Board of Directors

David Martin is the President of Bromart Holdings, as well as a director of the board and the chairman of the corporate environmental sustainability committee for the CSL Group, a Canadian-based company headquartered in Montreal. He is also co-founder and general partner of the Capital for Aboriginal Prosperity and Entrepreneurship Fund (CAPE Fund).

David holds an honours bachelor degree in political science and history from McGill University, and an MBA from Cambridge University. He has also completed the academic requirements for the Directors Education Program, Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) and served as chairman of WWF-Canada’s Compensation, Governance and Nominating Committee from 2015 to 2018.

Meena held the position of Deputy Minister of Status of Women Canada from 2014 to her retirement in 2017. From 2011 to 2014, she was the Assistant Secretary of Social Development Policy at the Privy Council of Canada. It was in this position that she provided advice to the Prime Minister and the clerk of the Privy Councel on a range of social policy issues. Prior to that, Meena was the Assistant Deputy Minister of Health Products and Food Branch and Director General of Health Care Policy at Health Canada. She has been a senior executive in the public service of Canada for more than 30 years and has managed large and complex organizations and issues, predominantly for Health Canada, Privy Council Office and Canadian Heritage. Meena has a bachelor of science and master of health administration from the University of Ottawa, as well as director designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto. Meena sits on the Compensation, Governance and Nominating Committee.

Jamie is the Executive Director for Change.org Canada, a digital campaigning platform used by over 7 million Canadians to win thousands of campaigns, and by far the most popular digital campaign platform in the world. Before joining Change.org, Jamie co-founded Leadnow.ca, Canada’s first digitally-empowered progressive advocacy group, and served as its founding Executive Director and Campaign Director. At Leadnow, Jamie led campaigns that mobilized hundreds of thousands of people to take action online, organized tens of thousands to rally and volunteer offline, and raised millions of dollars from over thirty thousand donors for a wide range of progressive causes. Leadnow has won many progressive victories and its innovations in connecting online campaigning to face-to-face organizing have had a wide impact on Canadian non-profits and political parties.

Before starting Leadnow, Jamie completed a Master’s Degree in political ecology at the University of Victoria, co-founded two student-led climate and sustainability organizations, and served on the board of a range of social, environmental and educational organizations.

Anne-Marie is an experienced and well-respected tax professional and philanthropist with international experience in large for-profit and non-profit organizations. She was a founding partner of one of Montreal’s most successful law firms, BCF, where she practiced tax and corporate law. She remains of counsel to the firm. As a director of the Quebec Association of Tax and Financial planning, she was part of a delegation of Canadian experts and politicians mandated to assist the Government of Brazil with tax reform.

She is the past chair of the St. Mary’s Hospital Foundation in Montreal and member of the international board of the prestigious Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel and The Aleh Hospital network in Israel. She is also a member of the board for the McCord Museum and the Jewish Community Foundation. Anne-Marie earned her law degree from the University of Montreal and her masters in tax from the University of Sherbrooke. She sits on the Compensation, Governance and Nominating Committee.

Lloyd Bryant proudly serves as a director for WWF-Canada and is chair of the Compensation, Governance and Nominating Committee. Lloyd is the retired president and CEO of HP Canada. During his 35 years working in the Canadian technology sector, he held progressively senior positions. In 2012 and 2013, he was named as one of Canada’s Clean 16, recognizing individuals who have had the most impact on clean capitalism in his sector.
He is chair of the board of directors of non-profit organizations Electronics Products Recycling Association (EPRA) and Ontario Electronic Stewardship (OES), which both work to design, promote, harmonize and implement sustainable programs to manage Canada’s used electronic equipment. He also serves on the board of directors of the Merry Go Round Children’s Foundation, is corporate advisor to The Learning Partnership and sits on the Humber College Dean of Technology’s Advisory Council.

Marilyn De Mara was elected a board member of WWF-Canada in January 2013 and appointed as chair of the Audit, Finance and Investment Committee. She joined KPMG LLP in September 1975 and was elected the first female partner of an operating office in 1985. During her time at KPMG she was partner in charge of both professional development and human resources, and sat on the KPMG Canada board of directors from 2006 until 2012.

