Krystal Abotossaway is from Aundeck Omni-Kaning First Nations and Chippewas of Rama First Nations. She is an urban Ojibwe Anishinaabe Kwe. Krystal is a well sought after expert, speaker and leader on Indigenous engagement. As Senior Manager at TD Bank, she is responsible to provide strategic planning, counsel, and execution support, and collaborate across internal teams and external partners, to drive inclusion and diversity for employees, customers, and communities.
Currently pursuing her Masters degree at York University. Abotossaway’s passion and leadership for advancing more agile diversity engagement strategies has contributed to TD’s ongoing recognition as Canada’s Leader in embracing diversity - including being recognized as one of Canada's Best Diversity Employers,
As the President of the Indigenous Professional Association of Canada she is helping to redefine the agenda and identify new measures for advancing the opportunities for and the capabilities of Canada’s Indigenous Peoples.
Krystal is recognized across Canada - in the media and within the broader Indigenous community - as an expert spokesperson for bridging strategies that will enable more Indigenous youth to achieve their aspirations and dreams. Her thought leadership in advancing Human Resources knowledge on Indigenous engagement is informed by her academic background and ongoing leadership roles on multiple Boards in the GTA.
Carol Chiu is President of BBS Securities Inc. a subsidiary of CI Financial with over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry. Prior to her current position, she was the Chief Internal Auditor at CI Financial and the CFO, Funds for CI Investments. Carol has extensive experience in financial governance, internal controls and risk management. She serves as Treasurer for the Board of Directors at Young People’s Theatre.
Dr. Imogen R. Coe was the founding dean of the Faculty of Science at Ryerson University (2012-2018). She is a professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biology, and is also an affiliate scientist in the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, Keenan Research Centre, at St. Michael’s Hospital, where her research group studies the biology of drug transporters which are proteins that facilitate the entry into cells of anti-cancer and anti-viral drugs. In addition to her work as a research scientist, Dr. Coe is internationally recognized as a Canadian thought leader in the area of equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). She has advised academia, government and industry on best practices and approaches to improve EDI in STEM, particularly in the Canadian post-secondary education (PSE) sector. She has written and spoken about these issues extensively for platforms such as the Globe and Mail, iPolitics and the CBC. She has also given a TEDx talk on gender equity in science and is much in demand by academia, industry and government as a speaker and panelist. She sits on several boards including that of Science Rendezvous and is the Vice-President of the Canadian Molecular Biosciences Society. In fall 2016 she was recognized by WXN as one of Canada's Top 100 Women, in the Trail Blazer category for her advocacy work promoting equity in STEM and in 2017, she was one of the “Canada150 Women” in the best-selling publication of the same name. In March of this year, she received the Ryerson University’s, Alan Shepard Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Employee Award, for her outstanding achievements as a senior leader in the Ryerson University community, who advances equity, diversity and inclusion at the university and beyond.
Sarah Downey is a senior healthcare leader whose career spans 25 years across a broad range of hospitals including community, academic, and complex multi-institutional organizations. In 2015, she was appointed President and CEO of the Michael Garron Hospital, a large community teaching hospital in Toronto. In her current role she is responsible for a $500M redevelopment project and is part of the group leading the East Toronto Ontario Health Team application. She is proud to have held progressive leadership positions at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, the University Health Network, and The Ottawa Hospital. Sarah has made numerous contributions to health care in Ontario through her leadership of cancer and mental health programs, capital and strategic planning, workplace safety and wellness, and community building.
Sarah has served on many provincial and national committees and Boards. Currently, she is a member of the Board of the Ontario Hospital Association, Plexxus, and is President of the Toronto Regional Alumni Council for the University of Ottawa. Sarah is also the recipient of the Trudeau Medal, the highest honour awarded by the Telfer School of Management to its alumni.
Sarah has a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of New Brunswick and a Master of Health Administration from the University of Ottawa. She holds a Certified Health Executive designation with the Canadian College of Health Leaders, and is fluently bilingual in French and English.
