Board of Directors

At BBBST, we are grateful to be served by an outstanding and diverse Board of Directors, who are engaged and committed to helping young people across Toronto reach their full potential.

MARK HARRISON
CHAIR

FOUNDER, MH3 COLLECTIVE

LISA BOULANGER
VICE CHAIR

CHIEF PRODUCT OFFICER, FLEXITI

DEAN MCCANN
TREASURER

EXECUTIVE VICE-PRESIDENT AND CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER, CANADIAN TIRE CORPORATION, LIMITED (RETIRED)

JULIE ADAM
MEMBER AT LARGE

Executive Vice President & General Manager at Universal Music Canada, Chair of The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences

NICK EAVES
MEMBER AT LARGE

CHIEF VENUES & OPERATIONS OFFICER MAPLE LEAF SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

NICOLE FREW
MEMBER AT LARGE

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT & CHIEF COMPLIANCE OFFICER, SCOTIABANK

KATHRYN LAMOTHE
MEMBER AT LARGE

MANAGING DIRECTOR & GLOBAL HEAD OF TRADE FINANCE, GLOBAL TRANSACTION BANKING AT TD SECURITIES

JOSH LISWOOD
MEMBER AT LARGE

PAST CHAIR OF INTERNATIONAL BOARD AND MEMBERS ASSEMBLY, PLAN INTERNATIONAL INC.

KELLY MACDONALD
MEMBER AT LARGE

Chief Commercial Officer at PLATFORM Insurance Management Inc.

JAMES RICCI
MEMBER AT LARGE

PRESIDENT, ROY FOSS AUTOMOTIVE GROUP

HARJ SHOAN
MEMBER AT LARGE

SENIOR MANAGING DIRECTOR AND HEAD OF GLOBAL FUNDS, EQUITIES

KELLY SKINNER
MEMBER AT LARGE

TPS SUPERINTENDENT – DISTRICT COMMANDER 11/12 DIVISION

RICARDO STANFORD
MEMBER AT LARGE

MANAGING DIRECTOR AND GLOBAL HEAD OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT, RBC CAPITAL MARKETS

Mark is a big believer in purpose, be that brand purpose or people being purposeful in everything that they do. Over 25 years ago, these fervent beliefs had Mark a creating consumer-experience marketing firm, The T1 Agency; a global marketing community, SponsorshipX; and, most recently, a remote learning, experience-based elementary school, Park Street.

Today, Mark advises a number of small businesses, including wonderMakr, Humanity Agency, and Crankworx. Mark has made it his mission to help build a future where entrepreneurs feel empowered to make positive change in the world.

Mark’s desire for positive change has also led him to create the Black Talent Initiative, a grassroots movement to increase opportunities for young Black Canadians in marketing and business. He is also passionate about his numerous volunteer roles with Big Brothers Big Sisters Toronto, CAMH Foundation, International Institute for Sport Business & Leadership at the University of Guelph, the Toronto Jets Minor Football Association, and Ontario University Athletics BBRI Task Force on Racial Issues. 

Lisa Boulanger is currently Chief Product Officer at Flexiti, one of Canada’s fastest-growing Fintech. An accomplished and seasoned executive, Lisa has almost 20 years of experience in Payments, Digital Strategy, Marketing Leadership and Product Management. Lisa has led large cross-functional marketing and product teams to success, always determined to find value through innovation and insight.

Lisa is passionate about developing and mentoring young women and played an active role in Google’s Women’s Network as well as Lead Facilitator for a Women’s Leadership Course and Unconscious Bias.  Lisa sits on the board of Big Brothers Big Sisters Toronto.

Lisa has an Honours Bachelor of Business from Laurier University and currently resides in Toronto with her husband and two daughters.

Dean McCann was appointed Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer of Canadian Tire Corporation in March 2012.

