Research Advisory Council

Murat Basarir has been part of various international sustainable finance focused initiatives, such as launching UK’s first wireless charged electric bus and working at Canada’s first retail green bond issuer.

Prior to his work in sustainable finance, he has led a nationwide energy efficiency campaign that was voted by the UK public as the Best Campaign at the Climate Week Awards.

At TD, he works with teams across the enterprise to ideate, structure and move forward ESG initiatives that support TD’s Climate Action Plan.

Murat holds a BSc and MSc in Mechanical Engineering from Queen’s University and an MPhil in Engineering from Cambridge University and has completed the Ignite programme at Stanford’s Graduate Business School.

Patrick Bryden joined Scotiabank GBM in Calgary in 2010 and has worked in the securities industry since 1997.

Mr. Bryden became Head of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Research in 2020 and previously ranked first nine times in the annual Brendan Wood International and Greenwich Associates institutional surveys as an energy analyst.

Mr. Bryden served on the Natural Gas Expert Group for the Alberta Royalty Review and advised the Province of Alberta on the calibration of its Modernized Royalty Framework.

Mr. Bryden has raised more than $145,000 for the Movember Foundation and Ovarian Cancer Canada in his time at Scotiabank GBM. He has a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree from the University of Calgary and was awarded the CFA designation in 2001.

Andrew is a Senior Manager, Data Center Power and Energy Solutions at TC Energy. In this role, he is responsible for client coverage in the energy and data center space.

Prior to this, he worked at TD Securities as a Managing Director, Environmental Markets, at TMX Group as the Director of Sustainable Finance, Capital Power as the Director of Environmental Commodity and Renewable Energy Trading. Andrew began his career in FX trading at Lloyds Bank.

Andrew has a BSc, and an MBA in finance from the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management.

Pyarali is a London, UK based ESG and sustainable finance specialist with over 25 years of experience. Early in his career he worked at two Canadian banks before joining EY Corporate Finance Canada where he led the Renewable Energy and Cleantech practice and was a senior member of the Real Estate and Public Sector teams. He spent 10 years in the EY Transaction Advisory Services group in Canada, the EY Global offices and in the UK holding positions of VP, Global Network Coordinator, and COO & Director. Since leaving EY UK he has advised investors and operating businesses on governance, strategic planning, operations, ESG integration and transaction due diligence, and was CEO and COO of a London-based circular economy business. Pyarali also has fifteen years of experience on the boards of two UK impact investors. He's a member of the Sustainability Committee of the Institute of Chartered Accountants for England and Wales and of the Advisory Council for the Centre for Building Sustainable Value at the Ivey Business School. Pyarali holds an MBA from the Ivey Business School, a master of international affairs from Columbia University, and several diplomas and certificates including in ESG investing, sustainability, clean energy, and impact monitoring and evaluation.

Dr. Majerbi joined Gustavson School of Business in 2004 after completing her PhD in finance at McGill University. Her research interests include international asset pricing, financial crises, investments and risk management. Her recent work explores the benefits of financial system diversity for sustainable development and financial stability, impact investing and climate-related financial risks. Her research has been published in leading business journals and benefited from major research grants from national granting agencies.

Basma is passionate about sustainable finance and impact investing and integrates these themes into core finance courses in her graduate teaching at the MBA and MGB programs. Since 2009, she has overseen the calculation of the annual carbon footprint of Gustavson faculty, staff and students leading the way to her school becoming carbon neutral in 2017. She is a past recipient of the Gustavson Research Excellence Award, the MBA Best Professor of the Year Award, Gustavson Innovation Award, and the Gustvason Award for Excellence in Service.

Basma is also a Technical Advisor with the International Monetary Fund’s Institute for Capacity Development where she contributes to training of government officials in developing countries on topics related to financial development, financial inclusion, and other financial sector issues. She is a member the steering committee of the Canadian Sustainable Finance Network (CSFN) and is co-founder and co-chair of the International Workshop on Financial System Architecture and Stability (IWFSAS), an annual conference that focuses on topics related to sustainable finance.

