Executive Management

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.

Mr. Groot joined BBTV in 2014, and before BBTV, Ben ran his own consulting practice for three years which focused on high-growth companies that required assistance with financial reporting, technical accounting, forecasting, valuation, and prospectus documentation for initial public offerings and debt financings. Before opening his consulting practice, Mr. Groot worked as an audit manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Mr. Groot is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CA) with a Masters in Professional Accounting (MPAcc).

Mr. Ball joined BBTV in 2007 as its second employee. He became BBTV’s Vice President Operations in 2013 and subsequently was appointed Vice President Strategy in 2018, in which role he is responsible for building and leading all new initiatives of BBTV, including BBTV Interactive and BBTV’s Content Management offering. Mr. Ball holds a BSc in Management from the University of Warwick, U.K.

Mr. Johnson is responsible for the oversight of BBTV’s Direct Advertising Sales business unit. Prior to BBTV, Mr. Johnson ran his own consulting practice for five years which provided C-suite executives with pragmatic and programmatic assessments for challenging strategic, operational and IT issues. Mr. Johnson has held senior operating roles at Electronic Arts and has taken courses throughout his career to enhance his professional acumen, including a ‘Management for High Tech Companies’ course through Stanford University, and a ‘Mergers and Acquisitions’ course through the Wharton School of Business, from the University of Pennsylvania.

Nancy Glaister has extensive experience acting as General Counsel for a number of public companies whose securities have traded on TSX, NASDAQ, and NYSE. Nancy has over 20 years’ experience in business law, and has worked both as in-house counsel for both public and private companies, and as a partner and associate at a Vancouver boutique business law firm and at a major international law firm in Calgary.

Nancy has expertise in securities law, M&A transactions, debt and equity financings, reorganizations and restructurings, intellectual property, commercial contracts, corporate governance, employment matters, and litigation management. She has worked primarily in or for companies and clients in digital media, film production, film tax shelter financing, biotech, mining, oil and gas, banking and investment banking.

Nancy is a member of the bar of both the Province of British Columbia and the Province of Alberta.

Martin brings over 30 years of global executive experience having worked across Europe, Asia and North America. He founded and built MDC Partners media operations and served as CEO of both MDC Media Partners and Assembly, the 2018 recipient of Ad Age Media Agency of the Year, working with clients as diverse as Truth Initiative, Timberland, Vans, E Trade and Fox. He came to the US from the UK in 2004 having secured P&G as a client for Carat North America which he went on to lead as President in the US from 2008-2012 and subsequently as Global Client President securing GM as a client for the company globally.