Janice M. Baker, FCA
City of Mississauga, Mississauga

Janice Baker is the City Manager and Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) for the City of Mississauga. 

Janice brings with her an extensive background in both the private and public sector. She has 20 years of municipal government and fiscal administration experience, serving as Director of Finance and City Treasurer for the City of St. John's, Newfoundland and Commissioner of Corporate Services and then Commissioner of Public Works for the City of Oshawa, Ontario.

She joined the City of Mississauga in May 1999, as Commissioner of Corporate Services and Treasurer and was promoted to City Manager and Chief Administrative Officer in 2005.

Janice has served on a number of Professional and Community Boards throughout her career. In 2005, 2007 and 2009 she was named one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women by the Women’s Executive Network. The award honours the success and extraordinary accomplishments of Canadian women. Janice participates in the Women’s Network Mentoring program which matches young women executives with the Top 100 Women to share experiences and career ideas.

Janice earned a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) degree from Memorial University of Newfoundland in 1979 and went on to become a Chartered Accountant in 1982.  She is also a resident of Mississauga.

Michael K. Banks, CA
BDO Canada LLP, Burlington

Michael Banks is a Partner of BDO Canada LLP in Burlington.

An Ontario Chartered Accountant since 1997, Michael serves the accounting and assurance needs of his clients who operate primarily in the manufacturing, leasing and not-for-profit sectors. He is well known in the GTA automotive and leasing communities and has extensive experience working with both originators and issuers in vehicle and equipment lease securitizations. Michael is a member of the Canadian Finance and Leasing Association and also serves on its Accounting Advisory Committee.

Michael has been active on many Institute committees including the Council Bylaws Review Committee as well as the Public Accounting Licensing Board. In 2009, he was a recipient of the Institute's Award of Distinction.

Michael is a past Chair of the Board of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Halton and currently serves the Burlington Community Foundation as its Secretary/Treasurer.

Julie Bertoia, CA
Royal Bank of Canada, Toronto

Julie Bertoia is Director of Accounting Policy for the Royal Bank of Canada. She previously worked in the Corporate Finance Branch of the Ontario Securities Commission and spent several years in public practice with both Ernst & Young LLP and Deloitte & Touche LLP.

Julie received her Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from Queen’s University and completed her MBA at the University of Toronto.

She has been a member of the Institute's Membership, Bylaws, and Professional Development and Lifelong Learning committees.

Active in her community, Julie also serves as Treasurer and Board Member of a condominium corporation, is a Finance Committee member of her community church, and is a past Board member of the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Management Alumni Association.

Joel Cohen, FCA
RSM Richter LLP, Toronto

Joel Cohen is a senior partner in the Audit group at RSM Richter in Toronto and is the leader of the firm’s Dispute Resolution and Mediation practice. A partner with the firm for more than 31 years, Joel has extensive experience in audit, advisory services and income tax planning.

A Chartered Accountant in Ontario and Quebec since 1970, Joel earned his CA designation in Alberta in 2003. His service to the profession includes advocating for reduced liability for Chartered Accountants in Ontario and investigating accounting and auditing matters for the Ontario Institute. Joel also has extensive experience in financial mediation and alternative dispute resolution and is a member of the ADR Institute of Canada Inc. and the ADR Institute of Ontario Inc.

Active in his community, Joel was Treasurer of the Bloorview MacMillan Children’s Foundation from 1995 to 2004. He also served as the Foundation’s Finance and Audit Committee Chair from 1996 to 2004 and as its Investment Subcommittee Chair from 1996 to 2003.

Georgina Daniels, CA
Thunder Bay District Health Unit, Thunder Bay

Georgina Daniels is the Manager of Finance at the Thunder Bay District Health Unit.

Having experience in a variety of sectors, Georgina served as the Budget Supervisor for the City of Thunder Bay, Controller for Capital Financial Services, Financial Officer for the Ministry of Education and Training, and worked in public practice with KPMG Peat Marwick Thorne, now Grant Thornton LLP.

She graduated from Lakehead University with a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) in 1986 and received an award for the highest mark on the UFE in Northwestern Ontario in 1988.  An Ontario Chartered Accountant since 1989, Georgina has been a member of the Northwestern Ontario District CA Association Executive since 1998.

