Our leadership

Bill Chinery is a Director of the IA Financial Group and a Member of the Advisory Committee of Greensky Capital Inc. Bill was CEO of BlackRock Asset Management Canada until early 2013. During his 13 years with BlackRock and its predecessor Barclays Global Investors, Bill was a Managing Director in both the Toronto and San Francisco offices with various responsibilities including heading the Latin America and the Americas Institutional Business. Prior to BlackRock, Bill spent six years as Senior Vice-President, Quantitative Products at YMG Capital Management Inc. He started his career at Mercer where he had account responsibility for some of the largest pension plans in Canada. Bill also started the Mercer Investment Consulting practice. Bill holds a BMath from the University of Waterloo, is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, a Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries, and holds the Institute of Corporate Directors designation (ICD.D). He is currently on the Advisory Committee of GreenSky Capital Inc.

Cathy Cranston is an independent public company board Director for Toromont Industries Ltd. Chairs Toromont’s Audit Committee, and sits on the Nominating & Governance Committee. Cathy is a former Treasurer of BMO Financial Group (BMO), where she was a senior executive with 32 years of experience. Cathy’s prior business experience includes executive roles as Head of Investor Relations, CFO of the Bank's Wealth Management business, VP of Integrated Risk Management, as well as senior roles in capital markets and corporate banking. Her prior Board experience includes Bank of Montreal (Barbados) Limited, Bank of Montreal Mortgage Corporation, BMO Trust Company, BMO InvestorLine, BMO Harris Investment Management Inc., and BMO Nesbitt Burns Financial Services Inc. Cathy is past Chair and a Governor on the Board of Royal St. George’s College; currently Chairs the Nominating & Governance Committee. She is a member of the Advisory Panel on Resolution for Canadian Deposit Insurance Corporation. Cathy obtained an MBA and B.Comm. (Honours) from the University of Manitoba and holds the Institute of Corporate Directors designation (ICD.D).

Patti Croft has extensive expertise in global macroeconomics and the financial sector. She began her career at Burns Fry before moving on to CIBC Wood Gundy. Patti has been the Chief Economist with RBC Global Asset Management; Phillips, Hager and North; Sceptre Investment Counsel and TD Canada Trust.

Monika is an experienced C-suite executive with an extensive career in the financial services industry and in 2019 was a recipient of the Top 100 Canada's Most Powerful Women award by Women's Executive Network (WXN), for her efforts to advance women in leadership by breaking down barriers for future generations. She recently retired from the role of Chief Strategy Officer for Intact Financial Corporate where she spent the past decade contributing to the company's growth and outperformance as Canada's leading P&C insurance company, and a leader in North American Specialty insurance. Monika began her career in the insurance industry in product development, sales and marketing. She then held senior marketing and operations roles at software and e-commerce companies where she was responsible for customer acquisition and revenue generation in Canada, the US and Australia. Prior to Intact, Monika lived in Hong Kong working for a global life insurer where she was responsible for developing and executing strategies to enhance the company’s brand throughout Asia. Monika serves on the Board of Assuris, the Board of UNICEF Canada, the Advisory board of the Smith School of Business at Queen’s University and the Advisory Board of the Intact Centre for Climate Adaptation. Monika earned a bachelor’s degree from York University and an MBA from the Smith School of Business, Queen’s University.

Prior to her retirement, Ms. Forbes was the Global Chief Analytics Officer and interim Chief Marketing Officer for Manulife and a member of the Executive Leadership Team. She has spent over 35 years with Manulife including six years as Chief Actuary subsequent to holding senior finance roles in the company’s Asia, Reinsurance, Investment and U.S. divisions. As Chief Analytics Officer, she built Manulife’s global predictive modelling and machine learning function that successfully created value for the company’s operations. As interim Chief Marketing Officer, she laid the foundation for meaningful advances in sustainability reporting and carbon reduction targets. She holds an Honours Bachelor of Mathematics degree from the University of Waterloo. She is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and a Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries, and is the current Chairperson of the Board of Governors at University of Waterloo.

Lise Fournel was Senior Vice-President and Chief Information Officer at Air Canada until early 2017. She is a technology expert with a global perspective in marketing and revenue management and e-commerce. Over her more than 35-year career with Air Canada, Lise has held increasingly senior positions in Technology, Strategic Planning and Passenger Commercial. She was also President of Destina.ca.

Gene Lewis started his career as an elementary school teacher in Ontario and was later appointed principal. He served as General Secretary of the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario from 1998 until his retirement in 2013. During his career, he was an active participant on the Ontario Teachers' Federation Executive and on its Board of Governors. Gene gained extensive experience and expertise in the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan by serving on committees such as the Ontario Teachers' Sustainability Workgroup and the Partners' Consultative Committee.

George Lewis enjoyed a thirty-year career as a professional and executive leader with RBC, one of Canada's largest financial institutions, before retiring in 2016 to focus on serving as a corporate director. George serves on the board of Legal & General Group plc, the AOG Group and the Canadian Film Centre. His previous board experience includes Cenovus Energy, Enbridge Income Fund Holdings, Ontario Power Generation, Operation Springboard, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), The Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Anglican Diocese of Toronto Foundation and the Holland Bloorview Foundation. George earned a MBA degree with distinction from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Commerce degree with high distinction from Trinity College at the University of Toronto. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants (FCA), a CFA charter-holder and is certified by the Institute of Corporate Directors.

Steve McGirr was Senior Executive Vice-President and Chief Risk Officer of CIBC until 2007. Prior to that, he was President of CIBC World Markets, and held a number of key leadership positions over a 24-year career at CIBC World Markets and Wood Gundy.

John Murray served as Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada from 2008 until his retirement from the Bank in 2014. As a member of the Bank's Governing Council, he shared responsibility for decisions on monetary policy, financial system stability, and strategic direction. John joined the Bank of Canada in 1980 and held progressively senior roles in his 34-year career.

Former Executive Vice-President, Personal & Commercial Development, and Head of Small Business Banking, BMO Bank of Montreal; Former partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers; Former board member, ARC Resources Inc., Finning International Inc. and Cadillac Fairview; Past chair, St. Joseph’s Health Centre Foundation and St. Joseph’s Health Centre, Toronto.