Jim Roche thrives on leading and contributing to breakthrough organization successes. With a background as an entrepreneur and leader of multiple high-growth enterprises, Jim currently runs Stratford Group, a dynamic international management consulting business and ThinkRF, a fast-growing 5G wireless technology company.
After graduating from Queen’s University with a degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Jim was a founding member of Newbridge Networks, a communications equipment provider, where he held increasingly senior positions as the company went public and grew to over $1B in annual revenues before being sold to Alcatel for over $7B. He then co-founded Tundra Semiconductor, a communications chip company, taking it public, growing it to over $1.5B in value, and leading the company as President & CEO through multiple acquisitions and double-digit annual revenue and profit growth.
Jim has served on multiple public, private and not-for-profit boards. He is currently Chair of Ballard Power Systems, a public clean technology company, and Chair of Elentra Corp., a private health education platform provider. He sits on the boards of Information Services Corporation, a public data registry company, and PureFacts, a private financial technology provider.
Active in the community as a volunteer and advisor, Jim has worked with CHEO, Ottawa’s pediatric hospital, Invest Ottawa, the city’s technology-focused economic development agency, and many other organizations. He is a member of TEC Canada, Institute of Corporate Directors and CMC-Canada.