Advisory Council

Michael Bradley

NorthCard

Mike Bradley is Managing Director at NorthCard. With nearly 25 years’ experience in the electronic banking / payments business, Mike works with leading North American financial institutions, retailers, technology companies and card networks to develop strategies and drive key initiatives.

From 2004-2012, Mike managed Visa’s products in Canada, launching Visa’s chip and contactless cards, as well as new credit, debit and prepaid card products. Mike also led innovation activities in e-commerce and mobile payments.  Prior to Visa, Mike led several strategic initiatives for Bank of Montreal.

Mike served on the CanadaHelps Board of Directors from 2010-2016, and as its Chair from 2015-2016. He was also an active Member of the United Way of Greater Toronto IT Committee from 2002 to 2012.

Wayne C Fox

Chairman, Cygnus Investment Partners Inc.

Wayne C Fox retired from CIBC effective September 1, 2005. He was formerly ViceChair and Chief Risk Officer (CRO) responsible for Treasury, Balance Sheet and Risk Management of CIBC. Prior to his appointment as ViceChair in 1999, Mr. Fox worked with CIBC’s wholesale banking and brokerage businesses for 28 years, previously as head of CIBC World Markets global capital markets activities.

Mr. Fox is currently Chairman of the Board of Directors of Cygnus Investment Partners Inc. and President of W C Fox investments Inc. Mr. Fox was the former Chair of the Board of Directors of the TMX Group Inc (2001-12) and E F Hutton Holdings Canada Inc. In addition, he was formerly a member of the Board of COM DEV International Inc., the Bourse de Montreal, Canadian Investor Protection Fund, CIBC Mellon, CIBC First Caribbean (Barbados), World Federation of Exchanges, McMaster University, Appleby College, CanadaHelps.org Inc, and Junior Achievement of Central Ontario. He was also a member of the Accounting Standards Oversight Council (2008-12). Mr. Fox holds a BA from the University of Waterloo (1971), a MBA from McMaster University (1973) and completed the Advanced Management Program at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business (1992). He is also designated a Chartered Director (C.Dir). from McMaster University – The Directors College (2006) and Honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD) from McMaster University (2007). He was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (IIAC) in 2012.

Hershel Harris

Hershel Harris spent the majority of his career as an executive in the IBM Software Group. During his IBM career, Hershel held roles such as the head of engineering for DB2 and WebSphere, the Director of the IBM Toronto Lab and the Vice President of IBM Software Group Strategy. After retiring from IBM in 2008, Hershel served as the Chief Technology Officer for Georgian Partners, a Canadian growth equity firm investing in software companies. Hershel retired from that role in 2018. Hershel has served as a past board member at the Self-Help Resource Centre, and on industrial advisory boards at the University of Waterloo, University of Toronto and York’s Schulich School of Business. Hershel is active as a volunteer crew leader with Habitat for Humanity Toronto. Hershel holds a B.Math in Computer Science from the University of Waterloo.

Karim Harji

Evalysis, Toronto

Karim Harji brings over a decade of international experience in impact measurement and impact investing. He is a Senior Fellow with the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation; Programme Director of the Oxford Impact Measurement Programme at the Said Business School, University of Oxford; and Managing Director at Evalysis, an impact measurement and management consultancy. Karim was previously a co-founder and Director at Purpose Capital (now Rally Assets), where he established and led its Impact Investment Advisory practice, and served on the Boards of CanadaHelps and the Responsible Investment Association.

Patrick Johnston

Borealis Advisors

Patrick Johnston is Principal of Borealis Advisors – a consultancy advising foundations and charities. Patrick has held numerous leadership positions in Canada’s charitable and philanthropic sectors.

At various times, he has served as Executive Director/CEO of the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation, the Canadian Centre for Philanthropy (now Imagine Canada), the Canadian Council on Social Development and the National Anti-Poverty Organization. Patrick has extensive governance experience at the community, national and international level including service on the Board of Directors of Philanthropic Foundations Canada, the United Way/Centraide Canada, the Council on Foundations (Washington) and CIVICUS (Johannesburg). In December 2014, Patrick was appointed to the Order of Canada by the Governor General “for his contributions to the charitable sector”.

Patrick has undergraduate degrees in Political Science and Education from York University and Queen’s University respectively. He also holds an M.S.W. in Social Policy, Planning and Administration from the University of Toronto.

Bill Kerr

Bill was a founding director of CanadaHelps, serving on the Board from 2000 to 2013 and as Chairman from 2005 to 2012. Bill’s global business career spanned 40 years working throughout Canada, the US, and Europe, and included senior executive positions with such companies as BCE, Nortel, PHH, and Forstmann Little. Most recently he served as CEO and Executive Chairman of TalentWise Inc, an emerging HR technology company based in the Seattle, WA area. Bill, who resides in Whistler, BC with his wife Alice, has three children and two grandchildren.

Ryan Grant Little

Principal, RGL Strategic

Ryan is one of the co-founders of CanadaHelps. Today he works as an independent consultant in the fields of impact investing, social innovation, technology for good, and corporate social responsibility. His work ranges from startup acceleration through to impact investment strategy. He is both a social/tech-for-good and software entrepreneur, having founded his first venture more than 20 years ago.

His “sweet spot” is working with impact entrepreneurs and impact investors to bridge the gap between concepts and capital. He has led investment readiness for dozens of impact teams and designed led the deal sourcing, due diligence, investment, and impact management processes for several foundations, high net worth individuals, and corporate venturing arms of large companies. He has completed more than a dozen successful debt and equity impact investments on behalf of these stakeholders.

