Meet the Leadership team behind Innovation ExchangeInnovation Exchange's management team leads a diverse and talented assemblage of employees who share a passion for driving innovation for enterprises and not-for-profit organizations the world over.
Stephen Benson; CEOStephen is Innovation Exchange's co-founder. Previous to founding IX, Stephen successfully founded and managed rethink, an innovation consultancy which provided strategic counsel on innovation to a number of leading brands, including Bell Sympatico, Bell Expressvu, Rogers Communications, RBC Financial, RBC Insurance, Scotia Bank International, Laurentian Bank, Manulife Financial, The Co-Operators Group, The Toronto Blue Jays, ChaptersIndigo, Aeroplan, Imperial Tobacco, Purolator, and McDonalds.Prior to rethink, Stephen was the Director of Database Management at Sprint Telecommunications and the Director of North American Sales and Marketing at a global division of TORSTAR, Harlequin Enterprises - the world's largest publisher of contemporary women's fiction. Stephen holds a BBM from Leeds Metropolitan University in the UK.
Mark Hadfield; CTOMark has been developing innovative online solutions for global brands for over 10 years. His experience spans many verticals and clients including: The Home Depot, Rogers, Microsoft, Kraft, Diageo, Coca Cola, Ford, GM, Circuit City, and the Royal Bank. He joined IX from Wunderman, the world's largest relationship marketing company, where he held the title of Senior Vice President – Digital since 2005. Prior to joining Wunderman, Mark held progressive executive roles at Nurun and Modem Publicis.Mark began his interactive career pioneering solutions as President of Bold Internet. Some of Mark's achievements at Bold included: member of the launch team for the world's first international online bank (mbanx); development of the first web-based interface to one of North America's largest data repositories (Royal Bank); and development of one of Canada's first full-catalogue e-commerce sites (CCI). Mark also spent time at EveryWare Development, a database integration company, (now Pervasive) as Global Channels Manager where he developed a global distribution network for their products and services. Mark holds a Bachelor of Economics from Queen's University.
Brynly Hawkins; COOAs Innovation Exchange's co-founder, Brynly delivers value to Innovation Exchange's clients by managing the processes of brief creation and submission evaluation.Previous to IX, Brynly was a Senior Partner with rethink where he worked closely with dozens of leading consumer brands seeking both breakthrough and incremental innovation. While at rethink, Brynly worked closely with CEOs and senior executives from a variety of industries delivering his unique and straightforward brand of strategic insight. He has the ability to combine strategic planning, which is process driven, and strategic thinking, which is creatively driven, to deliver business value. Before joining rethink, Brynly held senior level positions at Sprint Telecommunications and Harlequin Enterprises in marketing, finance and operations. Brynly holds a BBA from Wilfrid Laurier University. ADVISORY BOARD
John Seely BrownJohn is the Independent Co-Chairman of the Deloitte Center for Edge Innovation. In addition, he is a visiting scholar and advisor to the Provost at the University of Southern California. Prior to that he was the Chief Scientist of Xerox Corporation and the director of its Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) - a position he held for nearly two decades. While head of PARC, Brown expanded the role of corporate research to include such topics as organizational learning, knowledge management, complex adaptive systems, and nano/mems technologies. He was a cofounder of the Institute for Research on Learning (IRL). His personal research interests include the management of radical innovation, digital youth culture, digital media, and new forms of communication and learning.John - or as he is often called, JSB - is a member of the National Academy of Education and a Fellow of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence and of AAAS and a Trustee of the MacArthur Foundation. He serves on numerous public boards (Amazon, Corning, and Varian Medical Systems) and private boards of directors. He has published over 100 papers in scientific journals and was awarded the Harvard Business Review's 1991 McKinsey Award for his article, "Research that Reinvents the Corporation" and again in 2002 for his article 'Your Next IT Strategy' In 2004 he was inducted in the Industry Hall of Fame. With Paul Duguid he co-authored the acclaimed book The Social Life of Information (HBS Press, 2000) that has been translated into nine languages with a second addition in April 2002, and with John Hagel he co-authored the book The Only Sustainable Edge which is about new forms of collaborative innovation. It also provides a novel framework for understanding what is really happening in off-shoring in India and China and how each are inventing powerful news ways to innovate, learn and accelerate capability building. JSB received a BA from Brown University in 1962 in mathematics and physics and a PhD from University of Michigan in 1970 in computer and communication sciences. In May of 2000 Brown University awarded him an honorary Doctor of Science Degree. It was followed by an Honorary Doctor of Science in Economics conferred by the London Business School in July 2001. And in May of 2004 he received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Claremont Graduate School. This year JSB received an honorary doctorate from University of Michigan and delivered their commencement speech. He is an avid reader, traveler and motorcyclist. Part scientist, part artist and part strategist, JSB's views are unique and distinguished by a broad view of the human contexts in which technologies operate and a healthy skepticism about whether or not change always represents genuine progress. Read more about JSB at http://edgeperspectives.com/ and http://johnseelybrown.com/.