Cathy Matthews, B. Comm '86; CPA, CA; Chair, Board of Directors, Queen's AMS '86. Former Managing Director, Investment Banking, TD Securities, Toronto, Vancouver, New York & London with industry specialization in renewable energy and project finance. Former Strategy Consultant, National Bank Financial.

Recently, Queen's University Council Trustee, Queen's Board of Trustees; Queen's Capital Assets and Finance Committee, Queen's Climate Change Action Task Force; Queen's Chancellor's Search Advisory Committee; and, Queen's University Council Executive Committee. Past Volunteer Board Member; Council for Human Development, Camp Oochigeas & New Haven Learning Centre. Executive Education: Harvard; London Business School & Wharton.

Rosemary is a professional accountant and board director with executive, policy, and governance experience across the public, private, and not-for-profit sectors. She previously served as Vice-President at Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada (CPA Canada), where she led national research and capacity-building initiatives to support the adoption of global sustainability standards across Canada’s capital markets and developed the first climate reporting guide for Canadian municipalities.

Rosemary has a strong record of cross-sector collaboration, engaging market participants, regulators, and policymakers to advance effective sustainability and assurance standards and support market readiness. Rosemary’s background also includes extensive public accounting experience in the National Office of PwC advising cross-listed Canadian companies on complex accounting, assurance, and regulatory matters. She currently serves on public-sector and not-for-profit boards, contributing to strong governance, risk, and financial oversight.

Maria is a Managing Director, Sustainability Strategy at CPP Investments. She supports the Chief Sustainability Officer on overseeing the implementation of CPP Investments’ global, cross-enterprise sustainability strategy. Prior to this role, Maria was CPP Investments’ Climate Change Program Head, responsible for overseeing CPPIB’s six climate change work streams and chairing the Climate Change Management Committee. She joined CPPIB in 2012 to advance and co-ordinate CPP Investments’ activities in Latin America, culminating with the opening of the Fund’s office in Brazil. Maria later led CPP Investments’ Relationship Management effort globally, aimed at developing stronger, deeper business relationships with the Fund’s most valued global advisors and peers. Prior to that, she worked at RBC Capital Markets and TD Securities on the Foreign Exchange and Fixed Income Institutional Sales Desk for Latin America and the Caribbean. Maria holds an International MBA from the Schulich School of Business in Toronto and a B.Commerce from the University of Toronto.

Deborah Ng is the Head of ESG and Sustainability at Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo (GMO) and leads the firm’s sustainability and climate change strategy. She is responsible for key deliverables including research and thought leadership, integration frameworks, and corporate engagement. Prior to joining GMO in 2022, she was the Head of Responsible Investing at Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP) and was part of its Strategy & Asset Mix team, where she focused on the research, evaluation, and introduction of asset allocation strategies.

Ms. Ng is a member of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards Board, the Investment Committee of the United Church Pension Plan and is a past board member of the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB). She also sits on the Research Advisory Council for the Institute for Sustainable Finance and Queen’s University and the Financial Advisory Committee for Business Future Pathways. Ms. Ng earned her Bachelor of Commerce and Master of Finance from the University of Toronto. She is a CFA charterholder.

Chad Park is the Vice President, Sustainability & Citizenship for Co-operators. In this role he leads the co-operative’s efforts to embed and integrate sustainability principles throughout the organization, including in its investment strategy and underwriting practices.

He also oversees Co-operators nation-wide community investment and partnership programs, including the Cooperators Community Funds.

Prior to joining Co-operators in June 2020, Chad played a leadership role with several sustainability-focused organizations and initiatives. He served for five years as the Founding Director and Lead Animator of the Energy Futures Lab, a diverse coalition of innovators and partner organizations working together to advance solutions for a transformative energy vision for Canada.

