RIM has allowed him to create CIGI, CIC, and to contribute resources and time to organizations such as Waterloo Children's Museum, Grand River Hospital, the Canadian Olympic Foundation and others. Balsillie is the founder of the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), the Council of Canadian Innovators, Canadian International Council (CIC), and the Balsillie School of International Affairs (BSIA). In June 2013, the Harper government appointed Balsillie as Chair of Sustainable Development Technology Canada. In 2021, Balsillie was announced as the sponsor for the $60,000 Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. He also funds the Writers' Trust of Canada's $25,000 Balsillie Prize for Public Policy. Friendships and allegiances Balsillie counts Tim Berners-Lee, George Soros, Gord Sinclair, Roger McNamee and Geoff Cape amongst his friends. He maintains that all three major political parties have made unsuccessful efforts to recruit him. He serves as the Honorary Captain of HMCS Star in the Royal Canadian Navy. References External links Jim Balsillie at The Canadian Encyclopedia 1961 births Businesspeople from Ontario 21st-century Canadian philanthropists Harvard Business School alumni Living people People from Huron County, Ontario People from Waterloo, Ontario Directors of BlackBerry Limited Trinity College (Canada) alumni University of Toronto alumni Canadian billionaires Canadian accountants Canadian chief executives Canadian expatriates in the United States Institute for New Economic Thinking