Bring life to work
It’s the rise of people-first workplaces
Great things happen when talented, committed people come together to do their best work. Successful companies know this and actively create workplaces where people thrive.
At Rise, we believe this deeply, and it’s what drives us.
For nearly 15 years, we’ve helped thousands of Canadian businesses take good care of their people. From automating admin tasks and supporting employee wellness, to fostering career growth and delivering insights into employee experience—we’re got it all, all in one place, all within Rise.
Businesses power Canada’s economy, but it’s people—both as consumers and employees—who power businesses. We built Rise to help put people at the heart of every workplace.
Misha Abasov, Co-CEO, Rise People
We become the fastest-growing Canadian payroll provider.
We have a growth spurt, tripling the number of our clients.
We launch Rise HR, becoming the first all-in-one platform in Canada.
Where you go, we go—with the launch of our mobile apps.
We expand our capabilities, covering every stage of the employee lifecycle.
Bonjour! We become bilingual and offer support from coast to coast.
We set a new benchmark with a record year.
We launch scheduling & time tracking to support deskless and hourly employees.
We launch Rise Health, a one-of-a-kind group benefits solution in Canada.
We remain focused on supporting Canadian businesses.
Leadership Team

Faiz Abdulla
Co-CEO

Faiz Abdulla
Co-CEO
Faiz has over 25 years of extensive financial, operational, and leadership experience as well as consulting experience. He holds CPA, CMA, and PMP designations and has been involved in the successful restructuring of several multi-million-dollar organizations. An active member in his community, Faiz is the recipient of a number of awards for his entrepreneurial efforts, including the Economic Development of Southern Manitoba Regional Entrepreneur Award. Faiz also pioneered “The Breakfast Club” at Rise, where he demonstrates his love for getting to know everyone he works with.

Kimberley LeComte
President of Rise Health

Kimberley LeComte
President of Rise Health
Kimberley is a business leader and expert with an extensive background in the health and benefits industry spanning over 20 years. She has worked with clients in Canada, the US and the UK creating human resource alignment with the business they support, creating value for dollars spent, maximizing employee engagement and wellbeing. From program design through delivery and governance, Kimberley supports a team of experts who are passionate about delivering value in a transparent and easy to communicate way. Her favorite days include problem solving, investing in people and contributing towards a healthier, more balanced workforce.

Misha Abasov
Co-CEO

Misha Abasov
Co-CEO
Misha is an operationally-minded business leader and entrepreneur. Over the past decade, he's helped entrench customer and product excellence at fast-growing SaaS companies including Allocadia, Mobify, and Hootsuite. Misha has spent over seven years in the HR technology space, working directly with hundreds of organizations to help optimize their people practices.

Steve Bond
VP, Engineering

Steve Bond
VP, Engineering
Steve is a seasoned Technology and Engineering leader with a demonstrated history of building great teams and products. Over the past two decades, Steve has helped launch digital products and services for top-tier brands including Nike, Land Rover, TELUS, FitBit, and Heineken. More recently, Steve has helped engineering teams scale and flourish at SaaS companies including Jane App, REW, and now Rise People.

Liam Cannon
VP, Marketing

Liam Cannon
VP, Marketing
Liam is an expert in multi-pronged strategies that bring marketing, sales, business development, partnerships, and customer success teams together to achieve and exceed pipeline and revenue goals. Over the past decade, Liam has led marketing and demand generation teams at Metadata.io, Resolve (the B2B spinout of Affirm), and MediaValet. His first-ever marketing role was with Bizimply, which is HR software for small businesses in Ireland and the UK. Liam is a metrics-driven marketer who is not afraid to get into the weeds and implement at the highest level.

James Power
VP, Sales

James Power
VP, Sales
James describes himself as a sales enablement and strategy architect—and a poutine lover. With more than sixteen years of sales experience, he is a passionate, data-driven, dynamic leader. Prior to Rise, James led sales at Builddirect Technologies, Prime Communications (largest Rogers communications dealer in Canada), and Open Connection, a premier Telus dealer. James’ goal at Rise is to create pragmatic, scalable, and defendable growth strategies.
That’s our story. What’s yours?
We want to learn more about your people goals and help you create the absolute best employee experience from onboarding onwards.