Connect with Your BoardThe Board of Directors plans and implements YTA strategies and activities to enhance member learning, networking and information sharing opportunities. The YTA Board of Directors are busy professionals and active volunteers. They serve on the Board in a volunteer capacity, representing the interests of all members of the Association, advancing the business climate for the region's technology sector and the service industries that support it.
With input from members, the Board develops programs to meet your specific needs.The Board also provides operational direction and support for the Association.As mentors, advisors and, as your peers, members of the Board provide a wealth of technical and executive experience. Drawing upon their knowledge you can accelerate your own business success.
Kevin believes “No one succeeds alone”. If it takes a village to raise a child, then it also takes a healthy technology cluster to grow a globally competitive business. Essential to success are: a pool of skilled available workers, experienced “been there, done-it-before” executives, access to capital, educators, strong network infrastructures, and experienced advisors in the fields of patents, licenses, employment matters, contracts, tax, accounting, insurance, strategic planning, cross-border advisors, and yes, Mergers & Acquisitions.
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Marie Wiese, Marketing CoPilot, CoPilot Group, is a sales and marketing expert in the high tech and software industry with proven success at building marketing programs that fuel demand. Prior to founding CoPilot Group with Andrew Ford (Sales CoPilot) in 2006, she held senior positions in sales and marketing with several Canadian software firms, was Director of Strategic Marketing at Bank of Montreal, Marketing Director for the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants, Press Secretary for a Federal Cabinet Minister and Account Manager at advertising and public relations agencies.
Pat brings a strong management background built upon the ability to balance the people and economic perspectives needed to achieve business outcomes. His ability to engage stakeholders and his passion to advocate for the issues and actions that members most value help make the YTA the centre-point for the tech cluster in the GTR.
Peter is a member of the YTA Board Executive Committee and contributes in the capacity as Treasurer and facilitator of its Chief Financial Officer peer group. A Chartered Accountant (1987) and Chartered Business Valuator (CBV - 1992), Peter specializes in the valuation of companies and intangible property.
He has assisted organizations through merger and acquisition, outsource, joint venture and licensing initiatives and has led a wide range of strategic planning, information technology, and post-merger integration initiatives. He has also prepared and presented business and research reports on such topics as: valuing technology, leveraging and protecting intellectual property, and R&D Strategy.
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TM & Associates
Ted is Past Chair of the YTA and continues to contribute as a member of the Executive Committee and as a co-facilitator for the Peer Group – Leaders of Emerging Companies. For the past several years he has worked exclusively with start-up IT companies in various leadership positions. Through his company, TM & Associates Inc. he is a shareholder in many of these companies and understands firsthand the challenges that emerging IT companies face in building an organization, driving revenues, raising capital and most importantly – meeting the next payroll.
Jim understands the tech cluster in York Region and leverages that knowledge as a Real Estate Advisor in Markham and Richmond Hill. Jim utilizes his experience as a founder and shareholder of a software company and more than a decade as a leasing agent for office managers to help technology companies find and create office space that works. Jim continues his involvement in the tech cluster as a member of the Board of Directors of the York Technology Association and he facilitates the YTA Emerging Tech Company Leaders Peer Group. He is Chair of the YTA Golf Day Committee and is an active member of the luncheon committee. A true champion of the YTA, Jim believes that the YTA is a valuable partner that helps technology companies grow their business.
David Burnett, Co-Founder of End to End Networks and father of 4, is a man of integrity, dedication and determination. He has contributed enormously to his local community and has made every effort to achieve both his professional and personal goals over the years. With David’s 35 years of experience specializing in operations and communications, he is responsible for the vision and long-standing relationships that benefit the growth of End to End Networks.
John Cameron has been a senior level executive in the high tech sector for over 25 years. Recently, he has been involved with a number of venture capital firms focused on start up organizations and turnaround opportunities. He was CEO of Unveil Technologies, out of Boston, a company that was sold to Microsoft and Executive Vice President, responsible for world wide operations, for Voice Genie Technologies, a company recently acquired by Genesys/Alcatel. He also owned his own company, a network systems organization that was sold to Geac Computers. In his 16 year involvement with the telecommunications industry he held positions as President of Lucent Technologies and President of Avaya Canada. He presently holds the position of C.E.O. for Aizan Technologies, an on demand voice application service provider specializing in solutions for intelligent call routing and dynamic call management. Read More
Stephen Chait has served as the Town of Markham’s Director of Economic Development since 1995. Under his direction, and with the leadership and support of Markham’s Mayor and Council, Markham has been awarded numerous domestic and international marketing awards for its successful “High-Tech Capital” campaign, and for its leading edge strategic plan “Markham 2020”.
