Directors and Members
Mike Lazaridis
Board Chair, Director and Founding Member
Mr. Lazaridis, O.C., O.Ont., FRS, FRSC, is the founding chair of the Quantum Valley Ideas Lab Board of Directors and is a Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Quantum Valley Investments (“QVI”), which he and Doug Fregin established in Waterloo. In March 2013, they launched QVI with $100 million to provide financial and intellectual capital for the development and commercialization of quantum physics and quantum computing breakthroughs. QVI aims to help transform ideas and early-stage breakthroughs into commercially viable products, technologies, and services. Mr. Lazaridis is also the founder and Board Chair of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics and the University of Waterloo Institute for Quantum Computing; he is also the founder of the University of Waterloo’s Quantum-Nano Centre. Mr. Lazaridis has donated more than $170 million to PI, and more than $120 million to IQC. In addition to this, his generous support for a new technology-focused management institute at Wilfrid Laurier University resulted in the business school being renamed in his honour as the ‘Lazaridis School of Business and Economics’. Through these ventures, Mr. Lazaridis has established the “Quantum Valley” in Waterloo by bringing the world’s best minds in physics, engineering, mathematics, computer science, and materials science together to collaborate on cutting-edge quantum research. In 1984, Mr. Lazaridis founded Research In Motion (now BlackBerry) where he invented the BlackBerry, created the smartphone industry, and built Canada’s largest global tech business. Mr. Lazaridis served in various positions including Co-CEO and Co-Chairman (1984-2012) and Board Vice Chair and Chair of the Innovation Committee (2012-13). Among his many honours, Mr. Lazaridis is a Fellow of both the Royal Societies of London and Canada and has been named to both the Order of Ontario and the Order of Canada. He was listed on the Maclean’s Honour Roll as a distinguished Canadian in 2000, named as one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People, honoured as the Globe and Mail Nation Builder of the Year in 2010, selected as the 2013 Visionary of the Year by the Intelligent Community Forum, and awarded the Ernest C. Manning Principal Award – Canada’s most prestigious innovation prize. Mr. Lazaridis holds an honourary doctoral degree in Engineering from the University of Waterloo (where he formerly served as Chancellor), as well as a Doctor of Laws from McMaster University, the University of Windsor, Laval University and the University of Western Ontario. In addition to his many professional and personal accomplishments, Mr. Lazaridis won an Academy Award and an Emmy Award for technical achievements in the movie and TV industries for developing a high-speed barcode reader that greatly increased the speed of editing film. In 2017, Mr. Lazaridis was inducted into the Consumer Technology Hall of Fame, recognizing him as a visionary and pioneer of the consumer technology industry.
Cosimo Fiorenza
Secretary, Founding Member
Mr. Fiorenza is a founding director of Quantum Valley Ideas Lab and serves in many capacities throughout the Quantum Valley ecosystem. Prior to his current positions, Mr. Fiorenza spent approximately 20 years with different major Toronto law firms, including Bennett Jones LLP from 2006 to 2009 as a Senior Tax Partner, and Goodman & Carr LLP from 2001 to 2006 where he held various positions including Managing Partner, member of the firm’s Executive Committee, and Senior Tax Partner. Mr. Fiorenza specialized in corporate tax. During his tenure on Bay Street, he advised some of Canada’s largest corporations and biggest entrepreneurs on income tax and commercial matters with a focus on technology and international structure. Mr. Fiorenza is the Vice Chair and a founding director of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, the foundational theoretical physics centre established by Mike Lazaridis in 1999. In addition to his current role as Vice Chair, Mr. Fiorenza is also the Co-Chair of the Perimeter Institute’s Leadership Council and a member of the Finance Committee. Mr. Fiorenza is also a member of the Board of Directors for the Institute for Quantum Computing, the experimental physics research institute established by Mr. Lazaridis at the University of Waterloo in 2002. Mr. Fiorenza is also the Vice-President and General Counsel of Quantum Valley Investments and the Quantum Valley Investment Fund. Mr. Fiorenza holds a degree in business administration from Lakehead University and a law degree from the University of Ottawa. He was called to the Bar in Ontario in 1991.