David GallowayDavid is Chairman of the Board of Bank of Montreal (BMO). Mr. Galloway has been a member of BMO's board since 1998 and serves on the Risk Review Committee and the Human Resources and Management Compensation Committee. He is also director of Harris Financial Corp. and serves on its Risk Oversight Committee. He is the former President and Chief Executive Officer of Torstar Corporation, a position he held from 1988 to 2002. He joined Torstar in 1981 and became President and Chief Executive Officer for Harlequin worldwide in 1982. Prior to joining Torstar, he was a founding partner of the Canada Consulting Group, a leading strategic management consulting firm that was acquired by the Boston Consulting Group. He is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Hospital for Sick Children and serves on the following company boards: Hudson's Bay Company, Toromont Industries Ltd. And E.W. Scripts Company. Mr. Galloway has a BA (Hons.) in political science and economics from the University of Toronto and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Robin KorthalsRobin is currently Chairman of the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board and Co-Steel Inc. He is a Director of Cognos Inc., Rogers Communications Inc., Suncor Energy Inc., RTO Enterprises Inc. and Jannock Properties Ltd. He also chairs the Board of the University of Toronto Asset Management Corporation (UTAM) and is a Commissioner with the Ontario Securities Commission. Robin is also a senior adviser to the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Toronto.He served as President of the Toronto Dominion Bank from 1981-95. Robin graduated in 1955 with a B.A.Sc. in chemical engineering from the University of Toronto and an MBA from the Harvard Business School in 1961.
Gillian HadfieldGillian is Professor of Law and Economics at The University of Southern California and the Co-Director of the Southern California Innovation Project. She specializes in the design of legal and dispute resolution systems in advanced and developing market economies. Most recently she has extended her research in this area to include the impact these systems have on fostering innovation.Gillian holds a BAH from Queen's University; a JD from Stanford Law School; and an MA and PhD in economics from Stanford University. Prior to joining the faculty at USC, she was on the law faculty at the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Toronto, and a member of the faculty of the Global Law School at New York University.
Dan RyanDan Ryan is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Department Head of Sociology and Anthropology at Mills College in Oakland, CA. Dan specializes in the social psychology of organizations, social networks and intelligent agent modeling.Dan holds a PhD in Sociology from Yale University, a Masters in Philosophy from Yale University, and a BA in Mathematics from New College of Florida.
Rolf SkybergRolf Skyberg is currently a Platform Evangelist at eBay Inc. While helping to identify and develop innovative methods for improving on and off-platform business and buyer experiences, his job titles have ranged from "Researcher" to "Disruptive Innovator". In this time, he has been a member of eBay Research Labs, filed several ecommerce patents, and driven a number of innovation project teams.Rolf has been a featured speaker at the Web 2.0 EXPO, OSCON, Emerce e.day, and IBM Research Labs. Rolf speaks on a number of topics centered around fueling and focusing corporate innovation, applying human needs to the development of online products and services, and creating a healthy relationship between the corporation and the consumer. His presentations are always rooted around some memorable story you probably don't know yet, whether it's the flourishing of bird species in a desert environment, the building of the first roller-coaster, or the petri dish we know as Web 2.0.
Rolf has a BS in Information Systems and Quantitative Analysis with additional studies in System Science. He has worked in technology since before the first dot.com bust and hopes to continue thinking up great ideas through the second boom. |
Given how many recent collaborative efforts have been successful, I put open innovation on the top of my list of core competencies for the foreseeable future, recessionary times or not. - Jeneanne Rae, Business Week March 19, 2008  |
