| Chris Hughes, co-founder and spokesperson, Facebook, and My.BarackObama.com
Chris co-founded and served as spokesperson for the online social directory, Facebook, with Harvard roommates Mark Zuckerberg and Dustin Moskovitz. Hughes currently serves as a consultant for the popular site. He worked as coordinator of online organizing for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign on My.BarackObama.com, the campaign's online social networking website. Hughes is currently an Entrepreneur in Residence at General Catalyst Partners, a Boston venture capital firm. Chris was featured as the cover story of April 2009's Fast Company under the headline "The Kid Who Made Obama President; How Facebook Cofounder Chris Hughes Unleashed Barack's Base- and Changed Politics and Marketing Forever". Chris Hughes is a graduate of Phillips Academy Andover and Harvard College. He graduated from Harvard in 2006 with a Bachelor of Arts in history and literature. | |
| Tim Bray, Father of XML and Internet Search, co-founder, Open Text and Antarctica Systems
Timothy William Bray is a Canadian software developer and entrepreneur. He co-founded Open Text Corporation and Antarctica Systems. Currently, Tim is the Director of Web Technologies at Sun Microsystems. Tim described his switch of focus from Math to Computer Science this way: "In math I’d worked like a dog for my Cs, but in CS I worked much less for As — and learned that you got paid well for doing it.” Tim graduated in 1981 with a Bachelor of Science (double major in Mathematics and Computer Science) from the University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario. | |
| Razor Suleman, founder and CEO, I Love Rewards
Razor was born in Toronto, Ontario on May 20, 1974. Realizing his passion for entrepreneurship at a very young age, Razor started his first business when he was 15 years old. He started I Love Rewards in his dorm at Wilfrid Laurier University. Since incorporating I Love Rewards, Razor has led the business to many successes as CEO. In 2008 I Love Rewards was once again named one of Canada's Top 100 Employers by Maclean's, and Canada's 12th Fastest Growing Company by Profit Magazine. | |
| Ali Asaria, founder of Well.ca
Ali Asaria is the CEO and founder of Well.ca, Canada’s largest online health and beauty store. Ali grew up in Guelph and Toronto, Ontario. He studied Computer Engineering at the University of Waterloo. In 2008, Ali was a recipient of the Top 40 Under 40 Award in Guelph. In the same year, Well.ca also won the National Angel Organization award for being the best Angel-funded startup in Canada. Ali has been interviewed in the Globe and Mail, National Post, and the Toronto Star. Projects he has worked on have been featured in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Business Week, and GQ UK. | |
| Jim Estill, The CEO Blogger
Jim Estill is a time management guru. He started his company, EMJ Data Systems, from the trunk of his car after graduating from the University of Waterloo with a degree in Systems Design Engineering. From these modest beginnings, Estill grew EMJ to a staff of over 300 people, with $350 million in annual sales. Jim has earned many accolades for his business acumen. He was awarded a Top 40 Under 40 Award, and was nominated for Entrepreneur of the Year. Jim was lauded by Computer Dealer News as one of the Top Newsmakers of 2004 and 2005. Jim has also received an Engineering Alumni Award. EMJ has been acclaimed as one of the Top 50 Companies in Canada. EMJ was publicly traded company on the TSE starting in 1994. In 2004, Jim Estill sold EMJ to SYNNEX, and he became the CEO of SYNNEX Canada. SYNNEX is a global information technology supply chain, traded on the NYSE (SNX). Estill managed divisions with sales over $2 Billion dollars. Jim attributes much of his economic success to his success managing time. He has led numerous Time Leadership workshops, and has produced a Time Leadership CD. This “Time Leadership – CEO Blog” at www.jimestill.com often deals with issues of Time management, efficiency, personal development and effective goal-setting. | |
| Dan Mathers, Chair, eSight, and Executive-in-Residence, Communitech
Currently, Dan is the President & CEO of eSight Corporation, a privately funded medical devices start-up company focused on helping people with low vision maximize the use of their remaining functional sight and helping those with normal vision to enhance their sight. Dan has over 22 years of experience in business development, marketing, sales, engineering, and operations in high-growth technology companies, creating over $1B in shareholder value. In addition to the above, Dan also sits on the Board of Directors of the Ottawa Technology Transfer Network (OTTN) and the Acheson Lewis Vision Improvement Foundation. Prior to eSight, Dan was President and CEO of IceFyre Inc., senior vice president and general manager, Semiconductor Division, at MOSAID Technologies Inc., and held a series of increasingly senior positions with Celestica Inc. and IBM Canada. Dan holds a master of business administration from York University and a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from McMaster University. |
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