The rise of sustainable finance

Cam Brewington, AMBA, moved to Brisbane, Australia on an assignment with Shell to work in energy trading, primarily on liquefied natural gas. Here, Cam stands in front of a 283-metre (928-foot) LNG tanker loading in Australia and heading to China.

Taleen Haneshian, AMBA, told us that she has been enjoying volunteering with the Foundation for Armenians in Science and Technology (FAST), a tech ecosystem in Armenia. Taleen has been learning from technology leaders and immersing herself in the local culture.

Meahgan Sweet, MIB, chief of staff at Flexiti, let us know that the company was recently ranked 11th on The Globe and Mail’s ranking of Canada’s fastest growing companies. A fintech provider of point-of-sale financing solutions, Flexiti earned its spot on the list with three-year revenue growth of 3,245 per cent.

Philip Cartwright, EMBA, and his wife Gillian were thrilled to welcome their first child, Ben, in November 2018 in Ottawa, where Philip is a senior vice-president at Global Public Affairs.

Beau Sackey, AMBA, has written Come and Thrive, a book to help newcomers to Canada and young people find work and start their careers. Beau says he was inspired to write it while teaching at Seneca College. There, he often found himself helping students (including many immigrants) improve job-search and job-interview skills. “Assisting my students this way got me thinking about how I could impact more people in an effective way,” he says. The book is available at comeandthrive.ca and Amazon.

Aaron Lau, AMBA, was promoted to partner in financial-accounting advisory services at Ernst & Young in Beijing. He leads his team to advise companies on a broad range of financial-accounting topics and to create value for companies by embracing the latest technology and by providing innovative solutions.

Madeline Wong, MBA, and her husband, Matthew, have welcomed a new family member. Beatrice Leia Wong was born June 19, 2019, much to the delight of her big sister, Amelia, who loves to teach the little one everything she knows.

Adam Cotterall, AMBA, and his wife, Lyndsay, are excited to share the news that baby Kate (“Katie”) Sydney Cotterall joined their family on May 28, 2019. She was born at Royal Columbian Hospital, weighing in at 8 lb 5.6 oz, with a full head of hair.

Kerri-Lynn McAllister, BCom, a founding team member of Ratehub.ca, has launched Pawzy, an online pet platform connecting “modern pet parents” to pet advice and services. In addition to pledging one per cent of Pawzy's equity to animal charities, Kerri-Lynn has pledged an additional five per cent of her personal equity holding to women in tech initiatives through the Upside Foundation. She and her husband, Koen Van Rompaey (a University of Antwerp exchange student to Smith in 2006), recently welcomed “a new fur baby, Kennedy, a Cavalier King Charles spaniel.” 

Biswajit Das, MBA, has been promoted to partner at PwC Canada. With a focus on technology and operations, Biswajit serves banks, credit unions and insurance firms in North America. He has worked in North America, the Middle East and Asia.

Juggy Sihota, EMBA, was recently named to Vancouver Magazine’s Power 50 list. Juggy is vice-president of consumer health at Telus. The magazine cited her work in “helping Telus emerge as one of the biggest health-care players in the country.” She’s a member of the VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation Board and the Canadian Men’s Health Foundation. She also advises the City of Vancouver on racial and ethno-cultural equity issues.

Malissa (Lundgren) Petch, BCom, has had an exciting, and busy, couple of years. In spring 2018, she took on a new executive role as senior vice-president, risk and audit at Ontario Lottery and Gaming. She and Christopher Perch welcomed their son, Bryan, several months later, and in June 2019 Malissa and Christopher were married.

Jason Flowerday, EMBA, became engaged to Alison Rockwell and is looking forward to their 2020 wedding in Tulum, Mexico. Jason also completed his third Ironman race in late 2018, in Chattanooga, Tenn. And he recently became CEO of MDBriefCase, an online medical-education firm.

Ahmed Shehata, BCom, general counsel and head of corporate development at MediPharm Labs, was on hand Aug. 14, 2019 at the Toronto Stock Exchange as cannabis extractor MediPharm rang the bell to open the TSX. Ahmed (second from left) is shown here with three Smith alumni (from left): Matt Macdonald, BCom’03, MIR'04, managing director and head, national client group, Central and Western Canada at National Bank of Canada; Chris MacIntyre, BCom’03, growth equity investor; and John Medland, BCom’01, head of Canadian technology investment banking at Scotiabank.

Faizal Hasham, EMBA, says that he and his family are continuing their expat adventures. They’re now residing in Dubai. Faizal is general manager of AQM LLC, a consulting and distribution company that works in air-quality monitoring and management. AQM is partnered with France's Plume Labs, developer of the personal air-pollution monitor Flow.