Stephen is currently the President of the Economic Developers Association of Canada, and sits on several business and community advisory boards in Markham and York Region. The Town of Markham is a founding sponsor of the YTA and regards the association as a cornerstone of the high-tech cluster in the Greater Toronto Area.
Stephen is CEO of DapaSoft Inc.an IT consulting and software development firm he established and has grown to prominence with more than 75 employees focusing on the health, manufacturing and recycling verticles. Mr. Chan is an active community member and supporter of innovation and business start-ups, serving in a senior capacity in several businesses including:
Mr. Chan has a Bachelor of Civil Engineering from McMaster University and a Bachelor of Mathematics (Honours) in Computer Sciences from the University of Waterloo
Steve Charikar is the Chief Information Officer for Seneca College, an Institution that offers more than an education. With campuses throughout the Greater Toronto Area, Seneca’s size and diversity give students the advantage of partnerships with industry leaders, the latest in hands-on computer technology, a variety of class sizes, and full-time, part-time and continuing education options. Steve leads a division that provides a broad range of Technology services to the College's communities both internally and externally.
Don is one of Canada’s most successful municipal leaders having served as Mayor of the Town of Markham from 1994 to 2006, during a period of unprecedented growth. As Mayor, he was Chair of Finance of the York Regional Council, a member of the boards of the Markham Hydro Electric Utility, Powerstream, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario and Markham Stouffville Hospital, among others, and Founding Honourary Chair of the York Technology Association.
Johanna is the National Director of Marketing with Compugen, the largest privately owned Canadian IT solution and service provider. Compugen is a Richmond Hill based company that provides practical, real-world solutions and a comprehensive customer-focused portfolio of support services through 15 offices across the country. In her current role, Johanna is responsible for development and implementation of the company’s marketing strategy and brand with a goal of increased market share. In her 14 year tenure with Compugen, Johanna has held numerous roles including Director of Corporate Sales and Director of Consulting Services providing her a broad and varied perspective on business issues. Read More
Jordan Dolgin is Principal at Dolgin Professional Corporation, a Technology law firm. Jordan has been a Corporate Partner of Wilson Vukelich LLP, a Technology Law firm. His practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, private equity transactions, corporate reorganizations and technology-related commercial matters. He acts for many early-stage and well-established private and public enterprises across various industries and throughout all stages of the business life cycle. He also advises on commercial technology matters such as website and software development, software licensing and distribution, Internet and e-commerce transactions and technology joint ventures.
According to Jordan “… YTA is a critical constituent of the GTA/York Region technology cluster and I am proud to remain an active board member. For me, YTA is an essential part of my technology law practice and serves as a key source of continuous learning and relationship building.”
Allan Faux is a Partner in the Telecommunications, Media and Technology (TMT) practice of Deloitte & Touche LLP.
Mr. Faux has served many companies ranging from single-facility enterprises to complex multinationals in both the private and public sector. Mr. Faux has over thirty years of experience in assisting owner managed and venture backed companies deal with the multitude of issues related to fast growing businesses. During his career with Deloitte, he has gained considerable expertise and experience in securities issues in both Canada and the United States. In addition to the depth of experience in serving a broad variety of enterprises, Mr. Faux also has substantial quality assurance responsibilities in the GTA office.
Andrew Ford, Sales CoPilot, believes successful technology companies understand how their solutions improve the business performance of their customers. The CoPilot Group builds sales and marketing processes that make it easy to describe these improvements. These clear explanations create short and efficient sales cycles for CoPilot's clients. Andrew Ford's sales career spans 20 years in the software industry. From 2000 to 2003, as Director of Sales at PointForce Inc., Andrew drove the US expansion that contributed to the successful sale of the company to TECSYS Inc. At TECSYS Andrew held the position of President of the SMB Group until 2006. In the spring of 2006, he founded the CoPilot Group with Marie Wiese.
Rudy Joss graduated in Engineering from Queen’s University and worked as an Industrial Engineer for General Motors before moving to IBM Canada. Over a 15 year career with IBM he served in Product Planning, Business Development and various sales roles before becoming the Reseller Country Manager for IBM Canada. In 1986 Rudy left IBM to found CMS Manufacturing Systems and was CEO up to the merger with XKO Software in 2007 when the company was renamed Solarsoft Business Systems. Rudy currently serves as Chairman of Solarsoft and has a number of private investments which he manages under the brand Spyder Capital.
