Executive Leadership Team

Mr. Hannasch joined the Corporation in 2001 and was named President and Chief Executive Officer of Couche-Tard in September 2014. Mr. Hannasch was previously Chief Operating Officer since 2010 and Senior Vice‑President, U.S. Operations from 2008 to 2010.From 2004 to 2008, he was Senior Vice-President, Western North America and Vice‑President, Integration from 2003 to 2004. In 2001, he was appointed Vice‑President Operations, U.S. Midwest where he was responsible for all aspects of U.S. operations.

Mr. Hannasch was Vice President of Operations for Bigfoot Food Stores LLC, a 225-unit convenience store chain in the U.S. Midwest acquired by Alimentation Couche‑Tard in 2001, from 2000 to 2001. Prior to that, he was at BP Amoco from 1989 to 2000, and held various positions of increasing responsibility including Vice-President of Marketing for the U.S. Midwest Business Unit. Mr. Hannasch was named CEO of the year by The Globe and Mail in 2016. He has been a member of the board of directors of the Association for Convenience & Fuel Retailing (NACS) since 2016. He has a master of business administration in marketing and finance from the University of Chicago and a bachelor of arts in finance from Iowa State University.

Mr. Dzadovsky was appointed Chief Technology Officer in April 2022. Previously, Mr. Dzadovsky served as Vice President of North America IT since January 2018. He has close to 20 years of experience in information technology.

Mr. Dzadovsky began his career with McDonald’s Pittsburgh region in 2000 as a crew member. After working 10 years in store operations, he moved to McDonald’s Chicago headquarters in 2011 as the Operations Restaurant Technology Senior Director. With a passion for people, he quickly became known for developing high performing teams of operations and technology experts. Mr. Dzadovsky held various leadership positions in the Information Technology organization, including Senior Director IT Delivery Global Digital Products, where he led McDonald’s digital transformation through innovative technology features.

Mr. Dzadovsky is an alum of the University of Pittsburgh where he earned a degree in Computer Science.

Mr. Høidahl was appointed Executive Vice-President, Operations Europe in May 2019. He joined Couche-Tard in June 2012 when it acquired Statoil Fuel & Retail ASA, and has held the position of Executive Vice-President, Scandinavia since October 2010. He was formerly Vice President for Energy Europe in the Statoil Group since 2006.

Mr. Høidahl joined Statoil Fuel & Retail ASA in 1992 and has held a variety of positions including director for customer service in Norway, manager for regional sales in Scandinavia, sales director for Norway, country manager for energy in Norway and Vice President for energy operations.

Mr. Høidahl holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the Norwegian School of Management.

Mr. Lewis joined Alimentation Couche-Tard as Chief Marketing Officer in July 2017 and is responsible for marketing, merchandising and category development activities worldwide.

Mr. Lewis has held multiple executive roles in digital and physical retail and technology companies across the globe. He previously held the position of Chief Marketing Officer at Total Wine & More. Previously, Kevin ran the digital, kiosk and subscription businesses while Senior Vice-President of Digital at Blockbuster Entertainment. From 2004 to 2008, Kevin was a member of the executive committee and Chief of Strategy and New Business for Philips Consumer Lifestyle, a division of Royal Philips Electronics.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Lewis held multiple leadership positions during a ten-year career at the Boston Consulting Group focusing on CPG, retail, and technology clients worldwide.

Mr. Lewis holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Stanford University and an MBA (with Distinction) from INSEAD.

Mr. Miller was appointed Executive Vice-President, Operations, North America, and Global Optimization in March 2021 after occupying the position of Executive Vice President, Commercial Optimization since May 2019. Previously Mr. Miller held the position of Senior Vice-President, Operations and Global Fuels since December 2017, as Senior Vice-President, Global Fuels since November 2016, and as Vice-President, Fuels since October 2012. Mr. Miller joined Couche-Tard as Director of Fuels, Real Estate and Facilities in 2012.

Prior to, he was with BP Plc. for 16 years in a variety of operational, supply, business development, and strategy roles in the US and Europe.

Mr. Miller holds a BS in Business Management from Southern Illinois University.

Ms. Strand holds the Chief People Officer position since April 2017. In this role she has oversight over Human Resources, Health Safety & Sustainability, Communications and Events. Ms. Strand was previously Senior Vice-President of Special Projects since 2014, working on many global projects, including the development and introduction of the new global Circle K brand.