Doug Fregin
Founding Member
Mr. Fregin co-founded Quantum Valley Ideas Lab in 2016 with his close friend Mike Lazaridis. Fregin and Lazaridis also founded Research In Motion Limited (RIM) in 1984 which created the BlackBerry wireless device that revolutionized the communications industry. Mr. Fregin served as the Vice President of Operations and as a Director of RIM until he retired in 2007. He was instrumental in evaluating various materials, fabrication technologies and design of the first circuit boards that were used in early versions of the company’s wireless technology that are now standard in the BlackBerry. Mr. Fregin studied electrical engineering at the University of Windsor. He was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal and is a Member of the Order of Canada. He also shares a Technical Emmy Award (1994) for Development of a Keycode Reader with Kodak and the National Film Board of Canada. Mr. Fregin devotes a significant amount of his time and resources assisting various African charitable projects, including the establishment and operation of a vocational school in rural Uganda. He has also made contributions to a number of other philanthropic endeavours, including donations to the Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology and the Quantum-Nano Centre at the University of Waterloo, as well as the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics.
Emily Pang
Chair of Finance Committee, Director
Emily Pang joined SickKids Foundation in January 2018. In her role as Chief Operating Officer, Emily is responsible for a broad portfolio, including Finance, Human Resources, Legal, Granting, and Board governance. Emily is a seasoned business executive with a diverse range of experience, including strategy, accounting and taxation, communications and investor relations, human resource matters, data integrity and reporting, as well as governance. She has held roles both in Canada and abroad, driving and implementing transformational change in large organizations. Prior to joining SickKids, Emily worked in the banking, consulting, and postal/logistics industries. Emily is a CPA CA who earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Queen’s University. She is also a graduate of the joint Kellogg-Schulich MBA program. She most recently earned her ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors. She currently sits on the boards of three not-for-profit organizations: Matthew House, Toronto Humane Society, and Yee Hong Centre for Geriatric Care.
Bill Innes
Director
Mr. Innes served as President of ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company, a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil Corp., and has more than four decades of executive and strategist experience spanning his distinguished career. He has been a director at the Continuous Learning Group Inc. since June 2010 and has provided C-suite advice to several global clients. Mr. Innes graduated from the University of Birmingham in England in 1963 with a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering and received an honorary Doctor of Engineering degree in 2001. Mr. Innes’ professional memberships include the Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists of Alberta, the Industrial Research Institute, past Chairman of the Canadian Petroleum Products Institute, Board of Trustees of Liberty Science Center.
John Risley
Director
John Risley is Chairman and CEO of CFFI Ventures Inc., a diversified holding company operating internationally. The company has majority or significant stakes in a portfolio of young companies ranging from financial services, renewable energy and the tech sector. Mr. Risley is very active in community affairs, sitting on the Board of a number of charitable organizations. He is Chair of Futurpreneur Canada, and Chair of the Ocean Supercluster. He regularly engages in public policy debate, is Chairman of the Atlantic Institute of Market Studies, a member of the World President’s Organization, The Chief Executives Organization and the Business Council of Canada. He is also a graduate of Harvard University’s President’s Program in Leadership. He was named an Officer of the Order of Canada. He is a member of the New York Yacht Club and the Royal Ocean Racing Club.
Robin Bienfait
Director
Ms. Bienfait was the chief enterprise innovation officer and senior advisor for Samsung, responsible for building strong partnerships with large global customers to deliver enterprise-class services. Robin joined Samsung with over 30 years of experience in mobility, security, business development, enterprise sales, wireless network operations, and engineering. As a global intrapreneur, Robin launched Samsung Business Services and advised on the B2B investment strategy. Now as CEO for Emnovate, Robin is advising and providing software solutions to emerging businesses. Prior to Samsung, Robin served as chief information officer for BlackBerry, where she led the enterprise business unit and software development team, end to end product security, tier 3 technical customer service, global network services, corporate security, and corporate IT. Robin held senior leadership positions across AT&T including Bell Labs, Global Network Services/GNOC, business continuity and disaster recovery, and compliance. As an officer at AT&T, Robin’s last role was leading of global network services and chief compliance officer, environment, health and safety. Robin holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Central Missouri State University and a master's degree in management of technology from Georgia Institute of Technology. A global influencer holding 15 patents, she is the recipient of several awards and was recently named as one of the top 100 CIOs in STEM.
