At WGOB Summit Toronto, boardroom experts and thought leaders will explore what boards should consider in their four lines of sight: oversight, hindsight, insight and foresight.
Attendees will be invited to unpack the critical boardroom issues of 2024 and beyond, examining the board's role and what it means to be a steward of the future.
Anu has 13 years of leadership experience with International Justice Mission (IJM). In South Asia, she served as the Director of Operations, the Director of National Interventions and the Director of Legal. During her time with IJM, Anu has worked extensively to impact justice systems by collaborating with state and local governments in South Asia.
Anu initiated and led IJM’s first ever partnership program and oversaw the training of more than 17,000 police officers, government officials, and NGO’s on the rescue and rehabilitation of individuals trapped in slavery and bringing criminals to justice. As a result of Anu’s leadership, more than 10,000 individuals have been rescued from forced labour slavery.
Anu holds a master’s degree in Business Administration from Edith Cowan University, Australia and a Master’s degree in Organizational Leadership from Eastern University. She successfully completed her B.A., B.L. from Dr. Ambedkar Government Law College and acquired a special diploma in Intellectual Property Law.
Anu has used her creative communications skills to bring social issues to the public’s attention by writing and producing radio dramas and street theatre with social messages. Her dedication to the empowerment of people who are vulnerable to poverty and violence, her vision for social change, and knowledge about international issues, have all led to Anu being awarded several honours; one of which was being recognized as a Sauvé Scholar by the Canadian government. She represented South Asia as a Youth Ambassador to Dhaka in 2003 through the National Cadet Corps, with the status of a Diplomat as a Cultural and Military Attaché.
Alyssa is a Principal and Co-Founder at irlabs. She has over 15-years of investor relations, capital markets and corporate communications experience. An activist by nature, she has raised over $1 billion of capital, led some of Canada’s most successful activism campaigns, managed M&A transactions and enhanced board governance frameworks. She was formerly Head of Strategy – Operations and Communications at Artis REIT, Vice-President of Capital Markets and Communications at Sandpiper Group and Manager, Investor Relations at Amica Mature Lifestyles Inc. She is known for her agility, creative prose and relentless pursuit of success for her clients.
Carla Deeks was appointed Managing Director and Co-Head of Scotiabank Commercial Banking National Accounts in January 2020. In this role, she oversees a sales team across Central Canada focused on delivering tailored solutions and financial insights to Canadian businesses across diverse industries. Carla is a creative problem solver, experienced in building winning teams, coaching & retaining talent, and improving growth & productivity. A passionate champion of DEI, Carla is actively involved in driving Scotiabank’s Commercial Banking ESG strategy, The Scotiabank Women Initiative and she co-chairs the Commercial Banking Employee Giving Campaign.
Carla first joined Scotiabank in 2003 and has held progressively more senior roles in Sales & Trading, Global Risk Management and Corporate & Investment Banking. Prior to joining Scotiabank, Carla worked in financial planning & analysis at Pepsico.
An active volunteer in the community, Carla has dedicated energy to many causes, including Women’s College Hospital Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, Daily Bread Food Bank, Second Harvest and Silver Blades Skating Club. Carla received the Women in Capital Markets Rising Star Award in 2018 and the Women in Capital Markets Executive Leaders Award in 2022.
Carla is a Founding Board Member of Banking Together, a network for women, women-identifying and non-binary professionals in Toronto’s banking and financial services sector. Banking Together aims to foster an inclusive environment for equity-seeking professionals to connect, support and share opportunities with one another through every stage of their careers in an effort to strengthen diversity in client-facing leadership roles.
Carla graduated from Queen’s University with a Bachelor of Commerce (honours) degree and has also completed the Yale School of Management Accelerated Management Program.
Wendy is Chair of Osler's Technology Group. Wendy specializes in outsourcing and other complex corporate and commercial transactions relating to technology products and services and business processes and related regulatory and other legal issues including e-commerce, payment systems and networks, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, marketing and advertising and intellectual property protection and licensing. Wendy has extensive experience advising energy, retail, e-commerce, financial services and transportation companies in these areas. She is a registered trade-mark agent in Canada.
Wendy has extensive experience in all manner of commercial arrangements relating to all aspects of the payments ecosystem, including multiple transactions relating to clearing and settlement services (including past experience representing CDS in connection with a series of technology transactions).
Wendy is recognized for her expertise by numerous industry publications including Chambers Canada and Global (Technology Band 1), The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory and the Lexpert/American Lawyer Guide (Technology Transactions; Computer & IT Law), Best Lawyers in Canada (FinTech Practice; Information Technology Law; Privacy and Data Security Law; "Lawyer of the Year", FinTech Practice) and Who's Who Legal (Banking – Fintech; Data – Information Technology; Telecommunications Media & Technology).