Dr. Dvali is the Vice President/Secretary/Treasurer of the Medical Staff Association and is a member of the Department of Surgery, Division of Plastic Surgery at Michael Garron Hospital.
Doug is a member of the Asset Mix Team and is responsible for the management of portfolios for non-profit organizations (foundations and endowments) and private clients.
He has over 20 years of experience managing balanced and specialty portfolios. Prior to joining Guardian Capital Advisors LP, Doug was a senior partner and portfolio manager at one of Canada's largest trust companies, where he managed portfolios for high net worth clients and the non-profit sector such as charitable groups.
An economist by formal training, Doug received his honours bachelors of arts from the University of Western Ontario. He has also completed the academic credits required to obtain his member of trust institute (MIT) designation from the Trust Companies Institute. Doug is a chartered financial analyst (CFA), and a member of both the Toronto Society of Financial Analysts and Association for Investment Management and Research (AIMR).
Dr. Fraser is Michael Garron Hospital's (MGH) chief of staff as well as director of the Provincial Weaning Centre of Excellence and a lecturer in the division of respirology, faculty of medicine, University of Toronto. He is the former chief and program medical director of medicine. Since joining MGH in 1988, Dr. Fraser has led clinical and research initiatives in quality of care improvement and inter-professional care. He has also been involved in the development of a Canadian community of excellence in prolonged/long-term ventilation (CANuVENT) at a regional, provincial and national level. His current area of interest is collaborative, innovative quality improvement and education in patient safety in the community teaching hospital setting
Katherine is Curling Canada’s chief executive officer. She has a wealth of experience in leadership roles in sports, marketing and brand management that spans more than 20 years.
Katherine manages an organization that is ranked first in the world in men’s, women’s and wheelchair curling, and runs the highly successful Season of Champions series of national curling championships that includes the Tim Hortons Brier, the Scotties Tournament of Hearts and Ford World Men’s and Women’s Curling Championships.
Prior to this her role was as senior vice-president, marketing and revenue for the Toronto 2015 Pan/Parapan American Games organizing committee, and she played a significant role in, among other things, putting together the most successful non-Olympic sponsorship program in Canadian history with a who’s-who of Canada’s corporate community. She also oversaw the negotiation of broadcast rights for the Games, and under her watch, the Pan/Parapan American Games broke records for attendance, ticket sales and television ratings.
Prior to that, she spent seven years with the Whirlpool Corporation, filling various prominent leadership roles in marketing and general management for the Canadian and North American divisions. She also worked in marketing/branding roles with other high-profile companies such as Colgate Palmolive Canada, Campbell Soup Canada and General Mills Canada.
Katherine holds a bachelor of science degree in nutrition from the University of Western Ontario, an Master business administration from the Schulich School of Business at York University and a master’s in theological studies from the University of Toronto. She also serves on the boards of Rugby Canada, The Canada Sevens World Series, the Canadian Sports Tourism Alliance and the Michael Garron Hospital in Toronto.
Michael Holder is General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of Delphia Technologies Inc., a technology and investment management firm. Prior to joining Delphia, Michael held senior positions at a number of firms including, BMO Financial Group, Borden Ladner Gervais, LLP and the Ontario Securities Commission. Michael earned an Honours Bachelor of Arts from the University of Western Ontario and Bachelor of Law Degree from the University of Windsor.
Betty Hicks grew up in East York, attending public schools and spending countless years as a competitive figure skater representing the East York Figure Skating Club. She is retired from the East York Board of Education and Toronto District School Board. During her career, she was an elementary classroom teacher, physical/health education teacher, guidance counselor, school administrator and President of the East York Women Teachers’ Association. At retirement, Betty was made an Honorary member of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario. More recently, she served four years as President of Volunteer Services, Michael Garron Hospital and is currently Co-Chair, Volunteer Experience Council, Michael Garron Hospital. Betty is active in community events and is the founder of the Topham Park Women’s Softball League that is in its thirty-sixth year of operation. She is Past President of Leaside Curling Club Day Women’s Leagues. Volunteerism plays an important role for her, having volunteered with the Invictus Games, as an official timer for the Grand Slam of Curling and also for the Major League Baseball All Star game when Toronto was the host.
