Nancy Knowlton
In 1987, Nancy and her husband David Martin co-founded SMART Technologies Inc., which became one of the world’s largest education technology companies. From lean times to global market leadership, they created products like the SMART Board interactive whiteboard that changed the way people worked and learned in literally millions of meeting rooms and classrooms all around the world. Over a 25 year period, they grew from a two-person start-up to a global company with annual revenues just under $800 million. Whether it was managing growth and rapidly expanding staff, understanding trends and technology directions, creating innovative products, fending off competitors or delivering on customer commitments, Nancy gained insights and formed views. Nancy is currently CEO of Nureva Inc., a new company she recently co-founded with her husband David Martin.
Nigel Stokes
Nigel was CEO and co-founder of DataMirror, a pure play real-time data integration company. DataMirror was publicly listed for 12 years and was acquired by IBM in 2007 for $170 million. Nigel also co-founded and was President of Nidak, which was ranked as the eleventh fastest growing company in Canada and was purchased by SHL Systemhouse. As founder of MindAngler Capital, Nigel has co-funded a range of software and technology companies. He has served on many public and private boards and was recognized as Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young. He holds an MBA from the University of Toronto, an MASc (System Design Engineering) from University of Waterloo, and a BSc from Queen’s University.
John Myers
John serves in an operational role as President of Edsby. He was formerly Vice-president and General Manager of Nortel’s global messaging business, one of Nortel’s most profitable and high-growth business units. John left Nortel in early 2001 to join his former colleagues at Centrinity (TSX:CTI) and was the CEO and a member of the Board of Directors when the company was acquired by Open Text in 2002. After the acquisition John continued to lead the team as General Manager until his departure in early 2010. As co-founder and president of Edsby, John continues to manage a growing and profitable environment in which a team of enthusiastic and very talented people can build innovative products that both delight and bring true value to a wide range of customers.
Steven Asbury
Steven serves in an operational role as VP Engineering at Edsby. At Nortel Networks in the 1980s, Steve was one of the visionaries behind the Meridian Integrated Services Architecture, which was released as Meridian Mail in 1986. Steve left Nortel in 1989 to co-found SoftArc Inc. Steve was the chief technical architect of SoftArc’s FirstClass product, and oversaw the entire FirstClass development team for over twenty years. Steven also served on the Board of Directors of Centrinity (TSX:CTI) during the time it was publicly traded. Steve ensures that Edsby is well-engineered, well-built and well-tested. He graduated from the University of Toronto with a B.A.Sc (Engineering Science) in 1981.
Chris Besse
Chris Besse is an experienced executive with a strong track record in the education industry, having held leadership positions in several prominent educational technology and publishing companies, including CEO of Fresh Grade, EdgeMakers, Nelson Education’s School Division and Gage Learning Corporation. Chris led a Series A investment into Edsby in September, 2020 and joined the company at that time as Chief Commercial Officer. He’s a graduate of the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School and has a degree in Political Science from Western University in London, Ontario.