About MobSquad

Irfhan has over 20 years of experience as a strategic consultant and public company senior executive.  He’s also a partner at Relay Ventures.

In addition to leading MobSquad, Irfhan is also a Principal with Totem Capital Corporation, a private capital firm focused on investing in Canadian small businesses, and is a Venture Partner with Relay Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm focused on mobile computing with offices in Toronto and Menlo Park.  Irfhan is also an Adjunct Professor at the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia, where he teaches in the areas of finance, public policy, strategy and leadership.

Irfhan is presently Board Chair of The Organic Box, Alberta’s largest organic food hub, offering home delivery as well as click-and-collect grocery services.  Additionally, Irfhan is Board Chair of Activate, a partnership between the Government of Canada, private investors and the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada aimed at reducing the incidence of stroke.  Irfhan is a Director of Sage Properties, a Calgary-based real estate investment corporation; a Director of Chatter Research, a text-driven customer insight chatbot; and a Director of The Logic, a digital media publication focused on the innovation economy.

Irfhan is actively involved in civic affairs as Board Chair of Glenbow Museum and Board Member of the Institute for Canadian Citizenship.  He serves as Chair of the Heart & Stroke Foundation’s Impact Fund Advisory Committee, as an advisor to the Canadian government’s Impact and Innovation Unit within the Privy Council Office, and as a member of the New Economy Advisory Committee to the Alberta Securities Commission.

Irfhan holds an MBA with High Honors from Harvard Business School where he was a Baker Scholar, and also holds a BCom with Honours from the University of British Columbia where he was a Wesbrook scholar.

Arif brings over 12 years of financial experience to the MobSquad team, including senior roles at both Amazon and Procter & Gamble.

Previous to joining MobSquad, Arif led Operations Finance for Amazon in Western Canada, where he oversaw annual revenue growth of over 70% for Amazon Canada.  Prior to working at Amazon, Arif was a Senior Financial Analyst at Procter & Gamble supporting both brand management and sales teams.  He led finance on the Shoppers Drug Mart and Loblaws team, where he was a key member of the P&G negotiation group after Loblaws acquired Shoppers Drug Mart.  While at Procter & Gamble, Arif also served as the P&G Charitable Campaign CFO, which delivered over C$4.5 million to partner charitable organizations over three years.

Arif is currently involved as an Alumni Facilitator at the University of British Columbia, where he co-facilitates weekend sessions for undergraduate commerce students as part of a Strategy & Integrated Decision Making course.  The weekend sessions are led by University of British Columbia alumni and are designed to help fourth-year students better prepare for beginning their career after university.  Arif is also currently an Advisor to The Logic, a digital media publication focused on the innovation economy.

Arif holds a BCom with Honours from the University of British Columbia, where he received the Odlum Brown Leadership Award and the Commerce Undergraduate Society Honourable Service Award.

Nicole has over 12 years of management and business development experience, including roles at Lululemon Athletica and Kit and Ace.

Previously, Nicole successfully completed the HSBC Bank Leadership Development Program and worked as a Premier Account Manager for high-net-worth clients.  In her role, Nicole managed and developed a portfolio of assets valued at over C$200 million.  Following her experience at HSBC, Nicole worked at Lululemon Athletica for four years in Product Management, contributing to the company’s recognition as the third most productive retailer in the US. More recently, Nicole was recruited to build the Allocations team at Kit and Ace.

Nicole holds a BCom from the University of British Columbia.  She also completed the Fashion Merchandising Program from Blanche MacDonald, an educational institution recognized worldwide as a leader in applied and creative arts.  Additionally, Nicole attended the Paris Fashion Institute, where she was recognized as an outstanding student.

Jaime has over nine years of marketing and business development experience.  She leads MobSquad’s marketing and demand generation efforts.

She joined MobSquad from EY, where she spent over eight years as a marketing and business development manager. In her most recent role as an Assistant Director, she led the national go-to-market strategy and execution for EY’s rapidly growing ESG and Sustainability practice. Previous to that, she led all re-branding, communication and sales enablement activities for the firm’s private company practice.

Jaime holds a BCom from McGill University with a dual specialization in Marketing and Finance.

John is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Relay Ventures, as well as a Co-Founder and Board Member of Alate Partners.  John has over 20 years of experience helping entrepreneurs shape their vision and capital plans for long-term, sustainable growth.

John’s tenure in finance spans both venture capital and private equity, where he has assisted entrepreneurs through all stages of the startup lifecycle, from seed financing to IPO and M&A.  His ability to work alongside company management teams and offer guidance around hiring, governance, and scaling has been vital to the success of Relay’s investments.

John is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and received his Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the Schulich School of Business.  John is on the Board of Governors of OCAD University, the board of the Centre for Aging and Brain Health Innovation, and serves as an advisory board member to the Ryerson – Digital Media Zone.

Dr. William Kerr is a tenured professor at Harvard Business School, the author of The Gift of Global Talent, and the Co-director of Harvard’s ‘Managing the Future of Work’ initiative.

Dr. William Kerr is a Harvard Business School professor, board director of MobSquad, and leading expert on migration.  Dr. Kerr is the co-director of Harvard’s Managing the Future of Work initiative, which considers the unprecedented set of challenges and opportunities driven by rapid technological revolutions, shifting global product and labor markets, aging workforces, and growing skills gaps.  Dr. Kerr is also the author of The Gift of Global Talent: How Migration Shapes Business, Economy & Society, which explores the global race for talent and how countries and businesses compete for highly skilled migrants.

Dr. Kerr holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a BS in Engineering from the University of Virginia.  Dr. Kerr is a recipient of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation’s Prize Medal for Distinguished Research in Entrepreneurship and Harvard’s Distinction in Teaching award.