Prior to his current position, Dean was a member of senior management at Canadian Tire Financial Services (CTFS) and Canadian Tire Bank for twelve years, serving as President of CTFS and CEO of Canadian Tire Bank for three years. Dean has extensive experience in finance, achieving strong results during periods of global economic uncertainty.

Dean joined Canadian Tire Corporation in 1996 and has held a number of progressively senior roles, including Corporate Controller, Canadian Tire Corporation. During his 20-year career with the Company, Dean has led a number of projects including leading the establishment of Canadian Tire Bank and driving the success of Canadian Tire MasterCard with over five million accounts issued.

His accomplishments include the establishment of a shareholder value creation program for Canadian Tire, an enhanced dividend policy, share repurchase program and the establishment of CT REIT. Under Dean’s leadership, Financial Services became an integral component of the Canadian Tire strategy. As head of the Financial Services business, Dean created new opportunities for the growth of the credit card business and developed new programs to support the core retail business, such as in-store financing and home services.

Dean is a Chartered Accountant and a graduate of the McMaster Chartered Director program. An active member of the Niagara community, he has held senior positions with the Boards of Niagara College (Vice Chair), YMCA Niagara (Chair of the Audit Committee), and the Ridley College Audit Committee. In 2015, Dean was named Canada’s CFO of the Year™ by Financial Executives International Canada, PwC and Robert Half. The award is presented annually and recognizes the quality, insight, direction and leadership of Canada’s senior financial executives. In 2016, Dean earned the prestigious FCPA designation from the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario, the profession’s highest distinction in recognition of significant career achievements and contributions to the community.

In April 2023, award -winning music and media executive Julie Adam joined Universal Music Canada as Executive Vice President & General Manager where she leads the company’s front line operations, overseeing the marketing, digital strategy, commercial affairs and brand partnership portfolios.

Prior to joining UMC, Adam spent over two decades working for Rogers Sports & Media, most recently as the President of News & Entertainment overseeing Rogers’ non-sports television, podcasting, and radio business, and the Executive Sponsor of the ALL IN inclusion and diversity program. Adam has been recognized as Canada’s first female Vice President of Radio Programming and is a past recipient of the Rosalie Award from Radio Trailblazers and the Diversity Champion Award from Women in Communications and Technology.  

Adam is the current Chair of CARAS (The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, which includes The JUNO Awards, MusiCounts and the Canadian Music Hall of Fame), a member of the Board of Directors for Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Toronto, and author of the leadership book Imperfectly Kind: Why Kindness is the Must-Have Superpower You Need To Lead.

Nick Eaves is the Chief Venues & Operations Officer at Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment. Eaves joined MLSE in September 2016 and is responsible for overseeing the Operations, Capital Projects and Development function at all MLSE venues. Eaves also has oversight of MLSE’s LIVE division that brings hundreds of world-class music and entertainment events to its venues each year.

A veteran in the sports and entertainment industry, Eaves came to MLSE from Woodbine Entertainment Group where he served as President and Chief Executive Officer from 2010 to 2015 after holding numerous senior positions over a 20 year period. Eaves led the transformation of the organization’s business model to drive operational performance across all lines of the business including live event, broadcasting, technology, hospitality and retail operations.

Eaves is a member of the Board of Directors of Big Brothers Big Sisters Toronto, Woodbine Entertainment Group and Tourism Toronto where he also serves as Chair of the Finance & Audit Committee and is a member of the Governance Committee. Eaves is an active community member and volunteers his time with the Out of the Cold Program, Ernestine’s Women’s Shelter, Youth Without Shelter and United Way Toronto. Eaves holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts from Western University.

Nicole Frew was appointed Executive Vice President & Chief Compliance Officer in September 2020. In this role, she leads Scotiabank’s Global Compliance function to ensure compliance risk is managed effectively and meets heightened regulatory expectations.

