Meet the Board of Directors

Linda Franklin - 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.

(Ricco) A.S. Bhasin - Vice Chair

(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 - Vice Chair

Susan Britton Payne is the former President and CEO of Grace Hill Inc., a marketing consultancy firm. 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 retired, seasoned senior executive with over 35 years of experience in the financial industry. Prior to starting Grace Hill Inc., Susan was the Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for BMO Financial Group. Susan previously served as Chair and a long-term Director of the Board of The Young People's Theatre and as a member of the BMO InvestorLine Board and the Board of the Investor Education Fund, Ontario Securities Commission.

Pardeep Singh Gill – Vice Chair

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.

Mark Beckles

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).

Elsa Cabral

Elsa Cabral is a Managing Director at Bayshore HealthCare providing strategic direction and leading the transformation of the home health division. She also supports high performing business leaders to innovate and transform service and operating models that improve business performance with differentiated customer and employee experiences. Elsa has deep experience in strategy and innovation powered by technology; client and employee experience; operational excellence; and quality, health and safety.

Prior to joining Bayshore in 2021, Elsa’s portfolio of leading transformation includes bringing consumer-grade experiences to healthcare such as: LifeLabs’ self-directed patient appointment booking system (2011), skip the line app - Save my Spot^TM (2018) digital access to lab results - MyResults^TM (2015) and convenient lab tests from home - myVisit^TM (2020).

Elsa holds an Honours BSc degree in Toxicology and a MHSc degree in Occupational and Environmental Health, both from the University of Toronto. She is a mentor for the University of Toronto’s New College and Dalla Lana School of Public Health and is the recipient of its prestigious Arbor Award (2019) for her exceptional and sustained contributions.

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.

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.