Jean-Louis Schaan - Professor - Richard Ivey School of Business - University of Western Ontario
Jean-Louis Schaan is a professor of Strategic Management and International Business. Prior to joining Ivey, he was Director of the University of Ottawa's Executive MBA Program. Professor Schaan has had a 20-year career at the University of Ottawa as a professor and as an administrator. He has taught in all academic programs, has managed the School's Management section and run the bilingual International MBA Program. Professor Schaan started his academic career at the School of Business at Queen's University in Kingston.
Professor Schaan holds a Ph.D. in strategic management from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario and an MBA from the School of Management at the University of Ottawa. He has won teaching awards at both Ivey and the University of Ottawa. Jean-Louis focuses his research on strategic alliances and project management. In collaboration with Micheál Kelly he has conducted studies about the management and implementation in strategic alliances in the high technology sector. With Christian Navarre he has studied approaches to project management from a CEO's perspective. The research investigated how managers form portfolios of projects and tailor management approaches to specific configurations of project profiles.
Lance Laking - Past President - BTI Systems
Lance Laking - Lance has been CEO of BTI Systems since 2001 during which time the company has established itself as an emerging leader in metro optical systems. Lance has been responsible for securing over US$35M in growth capital from US and Canadian venture capital investors to fuel BTI's growth. Lance has over 15 years of experience in building and managing high growth companies. Prior to joining BTI, he founded the Canadian subsidiary of HUBER+SUHNER, a Swiss-based wireless and optical component manufacturer. He oversaw the building of their Canadian subsidiary from its inception into one of HUBER+SUHNER's highest growth regions in the world. In 1987, Lance co-founded and up until 1995 served as Chief Operating Officer of Dynasty Components Inc, a Canadian sales and distribution organization representing a variety of major optoelectronic, interconnect and semiconductor manufacturers.
Lance holds an Honours Accountancy / Economics degree from the University of Waterloo, is a Chartered Accountant, and has completed the Executive Development Program at Queen's University.
John Williamson - Partner - Drive For Life
Prior to founding Drive For Life, John Williamson was co-founder of Futurus Management Inc, a Toronto based consulting practice. Previous to Futurus, John was a Partner and National Director at Deloitte & Touche. Beyond his management responsibilities with the firm, John has experience in the High Tech sector and with fast growing companies. John has been an advisor to The Board of Innovator's Alliance (an alliance of CEO's of Ontario's fastest growing companies) and was a key contributor to their business plan. Prior to joining D&T in 1997, John spent 16 years at Procter & Gamble. With a proven track record of exceeding business expectations, he developed a reputation as an empowering leader who built strong, results-oriented organizations. Leadership roles at P&G included General Manager in Canada of the Health & Beauty Care and Food & Beverage Divisions; Category Manager for Laundry Detergents Eastern Europe; and Marketing Director Czech and Slovak Republics. John has Board experience with various industry associations and charity organizations. He has been recognized by Big Brothers of Metropolitan Toronto as an outstanding contributor.