Simon Kennedy
Director
Simon Kennedy is a former senior public servant with a 34-year career at the highest levels of the Canadian government. He now works in strategic advisory and board roles. From 2019 to 2024, Kennedy served as Deputy Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED). He played a central role in mobilizing Canadian industry during the COVID-19 pandemic, playing a lead role in efforts to secure vaccines and rebuild Canada’s bio-manufacturing capacity. He also advanced strategies to position Canada as a leader in emerging sectors—most notably electric-vehicle batteries—and frontier technologies that include artificial intelligence and quantum computing and materials. Previously, as Deputy Minister of Health (2015–2019), Kennedy led Health Canada’s response to the opioid crisis, negotiated federal-provincial health funding agreements, and advanced reforms in pharmaceutical pricing, nutrition labelling, vaping, and tobacco control. He oversaw the legalization and regulation of cannabis, including development of the Cannabis Act. Beginning his public service career in 1990, Kennedy held senior roles in seven organizations, including six deputy minister–level positions in the Privy Council Office, Industry Canada, Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Health Canada, and ISED. He saw the Trade portfolio through one of Canada’s most productive periods for trade negotiations, concluding negotiations for trade deals with the EU and South Korea. As the Prime Minister’s lead negotiator, he co-chaired talks with the White House on the 2011 Canada–U.S. Action Plan on Perimeter Security and Economic Competitiveness. From 2012 to 2014, he served as the Prime Minister’s G20 "Sherpa." Kennedy currently serves on the boards of Quantum Valley Ideas Lab, Finchley Pharmaceuticals, and the Ottawa Community Foundation. During his civil-service career, he served on multiple public-sector and non-profit boards, including the Mental Health Commission of Canada, Canadian Institute for Health Information, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and the International Economic Forum of the Americas. He is a former co-chair of the National Capital Region chapter of the Institute of Corporate Directors.
George Zambellas
Director
Admiral Sir George Zambellas, KCB, DSC, ADC, was educated in Zimbabwe, and at Stowe and Southampton University, graduating in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering. He joined the Royal Navy in 1980 from the aerospace industry and qualified as a pilot in 1982. He flew three tours in different helicopter types, serving in carriers and frigates. After staff training in 1990, and a brief spell as a corporate planner, he commanded the mine hunter HMS Cattistock. In 1993, he was posted to Northwood as a Fleet aviation operations officer before promotion in 1995 and command of the frigate HMS Argyll. During the 1997/98 Strategic Defence Review, he served in the MOD Centre Staff, helping to shape the maritime case within defence’s tri-Service balance of investment. In 1999, as a Captain, he commanded HMS Chatham, which included Operation Palliser in Sierra Leone. In 2001 George Zambellas attended the Higher Command and Staff Course, and then became Deputy Flag Officer Sea Training, responsible for training Royal Navy and foreign warships and auxiliaries. Between 2002 and 2004, as a Commodore, he was Principal Staff Officer to two Chiefs of the Defence Staff. In 2005 he commanded the Royal Navy’s Amphibious Task Group, overseeing the introduction of two new amphibious classes of ships, and the Bowman radio and data system into amphibious operational use. He and his staff supported Operation Highbrow, the evacuation of civilians from the Lebanon, in July 2006. In 2006, as a Rear Admiral, he was appointed as Chief of Staff (Transformation), leading the change programme to design and deliver the Fleet’s new approach to the generation of maritime capability and support to operations. In 2007, he was Commander United Kingdom Maritime Force and, in October 2008, Chief of Staff (Operations) at the UK’s Permanent Joint Headquarters at Northwood. On promotion to Vice Admiral In January 2011, he was appointed Deputy Commander-in-Chief Fleet, Chief of Staff to the Navy Command Headquarters, and the Chief Naval Warfare Officer. On promotion to Admiral in January 2012, George Zambellas became Commander, Allied Maritime Command Northwood, in which role he also discharged Full Command responsibilities as the Royal Navy’s Fleet Commander until November 2012. He was appointed KCB in 2012.
Howard Quon
Director
Howard Quon, CPA, CA, is a partner in the Tax Services practice and specializes in international taxation. He has advised both private and public multinational organizations and has extensive experience managing tax matters in more than 20 countries in Asia, Europe and North and South America. From 1992 to 1995 Howard was with a Big Four accounting firm in Toronto. He joined PwC in 1995 and worked in the firm’s International Tax group. From 2000 to 2005 Howard was at a leading Canadian-based multinational company and was involved with all aspects of the organization’s Canadian and international tax matters. This included global tax compliance, public and private company acquisition, single and multi-country asset deals and other day-to-day tax matters. Howard was also a key member of a business coalition in its lobbying efforts with the United States Senate leading up to the passage of the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004. Howard received his Chartered Accountant designation in 1995 and was a tutor at the CICA In-Depth Tax course. He holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Law degree from the University of Toronto and was called to the Bar of Ontario in 2000.
Michael Litt
Director
Michael is the co-founder and CEO of Vidyard. When he’s not bringing leading video based technologies to market, he serves as general partner of Garage Capital, a seed stage fund focused on Super-Cluster companies looking to expand their networks into Silicon Valley. He has also sat on the Communitech Board of Directors; a KW based organization designed to help companies start, grow and succeed.
