Dr. Gervan Fearon

Dr. Gervan Fearon

Dr. Gervan Fearon is the President and Vice-Chancellor of Brock University. Brock is located in the Niagara region of Ontario, Canada, and known for its excellence in student experience, experiential and co-operative education, and community engagement, as well as leading Scholars, Researchers and research institutes such as the Cold Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute (CCOCI) and the newly established Validation, Prototype and Manufacturing Initiative.
Since Dr. Fearon joined Brock in August 2017, the University has advanced its enrolment and national stature, and established broad partnership arrangements, including Canadian Caribbean Institute with the University of the West Indies.
Previously, he served at Brandon University as President and Vice-Chancellor, and prior as Provost and Vice-President Academic. Dr. Fearon also served as Dean of The G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education at Ryerson University; as Associate Dean at York University; and as a Visiting Scholar at the University of Washington.
He also served in the Ontario Government as a senior analyst at Treasury Board Division, Ministry of Finance, and as an executive assistant to the Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. His community service includes serving as the President of Tropicana Community Services and a member of the Ontario Trillium Foundation Board, Brandon Urban Aboriginal Peoples Council and TELUS Community Board. He currently serves on several boards, including chairing the Budget and Audit Committee of the Council of Ontario Universities.
Dr. Fearon received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Western Ontario, and other degrees at the University of Guelph. He holds a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CGA) designation and an Institute of Corporate Directors Designation (ICD.D). He is the recipient of several awards, including the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. His academic research has been published in a number of journals, including as a chapter in the 2012 book, Jamaican in the Canadian Experience: A Multiculturalized Presence.
Dr. Fearon was born in Birmingham, UK, with Jamaican parents who emphasized on university education for their four children. This motivated them to come to Canada, which was instrumental in fulfilling the family’s dreams. Dr. Fearon and his life partner, Dr. Kathy Moscou, have a blended family with five children who inspire them every day. Kathy’s leisure is art, and he plays the saxophone. As a cancer survivor, he values every day as an opportunity to contribute to the betterment of others and society.

Shastri Ramnath

Shastri Ramnath

Shastri Ramnath is a Professional Geoscientist with 20 years of global experience within the exploration and mining industry. She started her career at Falconbridge in Winnipeg in 1999 and then moved to Sudbury to join FNX Mining in 2002. She was a key member of the exploration and resource group at FNX and part of the team that discovered the Victoria Deposit.

In 2010, Shastri joined Bridgeport Ventures Inc. as President and CEO where she raised over 17 million in the capital markets before merging the company with Premier Royalty. In 2012, she co-founded and co-owns Orix Geoscience Inc., a consulting firm that partners with exploration and mining companies to provide front end geological support. The success of Orix in its inaugural three years resulted in Shastri being nominated for the RBC Canadian Woman Entrepreneur of the Year for Canada and was one of three finalists for the Momentum Award.

More recently, Shastri co-founded Exiro Minerals, a junior exploration company focused on project generation that combines technology with traditional exploration methodologies.  Shastri received a B.Sc. in Geology from the University of Manitoba, a M.Sc. in Exploration Geology from Rhodes University (South Africa), and an Executive MBA from Athabasca University.

Harold Brathwaite

Harold Brathwaite

Harold Brathwaite is a proud Bajan-Canadian whose early education began under the tutelage of his mother, Lotty; she ensured that he could read and write, and knew all his tables before he started school at St. Giles Boys School. He attributes his parents’ concern for learning as having a major impact on his life and that of his siblings. Two years at Combermere S.S. preceded his entry to Harrison College (HC), and a U.C.W.I. Exhibition allowed him to complete his first degree in French at Mona, Jamaica, in 1965; this included a year in Lyon, France. After teaching for three years at HC, he emigrated to Canada in 1968 to complete a Master’s degree at McMaster University.

Harold’s working career has spanned more than four and a half decades, including thirty-one years in publicly-funded education. He rose through the ranks of school administration with the Halton Board of Education, and from 1984 to 1994 he served in a number of senior roles with the legacy Toronto Board – Superintendent of French Language Schools, Superintendent of Secondary Schools, and Associate-Director of Program and Personnel. In 1994, he was appointed Director of Education of the Peel District Board of Education, then Canada’s largest school board, and retired in June 2002. In recognition of his contribution to education in Peel, the Board named a high school in Brampton for him. He came out of retirement in January 2003 to take up the position of Senior Advisor to the President of Seneca College. Then, from September 2004 to June of 2015 he served as Executive Director of the Retired Teachers of Ontario (RTO/ERO).

He has been a vocal advocate for public education, for issues of equity, and for building capacity in communities. He served in many roles on Ministry of Education Committees, on Premier McGuinty’s Transition Team, as a Trustee of the Art Gallery of Ontario, as Chair of the legacy Nelson Mandela’s Children Fund of Canada, as a member of the Toronto Lands Commission, as a member of United Way of Peel, as a member and Chair of the Advisory Governance Council of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), and was selected in 1998 as one of a small group of Ontario educators to visit and advise the South African government on systemic education reform.

For his contribution to the community and education Harold Brathwaite has received numerous awards including the first Egerton Ryerson Award from People for Education, the Canadian Black Achievement Award, the Harry Jerome Award, UNICEF Volunteer Award, Distinguished Alumnus Award – McMaster University, the Arbor Award from the U of T, Distinguished Service Award from The Learning Partnership, the Urban Alliance on Race Relations Award, the Barbados Ball Canada Aid Errol Barrow Award, and in 2006 The Order of Ontario.

