Meet the Board of Directors

Geoffrey Ritchie - Chair

Geoff is a Partner and General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for Mawer Investment Management Ltd. which manages over $85 billion for clients across global asset classes. Geoff is a member of the firm’s Management Committee and leads the legal, compliance, risk, governance and corporate affairs areas at Mawer.

Geoff is a lawyer and has held senior legal and regulatory compliance roles in the investment, banking, trust services and fin-tech industries in Canada and the UK.

Geoff is a graduate of McMaster University (BA), Queen’s University (JD), Osgoode Hall Law School (LL.M) and the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management (DEP/ICD.D).

In the community Geoff has served as a volunteer on the Board of Mainstay Housing, Ontario's largest mental health non-profit housing provider, managed federal and provincial political campaigns at the riding level, worked at the Ontario legislature, has been a member of governance boards at two Ontario universities, and founded and lead a national private capital markets industry association.

Linda Franklin - First Vice Chair

Linda Franklin is President and CEO of Colleges Ontario. Linda has a degree in English and History and a Master of Arts in Journalism from the University of Western Ontario. Under her leadership, Colleges Ontario works to coordinate system wide initiatives from advocacy for college stand-alone nursing degrees to a unified response to COVID-19. She also spearheaded a system-wide marketing campaign to drive home the value of a college education.

Previously, Linda was the CEO of the Wine Council of Ontario. There, she worked with government to change legislation that dramatically improved the economics of the industry. Prior to joining the Wine Council, Linda was a writer and communications specialist whose career included time as a consultant, five years as the head of communications for a regulatory body, and heading up a department charged with meeting the communications needs of MPPs at Queen’s Park. She has also served as chief of staff to former Ontario Cabinet Minister Ernie Eves.

Currently, she serves as President of the Albany Club, on the Board of Directors of Ontario Centre of Innovation and on the Advisory Board of the Central Michigan University.

Mark Beckles – Second Vice Chair

Mark Beckles is Vice President, Social Impact and Innovation, RBC Corporate Citizenship at RBC Royal Bank, leading the strategic execution of RBC’s Social Impact portfolios including RBC Future Launch, RBC Tech for Nature and RBC Emerging Artists. With over 25 years' experience in financial services, Mark has international executive leadership experience in banking, insurance, risk management and non-profit leadership.

Mark previously served as Head, RBC Insurance Advice Centre and Regional Vice President, Retail Banking at RBC with market responsibility for North Mississauga and Scarborough.

Mark is a board member of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and sits on the audit and finance committee. He also serves on the advisory committee of the Lincoln M. Alexander Award. 

Mark holds an MBA in International Business from the University of Bradford and has completed executive programs with Richard Ivey School of Business and holds the Institute of Corporate Directors designation (ICD.D).

Pardeep Singh Gill – Treasurer

Pardeep Singh Gill is a CA and Partner in the Toronto Technology, Media and Telecommunications audit practice with KPMG. His deep experience includes providing audit and advisory services to public and private companies ranging from start-ups to multinational corporations on various projects involving complex accounting matters, risk management, internal controls, business process improvement and training.

Pardeep is specialized in the telecommunications, technology, healthtech and cannabis industries. In addition to audits, his experience is focused on projects related to the adoption and interpretation of complex accounting standards, system and process implementations and migrations, revenue assurance matters, data and analytics, control systems and performance improvement.

Pardeep is engaged in political activity at the federal, provincial and municipal levels. He also has a track record of being involved in not-for-profit organizations supporting women and children including The Humewood House and Women in Technology and Communications. He lives with his family in Brampton, Ontario.

Ricco Bhasin

Ricco A. S. Bhasin is a Partner at Torys LLP in Toronto, where he is Co-Head of the firm’s Financial Services Transactions Practice and Co-Head of the firm’s Asian Lawyers Group. He is a graduate of the Faculty of Law at Queen's University, Business Leadership at the Rotman Business School of University of Toronto and the Commerce program at the Schulich School of Business. He is admitted to practice in Ontario and New York (where he was a resident for five years). Ricco Bhasin has a global M&A, joint venture, partnership and board advisory practice that focuses on domestic, cross-border and international financial services, technology and private equity. He is recognized and ranked in Chambers Partners, IFLR and was awarded the Top 40 under 40 Emerging Leaders award from the M&A Advisor in New York.

