Additional members of the Conference Global Council will be announced in the coming weeks. Please check back.
DARRYL WHITE
Darryl was appointed Chief Executive Officer of BMO in 2017. He chairs the bank’s Executive Committee and serves as a director of BMO Financial Group, as well as its U.S. subsidiary, BMO Financial Corp.
Darryl joined BMO’s investment and corporate banking business in Toronto in 1994 and returned to his hometown in 2006 as Head of Montreal Investment & Corporate Banking for BMO Capital Markets. In 2014, he was named CEO and Group Head, BMO Capital Markets, and in 2016 was appointed BMO’s Chief Operating Officer.
Darryl is a member of the Ottawa-based Business Council of Canada, the Washington, D.C-based The Business Council, the Mayor of Beijing’s International Business Leaders Advisory Council, and The Bank Policy Institute, a nonpartisan public policy, research and advocacy group, representing leading banks in the U.S.
A long-standing community builder with strong ties to the United Way Centraide movement, Darryl has volunteered for these organizations in Montréal, New York, Chicago, and Toronto. In 2018 Darryl became Co-Chair of the Inclusive Local Economic Opportunity Roundtable, a partnership between BMO and United Way Greater Toronto that brings together business and community leaders to develop approaches to reduce economic disparity in the region.
An advocate for BMO’s efforts to ensure a diverse and inclusive workplace, Darryl serves as Chair of Catalyst Canada Advisory Board and member of the Catalyst Board of Directors.
Darryl serves as Campaign Cabinet Co-President for the Montréal Children’s Hospital Foundation. Darryl is also a director of the National Hockey League’s Montreal Canadiens and Alpine Canada, the governing body for alpine, para-alpine and ski cross racing in Canada.
Darryl holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario and has completed the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School. He is a past recipient of Canada’s Top 40 under 40® Award.
Ajay Banga
Ajay Banga is executive chairman of the board of directors of Mastercard. He moved into this role following 11 years as the company’s president and chief executive officer.
Mr. Banga is a co-founder of The Cyber Readiness Institute, chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce and a trustee of the United States Council for International Business. He is a founding trustee of the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum, a member of the U.S.-India CEO Forum and is chairman emeritus of the American India Foundation. He served as a member of President Obama’s Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity. He is a past member of the U.S. President’s Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations.
He was awarded the Padma Shri Award by the President of India in 2016, the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 2019 and the Business Council for International Understanding’s Global Leadership Award. He is a fellow of the Foreign Policy Association and was awarded the Foreign Policy Association Medal in 2012.
Ajay is a member of the Weill Cornell Medicine board of fellows. In addition, he serves as a director of Dow Inc.
Prior to Mastercard, Ajay served as chief executive officer of Citigroup Asia Pacific. During his career at Citigroup, he held a variety of senior management roles in the United States, Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East and Africa. He also oversaw the company’s efforts in microfinance.
Ajay began his career at Nestlé, India, where for 13 years he worked on assignments spanning sales, marketing and general management. He also spent two years with PepsiCo, where he was instrumental in launching its fast food franchises in India as the economy liberalized.
He is a graduate of Delhi University and the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.
AGNES DI LEONARDI C.M. LLD
In May 2018 Agnes was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in recognition of her leadership in the automotive industry and for her commitment to mentoring and supporting Canadian women leaders through her work with the International Women’s Forum of Canada, a global organization with a mission to advance women’s leadership. She has been recognized as a world leading General Counsel by the Legal Era Group (2017) as well as a leading Canadian General Counsel by The Legal500 GC Powerlist Canada (2016).
Agnes is an alumna of the 1998 Commonwealth Study Conference held in Canada. She is the volunteer President and a Founding Director of the Duke of Edinburgh Emerging Leaders’ Dialogues Canada.
GREGORY S. BELTON C.V.O., C.M., LL.D.
Gregory Belton is the Executive Chairman of HUB International Canada, a division of HUB International Limited, one of the world’s top 10 global insurance brokerages with 13, 000 employees in the US. And Canada. Gregory also serves as Chairman of the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award based in London, UK.
Gregory began his career in insurance in 1981. At the age of 29, he left Wellington Insurance to purchase Muntz & Beatty Inc., one of Canada’s oldest commercial insurance brokerages. Following the acquisition of three of Canada’s oldest insurance brokerages, HKMB International Ltd was formed, which grew to become Canada’s largest privately-owned commercial insurance broker. In 2008 HKMB joined HUB International Ltd and in 2014 HUB was acquired by Hellman & Friedman Capital Partners for U.S. $4.4 billion.