As a member of the Board of Directors for York Technology Association (YTA), Michael seeks to support its objective of building a stronger technology sector in the region through actively engaging with industry participants to share experiences, resolve challenges, and help each other understand best practices.
With over 15 years' experience, Michael provides audit and assurance services to private and public technology companies. He is intimately familiar with the business and operating landscape, as well as, the evolving regulatory framework of this market. His experience includes providing audit and advisory services to companies at various stages of growth and life cycle in respect of financial reporting, regulatory compliance and general business advisory matters. He has also advised companies with mergers and acquisitions, setting up operations in other countries, and going public on the Canadian, U.S., and London (AIM) exchanges.
Michael is a strong supporter of the industry, actively participating in various forums and committees. He has led KPMG's sponsorship of the YTA CFO Peer Group since 2000 and meets regularly with this group to explore challenges and opportunities. Michael is an audit Partner within KPMG's Information, Communications and Entertainment (ICE) practice in the GTA, a group of professionals dedicated to providing services to technology companies. He obtained his Chartered Accountant designation in 1997 and is a graduate of the University of Concordia.
For the past 22 years, John Kitchen has provided senior management(CEO/COO) expertise to organizations started by innovative and technologically savvy founders.John is Vice President & General Manager of ESRI Canada Limited, Canada’s leading geographic information systems(GIS) company. Founded in 1984, ESRI Canada is a private Canadian company with a staff of over 300 employees in 16 Canadian offices. The company provides software, consulting services, training, technical support and integrated solutions to over 8,000 private sector and government customers. ESRI Canada is the GIS standard for the majority of federal, provincial and municipal governments in Canada.
Currently Alex Li is the CEO of KijiSoft Inc. who specializes in IT and software outsourcing and services. KijiSoft is helping many Canadian companies to cut IT cost and access to the China market, as well as helping many Chinese companies to do business in the North America.
Alex starts his career as a software engineer with Founder Group (China's largest software company) in 1990. Since then he has developed his career within Founder Group in several different roles including Project Manager, Software Development Manager, Software Specialist, Chief Technical Officer, etc. Alex continued to serve for Founder Group after he immigrated to Canada with his family in 1997. He set up the North America branch of Founder Group in Toronto in 2001 and became the CEO of Founder North America until 2008.
A technology proficient and resourceful executive with wide ranging expertise in product management and product development, marketing, pricing, e-commerce, sales and major bid development, and channel development. Develops solutions with sophisticated technologies that meet the external customer requirements as well as the internal corporate financial and operational metrics.
FunnelBuilders was founded by Sean O’Donovan, with the goal of helping technology organizations develop and implement the internet marketing strategies they need to successfully develop sales-ready leads online.
Sean has over 20 years experience in high-tech marketing and related disciplines. He has worked with both hardware and software, marketing products with values ranging from a few hundred dollars to millions. During his career, Sean has gained first hand experience of a number of high-tech disciplines in addition to marketing, including sales, business development, product development, product management and general management. This provides him with a unique, and deeply insightful, understanding of the technology business environment.
Joe Olivier is Vice President, Commercial Financial Services - Knowledge Based Industries (KBI) for RBC. In this capacity, Mr. Olivier is responsible for leading the specialized Commercial Financial Services team for RBC across the GTA and Southwestern Ontario in the information technology and life science and healthcare services markets. Mr. Olivier has spent 10 of his 13 years with RBC in the KBI field in Toronto, Ottawa, Kitchener-Waterloo and Winnipeg. Mr. Olivier has a unique interest in the technology market and is an active Board member for the YTA. As a YTA Board member, Mr. Olivier is working with his fellow Board members to ensure the York region establishes a leading technology cluster in the region.
Greg Secord is Vice President, Investor Relations at Open Text Corporation, Canada's largest software company. Open Text is listed on both the Nasdaq and the Toronto Stock Exchange. With experience in both European and North American capital markets, Greg has managed IR through over 20 acquisitions in his career both hostile and friendly. He actively maintains relationships with investment bankers and assists Open Text in researching and qualifying acquisition opportunities. As the corporate spokesperson for Open Text, Greg is active in dealing with the media in good times and bad. He has consulted, advised and counseled many industry leaders including some of the largest technology and insurance companies in Canada and even the Canadian Space Agency. Greg has also been quoted in industry trade publications and is a published contributor to post secondary text books on business and accounting.
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