Nicole previously worked as Senior Vice President, Anti-Money Laundering & Internal Controls, International Banking, where she stood up the Bank’s first Internal Controls unit and built strong teams across our footprint to proactively identify risk. She also previously served as Senior Vice President of Enterprise Risk.

She is a seasoned leader with diverse expertise across Risk Management, Global Banking and Markets, and International Banking. A lawyer by training, prior to joining Scotiabank, Nicole was a Partner focusing on derivatives and structured products at a large Canadian law firm.

 Nicole is an advocate for women in leadership and has a strong leadership presence both within and outside of the organization. She is also a member of the Scotiabank Women’s Initiative advisory board.  Nicole is member of the Board of Directors for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Toronto.

Kathryn Lamothe’s (she/her) current role is Managing Director & Global Head of Trade Finance, Global Transaction Banking (GTB), TD Securities (TDS), where she leads the Global Trade Finance business as well as GTB’s Product & Strategy and Business Intelligence teams. She is passionate about progressing toward equity, both in the community and at work, and is co-lead of TDS’ LGBTQ2+ employee resource group, a member of TDS’ Inclusion and Diversity Leadership Council, and an active mentor to many future female leaders.

Kathryn is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CA), with extensive experience in business strategy, solutioning for complex client needs, digital data-driven business transformation, risk management, treasury management, and leading large global teams. In her various roles in GTB, she’s delivered a number of strategic business and risk initiatives that are crucial in positioning the business for significant future growth, and is driving transformational change to modernize GTB’s digital treasury products, capabilities and services, and strengthen internal data analytics capabilities. Prior to joining GTB in 2018, Kathryn was in TDS Finance where she was responsible for strategy and optimization of TDS liquidity, as well as being CFO for the Corporate Investment Bank and leading teams responsible for forecasting and reporting of TD Securities results. She has also held roles in Treasury and Balance Sheet Management involved in various aspects of managing NII margins (FTP), hedging and liquidity management. Kathryn attended McGill University for her undergraduate.

Outside of TD, Kathryn is a member of the Board of Directors of the Redwood, a safe haven for women and their children fleeing abuse, and is a proud mother of 2 young kids that remind her every day of what’s important – love, patience, fun, and ice cream.

Josh has practiced law in Toronto for 40 years. Josh regarded his career in law, as with all aspects of his life, as an opportunity to solve problems and create change. He founded his own firm and for the last half of his career practiced within a national law firm. His expertise has been as an advocate and specialist in the area of governance both within the public and private sectors.

Josh has had an active volunteer life, always focused on his belief that children and youth are the foundation of the future. He has supported numerous not-for-profit organizations including serving on the board of the Integra Foundation, Plan Canada and Plan International Inc. Significantly, Josh served as Chair of Plan International Inc, a membership organization of 21 national organizations, delivering humanitarian and development programs to children and youth in 57 countries throughout the world. During the time of his leadership, the organization underwent a transformation of its global operating “purpose”. Josh oversaw changes in both the organization’s governance and operating structures with particular emphasis on creating greater stakeholder voice and diversity within both the governance and management.

In September 2023, Kelly joined PLATFORM Insurance Management Inc. as Chief Commercial Officer (CCO). In this newly created role Kelly will drive the company’s commercial strategy and business development activities. Collaborating with Canada’s leading corporations and their executives, she and her team are focused on identifying and capitalizing on new market opportunities, enhancing client relationships, and ensuring PLATFORM’S service offerings are continually aligned with the evolving needs of our high-profile clientele. Her responsibilities encompass strategic planning, market analysis, and leading a dynamic sales and marketing team. By fostering a culture of innovation and excellence, she will continue to propel the firm towards sustained growth and industry leadership.

Prior to her role as CCO at PLATFORM Insurance Management Inc., Kelly served as Growth Leader, Strategy and Execution for Canada’s largest region at Aon, where she supported clients and colleagues in the areas of Risk, Health and Wealth with a focus on emerging and evolving risks. Since she joined Aon in 2004 as a member of the Professional Service Group, she served in a variety of sales leadership, business development and client advisory capacities.

