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Territorial Acknowledgement

We would like to acknowledge that our building is located in the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc territory that is situated in the southern interior of British Columbia within the unceded traditional lands of the Secwepemc Nation.

We are thankful to be able to work, play, build, and live on these lands.

Staff

Michael Andrews
Executive Director

Michael is an experienced executive director and a recognized leader in education, employment and community development in the private, non-profit and public sectors. Michael has a proven track record of working with multiple stakeholders in developing
and implementing complex community-business-government partnerships. He has also
demonstrated his commitment and leadership to the nonprofit sector by serving as a volunteer director on several boards and committees.

Shubham Akhoury
Community Builder

Shubham is passionate about pursuing entrepreneurship. He is currently studying Marketing and has a background in Hospitality and Hotel Administration. He has worked with startups and has helped build coworking communities in India. Shubham has also worked with Bennett Coleman and Co. Ltd. (Times Group), which is India’s largest media conglomerate.

EIRs

John Zubak
Managing Partner, Zubak and Associates

John is a professional with strong achievements in both traditional business operations and digital-projects. His authority on the subject comes from over 20 years of experience as an entrepreneur with ventures including founding a successful chain of stores and taking the lead on one of the first store automation projects in the country. John’s areas of expertise include Sales and Business Operations, Communication Strategy, Business Technology Implementation Team Building.

Chris Foster
Co-owner and CTO at Two Story Robot

Chris is the co-owner and chief technology officer at Two Story Robot, a product company specializing in web application development and machine learning. He’s been building tech products for more than 10 years in industries ranging from education to cattle ranching.

He holds a BCS with specialization in Software Engineering from Thompson Rivers University and a MSc in Computer Science from the University of Victoria, where his research applied machine learning models to better understand how language is represented in the human brain.

Board of Directors

Pat Davis
Board Chair

Pat is the VP of Business Technology and Chief Information Officer at BCLC. From the purchase and validation of lottery tickets at our over 3700 retailers, to sports betting or online casino on Playnow.com, to managing a complex network of 14,000 slot machines at 36 casino properties across the province, Pat is responsible for the technology that serves as the backbone for the business.

John O' Fee
Board Vice Chair

John’s an Associate Teaching Professor of Business Law at Thompson Rivers University (TRU). A member in good standing with the Law Society of BC since 1988, he left private legal practice in 2011 to become CEO of the Tk’emlúps te Secwepemc (Kamloops Indian Band). In this multi-faceted role John led a team of over 200 employees responsible for a wide variety of enterprises ranging from a working cattle ranch and retail gas station to providing social programs and operating an elementary school.

Fiona Chan
Board Treasurer

Fiona retired from her role as Assistant VP, Credit Risk Management of Business Development Bank of Canada for Western Canada in 2018. Currently she is a member of the Board of Directors of BC Lottery, Board member and Finance Chair for TRU Community Trust, Board Member and Treasurer of Kamloops Centre for the Arts Society. Fiona was a former Director and Treasurer with the Kamloops Symphony Society and has great interest in fostering music education for the young.

Kuldeep Bath
Board Secretary

Kuldeep has over 30 years of enterprise IT experience in both the public and private sector. Early in his career at BCLC, he had multiple technical and management roles ranging from software development to infrastructure management to project/program management. In 2012, he co-founded a local software development company, beginning at KIC before moving to their own offices.  Kuldeep is currently the IT Manager at the City of Kamloops.

Ravi Sharma
Board Director

With an honours degree in Business and Finance from the London South Bank University, Ravi began his career in software development in the UK working his way up to executive positions in IT with multi billion organisations in the UK and Canada. Having established a reputation for reengineering businesses through technology, Ravi then moved to assisting organizations via consulting engagements. In 2005 Ravi co-founded R2 Gaming and has
subsequently seeded and grown two further start up’s as well as the acquisition in 2016 of Lang’s Ventures in Kamloops. Today the R2 Organisation consists of four companies serving customers in all 9 Canadian Provinces.

Trained in Steven Covey and Dale Carnegie principles, Ravi’s goal is to help people, organizations and communities grow through nurturing and empowerment.

Matt Milovick
Board Director

Matt Milovick has served as the Vice-President, Administration & Finance at Thompson Rivers University since 2013. Along with his extensive postsecondary administration experience, he has two undergraduate degrees, BSc (University of Guelph) and BAS (York University), a MEd (Memorial University of Newfoundland) in post-secondary administration and a CPA (CMA) designation.Matt has held senior and executive positions with various post-secondary institutions including Vice-President, Finance and Administration at the Ontario College of Art and Design University, Chief Financial Officer (Interim) and Vice-President, Operations and Strategic Development at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT). He has also held diverse senior roles at Saint John’s College (University of New Brunswick Saint John) and York University.

While at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, in 2011, Matt received the annual CMA Creative Leadership Award for his role in the transformation of Oshawa’s downtown core through the development of a full-service campus for the University. He was also one of 40 selected executives in Canada to participate in KPMG’s inaugural Community Shift leadership development program in 2012. Matt has been active in the communities he has lived volunteering in various capacities from youth sports to social service agencies. He is currently the Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors for BCNet and is a Director of the TRU Community Corporation.

Patrick Harlow
Board Director

Patrick’s background includes over 25 years of IT experience as a part of innovative organizations including Bell Canada, McAfee (Intel), Palo Alto Networks, and Amazon Web Services (AWS).

He currently is a Technology Advisor at Flexera Inc., and brings with him an authentic passion in helping organizations and people achieve their goals.

Mike Henry
Board Director

As Dean of Thompson Rivers University, Bob Gaglardi School of Business and Economics, Mike helps people see possibilities, make connections, and build value for business and society. Drawing on his experience of 15 years as a senior academic leader, his political action work as an organizer and elected member of the legislature, his work in the private sector, his time leading non-profit health care, and his extensive community organization experience, Mike leads change and innovation.

We drive innovation

Since 2012 Kamloops innovation has been bringing innovation and technology support to North Thompson and South Cariboo businesses, entrepreneurs, and organizations. We drive innovation and support the development and application of technology in our region.

More and more the economies in our communities rely on the successful adoption of technology. It is required for innovation, competitiveness, reaching new markets and growing regional and rural economies in BC.

Helping organizations in our region to innovate using technology

Kamloops Innovation was created to be the regional hub for technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship. Our collaboration with local partners to promote and support innovation is making our businesses resilient to economic changes and unlocking new opportunities.

Contact us with your challenges and we will find the help you are looking for.

Partnered with TRU Generator

For entrepreneurial students, we helped start TRU Generator.

TRU Generator is the on-campus accelerator supporting TRU students, faculty, staff, and alumni with mentorship, workshops, and events.

Here you can develop your entrepreneurial skills, collaborate on ideas, and meet like-minded people.

Visit TRU Generator Website

Contact us with your challenges and we will find
the help you are looking for

This is the best way to get in touch 👇

Send us a message

Kamloops Innovation is a non-profit society supported by Innovate BC and partner organizations in the community.