Mikki Layton is the Chief Nursing Executive and a practicing Nurse Practitioner with the Hematology Oncology’s inpatient service. She is a graduate of St. Rita Hospital School of Nursing, and holds an undergraduate degree from Ryerson University and a Master of Nursing from the University of Toronto. Mikki maintains two Canadian Nursing Association certifications; Hospice Palliative Care Nursing and Oncology Nursing.
Her career spans over 30 years at MGH in various nursing and leadership roles including as manager of Hematology Oncology during the clinic’s redevelopment in 2009 as well as opening the first inpatient unit under the Coordinated Care Team model.
She holds an Adjunct Clinical Appointment with the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing University of Toronto, and is the professional practice lead for MGH’s Nurse Practitioners.
As a preceptor for Nurse Practitioner students from UofT and Ryerson University Mikki shares her passion for advocacy of the highest quality evidence based patient and family centred care with an emphasis on safety, compassion, dignity and respect for patient voice.
Lovisa McCallum is a managing director at BMO Capital Markets and has previous experience in corporate treasury. For over 25 years, she has specialized in building and managing new business lines with substantial exposure to risk management and infrastructure development. Lovisa’s not-for-profit board experience is dedicated to the Canadian Health sector. She served on the finance committee and board of Sherbourne Health Center. She was a director on the national board and then Toronto chapter president for Cystic Fibrosis Canada. As a passionate public speaker, advocate and media spokesperson, Lovisa was awarded the National Leadership Breath of Life Award by Cystic Fibrosis Canada. She also received the award for Leadership from Woman in Capital Markets. Woman of Influence Magazine has recognized Lovisa as a Canadian Diversity Champion.
Lovisa has a bachelor of commerce from Queen's University, holds the chartered financial analyst (CFA) designation and has an ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors.
Scott McDonald is an experienced corporate director and former senior executive. In addition to the Michael Garron Hospital Board he currently serves as a Director and Committee Chair on the Ontario Power Generation Board (OPG) and has served as a Director and HR Committee Chair on the Boards of Purolator and SCI.
Mr. McDonald had a successful career as a senior business executive with large, complex Canadian and North American companies in both the private and public sectors. With extensive C-suite experience in Human Resources, his background also includes experience in general management, operations, sales, and distribution across several industries – forest products, consumer packaged goods, food, logistics, and distribution. His career provided him with the opportunity to have worked in both official languages, and also to work and live in Toronto, Sudbury, Montreal, and Ottawa.
Mr. McDonald is a member of the Human Resources Professionals Association, holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors and has a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Toronto. He is also a graduate of executive programs at McGill University, MIT, and the Rotman School at U of T.
Bob McGuire is the regional managing director and global market manager for Citi Private Bank Canada. He serves as chairman of the board and president of Citibank Canada Investment Funds Limited, the entity through which Citi Private Bank offers investment services and products in Canada. Bob also serves as chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Citigroup Global Markets Canada Inc. and as director on the board of Citi Trust Company Canada. Bob joined the Toronto office of the Citi Private Bank in 2005 as senior banker. He currently divides his time between his Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal offices.
Bob has more than 25 years of experience in corporate/investment banking. Prior to joining Citi, Bob was a senior banker with Société Générale in Paris, France and had previously led Société Générale’s Corporate and Investment Banking Group in Canada. Earlier positions include senior marketing roles with Bank of America and Royal Bank of Canada in Toronto as well as an early career position as an economist with the Bank of Canada in Ottawa.
Bob holds an Master of business administration from The University of Western Ontario’s Ivey School of Business, a bachelors of science in economics from l’Université de Montréal and completed the institute of corporate directors education program at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto (obtained ICD.D designation). Bob is a registered investment counselor/portfolio manager with the Ontario Securities Commission and l’Autorité des Marchés Financiers in Quebec.