Ryan is active in the software-as-a-service sector and was recently Managing Director of SmileBack, a B2B feedback company where he rebuilt the team and grew revenues by 30% before replacing himself and moving to the board of directors.

Previous roles in the sector include leading the social finance practice at the BMW Foundation (Berlin) and serving as Global Business Development Manager at the worldwide corporate entity of Impact Hub (Vienna). He is co-founder of StormFisher Biogas, one of the earliest energy-from-organic-waste companies in North America.

He holds an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business and a Bachelor of Arts from Queen’s University.

Joan McCalla

Joan McCalla is retired from her position as Director and Distinguished Fellow with the Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG), Cisco Systems. Joan worked as part of the global public sector team providing strategic advice to public sector organizations that are interested in how ICT-enabled transformation can help them to achieve their program objectives and priorities.

Until late 2006, Joan was Corporate Chief Strategist with the Government of Ontario’s information and information technology (I&IT) organization. Appointed in 1999 as the government’s first Chief Strategist, Joan provided leadership for Ontario’s highly regarded e-government strategy. Joan was with the Ontario government since 1977 in various planning and policy positions at several ministries.

Joan was an original Board member of the Institute for Citizen-Centred Service and is currently serving as a Fellow of the Institute. The mission of the ICCS is to promote high levels of citizen satisfaction with public sector service delivery through research and other initiatives to promote service quality and innovation. Joan is a graduate of the University of Toronto (M.Sc. Urban and Regional Planning) and the University of Alberta (B.A. Honours Geography).

Jesse Rasch

Jesse Rasch is the founder and managing director of Hedgewood, an investment firm focused on making value-oriented investments. Jesse has founded, built and successfully sold several businesses over the past 15 years, including the sale of InQuent and WebHosting.Com to AT&T, a transaction valued at over $350MM.
Jesse is a past recipient of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award.
In 2000 Jesse established the Jesse & Julie Rasch Foundation to invest in causes that reflect Rasch’s broad charitable interests.
The Rasch Foundation supports two key categories in its charitable giving – health & medical research and environmental stewardship.
Of particular interest are funding opportunities where a nexus exists between environmental degradation and health issues.
In partnership with Dr. Michael Greger, Jesse established NutritionFacts.org in 2010, a non-profit healthcare site which is now the preeminent, science-based resource for consumers and physicians to lean about plant-based nutrition.

SUE TOMNEY

Chief Executive Officer, YWCA Calgary

As Chief Executive Officer of YW Calgary, Sue Tomney is responsible for the strategic leadership of more than 300 diverse team members who offer shelter, housing, counselling, language and employment programs to some of the most vulnerable women and families in the Calgary. In September 2019, YW will open the doors to the YW Hub facility in Inglewood with a focus on building a sustainable model to support families in the community for years to come.
Sue has held senior-level positions with both non-profits and corporations prior to joining YW in December 2010: VP, Marketing and Communications for Imagine Canada; Director of Communications and External Affairs at TransAlta Corporation; and Manager, Public Relations & Community Investment for Canadian Airlines International.
Currently, Sue is a board member of Calgary Housing Company and a past-chair of CanadaHelps.org. Recent voluntary sector experiences include serving as a member of the Premier’s Advisory Committee on the Economy; board member for Calgary Chamber of Voluntary Organizations; cabinet member for Calgary’s United Way Campaign; governor for Education Matters – Calgary’s Public Education Trust; and executive committee member of the 2008 Governor General’s Leadership Conference.

Sean Van Doorselaer

Sean Van Doorselaer is the CEO of Lind Equipment, a Canadian Manufacturer of portable lighting and power equipment based in Markham Ontario. He joined Lind Equipment in 2007 as a member of a new management and ownership team which reinvented a longstanding family business.

Prior to joining Lind Equipment, Sean was Vice President of Social Capital Partners (SCP), an organization that invests in and supports businesses in economically marginalized communities across Canada.

Before Social Capital Partners, Sean was a strategy consultant at The Monitor Group. During his time with Monitor Sean provided strategy advice to top-level executives in Fortune 1000 companies.

Sean holds an MBA from Queen’s University and an undergraduate degree in business administration from the Ivey School of Business (University of Western Ontario).

Alec Zimmerman

Alec was a founding director of CanadaHelps, assisting in its creation and serving on the Board from 2000 to 2010.  Since 2010, he has been a Director of Hope Air, and currently serves as its Vice Chair and as Chair of its Governance and Nominating Committee.

In his professional life, Alec is a partner in the Toronto office of Borden Ladner Gervais LLP as a member of its Financial Services, Insolvency and Restructuring, and Financial Services Regulatory Groups.  He has extensive experience in advising Canadian and foreign banks and other lenders, as well as large corporate borrowers, in relation to acquisition, project and operating credit facilities featuring multiple borrowers, lenders, currencies, jurisdictions and tiered interests.  Alec is also widely known for his experience and expertise in connection with insolvency and restructuring matters, principally acting on behalf of creditors or court-appointed officers.  Throughout his career, Alec has been recognized in various national and international publications as one of Canada’s leading financial services lawyers in both the lending and the insolvency and restructuring fields.

Between 2002 and 2006, Alec was engaged with Aaron Pereira and others in the initiative to incorporate a Canadian chartered Schedule I bank to serve the charitable sector.  He also co-founded and served as the Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel of NexgenRx Inc., a publicly listed employee health benefit plan manager.

Alec is currently a Director and the Chairman of the Audit Committee of J.P. Morgan Bank Canada, a member of the Advisory Panel to Wakefield Canada Inc., and a member of the Advisory Panel to Daza Investments Limited.