Corporate Advisory Board

Lesya Balych-Cooper

Lesya Balych-Cooper produces innovative revenue sources with clients who directly commit these proceeds to charitable foundations and not-for-profit organizations.  For over 23 years, Lesya has been a successful executive in line, staff and consulting functions across the legal, financial, philanthropic and government services industries.  She has led personal and commercial banking regions, private banking and trust operations, developed and led strategic management, marketing and communications units in investment banking and human resources, as well as enterprise-wide leadership of corporate values, diversity and workplace equity, employee relations, employee assistance programs, employee surveys and metrics.  Lesya graduated with both a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree from the University of Saskatchewan, her home province.  She continued to study international financial law and completed a Master of Laws (LLM) degree at the London School of Economics and Political Science degree at the University of London (England).  She is admitted to the Ontario Bar.

Mark Beckles

Mark Beckles has broad experience in financial services, Mark is particularly experienced in retail, reinsurance, property, liability and captive insurance programs, having spent over 25 years experience in insurance, risk management and captive administration. He has helped to establish captive operations and international business companies in Bermuda, Cayman Islands and Barbados for clients in finance, energy, manufacturing and telecommunications.

Mark also worked for some of the largest global insurers including Zurich Insurance and General Accident. As Vice President for the largest insurance broker in the Caribbean, his clients included Colgate-Palmolive, Coca-Cola, Hilton Hotels and chartered banks. Mark also served as Managing Director of Allied Insurance Brokers.

In 2002, Mark assumed the role of CEO of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund (Canada).  In this role Mark raised millions of dollars to support programs for impoverished and at-risk children in South Africa. He has drawn high praise from international leaders like former United States President Bill Clinton for what the organization has accomplished under his leadership. Mark was co-chair of the organizing committee for the opening ceremonies of the XVI International AIDS conference held in Toronto. Most recently, Mark was the keynote speaker at the Citizenship Court of the Ministry of Immigration and Citizenship, where he welcomed 150 new Canadians from 61 Countries.

He served a Governor of the Canadian Unity Council and served as Vice-Chair of World Relief Canada as well as a director of the United Way of Peel Region. He has also served as Vice President Resource Development with Junior Achievement.

Mark is a certified Risk Manager and holds MBA in International Business from the University of Bradford.

Russell Browne

Russell Browne manages the Investor Products desk at ScotiaMocatta (the precious metals division of Scotia Bank) for North America.  In his role he develops, structures and markets precious metal investments from the Retail space to Funds, with a specialty in physical investment tools. He has worked in precious metals for the last 3 years, however has been with Scotia for 11 years (6 in Foreign Exchange and 2 in Fixed Income). Russell authors the Daily Market Watch for ScotiaMocatta and has been interviewed by the Globe and Mail for stories relating to Gold. Russell holds a Bachelor in Economics from Concordia. He has also been active in the Big Brother program in Montreal and UFSC in Toronto.

Kristy Carrod

Kristy is a Senior Consultant with the Employment Equity & Diversity team at CIBC. Her role in Diversity is focused on increasing the attraction, retention and development of all groups in order to reflect the diversity available in the Canadian labour market. Kristy has been with CIBC for the past 5 years in various Human Resources roles, including supporting the Wholesale Banking client group as an HR Consultant as a Campus Recruiting Consultant.  Prior to joining the UFSC Board, Kristy spent two years (2008 – 2010) on the Board of Directors for the non-profit association Women in Capital Markets. 

Kristy has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Industrial Relations from McGill University, holds the Certified Human Resources Professional designation and is currently working on a Master of Education at the University of Toronto with a focus on Workplace Learning and Social Change.

Hazel Claxton

Hazel Claxton is the Human Capital Leader for PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.  As a member of PwC’s Canadian leadership team, she oversees all aspects of talent management and human resources for the firm. Prior her current role, Hazel was a partner in PwC’s Advisory Services group where she divided her time between client relationship management responsibilities for the Canadian operations of one of the firm’s largest clients in the world, and corporate advisory and restructuring work. Hazel’s 20 years of restructuring experience includes advising lenders and companies on insolvency and restructuring matters, including assignments in the airline, real estate, construction, hospitality, not-for-profit, manufacturing, retail and distribution sectors. Hazel holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) degree from Queen’s University.

