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Yuri Leith Fulmer
Yuri Leith Fulmer, OBC (born May 5, 1974) is a Canadian entrepreneur and philanthropist based in Vancouver, British Columbia. After amassing a large fast food portfolio as the Chairman of FDC, Fulmer sold part of his company and founded Fulmer Capital Partners in 2010 , a boutique investment firm. For his business and philanthropic work, Fulmer was named Canada’s Top Forty Under 40 (2007) is a member of the Order of British Columbia (2011) and was awarded the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012)

Early Life

Fulmer was born in Perth, Australia to a Canadian father and an Australian mother; as a result, he holds dual citizenship. In the early 1990’s, as was common among Australian youth, Fulmer spent the year following high school travelling with plans to visit Vancouver, British Columbia as his last stop before returning home to Australia. Fulmer fell in love with Vancouver and decided to stay and take a job at A&W (Canada). He also began studying at the University of British Columbia.

Business Career

1997 - 2006

By 1997, Fulmer had worked his way up from drive-through attendant and security escort for the A&W Root Beer in Canada, to a restaurant manager. The Canadian A&W head office had decided to downsize its presence in the chain, was franchising out almost all of its locations, and Fulmer was given the chance to buy a restaurant. Although Fulmer had planned to return to university, he decided he would rather learn on the job and with a combination of bank loans and money from his mother, Fulmer purchased his first A&W restaurant at New Westminster’s Royal City Centre, Eventually, Fulmer’s company, FDC Brands, held assets in seven A&W restaurants, 27 Pizza Hut locations in British Columbia and Alberta, and in 2006, he acquired the entire Mr. Mikes Steakhouse and Bar chain.

2006 - 2018

Pausing to take stock of life, Fulmer is quoted as saying, “I was way too young to retire and wouldn't know what to do anyway, so I made a long list of the things I like doing, a shorter list of the things I might be good at, and then a massive list of the things I'm terrible at.”

After this self-reflection and selling off the majority of his portfolio, Yuri formed Fulmer Capital Partners in 2010, to invest in and mentor small and mid-cap businesses to reach their next level of growth. One of the companies that Fulmer mentored and invested in, Protonics Cleaning Solutions (BBSpro Service), was listed on the Fastest Growing Companies by Profit 500 in 2014, 2017 and 2018. Another of the companies Fulmer partnered with, Buyatab, has won numerous awards such as the Best Digital Gifting Program (2015), Best Digital or Mobile Program (2016) , as well as being named one of the fastest growing companies by Profit 500 in 2017 and 2018.

Philanthropy

Fulmer has devoted himself to philanthropic endeavours, working to help the most vulnerable. For his leadership and dedication to improving the community, Fulmer was a recipient of the BC Community Achievement Award (2010) and the Spirit of Vancouver Award (2011) for his contributions to the Vancouver Foundation, the Surrey Food Bank Society,  Kwantlen Polytechnic University , the Minerva Foundation the Boys & Girls Clubs, the Vancouver Opera and The United Way of the Lower Mainland

Fulmer was responsible for raising more than $100 million on behalf of these worthy organizations, including more than $2 million in personal and corporate donations.

Focused Leadership

Fulmer decided to focus his leadership and resources on two philanthropic endeavours.

1. United Way Centraide Canada In 2017, Yuri became Chair of the Board of Directors for United Way Centraide Canada. In 2008, Yuri served as General Campaign Chair for United Way of Lower Mainland and Chair of the Board– the youngest person in the organization’s 78-year history to hold this office, raising over 30 million dollars that year.

2. Using his expertise in the food industry and his passion for mentoring, Fulmer worked with partners, and launched Goodly Foods, a unique initiative led by the Greater Vancouver Food Bank (GVFB) and Fulmer Capital Partners Inc. that aims to develop a viable social enterprise repurposing surplus produce from local suppliers while creating supportive community employment opportunities. Goodly is an innovative social enterprise which uses produce that would otherwise go to waste, provides meaningful employment to a significant group of people, and is a philanthropic model for implementation in other regions.

Awards and Honours

Canada’s Top Forty Under 40, 2008. British Columbia Community Achievement Award, 2010. Order of British Columbia. Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal, 2012 for his contribution to Canadian communities. The Joseph and Rosalie Community Vision Award, 2014.

References