He has also served as Executive Director of The Natural Step Canada, a founding Board-member for the Future Fit Foundation in the United Kingdom, and a Board member of the Canadian Energy and Climate Nexus. Chad earned his masters degree as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar at the International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics at Lund University in Sweden and completed the Oxford Social Finance Programme at Oxford University’s Saïd School of Business.

Hillary Thatcher is Senior Director, Project Development, Indigenous Infrastructure. Hillary leads the CIB’s Indigenous relationships and opportunities to engage with Indigenous communities. She is part of the team offering advice and making investments consistent in CIB’s priority initiatives.

Previously Director General of Innovation and Services at Indigenous Services Canada, Hillary spent 15 years with the Ontario government in senior roles across Indigenous Affairs, Energy and Infrastructure, and Natural Resources. Hillary has a proven track record of building linkages among government, industry, and Indigenous interests.

Hillary is Métis and has been an active member of the urban Indigenous community of Toronto through her volunteer roles at the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto, Red Sky Performance, and the Downie Wenjak Fund. Hillary graduated from Concordia University in Montreal and the University of Victoria.

Richard Talbot is Chief Operating Officer, Investments at iA Investment Management, an asset manager with $100 billion under management. In this role, he is responsible for leading the implementation of a new strategic vision for an investment department where Responsible Investment is a key priority. Previously, Richard had a variety of senior leadership roles at RBC Capital Markets, a top-10 global investment bank including Chief Operating Officer, Co-Head of Global Research and Managing Director, Telecom Services Research.

Richard is the Co-Chair and Co-Founder of the Industry Standards Reporting Research Council, which works to create international standards for the reporting of alternative performance measures, a gap that is not covered by audited GAAP financial information. Within the local community, Richard is a board member of Second Harvest Food Rescue – an organization which is expanding beyond the greater Toronto area to become a national food rescue organization. He is also a board governor and Treasurer of Royal St. George’s College in Toronto.

Richard is a past director of RBC subsidiary companies, the CFA Society Toronto and currently chairs CFAST’s Advisory Council. He is a Chartered Professional Accountant with an FCPA, FCA designation and a Chartered Financial Analyst. Richard holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in business administration from the Ivey Business School.

Myha Truong-Regan is former Head of Climate Research at RBC’s Climate Action Institute. Prior to joining RBC, Myha was a senior economist with the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC), where her work was focused on regulatory strategy and research. Myha also had careers as an urban planner, where her focus was on environmental and social policy, and a strategy and marketing consultant, where her focus was on real estate development and consumer packaged goods.

Myha holds an MBA from the Rotman School of Management, at the University of Toronto, and Bachelor of Environmental Studies degree from the University of Waterloo.

As the CFO, Davinder is responsible for ensuring Peel remains financially sustainable while continuing to deliver a suite of cost-effective and responsive business services to support the organization.

Davinder has worked at the executive leadership level since 2006. She comes to Peel Region from the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada where she was the Executive Director, Accounting for Sustainability (A4S) Canada and Director, Strategy, Risk and Performance Management. In this role, she led a team to conduct technical research on emerging and current issues related to the disruptors of technology, economy, sustainability, finance, strategy and risk and their impact on society, business and governments. Davinder also managed large private and public CFOs to incorporate sustainability into everyday decision-making and led the A4S network of CFOs in Canada and abroad to address global finance challenges. Davinder's past roles include Director, Global Infrastructure Advisory, KPMG LLP, and Director, Strategic Oversight and Partnership Management and Director of Strategic Planning and Stakeholder Relations, Ontario Power Generation.

A Chartered Professional Accountant, Davinder holds an Honours Co-op Bachelor of Arts in Chartered Accountancy from the University of Waterloo and the Executive Leadership Program diploma from the Schulich School of Business. She actively contributes to several boards and organizations including the Institute for Sustainable Finance, the Women in Energy Transformation Series, Capitals Hubs Canada and BGC Canada.