2020-2021 Board of DirectorsWomen General Counsel Canada is led by an amazing group of senior women in general counsel and legal executive roles from across Canada with diverse professional backgrounds. Elspeth HaganPresidentElspeth is General Counsel, Global Compliance at McCain Foods Limited. During her time with McCain she has had primary accountability for legal and regulatory risk management in the high-growth and diverse region encompassing Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa. Elspeth has also managed legal partnership with innovation and technology stakeholders at McCain and has more recently assumed global responsibility for compliance, including in respect of anti-corruption, competition, information governance, and privacy. Prior to joining McCain, Elspeth acquired extensive commercial and compliance experience at Siemens Canada, where she handled a variety of complex matters in the energy, industrial and health-care sectors of this global engineering firm. She has also practiced in a national law firm in Toronto and with a regional Atlantic Canadian firm. Elspeth has a JD from Osgoode Hall and completed graduate work at the University of Toronto. She is a member of the Law Society of Ontario and the New Brunswick Law Society. Elspeth enjoys living with her family in the beautiful Saint John River Valley in New Brunswick. Bindu CudjoeVice President and Prairies chapter leadBindu Cudjoe is Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for CWB Financial Group, leading teams responsible for managing legal and regulatory compliance risk. Prior to joining CWB in December, Bindu spent six years at BMO Financial Group serving most recently as Vice President, Deputy General Counsel - Technology and Operations and Chief Knowledge Officer, and prior to that Deputy General Counsel & Chief Operating Officer. At BMO she managed legal and regulatory risk relating to a wide range of topics from technology to outsourcing, intellectual property to marketing, trade finance, corporate banking, correspondent banking and commercial banking and also lead the General Counsel group’s initiatives in knowledge management, technology, project management, e-discovery and litigation support, board and senior management reporting, administrative assistance, finance, human resources, real estate, strategic initiatives and BMO's outside counsel program. Prior to BMO, Bindu was a Partner with McMillan LLP in the financial services group. Bindu was named one of the Top 25 Most Influential Lawyers in Canada by Canadian Lawyer Magazine in 2016 and a Lexpert Rising Star: Leading Lawyers under 40 in 2014. She is active in her community and currently secretary and director of the Oakville Community Foundation and a vice president and director of Women General Counsel Canada Network. Judy NaibergSecretaryJudy Naiberg is the Vice President, Legal at Rogers Communications where she is responsible for overseeing all legal matters (including content creation, acquisition, marketing, distribution, ad sales, transactional matters, employment and litigation) in connection with Rogers Media properties. Such properties include seven television stations (including Sportsnet and CityTV), 53 radio stations, Today’s Shopping Choice (formerly The Shopping Channel), the Toronto Blue Jays, and Rogers’ ownership interest in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment. Prior to joining Rogers, Judy was the Vice President of Legal and Business Affairs for Sony Music Entertainment Canada Inc. A member of the Executive Team, Judy was a key advisor to the President in the development of company strategy and provided guidance across all business units both in Canada and abroad. She also worked closely with Canada’s recording industry association, Music Canada, to advocate for legislative reform and was a member of the Board of Directors of Re:Sound Music Licensing, the Canadian not-for-profit agency dedicated to securing, enforcing and distributing fair compensation for artists and record companies for their performance rights. Judy is a mentor and frequent lecturer on a variety of topics including entertainment law, in-house counsel best practices, commercial drafting and women in leadership roles. She is a member of the steering committee of the Ryerson Law Practice Program (LPP) and created and co-teaches the LPP’s In-House Counsel Intensive Course. Judy began her career at McCarthy Tetrault where she articled and practiced litigation for five years. Judy holds a law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School and a Bachelor of Arts (Political Science) from McGill University. Hilda WongTREASURER
Alexa AbiscottDIRECTOR - PARTNERSHIPS AND SPONSORSHIPS
Alexa holds an Honour’s Bachelor Degree from McGill University in Anthropology, a Graduate Diploma in Business from McGill University, a Bachelor of Laws from Western University, and has been certified in NFP governance by the Institute of Corporate Directors and the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. Angela NikolakakosDIRECTOR – COMMUNICATIONS & WEBSITE
Before joining Natixis in June 2016, Ms. Nikolakakos held senior positions at BMO Financial Group. Most recently she was Senior Counsel & Director in the Wealth Management Group providing legal advice to BMO’s investment funds and fund managers on a wide range of corporate, securities and regulatory issues. Ms. Nikolakakos practiced law as a partner and as an associate in the Corporate and Securities Group of Gowling WLG’s Toronto Office. She earned her Master of Laws degree from Osgoode Hall Law School, her Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Windsor and her Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Toronto. She also holds a certificate in Regulatory Compliance and Legal Risk Management for Financial Institutions from Osgoode Hall Law School. Elizabeth FanjoyDIRECTOR – MEMBERSHIPS & AWARDS
Ellen DesmondATLANTIC CHAPTER LEAD