An active member of the Thunder Bay community, Georgina has acted as Treasurer of Leadership Thunder Bay; Treasurer of Communities Together for Children; and Treasurer, Director and Secretary of Magnus Theatre Northwest Inc. She has been a canvasser and Area Captain for the Heart & Stroke Foundation and received an appreciation award for her volunteer services in establishing the Footsteps Family Centre.

Christie E. V. Henderson, CA, CFP, TEP
Henderson Partners LLP, Oakville

Christie Henderson is managing partner of Henderson Partners, LLP, a mid-sized firm of chartered accountants and professional advisors located in Oakville serving private business in the GTA.

A Chartered Accountant since 1998, Christie earned her designation while with Ernst & Young serving high net worth clients in the Tax and Wealth Management Practice. She is a Certified Financial Planner and a Trust and Estate Practitioner. In addition, she has completed the CICA's In-Depth Tax Course, the Canadian Securities Course, the Canadian Investment Funds Course and is a member of the Canadian Tax Foundation.

Christie is author of the national best seller Taxes for Canadians for Dummies published by Wiley & Sons and is a respected media expert on tax and personal finance to CBC, The Globe and Mail, Global TV and others.

Christie was the recipient of the 2009 Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario's Award of Distinction, and has been nominated one of Canada's "Top 40 under 40" and for the RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards. She is a board member of the Oakville Hospital Foundation, and has served for many years on both the Board of Governors of St. Mildred's Lightbourn School and the Board of the United Way of Oakville on the governance, finance and audit committees.

Jane E. Kinney, FCA
Deloitte & Touche LLP, Toronto

Jane E. Kinney is a Partner with Deloitte & Touche LLP based in Toronto. She is a Vice Chair of the firm and Canadian Managing Partner  - Client Excellence. Jane is responsible for all aspects of Quality & Risk in the Canadian firm and is a member of the Deloitte Canada Executive team. Jane is a recognized leader in Risk Management, Regulatory Compliance and Internal Audit Services with over 25 years of experience in the Financial Institutions sector.

Jane received her Bachelor of Math from the University of Waterloo in 1982 and received her Chartered Accountant designation from the Ontario Institute in 1983.

Jane is a Vice Chair of the Alzheimer’s Society of Toronto and has been a member of the Board of Directors for 4 years. Previously she has served on the ICAO Practice Inspection and Applications Committees.

Jane has lectured on auditing and management accounting at various universities in Canada including Ryerson University, University of Manitoba, Saint Mary’s and Dalhousie.

Mary Lou Maher, FCA
KPMG LLP, Toronto

Mary Lou Maher is the Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Financial Officer of KPMG Canada which is a $1 billion professional accounting firm. In that role, she is responsible for finance, administration, information technology, real estate, purchasing and continuous improvement initiatives. Mary Lou is a member of the Canadian firm’s Management Committee. She also participates in the Americas (KPMG North/South America) CFO and Technology Committees. Mary Lou has previously held the role of Chief Human Resources Officer of KPMG Canada and was a Business Unit Leader for an audit practice in Toronto.

She completed her B.Comm at McMaster University in 1983 and achieved her Chartered Accountant designation in 1985. Mary Lou was elected a Fellow of the Ontario Institute in 2009.

Mary Lou was named a Trail Blazer for Women CAs by CAmagazine in 2005. She was awarded a Top 100 Powerful Women honour in 2006 for the professional category. Mary Lou now participates in the Women’s Network Mentoring program which matches young women executives with the Top 100 Women to share experiences and career ideas. Mary Lou is also involved with The Mentoring Partnership, as a mentor to recently immigrated Canadians to assist them in finding a career in the Canadian business world.

Isabel Meharry, FCA
Green Shield Canada, Toronto

Isabel Meharry is Vice-President, Finance, Secretary Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer for Green Shield Canada, which specializes in group and individual health and dental programs and administration.