During the 1990’s, Gregory became involved with the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, initially as President of the Ontario Division In 1992, and National President in 1994. In this role, he launched the Charter for Business which, to date, has generated corporate donations exceeding $35 million for “at risk” youth. In 1997, Gregory was appointed a Trustee of the International Award Association; from 2007 to 2015 he served as Chairman of the International Trustees; a position previously held by HRH the Duke of Edinburgh. In 2015, HRH Prince Edward assumed the Chairmanship and Gregory became the honorary Chairman of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award World Fellowship.
Gregory is also the director of the St. Michael’s Hospital Foundation, the Palm Beach Civic Association, The Donner Canadian Foundation, The Investment Committee for the US based W.H. Donner Foundation and a Board Advisor for L’Arche Canada Foundation. His past directorships include Toronto General Hospital Foundation, the Toronto Insurance Conference, Salt & Light Television and Co-Chairman of the Curator’s Circle Committee at the Art Gallery of Ontario and Securefact Corporation. He is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO); and was Chairman of the Upper Canada Chapter of YPO in 2000/2001.
From 2003-2005, Greogry was the first non-American to be appointed Chairman of U.S based Assurex Global, the world’s largest privately held risk management, commercial insurance, and employee benefits group. He served for two terms.
Gregory has numerous national and international awards and recognitions:
- Appointed a Member of the Order of Canada, one of Canada’s highest civilian honours, that recognizes a lifetime of outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the nation (2016)
- Appointed a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II (2009)
- The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, awarded to Canadians who build a caring society and country through their service, contribution and achievements (2012)
- Selected by the Government of Canada to welcome new immigrants to Canada by presiding over citizenship ceremonies (2012)
- Knight of the Papal Order, the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, KHS (2006); elevated to Knight Commander (2011)
- YPO Legacy Awardgranted to YPO members who have overcome great obstacles to achieve success, accomplished something extraordinary in their lives, and/or inspired others (2003)
The Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal awarded to those who hav - e made a significant contribution to Canada, to their community and fellow Canadians (2003)
- Honourary Doctor of Lawsby Glendon College, York University (2019)
Gregory resides in Toronto and Palm Beach, has been married for 30 years and has three children: Scott who works in the insurance business in Lloyds in London; James who is in the military; and Victoria, a graduate student in London, UK.
CARRIE BLAIR
Blair joined Allstate in 2019, with a proven track record as a leader who understands the critical role HR plays, particularly in times of transformation and change. Her career spans more than 25 years in financial services, and she has over 17 years of broad-based HR experience. Most recently, she was Executive Vice President, Chief Human Resources & Communications Officer at Sun Life Financial, where she was responsible for leading a global team of HR and communications professionals.
Blair received her bachelor’s degree in the arts from McMaster University. She enjoys giving back to her community and serves as a trustee for The Allstate Foundation. She has also held a variety of member and board positions with the United Way, along with other civic and social impact programs.
BEA BRUSKE
Over the past three decades, Bea Bruske has served workers and families as an activist, workers’ advocate, negotiator, community organizer and union labour leader.
Bea’s passion for the rights of working people was ignited in 1987, when she and her UFCW Local 832 co-workers held the line strong for 125 days to achieve a fair contract at the Westfair grocery chain in Manitoba. Over the next seven years, Bea took on roles as a shop steward, health and safety committee member, and was elected by her fellow members as a vice-president of the Local’s executive board.
In 1994, Bea was hired as a full-time union representative, and later, full-time negotiator. Over two decades, she serviced and bargained for tens of thousands of Local 832 members in the health care, food production, retail, non-profit and security sectors.
In 2011, Bea Bruske was elected UFCW Local 832 Secretary-Treasurer. In her role as Secretary-Treasurer, Bea was responsible for administering the largest private-sector local union in Manitoba, with 20,000 members. She also continued as a negotiator — bargaining contracts with some of Canada’s largest cross-country employers.
Nationally, Bea Bruske was a Vice-President of the UFCW Canada National Council, which sets the strategic direction for the national union and its more than 250,000 members across the country.
In addition, Bea served on the UFCW Canada National Council Human Rights, Equity and Diversity Committee; as a trustee on a number of health and welfare trust funds; served as trustee on the Manitoba Council of Health Care Union HEPP (Health Employee Pension Plan); three terms on the Manitoba Federation of Labour executive board, as well as an employee representative to the Manitoba Labour Board from 2007 to 2018. Bea was also a member of the executive board of the Manitoba NDP and is a graduate of the University of Manitoba in Labour Studies.
