News Releases

Advisory Board


William R. Kerr

Advisory Board Member

William Kerr is one of Canada’s most broadly experienced financial executives with an extensive global career spanning over thirty years with a commitment to ethics and corporate governance. Mr. Kerr’s significant global experience in emerging markets and technologies as well as capital markets, strategic planning, financial reporting and management, governance and Sarbanes Oxley compliance and implementation has left him uniquely positioned to contribute to companies and their boards of directors as they address the opportunities and challenges of today’s corporate environment.

Mr. Kerr’s accomplishments were most recently profiled when he led Nortel Networks as its Chief Financial Officer through very difficult times. Nortel’s board of directors appointed Mr. Kerr CFO in March 2004 to lead the company through its financial restatement and regulatory difficulties. During this global restatement process Mr. Kerr also notably managed the company’s critical regulatory agency relationships (SEC/OSC/NYSE/TSE), initiated and designed the Sarbanes Oxley activities and implementation and maintained the company’s crucial global liquidity all during a period of unprecedented instability. Mr. Kerr completed Nortel’s financial restatement, stabilized the company’s financial infrastructure and stepped down as Nortel’s CFO in February 2005 and continued to serve as senior advisor for a transition period until September 2005.

Prior to this Mr. Kerr held various senior executive positions at Nortel Networks from September 1994 to October 2001. These appointments included Senior Vice President Finance and Business Development and Senior Vice President Corporate Business Development, which he held beginning February 1999. In these positions he was Nortel’s senior executive responsible for global business development, strategic alliances, mergers, acquisitions and divestiture activities. Immediately prior to these appointments, Mr. Kerr held the position of Senior Vice President, Finance and Treasurer for Nortel, responsible for all global capital market activities of the corporation including treasury, tax, investor relations and mergers, acquisitions and divestitures.

Mr. Kerr joined Nortel as Vice President and Controller in 1994 from BCE Inc., Canada’s largest telecommunications company, where he also held the position of Vice President and Controller. He was previously Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Lear Siegler, Inc, a U.S. privately held (Forstmann Little) diversified manufacturing and services company.

Prior to joining Lear Siegler, Mr. Kerr was Vice President and Controller of PHH Corporation (NYSE) of Baltimore, Maryland, from 1989 to 1991. He joined PHH Canada in 1984 as Senior Vice President, Finance, and was Senior Vice President, Finance and Administration, of PHH Europe plc in the UK from 1986 to 1989. Prior to this he was Vice President, Finance, of Tozer, Kemsley & Millbourn Canada Ltd., in Toronto. Mr. Kerr began his business career in 1976 at Coopers & Lybrand where he obtained his Chartered Accountant designation.

Mr. Kerr continues as CEO of a private equity/investment company, JSE Partners, where he focuses on emerging companies primarily in the technology arena and is also serving as a Director of the Bank of China (Canada), Logic Tree Corporation , Intelius Inc., Canadahelps.org (Chairman), and is a member of the Board of Governors of Appleby College in Oakville.

Bill is a Canadian citizen residing in Oakville, Canada, and is married to Alice Kerr and has three children, Jennifer, Scott and Evan. Bill is a graduate of Queens University and a Chartered Accountant.


Dianne Cunningham
Advisory Board Member

With over 30 years of experience in management and government affairs, Dianne Cunningham brings a wealth of practical experience and knowledge of regulatory issues to StormFisher’s advisory board. A past Ontario Minister with portfolios ranging from Training, Colleges and Universities, Intergovernmental Affairs, and Women’s Issues, Ms. Cunningham was also the Member of Provincial Parliament for London North Centre from 1988 to 2003.

Ms. Cunningham has been Director of the Lawrence National Centre for Policy and Management at the University of Western Ontario’s Richard Ivey School of Business since 2004. As Director, she has helped the Centre to fulfill its mandate of facilitating cooperation between private sector corporations, media, and academia in working with government to actively participate in public policy issues, strengthening Canada’s position as a competitor in the global marketplace.


Hank Vander Laan
Advisory Board Member

Hank Vander Laan is the founder and former president and CEO of publicly traded Trojan Technologies, a producer of ultraviolet water disinfection systems. Under Mr. Vander Laan’s leadership, Trojan Technologies grew from a small producer of municipal wastewater treatment systems to a world leader in ultraviolet water treatment technology, installing more than 4,000 municipal facilities in over 50 countries. In 1992, Trojan Technologies received the Ontario Chamber of Commerce Outstanding Business Achievement Award.

Prior to the founding of Trojan Technologies, Mr. Vander Laan spent 15 years as Vice President of Operations at Canadian Cable Systems (now Rogers). He is currently Vice Chair of the University of Western Ontario Board of Governors, member of the London Biotechnology Commercialization Centre, and was Founding Chair of Tech Alliance London.