Steven Conville

Steven Conville is Vice President and Portfolio Manager with Macquarie Private Wealth.  Prior to this, he was Vice President and Branch Manager with A Major Canadian Investment firm where he oversaw assets in excess of 750 million dollars.  June 2010 will complete his eighteenth year in the financial services industry, of which he has spent the last 11 yrs managing assets for clients. Steven is a Certified Financial Planner Licensee (CFP), a Fellow of the Canadian Securities Institute (FCSI), and has his Canadian Investment Manager designation (CIM).

Steven has An MBA in Finance from Sir Wilfrid Laurier University and a Post Graduate Diploma in Investment Management from Concordia University.  He has also earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree(Hons) from York University as well as a Bachelor of Education. Steven is on the Investment Advisory Committee for the Office of the Guardian of the Public Trustee for the Minister of the Attorney General of the Province of Ontario.   Steven volunteers for many organization, has been an active member of the Urban Financial Services Coalition (UFSC) - Toronto since 2002 and joined the UFSC Toronto’s Corporate Advisory Board in 2007. 
 

Caroline Dabu

Caroline Dabu is Head of Retirement and Financial Planning Strategy at BMO Financial Group. In this role she drives an enterprise-wide strategy to provide retirement solutions and financial planning to all of the bank’s customers.

In 2005, Caroline led the most comprehensive study at that time on Canadian retirement trends, establishing BMO as the recognized expert on retirement issues. Today, BMO has advanced that leadership position with the establishment of the BMO Retirement Institute and the successful Take Charge of Your Retirement program and approach to retirement planning. 

Caroline has been in the investment industry since 1993 and joined BMO Financial Group in 2000. She has served on the board of as Vice-Chair, Chair and Past Chair of Women in Capital Markets, an organization dedicated to attracting, retaining and advancing women in the financial services industry. Currently, Caroline is on the Advisory Board of the Toronto Urban Financial Services Coalition. 

Robert Davis

Rob Davis is a Partner with KPMG’s Transfer Pricing Practice in Toronto.   Rob brings over 20 years of diverse tax and finance experience to his transfer pricing projects.  He has spent over fourteen of those years in KPMG’s tax practice where he gained extensive experience in international structuring for global expansions and IP migration.  He has extensive experience in conducting transfer pricing analysis for multinational enterprises with respect to advisory, planning, audit and compliance matters.  This includes assisting clients to identify and implement transfer pricing strategies that have generated substantial value in achieving their business and tax objectives, as well as prepare transfer pricing documentation for a strong defense against tax authority audits.  He has been involved in various global tax planning initiatives.  He also has experience in technology intangibles valuation and planning and the effective implementation of cost sharing arrangements. Rob has spent six years in industry in such diverse sectors as automotive, real estate, marketing services, software, broadcasting, and manufacturing.  His industry accomplishments include managing all tax aspects of the successful spin-off of real estate assets of an existing public company into a new public company.  He was also responsible for implementing tax effective international financing structures for large public companies.  He has dealt with CRA on various audit defense matters.  Rob’s experience in consulting and industry gives him a unique perspective and understanding of his clients’ practical requirements. Rob is a member of Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario and a member of the Canadian Tax Foundation.  He obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Toronto and received his CA designation in 1992.

Mark Hart

Most recently Mark Hart served as Vice President, CIBC Commercial Mortgages – with $8.5B in loans under administration and 80 staff. He has a broad base of financial services experience spanning 20 years in both U.S and Canada. Prior to CIBC, he was Senior Vice President and Chief Sales Officer for CIT Canada Commercial Finance.

Mark has also worked at Atlanta-based SunTrust Bank (7th largest bank in the US) as a Vice President Business Development, International Factoring before he was promoted to Group Vice President of the Suntrust’s Equity Wholesale Lending Group. Previously he had worked in the U.S. as Director of Sales for Paris-based, Coface, one of the world’s largest credit insurers and risk management companies – opening up one their first offices in North America. He also held a management position with CIBC Mortgages in 1995.

Mark joined UFSC Toronto as a Corporate Advisory Board Member in January 2011.

