JLA Ventures - Advisory Board

Advisory Board

Osama Arafat

Mr. Arafat is the CEO of Q9 Networks Inc. a leading provider of managed Internet infrastructure. Previously, Mr. Arafat was Co-CEO of Isolation Systems Ltd., a manufacturer of Virtual Private Network solutions. Within 18 months of joining Isolation Systems, Mr. Arafat successfully launched Isolation Systems' VPN products, developed distribution channels and engineered the sale of Isolation Systems to Shiva Corporation. In 1994 Mr. Arafat co-founded InfoRamp Inc., which quickly became Toronto's largest Internet Service Provider before being sold to iSTAR in September, 1995. Mr. Arafat holds a Masters in Electrical Engineering from McGill University (1990) and a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from George Washington University (1988).

James L. Balsillie

Mr. Balsillie is Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer of Research in Motion Limited (NASDAQ:RIMM, TSX:RIM), a narrowband PCS and wireless data subscriber device manufacturer based in Waterloo, Canada. Mr. Balsillie joined RIM in 1992 and is primarily responsible for directing strategy, business development, and finance at the company. During his tenure at RIM sales have grown by 10,000% in the past six years, with more than 95% of sales occurring in export markets. From 1989 until 1992, Mr. Balsillie was an executive vice-president and director of Sutherland-Schultz Limited, an engineering, contracting, and technology products company. Previous positions held by Mr. Balsillie include senior roles with Prudential-Bache Securities in New York and Ernst & Young in Toronto. Mr. Balsillie holds a B.Comm. (Honours Economics) degree from the University of Toronto, a Chartered Accountant designation from the ICAO and CICA, and an MBA from Harvard University. He sits on the boards of Communitech, Wilfred Laurier University, Descartes Systems Group (NASDAQ:DSGX, TSX:DSG), and Clearnet Communications (NASDAQ:CLNTF). He is also a member of the Young President's Organization and has received several awards including the 1997 Canada Award for Business Excellence (Technology), 1996 E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year (Technology) and the 1995 CATA Outstanding Technology Product Award.

Lee Green

Mr. Green was a co-founder and former CEO & Chairman of Triple G Systems Group, Inc., a global leader in medical laboratory information systems software. Mr. Green led Triple G from a pre-revenue start-up through several private equity financings and an IPO in June, 2001. Subsequent to going public the company completed another round of financing before being acquired by GE Medical Systems in 2003 for $84 million. Under Mr. Green’s leadership Triple G grew from pre-revenue to $25 million in revenue, of which 80% was generated outside Canada. More than 120 leading healthcare organizations operating over 400 laboratories in 11 countries use Triple G software in critical patient care activities. In 2003 Triple G was recognized by Klas Enterprises, the leading US healthcare market intelligence organization, as the #1 ranked laboratory software vendor in North America. Prior to founding Triple G, Mr. Green was Director of Healthcare Systems for MAI Canada. Previously Mr. Green was involved in a number of successful software ventures.

Stuart Lombard

Mr. Lombard is the CEO of Avaning Inc., a provider of web based home automation solutions. Previously Mr. Lombard was a partner at JLA Ventures and prior to that was co-CEO of Isolation Systems Ltd. a manufacturer of Virtual Private Network (VPN) solutions. Within 18 months of joining Isolation Systems, Mr. Lombard successfully launched Isolation Systems’ VPN products, developed distribution channels, and engineered the sale of Isolation Systems to Shiva Corporation. In 1994 Mr. Lombard co-founded InfoRamp Inc., which quickly became Toronto's largest Internet Service Provider before being sold to iSTAR in September, 1995. Mr. Lombard holds a B.Sc. Engineering (Honours) in Applied Mathematics from Queen’s University. He is a director of QuickPlay Media.

Peter J. Schwartz

Peter J. Schwartz is President of Laurence Capital Corporation (LCC), a Waterloo-based merchant bank. LCC manages two investment funds, Laurence Capital Fund I and Laurence Capital Fund II and provides capital and stewardship to Canadian growth companies. LCC and the Laurence group of companies, which includes Laurence Financial Services Corp., a vertical market lender to technology and transportation companies and Laurence Development LP, a diversified real estate development company, have assets under management totalling $110 million.

Peter is the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Descartes Systems Group Inc. (Nasdaq: DSGX) (TSX: DSG) a software-as-a-service (SaaS) company founded in 1981. Descartes is developing the world’s largest multimodal electronic logistics messaging network, called the Global Logistics Network or GLN. Descartes’ on-demand GLN processes more than a million messages every day for companies with transport operations. Mr. Schwartz joined Descartes in 1990 and has held positions of increasing responsibility culminating in his appointment as a member of the Board of Directors and CEO in 1995 and Chairman of the Board in 1997. During Peter’s tenure revenues grew from $1 million to over $80 million dollars. The company is based in Waterloo, Ontario, with operations in Ottawa, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Washington, D.C. and Stockholm.

Mr. Schwartz holds an HBA from the University of Western Ontario. He currently sits on the advisory board for JLA Ventures, Automated Benefits Corp. (AUT.V), and Tech Capital Partners. He is a director of RedCity Search Company (RDC.V), Covarity Inc., the Stratford Chef School and is Chairman of WCP Holdings Inc. Mr. Schwartz has been a member of the Young Presidents Organization since 1996, and was chosen as one of The Financial Post's Top 40 under 40 in 1998.