Ms. Strand joined Statoil Retail Norway AS in 2003 as a People Development manager, and was later appointed Human Resources Director, Customer Offer Director and deputy Vice-President of Operations in Norway before she joined Statoil Fuel & Retail’s Executive leadership team as Executive Vice President of Market Development when the company was publicly listed October 1st, 2010. After the acquisition by Couche-Tard, Ms. Strand held the position of Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing Europe until 2014. Prior to joining Statoil, Ms. Strand worked five years as analyst, consultant, and project manager at the Norwegian office of UK based PA Consulting Group.

Ms. Strand holds a Master of Science degree in industrial economics and technology management from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim.

Mr. Tessier, CPA, CA, joined Alimentation Couche-Tard as Chief Financial Officer on January 28, 2016. Prior to joining Couche-Tard, Mr. Tessier held the position of President of the IGA Operations Business Unit at Sobeys Inc. from 2012 to 2016 and was a member of Sobeys Inc. Executive Committee.

Mr. Tessier joined the management team of Sobeys Quebec Inc. in 2003 as Senior Vice President, Finance & Strategic Planning. Mr. Tessier has spent most of his professional career in the Food industry after serving in several finance positions. Prior to his position with Sobeys Inc., Mr. Tessier gained more than 15 years of experience in senior financial leadership positions with Fly Furniture, Provigo and Costco, including in CFO and Vice President roles. He has also held management positions with Mallette International and PricewaterhouseCoopers (formerly Coopers & Lybrand).

Mr. Tessier is a member of the Board or Directors of the TMX Group Limited since September 2020. He is also a member of its Finance and Audit Committee, as well as its Derivates Committee. Mr. Tessier is Chairman of the Circle K AS Board of Directors, the European division operating Statoil Fuel & Retail ASA, the retail gasoline filling stations.  He also sits on the Board of Directors of the Maison de la Sérénité de Laval which provides free of charge quality palliative care and he participates, on a yearly basis, in its fundraising campaign.

Mr. Tessier holds a Bachelor of Accounting degree from the Université du Québec à Montréal (1986) and has been a member of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants since 1987.

Niall Anderton was appointed Senior Vice President, Operations, Central and Eastern Europe & Ireland in August 2019.

Mr. Anderton joined Topaz Energy Limited in Ireland as Chief Financial Officer in April 2015 and has held the position of Vice President of the Ireland business unit since its acquisition by Alimentation Couche-Tard in early 2016.

Brian Bednarz was appointed Senior Vice-President, Operations, in May 2019. Previously, Mr. Bednarz held the position of Vice President, Operations, Gulf Coast, since February 2013. He joined Couche-Tard in April 2012.

Prior to joining Circle K, Brian joined the Hess Corporation in 1988 and held various roles of increasing responsibility, including Retail Manager, Branded Retailer Representative, Division Manager, Florida, and Division Manager, Metro NY/NJ. He also held the role of Senior Vice President for Dattilo Petroleum from 2004 to 2005. Brian was employed by CVS Pharmacy as Region Manager, Texas/Oklahoma, from 2005 to 2012.

Brian obtained a B.S. Criminal Justice from The College of New Jersey and an MBA from Long Island University.

Mr. Brooks was appointed Senior Vice President, Real Estate in January 2022. Previously Mr. Brooks served as Vice President, Property Management and Maintenance since June 2020, as Senior Director, Real Estate since April 2019 and as Director of Real Estate Support since September 2015.

Mr. Brooks joined Couche-Tard in 2015 when it acquired Kangaroo Express, an affiliate of the Pantry Inc., where he held the position of Commercial Portfolio Manager.  Mr. Brooks began his career at KPMG Corporate Finance LLC where he focused on the disposition of assets for distressed companies and sell-side advisory.

Mr. Brooks holds a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Economics and English from Colgate University in Hamilton New York.

Kathleen K. Cunnington was appointed Senior Vice President, Global Shared Services, in January 1st, 2018, after holding the position of Vice President, Shared Services. North America, since February 2013. In this role, she has oversight for the Accounting and Information Technology services supporting all global sites.

She was formerly Vice-President Benchmarking and Administration from 2011 to 2013 and prior to that Director of Finance and IT, Midwest Shared Services. She has been with the Corporation since 2003 and has 18 years of experience in the convenience retail industry in various financial leadership positions.

She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Indiana University and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Kentucky. She is a Certified Public Accountant and spent her early career in public accounting with the firm of Ernst & Young and as internal auditor for a global fortune 500 corporation.

