Stalwart competitors

Firoz H. Lalji has lived the ultimate American success story. Born of Indian ancestry in the East African country of Uganda, Lalji became the principal provider for his household at 24 when Idi Amin ousted his family from their home and their sugar-cane processing and coffee plantation business. Lalji immigrated with his family to Canada in 1971, completely impoverished. He banked on his finance skills honed while earning his degree at the London School of Economics to navigate the sea of obstacles in his entrepreneurial ambition. In Vancouver, BC, he swiftly built a life for his family, founding the successful Kits Cameras photographic retailer chain in 1973 that eventually numbered 225 locations in both Canada and the Unites States. Lalji moved to Washington state in 1981 and, following the sale of Kits in 1997, he co-founded Zones, Inc. in 1988--a nationwide provider of progressive technology solutions to business and public sectors. In 1989, he found the real estate investment company Fana Capital Corporation. Lalji had reinvented and revolutionized Zones, shaping the company into the fifth largest private company headquartered in Washington for 2013. In hopes of fueling success for other emerging minority entrepreneurs, Zones, under Lalji's leadership, was a founding corporate partner of the University of Washington's annual one-week immersive Minority Business Executive Program. Lalji additionally established the Program for African Leadership, a public charity which supports the development of the next generation of African leaders by providing funding for 15 participants at the London School of Economics annually, as well as other programs to benefit his home continent of Africa.

Mark Housley is a Board Member at InFocus, Executive Chairman at Vigilent, and Executive Director at Wethepeople.org and is based in Oakland, California. He has experience at Supermac Technologies Inc and has worked as Chairman at Apton Biosystem, Inc.; Chief Operating Officer at Media 100 Inc; and Board Member at Media 100 Inc. Mark studied at Pomona College.

Jeffrey Thomas is a Board Member at BookRags, TRUSTEE at Greater Spokane, and Board Member at World Adventures Unlimited Inc. He has experience at Adecco and has worked as Board Member at AMBASSADORS GROUP INC, Board Member at OFF The Beaten Path LLC, and Exec VP/CFO/Secretary at AMBASSADORS GROUP INC. Jeffrey works or has worked as BOARD MEMBER at Inland Northwest Council. He studied at DARTMOUTH COLLEGE.

Thad Mac Krell is a Chief Executive Officer at PAR Excellence Systems. He has worked as VP:Movianto at OWENS & MINOR INC/VA/.

Jaime Bowman is a President and Chief Executive Officer at SBS Group and is based in Red Hill, Pennsylvania.

Jerre is Executive Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Clarivate plc. Jerre served as CEO of Churchill Capital Corp until its merger with Clarivate in May 2019. Jerre has had a long and very successful career as a public company CEO and Clarivate is the tenth public company in which he has served as CEO and/or Chairman. Over the last two decades, he has created a world leader and one of the fastest-growing companies in the information services sector. Prior to leading Clarivate, he served as Chairman and CEO at IHS Markit, Ltd. and previously as Executive Chairman and CEO at IHS Inc. The other highly successful technology and information companies he has led include Honeywell-Phillips Medical Electronics, Square D, AT&T Global Business Communications Systems, AT&T Global Information Solutions (NCR Corporation), NCR Japan, Legent Corporation and Ingram Micro. In addition, Jerre has served on 37 corporate boards during his career and received numerous accolades for his work, including the Kenneth B. West Lifetime Achievement Award which he received in July 2017 by the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) in recognition of his service on corporate and philanthropic boards.