A Chartered Accountant since 1980, Isabel has more than 25 years in senior financial and operating roles. Prior to joining Green Shield Canada, she held the position of President and Chief Executive Officer of Financial Executive International Canada. She has also served as the Executive Consultant to the Chairman and CEO of Sun Life Financial of Canada in Hong Kong, as an Executive Vice-President of Aviva Insurance Company, the Chief Financial Officer of the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia and the Chief Auditor at North American Life Insurance Company (now part of Manulife).

Isabel is a frequent speaker and panelist at financial and governance conferences and meetings. She is a faculty member of Director’s College in Niagara-on-the-Lake and has served as an instructor at several academic institutions. She is also a member of the Board of Directors and Chair of the Audit Committee of Infrastructure Ontario.

Active in her community, Isabel serves on the Board of Directors and as Chair of the Audit Committee of Kerry’s Place Autism Services and sits on the Board of Directors of the Scarborough General Hospital.

Cathy Russell, CA
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Toronto

Cathy Russell is Partner and National Human Capital Leader, Audit and Assurance Group at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in Toronto. In addition to her client responsibilities, she is responsible for all human capital strategy and initiatives for the Audit and Assurance Group in Canada, consisting of over 2,000 employees.

A CA since 1987, Cathy obtained her bachelor of Business Administration from the Schulich School of Business at York University.

She began her career with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in 1985 and was admitted to partnership in January 1999 in the Audit and Assurance group. Cathy possesses significant experience in the retail and consumer packaged goods sector, pharmaceuticals, as well as in the public sector.

Cathy is Chair of the Learning & Development Committee for the Audit & Assurance Group, National Audit and Assurance Leader for the firm’s “Women in Leadership” initiative, and a member of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP’s Canadian Audit and Assurance Leadership Group.

R. Alan Webb, PhD, FCA
University of Waterloo, Waterloo

Alan Webb is an Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo. Alan has authored and co-authored several articles in accounting journals including: The Accounting Review; Journal of Accounting Research; Accounting, Organizations and Society; Contemporary Accounting Research; Issues in Accounting Education; and CA Magazine. He is a co-recipient of the American Accounting Association’s 2009 Notable Contribution to Auditing Literature Award.

A Chartered Accountant since 1987, Alan has served on the Education Committee of the New Brunswick Institute of Chartered Accountants, the UFE inter-provincial review committee, the Boards of Fairhavens Christian Care Association (Bermuda) and Parkminster United Church (Waterloo), and has volunteered as a coach in numerous minor sports associations.

John Wright, CA
McLarty & Co Professional Corporation, Ottawa

As a Director of Assurance Services for McLarty & Co Professional Corporation, John Wright is responsible for directing assurance engagements for service, manufacturing, construction and professional entities as well as not-for-profit organizations. John has performed consulting and specialized audit engagements for a number of federal and provincial departments and agencies, private companies and not-for-profit entities. He has also acted as an external Chief Financial Officer for a pre-initial public offering company in the transportation industry. Internationally, he has worked in Africa, Asia, Central America and Europe.
 
John is an experienced, knowledgeable Chartered Accountant and consultant with strong tax skills. His structured and disciplined approach to projects combined with his experience as a Certified Management Consultant has led to many opportunities to help clients with business planning and cash flow projections. He works closely with clients to ensure that they are provided with timely advice and assistance on corporate matters.

John has been active as a leader of the local Chartered Accountants Association for the past 7 years, including two years as President. In addition, he has been involved in a number of local charitable organizations and minor sports teams in the Ottawa area.

Public Representative

Tim Kennish, LL.B
Toronto

Tim Kennish is a retired partner of Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP and the firm’s former co-Chair. He has been one of Canada’s most highly regarded practitioners in the field of competition/antitrust law.

Tim graduated from Harvard University in 1961, from Osgoode Law School in 1964, and was called to the Ontario Bar in 1966. He is past-President of the Harvard Club of Toronto.
Tim has, for many years, been considered one of the top Canadian lawyers in his field as reflected by his inclusion in the listings of leading practitioners of numerous recognized legal ratings publishers.

