resources, Payroll, Marketing, and Communication Teams at Dawson Group. She joined Dawson Group in May 2019 after spending 10 years in the Health Care industry.

Nicole earned her Arts Degree from Thompson Rivers University in 2006, followed by a Baccalaureate in Human Resources in 2009.

Nicole is deeply passionate about leadership and being a strategic partner to the Operations Teams. She leads process improvement, employee engagement, and contributes to the development of organizational strategies.

Nicole’s commitment to excellence and her proactive approach to human resources and communications make her an invaluable asset to Dawson Group.