It’s a little less lonely at the top in Canada’s largest tech park, thanks to the Hub350 leadership councils created by Stratford Group and the Kanata North Business Association (KNBA).
With decades of experience supporting Ottawa CEOs and other leaders, the Stratford Group knew local executives shared common problems but didn’t have a venue where they could feel comfortable discussing them.
Stratford’s work facilitating Leadership Councils in partnership with Hub350 and KNBA was recently profiled in the Ottawa Business Journal. The article goes into detail about the community that has emerged from these regular get-togethers as well as the ability to share experience and challenges to support continued growth in Kanata North and the business community at large.
Several Stratford leaders (Jim Roche, Colleen Kelley, AJ Harris, Kim Butler and Paul Senyshyn) along with Jamie Petten, President and Executive Director of the KNBA, were featured in the article discussing what started as an idea to connect local tech CEOs that quickly blossomed into something bigger than anyone expected.
Ottawa’s tech leaders are taking full advantage of this vibrant community
“Our Hub350 leadership councils powered by Stratford Group have rapidly expanded over the course of the last 12 months. We now have CEO, CFO, R&D, CIO, Marketing and HR leaders meeting concurrently three to five times over the year for real, raw, peer to peer dialogue about their shared challenges and opportunities for continued growth in Kanata North,” said Petten.
“It’s been incredible to witness the network effects develop as we connect and hear from such a diversity of executives from across the park,” she added.
While the KNBA and Hub350 provide the connections and the space for the councils, Stratford Group experts facilitate the councils’ activities.
“This is a great opportunity to hear from like-minded peers on topics that are relevant and important. With the diversity of the organizations in the Hub350 ecosystem, we can hear from leaders of startups, to well-established public companies,” said Colleen Kelley, president of Stratford Management Consulting. “This diversity elevates the dialogue and creates a sense of community.”
What’s clear is that creating an ecosystem where business leaders can come together and support each other is creating a ripple-effect.
“A vibrant culture of collaboration has ignited across the park as these influential leaders continue to come together with purpose, passion and enthusiasm to lift all boats in Canada’s largest technology park,” said KNBA president Petten.
“There’s nothing more important to us at Stratford than giving back to our community,” added Kelley. “We are thrilled to partner with Hub350 on this important initiative.”
If you’d like to benefit from a Hub350 leadership council, don’t hesitate to reach out.
Read the full profile on the OBJ website.