MAJOR DAVID CLARKE CVO
Major J. W. David Clarke GA, CVO, ADC is the national coordinator for the COVID-19 vaccine programme in Barbados and the honorary Aide de Camp to the President of Barbados. Major Clarke was formerly employed by The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Foundation from 1988 to 2020.
He is one of the founding Trustees and chairman of the Barbados Youth Business Trust and chairman of the Jamaica Youth Business Trust. He served as chairman of the advisory committee to the Minister of Education Youth and Culture in Barbados from 1994 to 2000 and has been an advisor to several Caribbean Governments on youth developments.
Major Clarke was appointed a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order (LVO) on 14th October 2003 by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth and promoted to a Commander (CVO) in the Queen’s birthday honours on 17th June 2017. He is a recipient of the Queen’s Diamond and Platinum Jubilee Medals and was awarded the Gold Award of Achievement (GA) by the Government of Barbados in November 2021.
ALIKA LAFONTAINE
SIR TREVOR CARMICHAEL KA, LVO, QC
Sir Trevor Carmichael KA, LVO, QC is a member of the International Bar Association, the InterAmerican Bar Association, the International Tax Planning Association, the International Fiscal Association, a former Deputy Secretary General of the International Bar Association, a Life Fellow of the Institute for Advanced Legal Studies in the United Kingdom and a Life Member of the commonwealth Magistrates and Judges Association.
He serves as a Panel Member of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes of the World Bank in Washington, the Founder Chairman of the Barbados Youth Business Trust and the Chairman of the United World Colleges Selection Committee for Barbados. A former Visiting Professor of Caribbean Foreign Investment Law to the Florida State University Summer Programme at the University of the West Indies, he is a Trustee of Europhil in the United Kingdom, and sits on the Legal Affairs and Properties Committee of the International Council of Museums in Paris, France and is a Trustee of the Duke of Edinburgh International Award Association.
PAUL DESMARAIS JR., O.C., O.Q.
Mr. Desmarais is Chairman of Power Corporation, a position he has held since 1996. He previously served as Co-Chief Executive Officer of Power Corporation from 1996 until his retirement in February 2020.
He also serves as Chairman of Power Financial and is a director of many Power Corporation group companies in North America, including Great-West Lifeco, Canada Life, Empower Retirement, Putnam Investments, IGM Financial, IG Wealth Management and Mackenzie. In Europe, he is Chairman of the Board of Groupe Bruxelles Lambert and a director of SGS. He was a director of LafargeHolcim until 2020 and of Total until 2017.
Mr. Desmarais is Chairman of the Board of Governors of The International Economic Forum of the Americas (Canada), a Trustee of The Brookings Institution, Co-Chair of the Brookings International Advisory Council and a member of the Brookings Executive Committee (Washington), a member of the Global Board of Advisors of the Council on Foreign Relations (United States), a member of the Global Advisory Council of Harvard (United States), a member of The Business Council (United States) and of The Business Council of Canada. He is also active on a number of philanthropic advisory councils.
In 1994, he received the Insigne d’Officier de l’Ordre de la Couronne of Belgium. In 2005, he was named an Officer of the Order of Canada and he received the Executive of the Year Award from the Academy of International Business. In 2009, he was named an Officer of the Ordre national du Québec and in 2012, Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur in France. He holds a number of honorary doctorates.
LEO W. GERARD
Leo W. Gerard is former international president of the United Steelworkers union (USW). During his time as USW president, Mr. Gerard led the union on a course of unprecedented activism, demanding – and winning – government action to halt a flood of illegal imports that destroyed North American manufacturing jobs and negotiating precedent-setting labor agreements.
He also fought to revive the economy by rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure and paving the way for a cleaner, more prosperous future for Canadian and American workers.
He is an alumnus of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Commonwealth Study Conference (1980) and an active supporter of the 1998 CSC in Canada.
A co-founder of the labor-environmental partnership the BlueGreen Alliance, Mr. Gerard also serves on the boards of the Campaign for America’s Future, the Economic Policy Institute and the Elderly Housing Development & Operations Corp.
He retired from the USW on July 15, 2019 and remains active in the progressive community.
RON MANNIX, OC, AOE, B.COMM, LLD (HON)
Ron Mannix, OC, AOE, B.Comm, LLD (Hon) is an entrepreneur, philanthropist, sportsman, and family man. He is also the founder of Coril Holdings Ltd., a company involved in global investments; railroad equipment and service business; real estate ownership and advisory services; and integrative health services, principally located in Canada.