Samantha Kappagoda is a Board Director, Nominating Committee Chair and Audit Committee Member of Credit Suisse Mutual Funds, comprised of eight funds including NYSE: CIK & DHY. She is a seasoned capital markets professional and entrepreneur with over twenty-five years of global direct experience across financial management, digital and emerging technology, data analytics and risk governance. Her experience has involved navigating complex issues in highly regulated multidisciplinary settings. During her career, she has overseen analysis at the World Bank, and at global macro hedge fund Caxton managing $15 billion of assets in global markets, and has founded and still leads two analytics firms and an industrial research lab at New York University (NYU).
She is currently Chief Data Scientist at Numerati® Partners, an analytics firm that evaluates emerging technology for commercial deployment, where she focuses on corporate governance and exposure implications related to algorithmic bias, data integrity and privacy. In addition she is Research Advisor at RiskEcon® Lab for Decision Metrics @ Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences NYU, established and funded to develop computational and analytical methods with diverse industry applications.
Lexie Kindbom is the Chief Client Officer of Marsh Canada, focusing on the Risk Management
and Corporate segments. In this role, she oversees the voice of the client program and works
with colleagues from across the organization to foster deeper relationships with clients and drive
enhanced retention and sustained growth. Throughout her career, Lexie has been strategic
advisor to risk managers, C-suite executives, and boards of directors primarily with respect to
D&O risk management. Lexie is a member of Marsh Canada’s Executive Committee and the
Executive Sponsor of Marsh Canada’s Inclusion & Diversity Council.
Lexie brings more than 25 years of legal and insurance brokerage experience to Marsh clients.
She is a leading advisor to companies, senior executives and directors across Canada with
respect to directors and officers (D&O) liability, risk and insurance. Lexie was Willis Towers
Watson’s Canada Head for FINEX Financial Institutions. Prior to that role, she led the FINPRO
Claims Advocacy Practice and was appointed the Professional Services Industry Practice
leader for Marsh Canada. Lexie is a past member of Marsh’s Global FINPRO Advisory Board,
which was developed to raise the bar for excellence in the D&O field. She began her career as
a practicing insurance defense litigation lawyer.
Lexie has been significantly involved in directors’ and officers’ education in Canada with a focus
on governance, D&O liability and risk management. She is a graduate of the Directors’
Education Program at the Rotman School of Management, sponsored by the Institute of
Corporate Directors at the University of Toronto. Lexie facilitated the module on D&O Insurance
and Indemnification at Rotman and other business schools in Canada for over ten years.
Lexie holds a B.A. Cum Laude from Mount Holyoke College and a J.D. from Tulane Law School.
She attended the University of Toronto Faculty of Law to obtain her Canadian Legal
Accreditation and is admitted to practice law in the Province of Ontario.
Ivy Lumia brings over 20 years of corporate governance experience and is most passionate about pushing the envelope for best practices in sustainable governance.
Ivy is the CEO and Founder of Best in Governance Inc., commonly referred to as BIG, a boutique firm with global reach that specializes in providing modern, sustainable corporate governance and ESG frameworks to transform, elevate and empower international Boards of Directors and their Executive teams.
Prior to the formation of BIG, Ivy headed the corporate governance departments for a Schedule 1 Canadian Bank, a public U.S. Corporation, two Federal Crown Corporations, and the Governance and National Communications Program for Canada’s Lottery Corporations. Prior to settling in Canada, Ivy managed eight offices internationally and worked with high-profile government leaders to develop humanitarian infrastructure projects to shape corporate and community cultures in developing countries.
Ivy Lumia is currently the Ontario Chapter Chair for the Governance Professionals of Canada, holds an ESG Global Competent Boards designation (GCB.D), is certified as a Sustainability (ESG) Practitioner, holds an I.B.B.A. with Honours and speak multiple languages. She is an advocate for women, minority, societal and cultural rights, expert cat herder, terrible golfer, Second City alum, and general do-gooder.
Mary is a Partner in MNP Consulting and leads the Firm’s National Organizational Renewal Practice. Having played global strategic leadership roles as a senior executive for leading international companies and as a partner in top-tier consulting firms, Mary has built a broad set of skills around strategy, sustainability and organizational culture.
Mary serves as a trusted advisor to CEOs and senior executives in the US, Canada and Europe on strategy, culture, governance, and leadership, and has led culture and organization transformation initiatives in multi-billion-dollar companies and crown corporations.
She has held senior executive positions with McDonald’s Corporation in the U.S. and Alcan in Canada. She started her career with the Boston Consulting Group in the U.S. and worked in Canada for McKinsey and Co., Oliver Wyman, and A.T. Kearney.
Her commitment to sustainability over two decades has led to a national leadership role in ESG (Environment, Social and Governance). She currently serves on the Advisory Board for Stanford University’s Clayman Institute for Gender Research and is the Chair of the Advisory Board of McGill University’s School of Continuing Studies.
