Board of Directors

Jacqueline (Jackie) Beaurivage is a C-suite executive with over 30 years experience in the financial services sector. Most recently, Jackie was a member of the board of directors of Home Capital Group. She previously sat on the boards of First Caribbean International Bank, CIBC West Indies Holdings Inc., CIBC Securities Inc., CIBC Suisse, CIBC Mortgage Corporation, and CIBC Trust (President & CEO). Prior not-for-profit boards include St. Michael’s Hospital Foundation and the Mood Disorders Association of Ontario.

In her corporate career, Ms. Beaurivage was a member of the executive team at the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, where she led the strategy and enterprise project management teams. Prior to OTPP, Jackie was a Senior Vice-President at CIBC, holding numerous positions, including heading the internal controls division, leading the Greater Toronto Area salesforce, the Barclays/CIBC integration team in the Caribbean, and CIBC’s Wealth Management group.  Jackie also held executive positions in marketing and retail banking- as well as Canada-wide roles in corporate and commercial banking- with RBC.

Jackie has a BA from the University of Regina, and an MBA from McGill University. She also holds the ICD.D designation, having completed the Director’s Education Program at the University of Toronto.

Ian is Executive Vice President, North America for Technisys, a leading global provider of next generation banking software. His experience includes Chief Operating Officer with Tangerine Bank, Executive level positions with Capital One in both the US and Canada, and a progressive early career with PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay Division.

Ian enjoys giving back the community and is currently Chair of the Board of Directors for the Sandra Schmirler Foundation, whose mission is to raise funds for hospital Newborn Intensive Care Units to purchase life-saving equipment for premature and critically ill newborns.

Ian lives with his partner of 30 years, Laura, near their adult children in Downtown Toronto.  For fun, Ian enjoys time with family and friends, golf, hiking and fitness and mobility training.

Larry is President & CEO of lmperium Energy Inc. From 2006 to 2011, he was President & CEO of the Peterborough Utilities Group. Prior to that, Larry spent over 30 years with Ontario Hydro and Ontario Power Generation in a number of leadership positions. He has over 20 years of Board experience in a combination of for-profit and not-for-profit organizations as well as having achieved his ICD designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors. Larry has been a credit union member for over 40 years.

Karen Farbridge is President & Urban Connector of Karen Farbridge & Associates, working with business, governments and organizations to build healthy and prosperous communities. She is a member of the Sustainable Energy Initiative (SEI) at York University where she is adjunct faculty, and a partner with the Community Energy Knowledge and Action Partnership (CEKAP). Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, Karen served for 17 years in municipal politics including 11 years as mayor of Guelph. She has served on numerous boards. Currently, she serves as chair of motusbank, vice-chair of QUEST and a director of Silence. She serves in several programs as mentor of young women. Karen has a MSc and PhD from the University of Guelph and a Chartered Director designation from McMaster University. Karen was elected to the Meridian Board in 2015.

Gail Harding, Q.C., is the former Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary at Canadian Western Bank Financial Group where she was responsible for the legal, governance, regulatory compliance and ethics functions.  Gail also sat on the board of CWB’s subsidiaries which offered equipment financing, wealth management, insurance and trust services.
 
Gail is an active volunteer in the community and in her profession having served on the boards of numerous not-for-profit entities and crown corporations.  In recognition of her accomplishments Gail has received several awards including the Queen’s Counsel designation. She currently serves on the board of the Alberta Securities Commission. Gail received both her Bachelor of Education (Honours) and Bachelor of Law from the University of Alberta and holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors.

Carol is retired from The Co-operators Group as Executive Vice President, Member Relations and Corporate Affairs, where she was responsible for the governance and democratic functioning of the company, member business, legal and public affairs, human resources and corporate sustainability. Previously, she was the Executive Director of the Canadian Co-operative Association, a national association focused on promoting, uniting, and developing co-operatives in Canada and internationally. Carol has sat on a number of boards in the co-operative, academic, and public sectors and is currently a director of Gore Mutual Insurance and Vice-Chair of Innovation Guelph.  She holds a Chartered Director designation from the Director's College, and is the 2016 recipient of the Gil Bennett Gold Standard Award, granted to the top graduating student of the Director’s College.  Carol holds an undergraduate degree from Queen's University in Philosophy and Sociology, and a Master of Information and Library Science from the University of Western Ontario. 

Andrew is a management consultant for digital leadership. He has deep understanding of technology, user experience design and digital marketing with the ability to lead and scale high growth organizations. He possesses a unique instinct to inspire digital teams to innovate, collaborate and create products focused on customers. 

