JIM BALSILLIE

MEMBER, CANADA’S OUTSTANDING CEO OF THE YEAR ® ADVISORY BOARD CEO of the Year® for 2006

Bennett Jones, Caldwell, BNN Bloomberg and National Post are pleased to announce the appointment of Jim Balsillie to Canada’s Outstanding CEO of the Year® Advisory Board for 2020.

JimBalsillie is the former Chairman and co-CEO of Research InMotion (BlackBerry), a technology company he scaled froman idea to $20 billion in sales globally. Jim’s private investment office includes global and domestic technology investments and was part of the consortiumthat recently purchased the Canadian space technology leader MDA.

He is the co-founder of the Institute for New Economic Thinking in New York, the Council of Canadian Innovators based in Toronto, the Centre for International Governance Innovation in Waterloo and, the CIO Strategy Council based in Ottawa. He currently chairs the boards of CCI, CIGI, and co-Chairs CIOSC. He is also the founder of the Centre for Digital Rights, Balsillie School of International Affairs and the Arctic Research Foundation; a member of the Board of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Advisory Board of the Stockholm Resilience Centre; an Honorary Captain of the Royal Canadian Navy and an Advisor to Canada School of Public Policy.

Jim was the only Canadian ever appointed to US Business Council and was the private sector representative on the UN Secretary General’s High Panel for Sustainability. His awards include: several honorary degrees, MobileWorld Congress Lifetime Achievement Award, India’s Priyadarshni Academy Global Award, Canadian Business Hall of Fame, Time Magazine’s World’s 100 Most Influential People and three times Barron’s list of “World’s Top CEOs.”

Canada’s Outstanding CEO of the Year® Award was founded in 1990. Presented by Bennett Jones, along with national sponsors, Caldwell, BNN Bloomberg and National Post, the Award celebrates a Canadian business chief executive who exemplifies leadership, excellence and integrity and who has built a globally competitive organization. Our independent Advisory Board selects an honoree based on five key criteria: Vision and Leadership, Corporate Performance, Global Competitiveness, Innovation, and Social Responsibility.

This year’s recipient will be announced in Financial Post on October 8, 2020.