Scott Mullin

Scott Mullin joined TD Bank Financial Group (TDBFG) in May 2000 and as Vice President, Government and Community Relations is responsible for TDBFG's government relations, community giving and sponsorship programs and corporate environmental affairs. He is also actively involved in TDBFG's diversity agenda. Prior to TDBFG, Mr. Mullin spent two years with the Canadian Bankers Association as Vice President, Public Affairs where he was responsible for the industry's association's communications, advocacy and government relations activities. After graduating from Carleton University with a BA (Political Science) in 1977, Mr. Mullin spent 19 years with the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.   He served in a variety of assignments including Canada's Senior Trade Commissioner in Hong Kong from 1993 to 1997 and Spokesperson for the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1991 to 1993.  In 1989 he re-opened Canada's embassy in Tehran and as Charge d'affaires was Canada's senior representative in Iran until 1991.  Mr. Mullin also served in Nairobi and Beirut. Mr. Mullin serves on several boards including the Youth Challenge Fund, set-up by the Ontario government to address youth issues in under privileged neighbourhoods in Toronto, the Advisory Board of the Dominion Institute, a national organization dedicated to creating active and informed citizens and he is Chair of the City of Toronto's Nathan Phillips Square Revitalization Public Advisory Group.

Al Ramsay

Al Ramsay joined TD Bank Financial Group in March 2004 in the role of Manager, Community Relations and Business Development – supporting the diversity portfolio. In 2007, Al joined TD’s Human Resources team as Senior Manager, Corporate Diversity. Last November, Al assumed his most recent position as Senior Manager, Customer Segments and Strategies in Marketing, continuing his work in diversity from a customer standpoint which includes: Visible Minorities, Persons with Disabilities, Aboriginal Peoples and the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender communities.  Al graduated from Ryerson University in 2000 with a Bachelor of Commerce in Marketing.

Linc Rogers

Linc Rogers is a Partner in the Restructuring & Insolvency Group of Blake, Cassels & Graydon.  His practice focuses on all aspects of commercial reorganizations, distressed acquisitions, debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing and security enforcement.  Linc has been involved in a number of high profile engagements in a variety of industry sectors. He is also an active contributor to legal education.  Linc has published extensively in Canadian, U.S. and international periodicals, and has guest lectured in the insolvency sections of the Osgoode Hall Law School's business intensive program and the Windsor Law School advanced business law program.  He also speaks frequently on diversity issues in the legal profession and has been recognized by a number of leading publications for his accomplishments in this area. Linc holds a law degree (LLB) from the University of Ottawa, and Master degree in International Affairs from the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, and an undergraduate degree in Political Science from the University of Alberta.

Natalie Stuart

Natalie Stuart is Senior Manager, Talent Development with BMO Financial Group. During her eight year career with BMO, Natalie's primary focus has been on facilitation, leadership development and coaching. Natalie is a highly experienced human resource professional who has effectively led leadership teams through change management and strategy implementation. She was accountable for the development and implementation of the bank’s Senior Leader 360 Feedback survey and process, which provides leaders across the organization with feedback, on how well they are demonstrating the leadership capabilities critical for success. Prior to joining BMO in 2001, Natalie worked in the Insurance and Technology industries as a consultant where she drove revenue growth by introducing a focused target client strategy and developed and implemented a competency-based performance and development program to assess employee performance. Natalie is currently  pursuing her coaching accreditation through the Coache Training Institute. She possesses an MBA from Schulich School of Business and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from University of Toronto.

Ray Williams

Ray Williams is a financial services executive with over 25 years of experience in Global Capital Markets. Mr. Williams has worked for major financial institutions in both Europe and North America, in various management capacities.  He has also been actively involved in diversity programs at his places of employ.  He has been an active and continuous member of the local chapter of the Urban Financial Services Coalitions (UFSC).  Mr. Williams is a Past President of UFSC and continues to be actively involved with the organization at all levels, and in that capacity acts as a mentor to a number of individuals.  Mr. Williams is also a past advisor to the Federal Government (2000-2006), specifically, the President of the Public Service Commission (PSC) & the President of the Publics Service Human Resource Management Canada (PSHRMAC), and the Clerk of the Privy Council, as part of an External Advisory Group (EAG) on Embracing Change, a program designed to reconcile the evident disparities of Visible Minorities within the Federal Public Service and Federally regulated industries. Mr. Williams currently sits on two Boards. CANFAR – The Canadian Foundation for Aids Research, and is also the Chair of CANFARs' Investment Committee. United Way of Greater Toronto – Investment Committee. Additionally he is enrolled with DiverseCity onBoard as part of the Maytree Toronto City Summit initiative. Mr. Williams is currently Head & Managing Director Institutional Derivative Sales at National Bank Financial (NBF) the investment banking arm of National Bank of Canada (NBC). and is responsible for marketing Derivative solutions to a wide range of clients across Canada.