The roots of the family business date back to 1898 and have included heavy construction; engineering; coal mining; oil and gas production and pipelining; railroad construction; maintenance and equipment manufacturing; real estate; ranching; and venture capital activities. Mr. Mannix is a Member of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives and its Entrepreneurs’ Circle. He is Chairman, Shareholder and a Director of Coril Holdings Ltd., as well as numerous other family businesses. In addition to being a Member of the Max Bell Foundation, he is a founder, Member and a Director of the National Music Centre Foundation.
He is a former Director of the Bank of Montreal (22 years), Canfor Corporation (7 years), Manalta Coal Ltd. (23 years), Pembina Corporation (20 years), and The Coal Association of Canada. Mr. Mannix was a Director, Member and former Chairman of Carthy Foundation, Max Bell Foundation, Scripps Foundation International Board (La Jolla,California), the Calgary International Organ Festival and Competition, and the Cantos Music Foundation.
LORRAINE MITCHELMORE
Lorraine Mitchelmore has more than 30 years of oil and gas experience with a third of her career working internationally. Her most recent roles include CEO of Enlighten Innovations, various senior positions in Royal Dutch Shell, including Executive Vice-President Heavy Oil Americas and President and Country Chair of Shell Canada from 2009-2016. Prior to Royal Dutch Shell, she held various positions in BHP Petroleum, Chevron and Petro Canada. Ms. Mitchelmore’s business experience includes leadership in operations, strategic planning, business development, exploration and appraisal, technology start-up, and public policy.
She serves on the Bank of Montreal, Suncor Energy, TransMountain Corporation board of directors and Catalyst Canada Advisory Council, Ms. Mitchelmore has served as a board member and advisor to numerous private and non-profit organizations, including Enlighten Innovations, Shell Canada, the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, Conference Board of Canada, Asia Pacific Foundation, the Federal Government’s NAFTA Environmental Advisory Council and was most recently, Chair of the Federal Resources of the Future Economic Strategy Table. She is co-founder and co-chair of Smart Prosperity, chaired the 2015 Governor Generals Leadership Conference and co-Chaired the 2015 Calgary United Way campaign.
Lorraine holds a BSc honours in Geophysics from Memorial University of Newfoundland, a MSc in Geophysics from the University of Melbourne, Australia and a MBA with Distinction from Kingston Business School in London, England.
CECIL EDWARD GUINNESS CVO
Cecil Edward Guinness CVO, was educated at the University of Belfast and the School of Brewing, Birmingham University. Edward began his career as a junior brewer in 1945 and rose to become the Director of Guinness and the Vice Chairman of Guinness International.
Mr. Guinness served as Chairman of the UK Trustees of the Duke of Edinburgh Commonwealth Study Conferences for many years and has often remarked that the program had “a profound effect on my future thinking and indeed my life”. Edward has served as a Patron and Director on numerous Boards including the Trustees Queen Elizabeth, Foundation for Disabled People, International School of Creative Art, Lister Institute of Preventative Medicine, Dame Alice Owens School Potters Bar, and the Wine and Spirit Trades Benevolent Society. He is a published author, having penned The Guinness Book of Guinness, Fulmers Fallen (co-author), and A Brewers Tale, Memoirs.
PAUL R. MEINEMA
Paul R. Meinema is the National President of UFCW Canada, with more than 250,000 members from coast to coast. He is also an Executive Vice President of the UFCW International Union and a member of the UFCW International Executive Committee.
Paul’s service with UFCW spans four decades, going back to the early 1980s when he first volunteered to serve his co-workers as a shop steward while working on the floor at the Fletcher’s meat processing plant in Red Deer, Alberta.
In 1990, Paul was hired as a local union staff representative at UFCW Canada Local 1118, and was part of the team that successfully organized the Cargill packing plant in High River, Alberta. A year later, he joined the UFCW Canada National Office with responsibilities as an organizer and International Representative for Atlantic Canada.
In 1995, Paul returned to Western Canada as an International Representative assigned to Saskatchewan. Then, in 2002, he was elected as President of UFCW Canada Local 1400 — the largest private sector union local in the province.
In 2009, Paul moved from his Local 1400 presidency to join the UFCW Canada national leadership team as Executive Assistant to the National President. In 2013, Paul was elected UFCW Canada National President, and UFCW International Executive Vice President. Paul was re-elected in 2018.
In addition to his role as UFCW Canada National President and UFCW International Executive Vice President, Paul also serves on the Board of Directors of the International Foundation of Benefits, and as a trustee of various UFCW Canada benefit and pension plans.