Rick Johnson was appointed Senior Vice President, Operations, in July 2019. Previously, Mr. Johnson held the position of Vice President, Operations, Northern Tier, since December 2017 when Holiday Stationstores was acquired by Circle K.

Prior to joining Circle K, Rick was Senior Vice President of Operations for Holiday Stationstores, since 2008. Rick enjoyed a 41-year career with Holiday Stationstores and held various roles of increasing responsibility, including Vice President of Operations, Regional Vice President of Operations, Director of Administration, Regional Manager, District Manager, Store Manager and Assistant Manager.

Mr. Johnson has completed various programs with St-Thomas University, Cornell University and the American Management Association, ranging from Finance & Accounting, Leadership and Executive programs.

Jørn Madsen has been appointed Senior Vice President, Operations, in Spring 2019. He joined Couche-Tard in June 2012 when it acquired Statoil Fuel & Retail ASA and held the position of Executive Vice-President, Central & Eastern Europe, since October 1, 2010. He was formerly Vice President for country operations in Statoil Energy & Retail ASA, since 2007.

He joined Statoil in 1990 and held several management positions including Vice President for retail operations Europe, Director of Retail Operations in Denmark, Director of Retail Operations in the Baltic countries, Director of Category Management in the Baltic countries, Regional Manager of Retail Operations in Denmark, and Controller in Denmark.

Mr. Madsen holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the Copenhagen Business School.

Dennis Tewell was appointed Senior Vice-President, Merchandising, in Spring 2019. Prior to his current appointment, he held the position of Vice President, Operations, since June 2013, and the position of Vice-President, Worldwide Franchise, as he joined Couche‑Tard in January 2011.

In 1978, Mr. Tewell began his convenience industry career with Conna Corporation. He has served companies in the U.S. and the UK in a variety of marketing and operations positions, such as Conna Corporation, BP Oil (London, England), Dairy Mart, Swifty Services and recently at CVS/Caremark. These positions include Director of Franchising, Regional Director of Operations and Strategic Planning Coordinator, Vice-President of Operations, Vice-President of Franchising, Business Development, Senior Vice-President of Marketing and Area Vice-President.

Mr. Tewell holds a MBA and a BA in Accounting from the Bellarmine University in Kentucky.

Stéphane Trudel was appointed Senior Vice President, Operations, in January 2018. Prior to that, Mr. Trudel held the position of Vice President, Operations – Quebec West business unit, since June 2017, leading one of the 4 Canadian business units of the company, following the acquisition of CST Brands by Couche-Tard.

In this role, his responsibilities included leading Operations, Merchandizing, Real Estate, Human Resources, Food Services and the Distribution Center.

Throughout most of his 26-year career, Mr. Trudel worked for large oil companies, from IT manager at Petro-Canada up to Principal Vice President, Growth and Strategy under CST Brands, after having spent 16 years at Ultramar and Valero Energy from 1997 to 2013.

Mr. Trudel sits on the board of directors of the Canadian Independent Petroleum Marketers Association (CIPMA) and on the Convenience Industry Council of Canada (CICC).

Mr. Trudel holds a bachelor degree in business administration, with a specialty in information and system management, as well as an MBA, both from Sherbrooke University.

Ms. Warner joined Alimentation Couche-Tard as Senior Vice President, Global Fuels in January 2021. Prior to joining Couche-Tard, Ms. Warner was a member of the Caltex Australia (now Ampol) Executive team from 2016 to 2020 and held the positions of Chief Commercial Officer, and previously Executive General Manager of Fuels & Infrastructure.

In her 21-year tenure with Caltex Australia, she held a variety of operational, project and commercial roles, and was responsible for Australian and international operations in Singapore, New Zealand and the Philippines.

Ms. Warner holds a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.

Valery Zamuner was appointed Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, in January 2021, after occupying the position of Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, since August 2019. Prior to joining Alimentation Couche-Tard, she held the positions of Senior Vice-President of Mergers, Acquisitions & Strategic Initiatives for Stingray (TSX: RAY.A; RAY.B and Executive Vice President, Mergers & Acquisitions and Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary of WSP Global Inc. (TSX: WSP-T).

Ms. Zamuner has more than 22 years of experience in international and domestic mergers and acquisitions for public and private companies. She also has extensive experience and expertise in corporate and commercial law in the areas of securities, corporate governance and corporate finance.

Ms. Zamuner holds a Bachelor of Law degree from Laval University and an MBA from the John Molson School of Business (Concordia University). She is a member of the Quebec Bar.