Global Impact and Innovation

J. Kim Fennell  

J. Kim Fennell is a long-time executive of several iconic Silicon Valley companies. He was at Uber Technologies in San Francisco for 5 years as Head of Business Development for US & Canada through December 2019 and is now a venture capital investor, advisor, and board director.

Kim had previously been CEO of deCarta, the leading independent mapping software platform company before its sale to Uber in March, 2015. Prior to deCarta, he held CEO positions at Pinnacle Systems and StorageWay. He was an early executive at Octel, the global leader of voice messaging systems. He opened Octel in Canada in 1986, then moved to the UK for 6 years to lead Europe, Middle East, Africa before managing all International. He was then a corporate Vice President at Lucent Technologies following its acquisition of Octel in 1997. Much earlier he was National Marketing Manager, Canada with Santa Clara, California based ROLM Corp.

Kim is now an active Angel Investor with seed investments in tech startups in Canada, US and the UK, and a Venture Partner with True North Fund, a Canadian growth stage fund. He is a Board Director of Bird Construction (TSX: BDT) and private startups in Cape Town and Dallas. For 12 years he’s been a Board Director of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group Foundation. He is also on the Board of C100 a non-profit focused on supporting Canadian tech entrepreneurs.  

Kim is originally from Oakville, Ontario and graduated from Queen’s with a B.A. (Honours) in Political Science in 1979. He also studied at the Stanford School of Business. At Queen’s he was active in student government as a member of Outer Council, ASUS Council as Judiciary chair, and a writer on the Queen’s Journal.  

He lives in Los Gatos, California with his fellow Canadian wife and has two grown children. He still plays hockey and remains a troubled Habs fan.

Matthew Handford

Chief People Officer, Vantage Group

Matthew Handford is Chief People Officer at Vantage Group, a global infrastructure investment, development, and management company based in Vancouver and New York City. In this role, Mr. Handford leads all aspects of human capital strategy, and talent management for the organization on a global basis.  

An experienced leader with a background in pre-IPO technology companies, and also widely held public brands. Mr. Handford has pioneered people strategies at high growth, culturefocused organizations, including in executive leadership roles at Crystal Decisions, Hootsuite, FGL/Canadian Tire Corporation, and Westjet Airlines. 

Matthew has also held Board Director positions at Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC), and the Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF).

Mr. Handford holds a BA (History), BAH (Geography) and an MIR from Canada’s Queen’s University at Kingston, Ontario. 

Rick Mangat

Dr. Rick Mangat has over 20 years experience as a medical device executive. While carrying out research at the University of Manitoba for his PhD thesis in Pharmacology, Dr. Rick Mangat invented the SPY Imaging System – a product that can be used in surgeries to assess blood flow and perfusion thereby impacting the lives of patients and doctors across the world. Through this, Dr. Mangat co-founded NOVADAQ Technologies Inc. in 2000 and has held numerous positions within the company including the role of CEO from 2000-2003 and from 2016 until the company was sold in September 2017.

Under Dr. Mangat’s leadership, NOVADAQ Technologies Inc. became a pioneer in facilitating medical professionals with relevant, point of care imaging solutions that enhance the lives of patients and their caregivers. SPY Technology has been used to conduct over one million procedures, it has been documented as being valuable in over 75 different surgical applications, and has been featured in over 500 peer reviewed publications for its innovative contribution to complex surgeries and diagnostic procedures.

Kimberly Morris

Rich Stephenson

Richard (Rich) Stephenson is currently an investor and board advisor having retired after 30 years in banking. Rich was at JPMorgan for 21 years where he was most recently head of the firm’s Wholesale Payments Sales teams and MNC Banking Coverage. Rich was a member of the Global Corporate Banking Management team, the Wholesale Payments Global Management team, and the North America Balance Sheet Committee.

Rich joined JPMorgan in Tokyo in 1999 to head the firm’s international rates derivatives coverage team. Before joining JPMorgan, Rich was an interest rate cash and derivatives marketer for a competitor institution in London and Tokyo. Rich moved to New York in 2002, and before moving into banking in 2014, he held a variety of senior roles in the firm’s credit and equity derivative businesses, as well as investor services.  

Rich is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree from Queen’s University, and a MBA from the Ivey Business School at Western University. Rich is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Ivey Business School.

Dan Weber

Dan's career has spanned start-and-scale companies borne through the Waterloo Region innovation ecosystem, higher education, government and financial services. He is an avid community volunteer and has served in leadership and board capacities in higher education, political and nonprofit organizations. Dan is currently Senior Director, Innovation & Strategy with ApplyBoard, a Canadian unicorn EdTech firm headquartered in Waterloo Region. In his downtime he enjoys spending time with his wife Shannon and two school-aged children, Maya and Gabriel, mentoring youth, cottaging, cycling and building community. 

Degree (if needed) Bachelor of Mathematics, Business Information Systems Co-op, University of Waterloo (short form) B.Math. 

Community and Wellness Sub-Committee

Sustainability and Research Sub-Committee