Kelly is a regular public speaker at client conferences and other professional events. She is also actively involved in mentoring programs, both internal and external to Aon, with her most recent mentoring engagement in support of the Risk Management Association (RMA Toronto), where she partnered in mentorship with senior leaders from Canada’s two largest banks.

Kelly’s expertise includes professional indemnity placements, relationship management, risk advisory, sales leadership, client discovery, and strategic partnerships.

Kelly is the co-chair of the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Toronto Fundraising Committee, a role that she has held since 2017. She is also a member of the Women’s Executive Network Member (2014 to present), MacKay CEO Forums (2018-2020) and served as an ‘Innovator’ for the Hospital for Sick Children from 2017-2019.

In June 2023, Katy Pitch was announced as Partner at Mintz – a valued addition at the firm’s newly opened Toronto office. A skilled tax partner, Katy uses her wealth of expertise and decades of experience to advise clients across a wide variety of industries, utilizing her deep problem-solving capabilities to analyze complex tax issues and provide practical, tailored business advice.

Prior to her start Mintz, Katy held the role of partner and head of Tax Practice at Wildeboer Dellelce, where she focused on all areas of domestic and cross-border corporate income tax law (both public and private), including mergers and acquisitions, corporate transactions and reorganizations, banking transactions, the taxation of mining companies, investment and hedge funds, private equity and executive compensation.

In her taxation of executive compensation practice, Katy is involved in all aspects of the design and implementation of tax efficient executive compensation plans for public and private companies including equity and non-equity based incentive compensation arrangements.

Katy also frequently advises companies and investment funds on the taxation issues surrounding the digital economy initiatives, including FinTech and Blockchain. She is a regular speaker and writer on the taxation of cryptocurrency.

Katy is a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada, the Canadian Tax Foundation, the Canadian Bar Association and the International Fiscal Association. She is currently an editor of Thomson Reuters’ Taxation of Executive Compensation and Retirement Journal. Katy is also a member of the board of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Toronto.

In 2018, Katy spoke at the Canadian Technology Law Association (CAN-TECH) conference on the topic of Avoiding Cross-Border Pitfalls for Technology Companies.

Katy received the Lexpert Rising Stars: Leading Lawyers Under 40 Award in 2018.

In 2022, Katy was selected to play for Maccabi Canada’s Softball team in the 21st Maccabiah Games in Israel.

Aly Rahemtulla is a Toronto based Entrepreneur. Aly has his Honors Degree in Business Administration from the Richard Ivey School of Business from the University of Western Ontario along with this ICDC.D designation from the Rotman School of Management. Aly has rich executive and business ownership background with a strong financial/analytical acumen, and an orientation towards sales, marketing and commercial growth. He is focussed on tight strategic planning and passionate about customer success – while building high performing teams.

Aly presently serves as:

  • Owner and Chief Executive Officer of ANR Capital Inc.;
  • Owner and Chief Executive Onbelay Automotive Inc.;
  • Co-owner and Chief Executive Officer of the Sphere Manufacturing Group;
  • Chairman on the Board and Lead Investor of Unbun Foods;
  • Member of the Board and Investor at OrthoEvidence Inc.;
  • Co-Owner & Advisor at Keller Williams Neighbourhood Realty Inc.;
  • Advisor & Investor at Revive Superfoods Inc; and
  • Board Advisor at Quasar Inc.;
  • President & Co-Owner of SafeGuard Inc..

James is an entrepreneur, investor, and mobility futurist. He is the President of the Roy Foss Automotive Group and the Founder/CEO of Landline. James has spent most of his business life in the realm of cars and electric bikes. These days, he devotes much of his attention to the future of sustainable, personal mobility and how tech is transforming the ways people get around.