Sagicor Financial Corporation Limited

Sagicor Financial Corporation Limited

Sagicor is a leading financial services provider in the Caribbean, with over 178-years of history, and has a growing presence as a provider of life insurance products in the United States. Sagicor’s experience and reputation for financial prudence has become a trusted partner for all stakeholders offering a wide range of financial solutions and services, including life, health, and general insurance, banking, pensions, annuities, and real estate services.

The company’s vision “to be a great company, committed to improving the lives of people in the communities in which we operate” is what guides its business strategies. In support of this vision, Sagicor’s leadership approach to corporate and social responsibility (CSR) is simple: to positively influence as many lives as possible through strategic focus areas grounded in the greatest transparency, ethical standards and a steady focused approach. During the last financial year, the Sagicor group of companies contributed over US$1.3M towards sponsorship and philanthropic efforts centered around health, education, community and youth development and sport.

The investment in the creation of innovative solutions and services is a key component to Sagicor’s high customer rating. One such innovation is Sagicor Go”, launched across the Sagicor Group enabling customers to access their policy information as well as general information on insurance from smartphones and tablets. In the US, the electronic application, Accelewriting, is a state-of-the-art automated underwriting programme, providing real-time underwriting decisions within minutes to customers. “SagicorNow” is also another innovative, game-changing programme that allows customers to secure life insurance in less than 20 minutes. As such Sagicor’s independent customer service survey continues to rank Sagicor above global industry average across all business segments.

Sagicor has followed a carefully crafted business strategy, which has seen the company transform from a local single-line life insurance company to a financial services group with a solid regional base, before expanding into the international financial services market. Today, operating in 22 countries, including the USA and Latin America, Sagicor has total assets of US $7.3 billion, and $1.135 billion in equity. This success would not be possible without the commitment and dedication of the 4500-plus team members.

Sharing in a commitment to group goals and strategies, the Sagicor team continues to effectively redefine the company’s offerings and deliver bigger and better results. In turn, this strong performance can be reflected in group satisfaction survey scores which trend positively year on year. The survey results have proved beneficial in guiding the development of team engagement initiatives and corporate branding programmes, as team engagement continues to increase.

In 2019, Sagicor’s shareholders approved the strategic anchor investments of over $400 million from Canadian, Caribbean and other long-term investors into Sagicor Financial through a publicly listed shell company, Alignvest Acquisition II Corporation (Alignvest). This transaction is yet another significant milestone in Sagicor’s storied history, one which has seen Sagicor acquire a listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange, bringing to the fore international exposure and greater access to capital to fund growth.

The Honourable Margaret Norrie McCain

The Honourable Margaret Norrie McCain

The Honourable Margaret Norrie McCain was born October 1, 1934, in northern Quebec. Her father was a prominent mining engineer in the early days of the Quebec gold mining industry and her mother was Senator Margaret Norrie of Truro, N.S.

Mrs. McCain received her early education in public and private schools in Quebec, Nova Scotia and Ontario. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree with Honors in History from Mount Allison University, Sackville, N.B., and a Bachelor of Social Work from the University of Toronto. She has been presented with Honorary Degrees from a number of prominent Canadian universities (see below).

Throughout her career, Mrs. McCain has been active in organizations that promote education, music and the arts at the provincial and national levels. She was a member of the Mount Allison University Board of Regents from 1974-1994 and served as Chancellor of the University from 1986-1994. She is a founding member of the Muriel McQueen Fergusson Foundation in New Brunswick which is devoted to the elimination of family violence through public education and research. Mrs McCain chaired its capital campaign to endow a Family Violence Research Centre in partnership with the University of New Brunswick.

In 1955 she married entrepreneur G. Wallace F. McCain of Florenceville, N.B. who died in 2011. They have four children and nine grandchildren.

On April 28, 1994, Margaret Norrie McCain was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of the Province of New Brunswick - the first female to hold this position. She served in that role until April, 1997. At that time she moved to Toronto to re-join her family.

Margaret McCain was a member of the Board of the National Ballet School for 18 years serving as Board Chair from 1998 to 2000. She then went on the Chair the School’s successful $100 million fund raising campaign. She is currently Chair of the Margaret & Wallace McCain Family Foundation. The mission of this Foundation is to champion effective early childhood programmes across Canada; programmes that provide equal opportunities for all children, align with the school system and operate within a provincial or territorial framework.

Dr. David Suzuki

Dr. David Suzuki

Dr. David Suzuki is a scientist, broadcaster, author, and co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation. He is Companion to the Order of Canada and a recipient of UNESCO's Kalinga Prize for science, the United Nations Environment Program medal, the 2012 Inamori Ethics Prize, the 2009 Right Livelihood Award, and UNEP’s Global 500. Dr. Suzuki is Professor Emeritus at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and holds 29 honorary degrees from universities around the world. He is familiar to television audiences as host of the CBC science and natural history television series The Nature of Things, and to radio audiences as the original host of CBC Radio's Quirks and Quarks, as well as the acclaimed series It's a Matter of Survival and From Naked Ape to Superspecies. In 1990 he co-founded with Dr. Tara Cullis, The David Suzuki Foundation to “collaborate with Canadians from all walks of life including government and business, to conserve our environment and find solutions that will create a sustainable Canada through science-based research, education and policy work.” His written work includes more than 55 books, 19 of them for children. Dr. Suzuki lives with his wife and family in Vancouver, B.C.

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