BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Jim Grimes
Chairman
Jim Grimes is a recognized pioneer in Canada’s telecom technology industry; a highly successful angel investor and much sought-after, respected executive consultant. During the first 15 years of his career, he led three early stage Silicon Valley based telecom start-ups from inception, through exceptional growth, to exit – Stratacom Inc. (Cisco), Xylan Inc. (Alcatel) and Access 360 (IBM). Jim then founded, and/or made key investments in, multiple very lucrative ventures, including: Redline Communications; Chippery Inc. and Concave Sports.
He subsequently led, in concert with the Cisco Canada leadership team under Nitin Kawale, the creation of Cisco Canada Venture Fund to drive Canadian innovation. This was Cisco Global Ventures’ first fund outside the US and they successfully built and deployed $150 million in the Canadian venture ecosystem. Most recently, leveraging Jim's vast and deep relationships in the C-suites of Canadian business, He advises companies, such as Rogers Communications Inc. and Next Pathway, on their corporate growth, acquisition and exit strategies.
Hon. Jerry Grafstein, Q.C.
Director
The Hon. Jerry S. Grafstein, Q.C., holds degrees from the University of Western Ontario and the University of Toronto Law School and has taught the Bar Admission Course at Osgoode Hall. He has wide-ranging legal and business experience in all aspects of media. Jerry was a co-founder of a range of media companies, focusing on broadcasting, cable, communications, film production and publication enterprises in Canada, the USA, the UK, South America. He recently co-founded on-line news sites from Canada, USA, Brazil, China, Russia, Africa, UK, Europe and the Mideast. Jerry advised several key government ministries, including Transportation, External Affairs, Consumer and Corporate Affairs and Justice. He was appointed to the Senate of Canada in 1984 by then Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau. Jerry served on all Senate Committees, including the Foreign Affairs and the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committees. He served as Chairman of the Senate Banking, Trade and Commerce Committee. While in the Senate, Jerry was a long serving Co-Chair of the Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group, and a long serving senior officer of the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA). He retired from the Senate on January 1, 2010. Jerry continues his law practice in corporate finance and communication law and as counsel emeritus to Minden Gross LLP in Toronto and remains active in the local affairs in Toronto. He now devotes most of his business time to technology start-ups in Canada, U.S. and Latin America.
Millard S. Roth M. Sc. Ind. Mgt.
Director
Millard is a mature, successful senior executive, business consultant, “M & A” intermediary. He is a business builder/fixer/team enhancer who has executed profitable growth plans and developed exit initiatives for an array of medium size enterprises.
Millard’s career has encompassed serving as: interim CEO (Atelier America Inc., CCC Information Services of Canada Inc., Canadian Motion Picture Distributors Association); Co-Chair Repositioning Committee (Baycrest Foundation); Member of Board of Directors (Vubiz Inc., Tengtu International Inc., Swing Stage Ltd., Kimball Aim Labels Inc.); Advisory Board (Earthfresh Farms Inc., Human Solutions International Inc.) and Presidents’ Coach (Inniskillin Wines Ltd., Shaftesbury Films Ltd., Menu Foods Corp., TMS Marketing Ltd.). In the process, he has developed and executed strategic plans; identified, negotiated and closed acquisitions; led corporate reorganizations; and realigned business models.
Michael Lende
Director
Michael Lende has more than 25 years of experience founding companies and leading them to operational success. In 2006 he launched the ZipCar car-share service in Canada, growing the Toronto-area membership from zero to north of 42,000 and contributing to the parent company’s successful IPO in 2011. He was also presented with the City of Toronto’s prestigious Market Transformation Green Award for taking over 3,500 cars off the road. From 2012 to 2016, he was President and CEO of start-up Student CarShare Inc. which ultimately served more than 15,000 students nationwide with strategic partners Mastercard, CIBC & Kia Motors. Michael was the Chief Marketing Officer of Dominion Sports & Entertainment and Co-Founder of the Capitol Event Theatre. He has been the lead revenue consultant to many C-Suite executives and has sat on advisory boards of several successful start-ups and growth companies. Michael was a 2012 recipient of the prestigious Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal presented by the Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario on behalf of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.