James started his first company at the age of 16. He’s been steeped in the business world ever since, having now accumulated over 20+ years of management experience. James balances long-term, mission-driven strategic thinking with a roll-up-the-sleeves, get-it-done ethos. His areas of expertise include direct-to-consumer eCommerce, digital/social marketing, change management, and high-performance teambuilding.

Aside from his business pursuits, James is also deeply passionate about youth mentorship and mental health. These passions guided him to the George Brown College Foundation, where he founded the Young Leaders Council. The board launched the annual Food Court Social gala and fundraised for educational programs and job-placement services supporting students with a history of addiction and mental illness. James currently serves as a member-at-large on the board of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Toronto.

James has an Honours Bachelor of Political Science from McGill University and a Master of Science in New Media Management from the London School of Economics.

Harj Shoan is based in Toronto and is responsible for leading Ontario Teachers’ private equity fund investing practice globally, representing +40 GP relationships and ~$15Bn in AUM. Prior to leading the Global Funds team, Harj was responsible for leading Private Capital’s Portfolio Management practice, with a focus on value creation planning, talent management, and board effectiveness across the global direct investment portfolio. Prior to leading the Portfolio Management team, Harj was a core member of the Consumer & Retail direct investing team in Private Capital and was responsible for leading the team’s largest investments.

Harj joined Ontario Teachers in 2014 and has over two decades of private equity, investment banking and corporate finance experience. He previously worked at Imperial Capital, Morgan Stanley Private Equity (U.K.), Shoppers Drug Mart, and BMO Nesbitt Burns.

Harj currently sits on the boards of Arterra Wines, Traeger Grills, and Koru.  He holds an MBA from the University of Oxford and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Wilfrid Laurier University and is also a CFA charter holder.

Kelly Skinner is a Superintendent with the Toronto Police Service and is in her 25th year of policing. She was recently appointed as the District Commander of 11 and 12 Division, was Unit Commander for both 22 and 23 Division and a Duty Senior Officer for the Toronto Police Operations Centre.

With a wealth of Uniform Policing experience including in the Jane Finch Community, Kelly has developed an extensive background in various forms of investigations as she moved through Major Squads, such as Intelligence Services and Organized Crime Enforcement.

In the role of Executive Officer to the Staff Superintendent of Detective Operations and later, the Deputy Chief of Specialized Operations Command, Kelly assisted with operations and performance for the Command.

A member of the Police and Community Engagement Review (PACER) 2.0 committee, Kelly co-chaired the Know Your Rights sub-committee, which developed the Service’s first “Know Your Rights” video and campaign. Kelly is also a long-time member the Association of Black Law Enforcers (A.B.L.E) where she was a former Executive Board Member, and an A.B.L.E. 1996 Scholarship Award Recipient.

Ricardo Stanford is the Managing Director and Global Head of Business Management at RBC Capital Markets. He leads a global team across multiple geographies that is responsible for the development and execution of global business strategies that enable sustained business performance. He is a member of the firm’s Canadian Diversity Leadership Council and is responsible for ensuring that RBC’s commitment to diversity and inclusion is and remains part of the culture.

Ricardo has a proven track record of leading both strategic and operational teams. He has been recognized for developing dynamic teams and building transformational capabilities across both functions and lines of business. He is known for leading and accelerating efforts to increase the diversity of talent and building inclusive cultures that encourage new approaches, diverse perspectives, and different thinking. He is a trusted advisor to the executive leaders he partners with and confidently delivers on business optimization and growth strategies at an accelerated pace contributing to strategic business objectives.

Outside of work, Ricardo is actively involved in the community and supports local and global charities such as Habitat for Humanity’s International Global Village Program and being a Big Brother with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Toronto. His commitment to the community was recognized as a recipient of RBC’s 2018 Global Citizen Award. He is a National Advisory Board member for the Salvation Army of Canada and Bermuda.

Ricardo holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Ryerson University and a Master of Business Administration from Athabasca University School of Business.