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

Since 1992, Jim Balsillie has been co-CEO at Research In Motion (RIM) maker of the world reknowned BlackBerry wireless handheld system. In 2008 he was named one of the top 30 CEO’s WorldWide. In 2002, Mr. Balsillie founded The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), a world-class global research institute focused on the restructuring of international governance. In 2007, Mr. Balsillie announced the creation of the new Canadian International Council (CIC) of which he is the Chair. In 2008, he founded the Balsillie School of International Affairs.

Mr. Balsillie is a graduate of the University of Toronto and the Harvard Graduate School of Business. He is a chartered accountant and a fellow of the Ontario Institute of Chartered Accountants. He also holds numerous honourary doctorate degrees.

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 three investment funds, Laurence Capital Fund I, Laurence Capital Fund II and Laurence Capital Fund III and provides capital and stewardship to Canadian growth companies. LCC and the Laurence group of companies, which includes Laurence Financial Services Corp., a niche lender to Canadian entrepreneurs headquartered in Richmond Hill Ontario and Laurence Development LP, a diversified real estate development company.

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 and Tech Capital Partners. Mr. Schwartz is the interim Chairman of Brick Brewing Co. Ltd. (TSX:BRB) and is a director of ZipLocal Inc. (TSX-V:ZIP), MashUp Arts Inc., I Love Rewards Inc., ParkVu Inc., 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.