Fremont: Born in a village in Nepal and brought up in Bihar, India, Aditya Jha is today a well-known Canadian businessman and philanthropist. His journey to the top has been through many places and numerous risks from New Delhi to Paris, back to Gonda, Uttar Pradesh, then on to Singapore, Australia and finally Canada.
“Canada is the best country on the planet, especially for people like us,” says Jha who has political ambitions. In fact, the political climate in Canada today may be just right for this conservative Indo-Canadian who is clearly honing his political skills.
Jha’s entrepreneurial pursuits have included both start-up technology ventures as well as brick-and-mortar turnaround businesses ranging from software product development and IT services to chocolate manufacturing, fine dining and fast-food restaurants and real estate investments in Canada, the United States, Thailand and India.
He co-founded a software company, Isopia Inc., after having a successful career at Bell Canada as general manager for e-business and product marketing. Jha’s philanthropic interests are as varied as his business pursuits. They range from education projects in Nepal to entrepreneurial initiatives for First Nations youth in Canada.
“When I came to Canada in 1994, I saw a First World country with pockets of Third World for its aboriginal peoples, and that’s where I thought I could contribute,” he says.
He founded his private charitable foundation, POA Educational Foundation, in 2001, and has created endowments at four institutions- Ryerson University, York University, Trent University and George Brown College in Ontario. They give out a total of 13 awards ($42,000 annually) in perpetuity to students.
“Forever, I will be a middle-class guy. So wherever my money goes, I am hands-on. I juggle several balls, and consequently some gets dropped and then I pick them up and carry on,”he admits. “I have seen some results but I know I can have more success and more focus with more professionals. But that requires more resources and the luxury of more time.”
Yet, he says, the nature of an entrepreneur is steeped in chaos. “We thrive and fail because of chaos. In my life, I have had many, many downs, along with the ups,” he says.”I am more humble for my failures than elated by my success.”
Today, Jha is the Canadian government’s appointee to the Board of Directors of First Nations Financial Management Board; he is a member of the Ontario Investment & Trade Advisory Council and advisory council member to the dean of the School of Social Services at Ryerson University. He has served as a board member of two Toronto Stock Exchange-listed public companies, is a charter member of the mentoring group, The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), and has also served on the board of the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce. He is a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors.
Jha is the national convenor of the influential Canada India Foundation that focuses on public policy advocacy for a deeper engagement in with India. He led the signing of $10 million endowment for setting up the Canada India Public Policy Centre at the University of Waterloo. He works closely with several successful Indo-Canadians in guiding their philanthropic giving to mainstream causes. The role of the Indian diaspora, Jha contends, cannot be underestimated and as Indians are respected in the countries they adopt, so does the respect for India increase.
“I believe, India will have unique answer to the four debates facing the world at the beginning of the 21st century economic development versus liberal democracy; pluralism versus fundamentalism; globalization versus democratization of prosperity; and global diaspora versus net gain for adopted and native countries, Jha says