Dr. James (Jamie) Doran has been an active contributor to Ontario's innovation and entrepreneurship sector for 23 years. He is the Principal Consultant and President of Doran Strategic Consulting, offering innovation strategy, management consulting, program design, & financing solutions to colleges, universities, municipalities, and private companies.
Jamie is a strategic and deep thinker. He draws on a diverse set of skills and knowledge to help people and organizations solve their challenges and take advantage of opportunities. Doran is an excellent professional writer with a greater than 80% success rate on grants he has written. He enjoys planning and facilitating large group sessions where he can draw on his creative abilities and gamification talents.
Doran’s professional experience began when he was a doctoral researcher at the University of Guelph, studying the physiology and flavor chemistry of onions, garlic and leeks grown in controlled environments. He received his Ph.D. in 2005 and published papers related to onion chemistry, photosynthesis and the production of onions in space. In fact, part of his doctoral program took him to Adelaide, Australia on scholarship to attend the Summer Session Program of the International Space University in 2004. There he worked with 78 graduate students and professionals from around the world on topics related to space exploration and colonization.
Upon graduation, Doran went to work for the Ontario Centres of Excellence as Business Development Manager. During his five years at OCE, Jamie held many responsibilities including: Talent Program Manger for the Professional Outreach Awards and the OCE Connections Program; and Portfolio Manager for the University of Guelph. He proudest moment at OCE was being able to grow the Connections program to serve 26 college and university partners in Ontario, with over 400 projects, 2000 students, 350 industry partners, and a program budget exceeding $600K. These projects delivered high value to the industry partners, students and teachers. Doran left OCE in 2012 after being recruited by the founders of Innovation Guelph.
Doran was Chief Operating Officer, Director of Client Services and Chief Executive Officer for Innovation Guelph between 2012 and 2016. Under his leadership Innovation Guelph (IG) grew into Guelph’s focal point for innovative ideas and entrepreneurial spirit. He was instrumental in designing, launching and financing IG’s signature programs; Speedway (including Fast Lane & Fuel Injection), Rhyze (supporting women entrepreneurs), and B-Corp Bootcamp (promoting the establishment of benefit corporations). He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Guelph (Plant Physiology); a Masters Certificate from the University of South Australia (Space Studies); an H.B.Sc. from Trent University (Biochemistry); a B.Ed. from Queen’s University; and a Diploma in Visual Art from Sheridan College.
Doran stepped down as CEO of Innovation Guelph in March of 2016 to pursue other business opportunities. He formed Kyfak Inc. to develop and publish games. Kyfak published its first game in the fall of 2016 (FINISHIT) and sold 90% of the copies produced in two years.
Doran started Doran Consulting and Doran Strategic Consulting Inc. to provide consulting services to clients in the research, innovation and commercialization space. This business has been very successful, winning clients such as Georgian College, St. Lawrence College, Conestoga College, University of Guelph, The Sandbox, The Simcoe Country Board of Education, The City of Guelph, The City of Barrie, and NEEB Engineering.
Most recently, Jamie and his partner Joem, opened Freaky Wizard (www.freakywizard.com) in Barrie, Ontario. It's a wizard-themed board game cafe, toy store, and immersive magical experience for families, friends and businesses. Freaky Wizard was a finalist for the 2020 Barrie Chamber of Commerce Business Awards. Visit the Facebook page for lots of news and fun posts https://www.facebook.com/freakywizardtoys.
Beyond his professional capacity. Doran is a prolific musician having recorded dozens of albums that are available through pretty much every online music platform such as Spotify, iTunes, YouTube, etc. He continues to collaborate with musicians from Canada and the USA and is an active member of PFR Monthly. He has released material under many different styles and names so if you want to know more, just ask him and he will direct you to something you might like.
Overall, Jamie is dedicated to adding value to Canada’s innovation and creativity space by supporting innovators, entrepreneurs, and visionary organizations—while at the same time, tapping into the creative spark that makes life glorious and rewarding.
"Jamie is very professional and builds strong and meaningful relationships with everyone he works with. He always makes himself available to his clients and connections and is selflessly committed to the betterment of the community." - Bob Ilmonen, Business Mentor
