Doug Somers Co-President/ CEO Cassidy Bay Group Inc. Ottawa, Ontario

Doug Somers is a seasoned executive with global experience in large multinational and small startup technology companies. At Cassidy Bay Group Inc., he specializes in team building and executive coaching, strategic planning, corporate performance management, and overcoming business startup and growth challenges. Prior to the Cassidy Bay Group, Mr. Somers co-founded Bridgewater Systems, a successful supplier of telecom software systems to the largest communications service providers; and now a publicly traded company. As CEO he helped build the company and its customer base, raising significant venture capital in the process. Prior to Bridgewater, Mr. Somers was VP and General Manager of the Network and Service Management business unit at Newbridge Networks Corporation. Doug is a seminar leader of OCRI’s Entrepreneur’s Edge, an intensive training program for entrepreneurs. He is also Chairman of the board of the High Performance Computing Virtual Laboratory (HPCVL), a multi-university research facility, and is an industrial advisor to the School of Computing Science, Queen’s University. He has served on the boards of Bridgewater Systems, CrossKeys Systems, and the Network Management Forum. Doug has a BSc. in Electrical Engineering, has been trained in sales and channel management, MBTI assessment, and is a practitioner of NLP.

Caroline Somers Co-President/ CEO, CCPC Cassidy Bay Group Inc. Ottawa, Ontario

Caroline Somers has over 20 years of experience in the high tech industry. Caroline is active as an angel investor, a member of the National Angel Organization and a Managing Partner of the Band of Scoundrels, a partnership of angel investors. As a consultant, Caroline has helped companies with their product and marketing plans while as coach she helps executives solve these same challenges themselves. She is a leader for OCRI’s Entrepreneurs Edge course focused on helping entrepreneurs learn how to build successful companies. Ms Somers was co-founder and VP Marketing and Product Management at Vienna Systems, a pioneer of Voice over IP products which was acquired by Nokia in 1998. She has also held management positions at Newbridge Networks and Bell-Northern Research in Product Management and Finance. Ms Somers serves as a board member of DNA Genotek, on the board of Parteq, an advisor to the Kingston Cancer Research Institution and a member of the Arts and Science Dean’s Council at Queen’s University. She is currently on the board of Volunteer Ottawa and has served as a board member of the Ottawa Regional Cancer Center Foundation. Caroline received her MBA and Bachelor of Arts degrees from Queen’s University and is a certified CCPC from Coaches Training International.

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