Shahrzad Rafati, Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Chair

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Ms. Rafati is the founder of BBTV and has held the position of Chief Executive Officer since the Company’s founding in 2005. She has built BBTV as a quadruple bottom line business which measures success across financial, people, environmental and social KPIs. She also serves on the board of directors of numerous for-profit and non-for-profit entities, including: Invest In Canada, Hootsuite Media Inc., and Bjarke Ingels Group, and has previously served on the board of directors of the Forum of Women Entrepreneurs and the Vancouver Economic Commission. In 2018, Shahrzad was selected by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to represent Canada as part of the G20 Business Women Leaders Task Force, and in 2020 she was selected to Co-Chair G20 EMPOWER as Canada's representative. Ms. Rafati has received numerous recent awards and accolades, including being named the 2018 Ernst and Young Pacific Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the technology category, awarded Person of the Year by the British Columbia Technology Association, named one of Canada’s Top 40 under 40, selected as one of The Hollywood Reporter’s Most Powerful Women in Global Television, the AdAge Creativity Award 2019 Visionary/Founder of the Year, and was named to TheWrap’s Innovators List. Earlier awards and accolades include being named one of Canada’s Most Powerful Women, winner of the CEO World Awards Founder/Entrepreneur of the Year and named one of Fast Company's 100 Most Creative People in Business. Ms. Rafati holds a BSc. in Computer Science from the University of British Columbia, is a Graduate of the Young Global Leader, Oxford Module: Transformational Leadership at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, and received her honorary doctorate from University Canada West in 2020.

Hamed Shahbazi, Lead Independent Director

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Mr. Shahbazi is a technology focused operator and investor with more than 20 years of experience. He is currently the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of WELL Health Technologies Corp., a company listed on the TSX. He founded TIO Networks Corp., a TSX Venture Exchange listed company, which was acquired by PayPal Holdings, Inc. in 2017. Mr. Shahbazi served as the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of TIO Networks Corp. from its inception in August 1997 until its acquisition in 2017. Mr. Shahbazi owns and operates Impactreneur Capital Corp. which has more than a dozen investments in leading digital content, ehealth, insuretech and other technology inspired companies.

Marcel Reichart, Director

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Dr. Marcel Reichart is an international advisor and executive in culture, creative and tech industries. Other than BBTV, he currently serves on the board of directors of Fotografiska NeueHouse Inc. He was previously Executive Vice President of RTL Group and served as Director on the BBTV Board from 2015 to 2019. Dr. Reichart was also previously the Executive Vice President Digital Development and a Member of the Corporate Centre Board for Bertelsmann and served on the Investment Committees of Bertelsmann Investments in the US, Europe and China. He is co-founder of the DLD Conference and was a Managing Director of Hubert Burda Media. Dr. Reichart is a graduate from the Otto-Beisheim-School of Management (WHU) and holds a Doctorate in Economic Sciences from the University of Stuttgart.

Catherine Warren, Director

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Catherine Warren is a digital innovation and economic development executive with experience advancing companies, governments, and investors through community-building and global growth strategies. Catherine's leadership has resulted in $3B in high-impact investment to Canada since 2018. Catherine serves as the inaugural CEO for the municipal innovation authority Edmonton Unlimited. Previously, she served as the CEO of Vancouver Economic Commission, as well as as the CEO of Canada's innovation district, The Centre for Digital Media.

Michele Romanow, Director

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Ms. Romanow is the Co-Founder and President of Clearbanc. Clearbanc has invested more than $1.6B into over 4,000 ecommerce companies making them the largest e-commerce investor. Previously, Ms. Romanow was the Co-Founder of Snap by Groupon (previously SnapSaves), which was acquired by Groupon, Inc. in June 2014. She served as a senior marketing executive for Groupon, Inc. from June 2014 until March 2016. In February 2011, Ms. Romanow also founded Buytopia.ca, a Canadian e-commerce leaders. Ms. Romanow is also one of the venture capitalists on the CBC series Dragons’ Den. Ms. Romanow is a current director of Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE: MTN). She was a previous director of Whistler Blackcomb Holdings Inc (TSX: WB), Freshii (TSX: FRII). At Freshii she was a member of the audit committee. Ms. Romanow holds a Bachelor of Science in Engineering and an M.B.A. from Queen’s University.

John Kim, Director

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Mr. Kim is an independent business consultant, investor, and director of both public and private companies and has extensive experience in capital markets. He is passionate about helping entrepreneurs grow their businesses, especially in the areas of technology and healthcare, and currently advises several startups in Canada. Previously, John was an award-winning Portfolio Manager whose career spanned over 20 years, managing mutual funds, hedge funds, and private client assets across Bay St. John is a CFA charter holder and graduated from the University of Toronto with a B.Sc. in Applied Mathematics.