Brainpark Leadership / Management

Who is leading Brainpark?

Mark Dowds

CEO

Mark Dowds was an executive team coach for corporations including NewsCorp, RBC, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, and CIBC. He believes in keeping an organization in the hands of the people and is dedicated to uncovering systems and beliefs that get in the way. He launched Brainpark to help employees socialize their work and gather expert opinion to make better decisions.

Mark has played a leading role in several organizations focused on helping entrepreneurs learn from one another to become successful. He is the co-founder of Creationstep ,bandofcoders, and is a limited partner at Bullet Time Ventures. He is an investor in CommunityLend, Virima, StandOutJobs, and EduFire.  He is a director for Jiffle , WorldBlu, and an advisor to GameChangeVentures, UsingMiles, HaitiPartners, GoPhoto, and Chaordix.

He is a graduate of Queen’s University Belfast, a certified NLP trainer, and is working on his Masters in Industrial Psychology. He resides with his wife and children in the San Francisco Bay Area and runs ultra-marathons in the California Mountains to help children in Haiti take hold of their future: www.mileAsmile.com

Twitter: @markdowds

Bobby John

CTO

Bobby brings over 15 years of outstanding leadership in business. Bobby tasted success at an early age, founding Personus Inc. (Caught in The Web), a highly capitalized boutique software development firm while still studying at university. He led Personus Inc. to its eventual acquisition. Bobby went on to become CTO of Trade Settlement Inc., Wall Street’s leader in post trade loan settlement processing serving the $3.0 trillion Global Primary and Secondary Syndicated Loan markets. The technology he built is used by more than 1,000 traders at the world’s largest financial institutions. Internationally recognized for his achievements, Bobby has received numerous accolades including Canada’s ‘Entrepreneur of the Year Award’ as well as Canada’s ‘Top 40 Leaders under the Age of 40 Award’. Bobby John is keenly focused on deliverables and has a passion for building technology that helps people connect with ideas.

Bobby holds a BS in Computer Engineering from the University of Toronto. His greatest joy is derived from time spent with his family. Bobby currently resides in Atlanta, GA with his wife and three children.

Brydon Gilliss

Product Manager

If career success in software were simply defined as the design and development of innovative and intuitive software, then Brydon Gilliss would be very successful. Since the late 90s, after earning an Honours BS in Engineering Systems and Computing from the University of Guelph, he’s been the lead developer of new technologies and software for companies like Cognicase (formerly Personus), MKS Inc, and his current assignment as Product Manager of Brainpark, where his thoughtful design and expert development of product customizations earned him Communitech’s Annual Tech Impact Award in the fall of 2009.

But to Brydon, an equally important component to success is supporting and contributing to a strong and viable tech community on a local level. It’s this commitment to his industry that prompted Brydon to launch DemoCampGuelph, an informal and collaborative meeting of 100+ minds for those in and around the Guelph area involved in any and all aspects of the web, software, startups, and tech. Additionally, Brydon has been recognized within the industry for helping local entrepreneurs develop and advance innovative ideas.

To add to his list of accomplishments, Brydon has been asked to share his knowledge and enthusiasm for the tech industry with a number of speaking engagements that have included meshU, DemoCampToronto, Guelph Technology Organization, Guelph Technology Economy, and more.

When the workday is over, Brydon enjoys spending time with his wife and two children, passing the puck, and wielding any number of power tools renovating his downtown Guelph home.