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GRI Sustainable Finance Advisory Committee

The Sustainable Finance Advisory Committee (SFAC) provides strategic insight to GRI on the ongoing development of its sustainable finance and climate risk-related activities and advises on the prioritization of initiatives. The SFAC is comprised of leaders from various finance disciplines from industry, government and academia, bringing a deep understanding of the intricate interplay between finance and sustainability. This is critical given GRI’s mandate to act as a key facilitator and coordinator of sustainable finance activities in the Canadian market.

Sonia Baxendale President and Chief Executive Officer

Sonia Baxendale

President and Chief Executive Officer, Global Risk Institute

Sonia Baxendale is President & CEO of Global Risk Institute (GRI). In this role, Sonia brings together leaders from industry, academia and government to focus on emerging risk issues.

Sonia has extensive experience as an executive and non-executive in the financial services industry globally.

Sonia is an active corporate director who sits on the boards of Laurentian Bank, Definity Financial Corp., and Intermediate Capital Group (ICG). She is past Chair of the Board of SickKids Foundation. In 2023, she was appointed to a three-member investment committee overseeing the $23.4 billion First Nations Child and Family Services settlement fund.

Prior to joining GRI, Sonia held senior roles at CIBC, including Senior Executive Vice President and President of CIBC Retail Markets, where she led the Retail & Commercial Banking and Wealth Management businesses. She played a key role in developing strategy and direction for CIBC. Prior to CIBC, she held various positions with American Express Canada and Saatchi & Saatchi.

Sonia is a graduate of the University of Toronto, where she was named the Victoria College Alumni of Distinction in 2017. She was named one of the “Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada” for three years in a row and then joined the ranks of the Top 100 Hall of Fame in 2010. In 2000, she was recognized as one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40.

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Paul Cunha

Executive Vice President, Non-Financial Risk Management, TD Bank Group

Paul Cunha has been with TD since 1992 in various roles in Branch Banking, Commercial Banking, TD Securities Corporate Credit, Audit and Risk Management.
As EVP, Non-Financial Risk Management, Paul leads a team of risk professionals who are responsible for overseeing non-financial risk for the enterprise including enterprise risk, operational risk, data risk, technology/cyber risk, third party risk management, model risk management and ESG risk.

Across his career, Paul has held a number of diverse executive roles including SVP and Head of Credit Risk Management supporting TD Securities and the Canadian Business Bank; U.S. Chief Credit Officer where he was accountable for the independent oversight of Credit Risk across all retail and non-retail portfolios in the U.S.; SVP and Head, TDBG Operational Risk Management where he was responsible for overseeing operational risk across the enterprise including the Operational Risk Management Capital Program, Business Continuity Management, and Resolution and Recovery Plans; VP & Head, TDBG Enterprise Risk Management; and a relationship manager/credit originator/adjudicator in Commercial Banking and TD Securities. He has also led several critical initiatives including the bank’s first resolution plan, the Risk Information Strategy for the Enterprise (RISE) program, and the Non-Retail OSFI Advanced Capital program in the U.S.

Paul graduated from Wilfrid Laurier University with an Honours Bachelor of Business Administration degree, is a CFA Charterholder, and has completed the Advanced Risk Management program at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

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Blair Feltmate

Head, Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation, University of Waterloo

Blair is the Head of the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation, University of Waterloo. Previous positions he has held include Vice President, Sustainable Development, Bank of Montreal; Director, Sustainable Development, OPG; Partner, Sustainable Investment Group/YMG Capital Management; and President, Sustainable Systems Associates. Blair has written textbooks on Sustainable Banking (University of Toronto Press), and Aquatic Ecology (CAB International). He is generally interviewed by the media 100-150 times per year.

Blair is Chair, Adaptation Committee, Canadian Institute for Climate Choices, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC). He is a member of the Sustainable Finance Advisory Comittee, Global Risk Institute. Blair is on the Advisory Board on Climate Change, Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP), Ontario. He was Chair, Federal Government of Canada Expert Panel on Climate Adaptation, and Chair, Electricity Transmission and Distribution Adaptation Standard, Canadian Standards Association. He is former Chair of Pollution Probe, and he was Chair/Founding Member of the Sustainable Electricity Program, Canadian Electricity Association. Blair developed the sustainable development programs for more than two dozen multi-national corporations, and he launched Canada’s first ESG based institutional funds in the mid-1990s.

Blair was an NSERC Canada Post-Doctoral Fellow. He holds a Ph.D in Theoretical and Applied Ecology, Masters in Sustainable Development, Masters in Zoology, and a Hon. Bachelor’s in Life Sciences.

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Toni Gravelle

Deputy Governor, Bank of Canada

Toni Gravelle became Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada in October 2019. In this role, he oversees the Bank’s financial system activities and shares responsibility for setting monetary policy.

Mr. Gravelle first joined the Bank as an analyst in 1996 and went on to hold various positions within the Financial Markets Department, becoming Managing Director in 2015. In addition to his extensive research experience at the Bank, Mr. Gravelle serves as General Director of the Financial Sector Policy Branch at the Canadian Department of Finance from 2013 to 2015 and was the economist at the International Monetary Fund from 2002 to 2005.