She also has extensive experience auditing associations, registered charities, hospitals, educational institutions, foundations and commercial clients. Her numerous non-profit clients spanned healthcare and medicine, community welfare, legal aid, the arts and animal welfare. Marilyn received her bachelor of commerce from Trinity College at the University of Toronto after graduating from Neuchatel Junior College in Switzerland.

Eriel Tchekwie Deranger is a Denesuline Indigenous woman and member of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, Treaty 8 Northern Alberta. She is the executive director and co-founder of Indigenous Climate Action (ICA), an Indigenous-led climate justice organization. Prior to that, she spent six years working on the international Indigenous Tar Sands Campaign, challenging the expansion of Alberta’s Tar Sands, one of the world’s dirtiest fossil fuels.

Eriel is recognized for her role in creating the UN Indigenous Youth Caucus, lobbying government officials in Canada and internationally, and working to develop and lead mass mobilizations highlighting the inequity of the impacts of the fossil fuel industry and climate change on the rights of Indigenous peoples.

John Fitzpatrick, QC is a partner at BoyneClarke LLP in Halifax. He was appointed Queen’s Councel in February 2008 and has been included in “Best Lawyers in Canada” since 2012. He is a member of the Queen’s Counsel Advisory Committee. John served on the board of governors at Saint Mary’s University for 20 years and is a director of the Halifax International Airport Authority (HIAA), serving on the board’s executive committee. He was a board member of ABC Life Literacy, Toronto and has been involved in several other community organizations and initiatives.

For more than 20 years, John has been actively involved in all levels of politics and has been recognized for his philanthropic work with numerous awards, including the 2016 Bertha Wilson Award, 2014 Weldon Award for Unselfish Public Service, Canada 125 Medal, Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal and Canadian Bar Association Community Service Award (Nova Scotia).

Smart, sassy and informed, Melissa Grelo has added co-host of The Social to her expanding resume and also acts as the show’s moderator. She is also a contributing host on CTV’s flagship national morning show, Your Morning. Melissa was the long-time co-host of the most watched morning news show in the greater Toronto area, CP24 Breakfast, and she anchored and reported on the biggest stories in Canada’s largest news market.

As Canada watched from the edge of their seats, Melissa gave the front-row perspective when she co-hosted CTV’s Olympic Morning program from B.C. No stranger to glitz and glamour, Melissa has covered the Toronto International Film Festival red carpets since 2009 and was in Los Angeles in 2013 reporting for CP24 and CTV on the prestigious Academy Awards. She’s also co-hosted the Santa Claus Parade on CTV since 2010, and contributed to the Grey Cup Weekend on TSN in 2012 and Daily Planet on Discovery in 2013.

When away from the office, Melissa enjoys horseback riding, fitness, reading and travelling with her family. As a former teacher, education and giving back to the community are very important to her. She champions young, female leaders in her role as ambassador for Girls E-Mentorship. She has worked with charities like Artbound and Free The Children, which have built schools in Kenya, India and other developing nations. She also dedicates time to raising funds for the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (OSPCA) and the Community Association for Riding for the Disabled (CARD) with horseback-riding demonstrations. She is passionate about creating a sustainable future and serves as ambassador for HRH Charles, The Prince of Wales’ Campaign for Wool. She speaks at many fundraising events, specifically with the GTA’s youth, whom she encourages to become involved in charitable work and contribute to their communities.

Most recently, Melissa was named as one of the Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada by WXN.

Tom Heintzman is chief operating officer at JCM Power, where he is responsible for overseeing JCM’s solar PV and transmission projects in Africa and Latin America. In 2004, Tom co-founded Bullfrog Power, Canada’s leading green energy provider. Prior to that, he spent more than 13 years in the private and NGO sectors, most recently with Zenon Environmental, where he led global mergers and acquisitions initiatives as the director of corporate development.

As engagement manager with McKinsey & Company, Tom provided consulting services to many of the world’s largest corporations in the energy, manufacturing, financial services and telecommunications sectors. He was also instrumental in establishing Ecojustice Canada’s Ontario office, leading precedent-setting litigation, public advocacy and lobbying campaigns associated with the environmental consequences of the oil refining, mining, forestry, fishing and automobile industries. Tom sits on the Audit, Finance and Investment Committee.