Tim is a member of: the American Bar Association, Antitrust Section; past-Chair of the Canadian Bar Association, National Competition Law Section; past-Chair of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce Task Force on Competition Law and Policy; and a member of the Editorial Board of the Canadian Competition Record. He is the past-Chair of the Board of Governors of Trinity College School, has been the Chair of its 150th Anniversary Campaign Planning Committee, and is currently Co-Chair of the Campaign. He is the past-Chair of the Board of Directors of Breakfast for Learning. Tim is a member of the Independent Review Committee for the CIBC group of mutual funds. He was the Chair of Major Gifts for the recently completed Osgoode Hall Law School "Building Osgoode" Campaign.

Robert C. Wong, B.Sc., MBA
Leon Frazer & Associates Inc., Toronto

Bob Wong is Vice Chairman and a Senior Portfolio Manager at Leon Frazer & Associates Inc. Investment Counsel. In 1987, he was elected to the Ontario Legislature and served as Minister of Energy and Minister of Citizenship in the Cabinet of Premier David Peterson.

Prior to serving in the Ontario government, he was a Senior Partner and Director of several Toronto Stock Exchange member firms where he was engaged in investment research, corporate finance, institutional and retail sales. He was also a founding director of Canada’s first multilingual television station, CFMT Channel 47, now known as OMNI.

Bob studied Mathematics and Physics at the University of Toronto where he received his undergraduate degree, followed by an MBA in finance from the Schulich School of Business.

During his years as a securities analyst, he was named Analyst of the Year by the Financial Times of Canada. He is also a recipient of the Corvoisier Award for Leadership and The Arbor Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service to the University of Toronto.

Active in community service, Bob has served on numerous boards including the Toronto Board of Trade, Toronto Community Foundation, and the Board of Regents of Victoria University (U of T). He is currently a director of the Canadian Automobile Association, CAA South Central Ontario (and past Chair 2005-7), Schulich International Advisory Council and George Brown College.

Graham T. Parsons
Waterloo

Graham Parsons has over 30 years’ experience in the financial services industry. As Executive VP, Global Private Banking, for BMO Financial Group, he led the development and delivery of private banking services for high net worth clients delivered through professionals in over 50 offices across North America and select Asian markets.

Graham joined BMO Financial Group in 1992. In 1995, he was appointed Vice-President, and in 1999 he was promoted to Senior Vice-President, Southwestern Ontario, Personal and Commercial Client Group. Later in 1999, Graham assumed responsibility for bringing the U.S. Harris business model into Canada to launch BMO Harris Private Banking. In 2002, he became responsible for the U.S. Harris Private Banking business. Graham was a member of BMO Financial Group’s Management Committee and served on the Boards for the trust company of the Bank of Montreal and BMO Harris Investment Management Inc.

Graham earned his Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Western Ontario.

Graham supports organizations that help to improve the well-being of adults, children and youth. He is currently National Chair of the Kids Help Phone Futures Campaign. As a long-time contributor and subscriber to the arts, Graham has served on the boards of the Shaw Festival, CanStage Theatre Company in Toronto and the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony. Graham joined the Stratford Shakespeare Festival’s Board of Governors in March 2009 and currently serves on the Advancement and Finance and Audit committees.

Ginny Dybenko
Stratford Campus, University of Waterloo

Ginny Dybenko comes to the role of Executive Director – Stratford Campus, from her previous role as Executive - Strategic Initiatives for Wilfrid Laurier University.  Ginny spent five years as the Dean of the Wilfrid Laurier School of Business & Economics and has over 30 years of corporate experience. Her current role is focused on building the University of the 21st century – developing strategic directions, critical advocacy issues and high priority projects for the university.

A champion of technical programs for youth, she has served on and chaired the Youth in Motion Educational Foundation (Top 20 Under 20 scholarship competition) and is currently a member of SSHRC (Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada), Canadian Safety Association, Greater Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber of Commerce, KW Symphony and the Waterloo North Hydro Boards.

Ginny is a long-standing adjudicator for Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Awards, the Fulbright Scholarship Foundation and RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards.  She is one of the founding members of the Canadian Board Diversity Council – Women’s Executive Network. Ginny is also President and Founder of the Waterloo Chapter of the International Women’s Forum and was recently named one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women.