Ellen holds her B.A. from St. Thomas University, an LLB from the University of New Brunswick, a Masters in Social Work from Carleton University and a Masters in Law from Osgoode Hall, York University. Ellen is a part time instructor at the University of New Brunswick, teaching in the area of Dispute Resolution, Trial Practice and Industrial Relations. Ellen is a member of the Board of Directors of Symphony New Brunswick and is the current Chair of the Administrative Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association, New Brunswick Branch. Ellen has also been recently appointed to the Auditing and Assurance Standards Oversight Council for Canada. Deborah GreenbergQUEBEC CHAPTER LEADDeborah Greenberg is the Chief Information Officer at Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). She is responsible for furthering the technology and business transformation, and driving the digital strategy of the company, to ensure that technology underpins every aspect of the business to enable the achievement of the corporate strategy. She is a member of the Executive Committee. Prior to becoming the CIO, Deborah was the Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary at CMHC. In that role, she was responsible for the development and oversight of the overall legal and governance framework for CMHC’s operations including managing commercial, claims, litigation, labour and employment, and general regulatory matters as well as supporting and partnering with the different areas of the business including Policy, Insurance and Underwriting, Capital Markets, and Affordable Housing. She was also responsible for leading the corporate secretariat function. Prior to joining CMHC, Deborah was the General Counsel at Aimia (Aeroplan). Deborah started her law career at Davies Ward Philips & Vineberg LLP specializing in general commercial, securities and privacy law. After seven years, Deborah left private practice to serve as legal advisor for various businesses, including Air Canada. In 2007, she joined Aeroplan where she practiced in a variety of areas, and was a member if the Executive Leadership Team. Prior to her career in law, Deborah held various positions in marketing and advertising, including several years as the director of marketing for a private-label health and beauty manufacturer, where she researched trends, developed products, priced raw materials, led customer service, and managed quality control. In 2014, Deborah won the prestigious Global Counsel Award in the General Commercial Law Category. In 2016, Deborah was listed among the top 100 Canadian general counsel on the GC Powerlist, which recognizes corporate counsel who drive the legal business forward and in 2019 Deborah and her legal team were listed on the GC Powerlist, Teams (Canada). Also in 2019, Deborah was listed among the Top 25 most Influential Lawyers in Canada by Canadian Lawyer Magazine. Deborah holds Bachelor’s degrees in Civil and Common law from McGill University, a Graduate Management diploma from McGill University, as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Carleton University. She has also obtained her ICD.D designation, which is granted after following a well-known rigorous accreditation program that provides corporate directors with the knowledge and tools to encourage and enable good governance practices. Alena Thouinontario chapter lead
In previous roles in the banking and credit union sectors, she provided legal and strategic advice on matters related to regulatory, risk, compliance, corporate and commercial law, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, and capital markets. Alena is active on various legal industry and practice groups, sits on a number of voluntary Boards, and is passionate about supporting initiatives that promote diversity, inclusion and women in leadership positions. She is a member of the Ontario Bar Association and its Mentorship Program and the Ontario Chapter of the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association (past Chair.) Erika TseBritish Columbia Chapter Lead
In her spare time, Erika is an adjunct professor at Peter A. Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia, teaching the Corporate Counsel Externship, a clinic and course for upper year law students in the Centre for Business Law. Erika also sits on a non-profit board (Arts Club Theatre Company) contributing in corporate governance, risk management and HR best practices. Erika holds a law degree from Dalhousie University, a Bachelor of Commerce degree from UBC, and her ICD.D (directors education program) from the Institute of Corporate Directors, Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. Erika has also completed the Financial Literacy Program and the Strategic Human Resources Management Program from Rotman School of Management at U of T, and the Executive Development Program from Wharton, University of Pennsylvania. Kimberley GrahamDIRECTOR – CONFERENCE CO-CHAIR
Lisa MarcuzziDirector – Conference Co-Chair
Prior to joining the ArcelorMittal Group, Lisa was a partner with the Toronto office of an international law firm, engaged in a broad corporate/commercial law practice with an emphasis on mergers and acquisitions, private equity transactions, infrastructure financing, governance and regulatory compliance, and served as a contributing editor to each of the Business Law Reports and O’Brien’s Encyclopedia of Forms. She is an active member of her community volunteering at a local community centre and previously serving as a director of the Art Gallery of Hamilton, Ontario and the Adoption Council of Ontario. Lisa has been awarded/named: Lexpert’s Rising Star – Leading Lawyers under 40 (2008), Lexpert’s US/Canada Cross-Border Corporate Lawyers to Watch (2009), GC Powerlist Canada (2016) GC, and GC Powerlist – Canada Teams (2019). Lisa graduated from the University of Western Ontario with a Bachelor of Arts (Administrative and Commercial Studies), and from the University of Windsor with a Bachelor of Laws and a Masters of Business. She is a member of the Law Society of Ontario. |