She earned an AB from Princeton University and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Loretta Marcoccia was appointed Executive Vice President, Global Operations in November 2023, with overall responsibility for the leadership, strategic direction and performance of Global Operations and for ensuring that key functional areas partner effectively with the business lines to improve the client experience. She was most recently Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Global Banking and Markets. Loretta joined Scotiabank in 2015 as Managing Director and COO for Fixed Income, Currencies and Commodities (FICC) before taking on the expanded role of Managing Director and COO of Global Capital Markets. In March 2017, she was appointed Senior Vice-President & Chief Administrative Officer for Global Banking and Markets.
Prior to joining Scotiabank, Loretta worked at Bank of America/Merrill Lynch where she held increasingly senior roles and ultimately served as Managing Director and COO for Canada. She has 30+ years of financial services experience that span retail banking, human resources, and capital markets, and has led several large-scale global business and regulatory initiatives.
Loretta graduated from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Arts degree, with a Specialist in Administration. She is a member of Scotiabank’s Inclusion Council and was the Executive Champion of Global Banking and Markets’ Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Program and the founder and Executive Sponsor of The Scotiabank Women Initiative for Global Banking and Markets. She is a member of the Board of Directors for Dress for Success and was a member of the inaugural Board of Directors for Women in Capital Markets (WCM).
She was recognized in the 2023 Report on Business Best Executive Awards for outstanding executive leadership. In 2022, Loretta was recognized with a WCM Champions of Change Award for her leadership in advancing equality in the Canadian finance industry and creating a culture of inclusion at Scotiabank.
Edward is a Partner and National Leader of MNP’s Environmental, Social and Governance practice. Having over 25 years of Canadian and international experience through roles in public practice and industry, Edward is an accomplished senior leader with a proven track record of driving organizational success through strategic leadership and collaboration. With a wealth of experience working closely with senior executive leadership teams and boards, Edward assists his clients with ESG awareness and adoption including identification, measurement, management of material ESG-related topics. This includes leading innovative solutions to help his clients navigate their ESG journeys to a net zero economy. Edward is dedicated to sustainability and committed to advancing value-driven ESG solutions globally. He is a member of CPA Canada’s Sustainability Reporting Advisory Committee, member of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) TC 207 committee on greenhouse gas and climate change management, and co-chair of the global advisory committee on ESG for the Praxity Alliance.
Jesse has 20 years of organizational consulting experience and specializes in advising leaders on developing high-performing boards, organizations, teams and leaders. An expert in culture and leadership; Jesse manages consulting teams that implement large-scale organizational change initiatives. While Jesse has extensive experience in Financial Services, he has worked across sectors and his most recent clients have included some of the world’s leading healthcare services, logistics, retail, technology and consumer products companies. Jesse co-authored HBR’s foundational article on corporate culture and a 2019 Must Read, “The Leadership Guide to Corporate Culture.” In addition to his market facing roles, Jesse serves on the People & Organization Performance team where he is focused on developing new platforms in organizational change and culture.
Prior to joining Oliver Wyman, Jesse was the Managing Partner and Founder of Reya Group, which was acquired by Spencer Stuart in 2014. In addition to founding Reya Group, Jesse co-founded a cloud software startup, a brand and design solutions firm, as well as a chain of modern design furniture stores. He has held numerous advisory roles throughout his career, including brand and workplace consultant for top global companies.
Della Shea is known for her expertise in enterprise risk management, privacy, digital ethics, data management, cybersecurity, and data governance, with a distinguished career spanning over two decades. Her skill in navigating complex data challenges while prioritizing trust and compliance has earned her recognition for innovative solutions within the financial sector. Notably, she played a pivotal role in launching an AI/ML-driven interbank fraud detection service.
As the Chief Data Governance and Privacy Officer at Symcor Inc., Della played a pivotal role in shaping the organization's approach to Privacy, Digital Ethics, and Data Governance, while also leading its Enterprise Risk Management program. Her leadership led Symcor to receive international accolades, including the prestigious Privacy Innovation Award from the International Association of Privacy Professionals, as well as being honored as Canada's Information Security Executive of the Year. Before her tenure at Symcor, Della served as the Director of Privacy and Information Risk at the Royal Bank of Canada, where her strategic direction was instrumental in the successful launch of numerous digital initiatives.
Della holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from both the Schulich School of Management at York University and the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, as well as a Bachelor of Business Administration from Acadia University. Her dedication to advancing the field is evident through her active involvement in numerous academic and industry boards, including the International Society of Chief Data Officers (isCDO) and the Information Accountability Foundation.
Della is frequently sought after as a speaker at prestigious academic and industry conferences worldwide, where she shares her expertise at events such as the International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners and the MIT Chief Data Officer and Information Quality Symposium. Additionally, she has provided expert testimony before the House of Commons Standing Committee in Canada on matters related to privacy and digital government services.
Della Shea's leadership, dedication to ethical data practices, and contributions to the field highlight her as an influential presence in privacy, data management, and governance.
Sponsorship Opportunities are still available! Contact us at connect@womengetonboard.ca to learn more
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