Married with two sons, Bob is fluently bilingual (French and English) and holds dual citizenships (France/Canada). He frequently lectures at local universities on topics such as international finance and management. Bob also serves on the board of Rise Asset Management, a not for profit entity that provides micro financing to individuals with mental health and/or addiction issues. He previously served on the executive committee of the board and was chair of the audit & finance committee of the Toronto French School (one of Canada’s largest private schools). He is past co-chair of Citibank Canada’s United Way Campaign (2010).
Dr. Rajwani is Vice President of Clinical Services at NYRC where he manages and works with a multidisciplinary team of medical consultants overseeing complex medical evaluations. He is also the Health Policy Officer for the Ontario Chiropractic Association where he provides policy advice in the areas of Autos Insurance. He practices and manages orthopedic rehabilitation centers in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). He graduated as a Doctor of Chiropractic in 1994 and has post-graduate certifications in Occupational Health and Sport Sciences.
Dr. Rajwani has volunteer experience in the Health Care Sector. He presently serves as the Co-Chair of the Coalition of Health Professional Associations in Auto Insurance Services in Ontario. He serves as a board member for World Spine Care (WSC) which was launched to fill the profound gap in the evidence-based treatment of musculoskeletal and spinal conditions found in underserviced areas around the world. He was previously a board member of Access Alliance Multicultural Health and Community Services which provides health care services to marginalized members of the community including refugees and new immigrants in the GTA.
Outside of the health sector, he has served as the Vice President of the Aga Khan Council for Canada and Chairman of the Ismaili Centre Management Board from 2012-2015. He has served as an Allocations Chair for Children and Youth Services for United Way of Greater Toronto. He presently sits as a member of the Ismaili Council for Ontario and member of the Aga Khan University Resource Development of Committee for Canada.
He is a recipient of the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Volunteer Award, the OCA Volunteer Service Award and has received an award from the Ministry of Citizenship for 25 years of service to the community.
Catriona Read is a partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP with over 20 years of experience serving clients in the financial services industry, both in Canada and the United States. Catriona has been the lead partner on a number of the firm's largest public Canadian asset management clients as well as several alternative asset management and other private clients. She is currently the human capital leader for the greater Toronto area assurance practice and is one of the leaders of the firms audit transformation initiatives.
Sandy joined the Board of MGH in September 2018. He brings two important skills with a background in both Finance and Engineering. He also has a deep appreciation for the importance of MGH in the community stemming from a personal history with the hospital dating back three generations. Sandy is presently the President of Alexander Capital Group in Toronto, an investment banking firm which provides specialized advice to growing companies requiring capital as well as those looking to grow through acquisition. Prior to founding Alexander Capital in 2006, Sandy was an executive at BMO Capital Markets, starting there in 1986. Earlier in his career, Sandy was a consulting engineer, specializing in energy conservation. Much of this work involved assessing mechanical systems in commercial establishments with a view to optimizing energy consumption. Sandy currently sits on both the Finance & Audit Committee and the Redevelopment Committee.
Dr. Smith is president of the medical staff association and is a member of the department of medicine, division of general internal medicine at Michael Garron Hospital.
Andrew Steele is vice president and Group Head at StrategyCorp, Canada's integrated public affairs, communications and management consulting advisor.
Over a 20 year career, Andrew was responsible for critical victories in public policy, government relations, business strategy, corporate restructuring, branding, communications, and issues management..
Previously, Andrew served as senior advisor to the Premier of Ontario, as well as chief of staff in several Ministries. He held senior campaign roles for the Ontario Liberal Party in three successive election victories, and was a key player in war rooms for Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty and Prime Minister Jean Chretien.
In 2012, Andrew was the founding chief executive officer of the Pecaut Centre, a non-profit management consulting firm housed at the Boston Consulting Group. More recently, Andrew was essential to implementing the strategic transformation of public broadcaster TVO.
Andrew graduated with distinction from the master of business administration program at the University of Western Ontario. He also earned degrees at the University of British Columbia and Trent University. He has written extensively on public policy as an opinion columnist for the Globe and Mail and others.