Ricco is active in diversity and charity causes, including the Heart and Stroke Foundation, the Torys LAWS program and ERG Roundtables. He is conversant in Punjabi and Hindi and is a former resident of Brampton.

Susan Britton Payne

Susan Britton Payne is the President and CEO of Grace Hill Inc. Susan is an MBA graduate of Rotman School of Management and has a BA from the University of Toronto. She holds the FCSI and ICD.D designations.

Susan is a seasoned senior executive with over 35 years of experience in the financial industry. Prior to joining Grace Hill Inc., Susan was the Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for BMO Financial Group. Susan previously served as a long-term member of the Board of The Young People's Theatre and as a member of the BMO InvestorLine Board.

David Charron

David Charron is Chief Financial Officer at TeraGo. David is an experienced public company CFO and Board Director with demonstrated accomplishments in capital markets, equity financing, debt financing, mergers and acquisitions and driving profitable growth in global technology and IT businesses. Public and non-profit Board Director and audit committee experience with International Datacasting Corp, Certified Management Accountants of Ontario and as Corporate Secretary of Redknee Solutions Inc. (now Optiva).

David has a Bachelor of Engineering as well as a Masters of Business Administration degree, both from McMaster University. He is a member of Professional Engineers Ontario, a Chartered Professional Accountant of Ontario (CPA, CMA), and has a Chartered Director (C.Dir.) designation from The Directors College.

Stuart Johnston

Stuart Johnston is CEO of the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology, the national association representing and supporting medical and other professionals in the gastroenterology and digestive health field. With over 20 years of experience in the NFP sector of the economy, Stuart has an extensive background in executive leadership and as a strong advocate for business and community issues.

A lifelong resident of Brampton, Stuart is the former President of the Canadian Independent Music Association, a Vice President of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and the Executive Director of the Brampton Board of Trade. A journalist by trade, Stuart is a former news editor for a national publication focusing on the Canadian manufacturing and processing sectors, and as a political and general assignment reporter at the Brampton Guardian and other newspapers.

Stuart has actively volunteered on a number of boards and committees over the years and is currently a member of an Advisory Committee for Humber College.

Kulvir Singh Gill

Kulvir Singh Gill works as a management consultant with the innovation and growth strategy firm Clareo leading international projects with Fortune 500 clients across multiple industries including mining, oil and gas, heavy industrial, banking, retail and media.  He also works with StrategyLab to design and facilitate growth leadership programs for global corporations. In an advisory role, Kulvir serves on the board of directors for Canada Nickel Company and on the board of advisors of Summit Nanotech and Zerv.

Kulvir is also passionate about community service. He is a co-founder of the Seva Food Bank in Mississauga. He also serves on the boards of the Empire Club of Canada and the Sikh Research Institute. Mr. Gill is a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal and a 2010 Action Canada Fellow. Mr. Gill holds a B.Sc. and a B. Comm. from the University of Calgary and the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors. He lives with his family in Brampton, Ontario.

Jasmine Tehara

Jasmine Tehara is the Global Head of Retirement Operations in the Global Wealth & Asset Management business at Manulife. Her expertise is balancing the demands of changing the business while continuing to run it. She has led the business readiness function on the largest technology initiative Manulife has undertaken, led the modernization of the GWAM finance function, and operationalized user enabled digitization and automation capabilities.

Jasmine is actively involved in the community. She served nine years on the Board of Directors at WoodGreen Community Services, one of Toronto’s largest not-for-profit organizations, with four years as Board Chair. Jasmine was also recently appointed to the Board of the Ontario Hospital Association.

Michael Torrance

Michael Torrance is Chief Sustainability Officer of BMO Financial Group, leading strategy and implementation of sustainability governance, disclosure, engagement and innovation at BMO Financial Group. Before joining BMO, Michael was a Partner at the international law firm Norton Rose Fulbright where he spearheaded the development of a global environmental, social and sustainability governance risk advisory practice, and was a litigation practitioner in employment, labour, human rights and health and safety law. His experience includes application of international standards of environmental and social risk management and human rights due diligence in the corporate and banking contexts.

Michael has authored widely used texts and guides on international environmental and social governance frameworks including the equator principles and IFC performance standards on environmental and social sustainability. Michael also hosts a podcast on sustainability.