Chief Dr. Ronald E. Ignace has been the elected Chief of the Skeetchestn Indian Band for more than 28 years. He has also served as chairman of the Shuswap Nation Tribal Council, president of the Secwepemc Cultural Education Society and was the co-chair of the Aboriginal university partnership between the Secwepemc and Simon Fraser University in Kamloops, B.C., where he continues to occasionally teach courses in Secwepemc Language and First Nations studies. With more than 60 years of experience in Secwepemc traditional food harvesting, he has published, and co-published with his wife, Marianne Ignace, articles and book chapters on Secwepemc history, ethnobotany, language and culture, and most notably the book Secwepemc People, Land and Laws.

He was instrumental in establishing the Assembly of First Nations National Chiefs’ Committee on Language and Culture and represented the AFN at the United Nations from 1989 to 1993. He has been a leader in advancing the economic development of the band and was also instrumental in stopping the KGHM-Ajax open-pit mine near Kamloops. He is drafting Indigenous Languages Legislation across Canada to protect, enhance and secure sourcing for all Indigenous Languages in Canada. Ron holds a BA and an MA in sociology from the University of British Columbia and a PhD in anthropology from Simon Fraser University.

Entrepreneur, leader, author and philanthropist Bruce Poon Tip is the founder of G Adventures, the world’s largest small-group adventure travel company. Bruce also founded G Adventures’ non-profit partner, the Planeterra Foundation, to harness the power of the tourism supply chain to channel travellers’ dollars into under-served communities around the world.

Bruce’s work with organizations such as the Inter-American Development Bank (DB), the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), like-minded companies, and Indigenous people, has led to support for more than 50 community development projects globally, with another 25 planned by 2020. He was inducted into the Social Venture Network Hall of Fame and the British Travel and Hospitality Hall of Fame, awarded a Queen Elizabeth Il Diamond Jubilee Medal and honoured as one of AFAR USA’s Travel Vanguards as a visionary travel-industry leader who is changing the face of travel for the better.

Linda Sampson is Microsoft Canada’s Chief Financial Officer. Based in Toronto, Linda’s responsibilities include providing financial leadership to the subsidiary and driving shareholder value. She also plays a critical role in key strategic growth and profitability initiatives, and the organization’s efforts to maintain a fully compliant culture.

Linda joined Microsoft in February of 2017. Prior to Microsoft, Linda had over 18 years of experience in finance and accounting with Hewlett Packard and Hewlett Packard Enterprise subsidiaries in France, the UK and Canada. Her varied assignments have included country, EMEA region and global roles across services finance, financial strategy and transformation, accounting and compliance, and most recently, as the Country Finance Leader and Enterprise Group Controller.

Linda holds a bachelor of science degree from McGill University and an MBA degree jointly from the University of Alberta in Canada and Grenoble’s Ecole de Management. She is also a Certified Management Accountant.

Outside of work, Linda enjoys running, reading and travelling with her family.

Supriya Syal is the founder of Dulcimer Labs, a purpose-driven company that creates social impact through evidence-based decision making and behavioural science. She also serves as an advisor to start-ups and foundations invested in transforming healthcare and the social mission space through an understanding of how human beings actually work.

As the former chief behavioural scientist of the Privy Council Office of the Government of Canada, Supriya worked to create and scale a culture of evidence-based decision making across government and drive the use of behavioural science for social impact through improvements in federal policies and programs that impact Canadians. She is a former vice-president of research and innovation of BEworks Inc., a global behavioural science strategy and consulting firm. A winner of multiple awards, Supriya obtained her Ph.D in psychology from Cornell University, and holds degrees in neuroscience and biochemistry.

Ziya Tong is the author of The Reality Bubble, an award-winning science broadcaster and former board member. For a decade, she served as the co-host of Daily Planet, Discovery Canada’s flagship science show. In the United States, she worked as a host and field producer for the PBS national primetime series, Wired Science and as a correspondent alongside Neil de Grasse Tyson in NOVA ScienceNOW. In Canada, she was host, writer and director for the science series The Leading Edge, and she received a Gemini Viewer’s Choice Award nomination for her work on the CBC’s Emmy-nominated series ZeD.

Ziya received her master’s degree in communications from McGill University. She is a fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographic Society, serves on the advisory board of the children’s science magazine OWL and is the founder of Black Sheep. Retired from the WWF-Canada board after serving two full terms, Ziya was recently elected to the WWF-International Board of Directors.