Mr. Gravelle is a native of Corbeil, Ontario and holds a Ph.D in Economics from Western University.

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Miranda Hubbs

Corporate Director, Nutrien, Imperial Oil, PSP Investments, CIRO

Miranda Hubbs is a Corporate Director serving on the boards of Nutrien, Imperial Oil, PSP Investments, and the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO). She previously served on the boards of Spectra Energy and Agrium. She is Chair of the Canadian Red Cross, and a member of the ICD Climate Strategy Advisory Board.

Miranda holds a BSc from Western University and an MBA from the Schulich School of Business at York University. She is a CFA charterholder, holds the CERT certificate in Cybersecurity Oversight, and is a SASB FSA credential holder. Before her retirement in 2011, Miranda was Executive Vice President and Managing Director of McLean Budden, one of Canada’s largest institutional asset managers, where she was recognized by Brendan Wood International as a TopGun Top 50 Portfolio Manager in Canada, and a TopGun Investment Mind (Oil and Gas) Canada. Prior to McLean Budden, she was an energy research analyst and investment banker with Gordon Capital.

headshot of Steve Mennill

Steve Mennill

Planning and Housing Finance Consultant, and Independent Board Director

Steve Mennill is a planning and housing finance consultant and independent board director, with an interest in improving climate compatibility, social inclusion and housing affordability.

Over a 30-year career with Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Steve held a variety of senior positions in housing policy, mortgage insurance, chief risk officer, and chief climate officer. Steve has also worked as a consulting urban planner.

Steve serves on the boards of directors of the Ottawa Food Bank, Evergreen Canada, the advisory committee of the Intact Centre for Climate adaptation, and two community-based associations.   He holds an MBA (University of Toronto Rotman), and degrees in urban planning (University of Waterloo) and urban land economics (University of British Columbia), is a holder of the Institute of Corporate Directors designation (ICD.D) and a registered professional urban planner (RPP, MCIP).

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Mike Pedersen

Corporate Director

Mike Pedersen is a Corporate Director who serves on the boards of CGI Group, AtkinsRéalis, and Nature Conservancy of Canada. He is also Chair of the Advisory Committee of the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation at the University of Waterloo, and a member of the Global Risk Institute’s Sustainable Finance Advisory Committee.

Mike was Chair of the Board of the Business Development Bank of Canada from 2018 to 2023.  Prior to that he was President and CEO of TD Bank, America’s Most Convenient Bank, a top ten bank in the United States. He held senior leadership roles in financial services around the world for 35 years and is a former Chair of the Canadian Bankers Association.

Mike has a long and ongoing involvement with charitable organizations focused on nature, the environment, and social services. He graduated from the University of British Columbia with a Bachelor of Commerce degree and from the University of Toronto with a Master of Industrial Relations degree.

Alyson Slater

Managing Director, Global Head of Stewardship and Engagement, Manulife Investment Management

As a member of the sustainable investment leadership team at Manulife Investment Management, Alyson Slater leads stewardship and engagement strategy and implementation across global public markets. The firm serves institutional, retail and retirement clients in North America, Asia and Europe with $1 trillion in assets under management. Investment stewardship entails looking ahead to achieve better outcomes and more resilient portfolios. To that end, Alyson oversees a program that prioritizes engagement with issuers, clients, policymakers, and other stakeholders to address systemic risks and opportunities.

Alyson brings over 20 years of experience to her role, with expertise in nature and climate risk, equity and inclusion, and a wide range of other sustainability issues, gained through her work as a senior executive at leading consultancies and international organizations in Europe and Asia. She’s a member of the Canadian Sustainability Standards Board (CSSB). Alyson graduated with degrees in environmental science and resource management from McGill (B.A. Hons) and the University of British Columbia (M.A.) 

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Barbara Zvan

President and Chief Executive Officer, University Pension Plan Ontario (UPP)

Barbara Zvan is the Inaugural President and Chief Executive Officer of the University Pension Plan Ontario (UPP) and former Chief Risk and Strategy Officer for the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. Recognized as a leading voice on sustainable investing and an ambassador for defined benefit pensions, Barbara is known for her efforts to bring institutional strength to complex challenges and forge new collaborative pathways for innovation and growth.

She serves on the boards of various global institutions and associations focused on pension management, risk and responsible investing, including the Global Risk Institute, Responsible Investment Association and the advisory board of the Institute of Sustainable Finance at the Smith School of Business. She was appointed to the Government of Canada’s Expert Panel on Sustainable Finance, is a member of the Advisory Committee for the new ‘Investing to Address Climate Change’ Charter and played a significant role in creating the G7 Investor Leadership Network.

Barbara is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and the Canadian Institute of Actuaries, a holder of the Institute of Corporate Directors designation (ICD.D) and has a Master of Mathematics degree from the University of Waterloo. She is an honouree of Canada’s 2020 Clean50 and Canada’s 2008 Top 40 Under 40.