Leadership

The leadership of the Kanata North Business Association consists of a Board that boasts a wide range of business leaders from the area. With representation from the various sectors that make up our membership as well a range of large and small businesses, our Board is well-positioned to help lead Kanata North as a business innovation destination

Jamie Petten
President and Executive Director

Jamie is a well-known and established member of the KNBA business community with a reputation as a community builder and thought leader. She has a clear vision and strategy for Kanata North to build our vibrant local community and Canada’s largest technology park.

With a wealth of experience in brand building, strategy development, marketing and sales combined with a strong network of local, national and international business relationships, Jamie is uniquely positioned to fill the role.  As a founding member of Canadian SaaS Accelerator, L-SPARK, Jamie was head of marketing since its launch in 2014, and is passionate about developing Canada’s technology companies into globally competitive firms. Jamie has since supported 36 portfolio companies in raising over $24 Million in angel and venture capital funding to date, all while building a national community of 10,000+ entrepreneurs, investors and partners. She is also a co-founder of SAAS NORTH, known as Canada’s first conference connecting 1000+ software as a service founders, investors and executives, hosted over two days in Ottawa.

Jamie has served as a member of the board of Women in Communications and Technology and is a strong advocate for women in technology. She enjoys mentoring young women through the Technovation program. Every year, Technovation invites teams of girls from all over the world to learn and apply the skills needed to solve real-world problems through technology and is fostering a generation of future leaders in tech. Jamie serves as a Board of Trustee Member with the Jim Watson Women in Technology Scholarship Fund, an initiative undertaken to recruit new talent into the growing sector of cybersecurity. She is responsible for contributing annually to the awarding of six scholarships to qualified recipients over a three-year period.

Jamie believes in the existing track record and future potential of the businesses in Kanata North to be globally dominant players in their respective markets and looks forward to cultivating further opportunities to gain national and international recognition for the region and businesses within it.

Board of Directors 2023

Board Chair: Guy Levesque – Associate Vice-President, Innovation, Partnerships and Entrepreneurship, University of Ottawa
Vice Chair: Ben Morris – Vice President of Corporate Development and Technology Partnerships, Wesley Clover
Treasurer: Richard Jervis – Relationship Manager, Royal Bank of Canada
Dana Brown – Dean, Sprott School of Business, Carleton University
Marcos Cavaletti – Senior Advisor & Head of Ottawa Site, Ericsson Canada Inc
Cathy Curry – City of Ottawa Councillor, Ward 4-Kanata North
Patrick Ferris – General Counsel, Corporate Secretary, KRP Properties
Sam Khatib – Owner, Papa Sam’s Restaurant
Tracy King – Vice President Marketing, Martello
John Luszczek – Director, Ericsson (Ex-officio)
Amy MacLeod – Vice President Corporate Communications, MDA (Ex-officio)
John Wall – Senior Vice President, Head of QNX, Blackberry