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We have intermingled our Ottawa Chapter End of Year Social event with an engaging panel discussion focussed on directing companies during turbulent times.
 
Now deep into the fourth industrial revolution and a troubled world - downstream of a global pandemic, with high inflation and interest rates, the plight of Silicon Valley Bank, tech layoffs, geopolitical uncertainty, and protectionism - CEOs, Boards, Investors, and other stakeholders have much to grapple with. This important session explores the strategic role of the board in ensuring the long-range viability and sustainability of tech businesses – a crucial part of Ottawa’s economic landscape.
 
Our event will be held at Hub350, an impressive, collaborative gathering space in the heart of Canada’s largest Tech Park. Refreshments will be provided; this is an intimate, free event for ICD.D members; Non members are welcome to join this special gathering for $50.

Agenda:
Registration and Networking – 5:30 PM
Opening Remarks – Chapter Executive Co-Chair, Simon Kennedy - 6PM
Panel Discussion – Led by Jim Roche – 615PM
Year end social – 715PM – 830PM

Cancellations must be received in writing 48 hrs prior to the date of the event to be eligible for a full refund.
If you register for an event and do not attend, you are liable for the full event fee. If you are unable to attend, you may transfer your ticket to someone else. However, please note that should your replacement have a different membership status and there is a price differential, you will be either credited or charged the balance.
 
All refund requests should be emailed to the Chapter Administrator or events@icd.ca

Moderator

Jim Roche Headshot

Jim Roche

Jim Roche

Jim Roche, President & CEO of Stratford Group Ltd., founded the company to positively impact society by helping organizations and their leaders achieve their full potential. He is a charismatic leader with impressive accomplishments in privately-owned and public companies as well as not-for-profits. As a seasoned executive and corporate director with over 30 years of experience, Jim is a strong advocate for small- and medium-sized companies and an active angel investor. He provides clients C-level advice on governance, strategy and operational matters, and serves in interim CEO roles.

Jim began his career as a founding member of Newbridge Networks where he helped grow the company to over $1B in annual revenue. He then co-founded Tundra Semiconductor, took it public and, as President & CEO, achieved double-digit average annual revenue and profit growth and over $1.5B in market value.
Over his career Jim has served on numerous public, private, and not-for-profit boards. He is currently Chair at Ballard Power Systems, Chair and CEO at ThinkRF, Chair at Elentra, and on the boards of ISC, Ross Video, and PureFacts. Previous board assignments have included CHEO, Youth Services Bureau, NRC-IRAP, Ocean Networks Canada, You.i TV, Wi-LAN, and DNA-Genotek among others.
Jim Roche Headshot

Panellists

Kim Butler Headshot

Kim Butler

CPA, ICD.D

Kim Butler

CPA, ICD.D

With more than 30 years of executive financial and operational experience with Canadian and multinational organizations, Kim has demonstrated extensive accomplishments in areas of financial and risk management, corporate financing, strategic planning, operational effectiveness, M&A, and investor relations. She has held C-level positions in public and private enterprises and has delivered shareholder value through successful M&A transactions. Currently she participates on several for profit and not for profit boards in health care, technology and energy sector as director and chair of Audit Committee.  She is a member of the Executive Committee of the Ottawa Chapter of the Institute of Corporate Directors and is a strong an advocate and advisor for female technology entrepreneurs.
Kim Butler Headshot
Ilse Treurnicht Headshot

Ilse Treurnicht

Ilse Treurnicht

Ilse Treurnicht’s career spans scientific research and commercialization, building health and cleantech firms, venture and impact investing, as well as public policy.

She is managing partner of TwinRiver Capital (an impact investment firm), a general partner at North South Ventures (a seed stage med fund), chair of the Public Policy Forum and a director of the Equality Fund and Zentek.

Ilse was CEO of MaRS Discovery District in Toronto from 2005-2017 as it developed from a nascent organization into a leading urban innovation hub. She joined MaRS from her role as CEO of Primaxis Technology Ventures, a seed stage venture capital firm (1999-2005).

She was chair of the Canadian Task Force on Social Finance (2010), served on the Government of Canada’s Science, Technology and Innovation Council (2014-2016), Canada’s Advisory Council on Economic Growth (2016-2019), and the Advisory Committee on Open Banking (2018-2021). She has been a board member and advisor to technology firms, non-profits, and international organizations.

Ilse holds a doctorate in chemistry from Oxford University, which she attended as a Rhodes Scholar.
Ilse Treurnicht Headshot
Mike Weider Headshot

Mike Weider

Mike Weider

Michael was the Founder/CEO of 3 venture backed startups - Watchfire (Acquired by IBM), Blaze (Acquired by Akamai) and SHOEBOX (Acquired by WSA). Michael has served as an independent board member of numerous startups and non-profits. Michael is an active seed investor and partner at Fundfire.co supporting over 40 startups with early stage funding.

From 2013-2020, Michael was the CEO of SHOEBOX, a digital health company acquired by WS Audiology.

From 2010-2012, Michael was the co-founder and CEO of Blaze. Blaze was a Web performance optimization service that was acquired by Akamai in 2012. At Akamai, Michael served as a Vice President in the Web Performance Division.

From 1996-2007, Michael was the Founder and CTO of Watchfire. Watchfire was the largest provider of Web Application Security testing software. Watchfire was acquired by IBM in 2007. Michael spent 3 years at IBM and was responsible for the Security and Cloud product lines.
 
Michael holds a B.Sc. in engineering from Queens University. He enjoys running, biking, tennis, skiing and other outdoor activities.
Mike Weider Headshot
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