Dave McDonnell, EMBA, Artsci'92, Sc'93 and his Mississauga EMBA’01 team met recently to celebrate 20 years since they all started in the Executive MBA program. Dave noted that the group members are proud to say that they still remember Professor Shawna O'Grady's teambuilding lessons and that they still get together at least once a year. (They come from as far away as Johannesburg and Houston.)  Pictured left to right: Peter McCann, Don Alarie, Jake Crough, Sheila Jones, Harry Schlange, JD Fentie and Dave McDonnell. 

Phoebe Fung, EMBA, reports that her latest wine bar, Vin Room YYC Airport, was named Wine Bar of the Year at the 2019 Global Food and Beverage Awards. Vin Room is one of the few independent operators in a Canadian airport and was started by Phoebe in 2008. She has three locations in Calgary.

Rebecca Tascona, BCom, AMBA’05, is the new Campaign Cabinet chair of United Way Waterloo Region Communities. Rebecca is the regional president of BMO Private Wealth Southwestern Ontario. She joined BMO in 2005 and has held a variety of positions in the organization, most recently as COO, BMO Wealth Management. Rebecca and her husband, Andrew Koloshuk, AMBA’05, recently moved to Waterloo with their two young sons. She says they are enjoying exploring southwestern Ontario.

Jennifer Maki, BCom, has been appointed to the board of Baytex Energy. Jennifer previously served as CEO of Vale Canada and executive director of Vale S.A., Base Metals. Before joining Vale/Inco, she worked at PwC for 10 years. Jennifer has also been a director of not-for-profit Next Generation Manufacturing Canada since September 2018 and is currently a director of the Franco-Nevada Corporation.

Paul Lawrence, BCom, assumed the role of vice-president and CFO for Commercial Metals Company last September. He joined the company in 2016 as vice-president of finance. After leaving the Toronto area, Paul lived in Brazil and Tampa, Fla. He’s now in Dallas with his wife and youngest child. Three other children are attending the University of Florida.  

Brian Lenahan, BCom, recently published Artificial Intelligence: Foundations for Business Leaders and Consultants, available on Amazon. In writing the book, Brian leveraged his MIT artificial-intelligence training and years of research and IT project experience to guide leaders through the complex world of AI.

Shauneen Bruder, MBA, was named chair of the board of governors of the University of Guelph. Shauneen, who is also executive vice-president of operations at the Royal Bank of Canada, is the first woman to hold the position. She says she’s excited to be back at Guelph after earning her BA at the school. Shauneen also serves as a director of CN and Andrew Peller Limited. She and her husband, Michael, Law’84, are the proud parents of three, and grandparents of three. 

Mary Wilson Trider, BCom, has been appointed the next chair of Queen’s University’s Board of Trustees. She starts her four-year term June 1. Mary has been a member of the University Council since 2007 and was later elected to sit as one of its representatives on the Board of Trustees. This marks the first time a University Council representative on the board has been selected as chair. She is president and CEO of Almonte General Hospital and Carleton Place & District Memorial Hospital.

Michael Blank, BCom, has been named an independent member of the board of directors and acting CFO of PyroGenesis Canada, which designs, develops and sells advanced plasma processes and products. Michael has over 30 years of experience leading finance and operations for private and public organizations, and previously spent 10 years at KPMG in Canada and Europe. Michael lives in Montreal with his wife, Linda, and seven-year-old daughter. On winter weekends he enjoys teaching skiing at Mont Tremblant.

Bob Du Broy, MBA, came out of semi-retirement in April 2019 to become director of communications for the Catholic Archdiocese of Ottawa. Bob let us know that he was also excited about the birth of his sixth grandchild, Nixon Robert Stapledon, born on Mother’s Day.

Paul Owens, MBA, (pictured with grey wolf Wiley) has been re-elected for his third one-year term as chair of the board of directors for the Edmonton-based Foundation of Administrative Justice. He has received the foundation's certificate in tribunal administrative justice in each of the foundation's three program streams. He has also received a corporate-values award from Alberta’s Ministry of Treasury Board and Finance for his contribution to improving the sustainability of Alberta's unionized construction-trades pension plans.

John Abbott, BCom, and his wife Laurie, Artsci’71, recently returned from a Viking river cruise in Europe. John is still pursuing his art, painting and selling landscapes of Western Canada, while Laurie spends her time putting her master’s degree in theology to work teaching Bible studies.

Commerce ’64 classmates (from left) Jim Symington, Wayne Ashford, Sandy (Pattinson) Reynolds, Dave Garth and Glen Davison along with their spouses, enjoyed a cruise on the Rhone in Europe as part of a pre-celebration before coming back for Homecoming last October.