Andrew is the former President & CEO for Kanetix Ltd where he led digital innovation and growth for Canada’s largest digital customer acquisition platform for insurance and financial services. Kanetix was acquired by Ontario Teacher’s Pension Plan.

Prior to joining Kanetix in 2011, Andrew was the Executive Vice President of Technology at Filogix leading the team that built the mortgage origination platform used by most brokers and lenders in Canada.
 
Andrew volunteers as a Business Strategy Advisor for Ryerson University’s DMZ helping to develop digital entrepreneurs and startup companies at the world’s #1 university-based technology incubator.

Suanne Nielsen, CHRE, PCC, (ICD.D pending) is a former C-suite executive with over 30 years of experience, including more than 20 years as a senior executive with Foresters Financial, a member-based life insurance organization with operations in Canada, the United States and United Kingdom. While she had oversight of Human Resources throughout her career at Foresters, Ms. Nielsen’s executive responsibilities spanned across multiple areas including corporate communications, marketing, brand management, public relations, insurance operations and corporate governance. In her final role at Foresters, Suanne served as Global Chief Administration Officer.

Ms. Nielsen has a long history of giving back to community through not-for-profit board roles with the Hamilton-Burlington United Way, Daily Bread Food Bank and American Fraternal Alliance. She is currently President and Board Chair of the Strategic Capability Network, a not-for-profit association that brings thought leadership and a community of peers to Canadian senior Human Resources professionals and executives.

Hari is a seasoned executive and an independent corporate director (FCPA, FCGA, and ICD.D) with experience in banking, insurance, corporate finance, private and capital markets and asset management sectors across North America. His career spreads over 35 years in senior roles with ICICI Bank Canada and ICICI Wealth Management Inc. (as the founding President & CEO and their member of the boards), ICICI Securities (USA), HSBC (Canada), Bank of Montreal and PwC.

He owns PanVest Capital Corporation, engaged in corporate finance (growth capital) and advisory services on corporate governance, risk management and business strategy. He is the Chairman of Tarion Warranty Corporation, and a director at Pro-Demnity Ins., Stone Investment and Raymond James Trusts. He is an Honorary Colonel, 32 Service Battalion, Canadian Armed Forces.

Hari supports the Canadian Foundation for Handicapped and Disabled People, CPA Canada’s Corporate Oversight and Governance Advisory Board and CD Howe Institute. Hari was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2009 for his volunteer contributions over several years.

Tamara is an independent strategy consultant with 20 years of success and experience advising clients in financial services, digital media and the retail sector.

She currently works as a Strategy Consultant and Facilitator, and has also held positions at Harlequin Enterprises, McKinsey & Company and TD Securities Inc.

Tamara complements her client work with a strong board service record, contributing to strategy development and risk oversight on corporate, co-operative and non-profit boards including Mountain Equipment Co-op, Carson-Dellosa Publishing, and ServoAnnex, a digital consulting firm.

Tamara holds a Bachelor of Mathematics from the University of Waterloo and an MBA from The Wharton School. She also holds Chartered Financial Analyst and Chartered Director designations. During her personal time, Tamara is an active volunteer and enjoys living in Niagara with her husband and young children. Tamara was elected to the Meridian Board in 2013.

Mike Valente is an Associate Professor at the Schulich School of Business, York University. His area of expertise is the relationship between business and society. Businesses today are increasingly pressured by multiple stakeholders to understand how they contribute to society beyond the pursuit of profitability. He challenges his students to think critically about the role of business in society by teaching them how purpose-driven business can propel organizations to superior competitive positions. Mike has been able to draw on this expertise to support Meridian’s growth trajectory in a way that retains the values-based roots that have set it apart from the highly exploitative business model of conventional banks.

Bruce retired from The Co-operators Group in 2018 after serving 11 years as Executive Vice-President Finance and Chief Financial Officer. As CFO, Bruce was responsible for all aspects of financial management, corporate development, investment strategy, strategic planning, enterprise risk management, actuarial and reinsurance, taxation and internal audit. Bruce was President, Co-operators Investment Limited Partnership and chaired the Management Capital Committee and Management Investment Committee. He has broad financial services industry experience in insurance, wealth management, banking, trust companies and brokerage operations.

Bruce holds an FCPA, FCA designation, is a Chartered Director (C.Dir.) and has a Bachelor of Mathematics from the University of Waterloo and an MBA with a concentration in Marketing from Wilfrid Laurier University.  He has extensive board and governance experience, including The CUMIS Group and Credential Financial Inc., and currently sits on the Aviso Wealth Inc. board.

Bruce has spent almost half of his career working for co-operative and mutual companies and is excited to now work for the members of Meridian Credit Union. Bruce and his wife Karen reside in Waterloo, Ontario.