Pamela Steer is the former CFO and Corporate Strategy Officer at Payments Canada. As a member of the executive management team, Pamela had overall responsibility for overseeing the finance, strategy, people, communications and external relations teams of the organization.
Pamela joined Payments Canada from the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB), one of the largest insurance organizations in North America, where she was the CFO and Head of Finance and Employer Services.
Pamela is a member of the City of Toronto’s Investment Board and is a past Chair at CFA Society Toronto. In addition, she was appointed to the global advisory council for the Accounting for Sustainability Project (A4S) under the Prince of Wales’s Charitable Foundation, and is a founding member of the Canadian chapter of the A4S CFO Leadership Network. She is also a founding advisory council member of the Institute for Sustainable Finance.
Pamela is a proud alumnus of the University of Waterloo, where she received her Master of Accounting degree and is a member of the School of Accounting and Finance advisory council. She is a CPA Fellow, accredited as a Chartered Accountant and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst and Chartered Business Valuator designations. In 2020, Pamela was honoured with the Alumni Achievement Award at the University of Waterloo’s School of Accounting and Finance and in 2019, she was awarded Canada’s CFO of the Year.
John Tobin is a partner of Torys LLP and is a leading lawyer in tax and structured finance in Canada. He advises Canadian and international businesses, not-for-profits, governments, investment funds and pension funds. His experience covers transactional advice, tax planning and compliance, and controversy and transfer pricing. He has advised on public private partnerships, infrastructure development and project finance including for roads, schools and hospitals. John serves on several industry boards and industry working committees including being a director of the Canadian Tax Foundation and of the International Fiscal Association. John has lived in the Beach area since 1990. He was Chair of the MGH Redevelopment Committee 2017-2020 and has been a Hospital Board member since 2013. John has served as an Ex Officio member of the Michael Garron Foundation Board since 2020.
Eric Tripp is the retired President of BMO Capital Markets, following a career that began when he joined Burns Fry Limited in 1983. He is an Advisory Board Member of Connor Clark and Lunn Financial Group (CCL) and the Investment Management Corporation of Ontario (IMCO). He is also a former director of the TMX Group. Eric was the Founder and Executive Sponsor of the BMO Capital Markets Diversity Council and he remains engaged in diversity issues through the Advisory Board of Women in Capital Markets.
He and his family are active philanthropists and he received the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012 for his community engagement. Eric is the former Chair of the Michael Garron Hospital. He joined the Michael Garron Hospital Foundation Board in 2016 and was appointed Chair in 2017.
Natasha vandenHoven is a partner in the Pensions & Benefits Group. Her practice focuses on statutory and governmental plans, governance, fiduciary obligations, investment and administration issues, trusts, and compliance matters. In particular, she advises clients on pensions and benefits issues relating to corporate transactions, creditor/debtor agreements, and bankruptcy and insolvency matters.
Natasha is experienced in executive compensation and advises clients on matters including equity and non-equity based compensation, supplemental retirement arrangements and bonus plans. She has also developed an expertise in de-risking strategies involving complex annuity buy-in and buy-out transactions including with respect to regulatory discharges.
Natasha was Senior Policy Consultant of the Pension Initiatives, Income Security and Pension Policy Division at the Ministry of Finance, following a leadership position within the Ontario Government where she worked on the development of the newly proposed Ontario Retirement Pension Plan. Natasha practiced pensions and benefits law in private practice for a number of years and was a pension analyst with the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (formerly the Pension Commission of Ontario).
Michael is a seasoned executive in the financial services industry with a career spanning 25 years at local and global institutions particularly in Banking, Capital Markets and Wealth Management. Currently, he is Chief Risk Officer and General Counsel at Richardson Wealth acting as an executive officer leading enterprise risk, legal and compliance operations supporting the overall business strategy and execution.
Michael is currently on the Board of Directors of Michael Garron Hospital, Sistema Toronto, former Board Chair for Toronto City Mission and Grad Ball chair for Pathways to Education. Most recently, Michael joined other Black professionals as a Founding Member of the Black Opportunity Fund
