Marc-André Blanchard

Executive Vice-President and Head of CDPQ Global, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ)

Mr. Blanchard is responsible for coordinating CDPQ’s international operations. He oversees CDPQ’s international offices, ensuring the organization’s positioning as an investment partner of choice. He also supports the international growth and development of Québec companies. In addition, he oversees the organization’s sustainability orientations and activities and leads CDPQ’s strategy to integrate ESG factors into all investment activities.  

Before joining CDPQ in September 2020, he was Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations in New York from 2016 to 2020.  Prior to that, he was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of McCarthy Tétrault, one of Canada’s leading law firms.  

Mathieu Bouchard

Vice President, Public Policy and Regulatory Affairs, Deep Sky

Mathieu Bouchard cumulates over 20 years of public and private sector experience. A lawyer by training, he first practiced civil, commercial and constitutional litigation in Montreal. He next joined the federal government, first as Senior Advisor to the Prime Minister, leading key political, economic, diplomatic and legal files, and then as Chief of Staff to the Minister of Canadian Heritage, focusing on COVID relief, modernizing the country’s digital policy and implementing the Indigenous Languages Act. After leaving the government, he worked at KPMG where he was regional lead for the energy and natural resources sectors as well as on a professional services initiative for Indigenous businesses and communities. He is now Vice President, Public Policy and Regulatory Affairs (Québec) with Deep Sky, a Montreal-based carbon capture and sequestration startup that aims at removing gigatonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere to stop and ultimately reverse climate change.  

Laurent-David Charbit

Co-Head of Private Equity Nature and Biodiversity, Tikehau Capital

Laurent David Charbit joined Tikehau Capital in 2022 and is co-leading the Regenerative Agriculture fund launched in partnership with Axa, Tikehau Capital and Unilever 

Before joining Tikehau Capital in London, Laurent-David spent 12 years at Unilever where he was leading the Implementation of the Sustainability agenda for the company as well as the overall Climate agenda strategy for Unilever. At Unilever, he also held various roles in Switzerland, Singapore and the Netherlands, in Procurement as VP Sustainable sourcing for Commodities & Ingredients, VP Procurement Indirect.  

He started his career in supply chain at Michelin in Hong Kong before joining McKinsey as a consultant working in retail and distribution. He also led supply chain and procurement at Albea a leading supplier of packaging to the Beauty sector. 

Adelaide Chiu

Vice President and Head of Responsible Investing, NEI Investments

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Jason Clark

National Director, Climate Change, Insurance Bureau of Canada

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Maya Colombani

Chief Sustainability & Human Rights Officer, L'Oréal Canada

Maya Colombani has been appointed Chief Sustainability and Human Rights Officer of L'Oréal Canada in April 2022. With an international career of over 20 years at L'Oréal, Maya is distinguished by a rich and comprehensive professional background. She began her career in France, working for leading design and advertising agencies such as Dragon Rouge, Publicis, and Euro RSCG. She then joined L'Oréal's Professional Products division in 2001. There, she held positions in operational marketing and DMI (Direction Marketing International), for Kérastase and L'Oréal Professionnel. She carried out assignments in India and in the Western Europe zone, before moving to Brazil in June 2010 where she worked in marketing functions. Since the end of 2016, she has been Director of Sustainable Development for Brazil. 

In this role, she profoundly transformed L’Oréal Brazil’s approach to sustainable development and human rights. She has implemented actions that inspired the L’Oréal Group and positioned L’Oréal Brazil as a national benchmark. L’Oréal Brazil is indeed regularly cited as an example and is used to fuel new reflections, both on environmental issues and on human rights issues, as well as with respect to the relations with the indigenous people of Brazil.  

Her projects have been rewarded by the best rankings such as Guia Exame 2017/2018/2019; recognized as the best company in climate change as well as biodiversity management; and has received the WEP gold award 2021 on women empowerment supported by ONU Women and Compact Global.  

In 2022, thanks to her strong inclusive social programs for indigenous and communities, the GLOBO recognized L’Oréal Brazil as “The company that makes the difference in term of inclusion and diversity.” 

In Canada, Maya Colombani is driving L’Oréal Canada’s sustainability transformation carried out within the framework of “L’Oréal For the Future.” Among strategic actions, she focused on decarbonation actions of the full value chain with 100% of renewable energy of all our site but also promoting circular economy practices as the ICIONRECYCLE CERTIFICATION. Building a more responsible consumption by promoting the refills categories and more transparency towards consumers is also at the center of her actions. 

Besides, Maya also worked on the implementation of different cleantech partnership with start-up as Evoco, water management and scaling up social impact with committed brands, fighting for example, any type of discrimination, street harassment and supporting families affected by cancer. 

Beyond the business transformation, she also commits to nature regeneration for forests as well as oceans, in the northwest territories with Tree Canada and British Colombia. All these projects are built hands in hands with Indigenous communities, merging the best of scientific knowledge with traditional ancestral wisdoms. 

Over the last year, as human right chief officer, Maya has been honored and grateful to work, hand in hand, with First Nations Executive Education propelled by Executive Education HEC Montréal a business school BY and FOR First Nations offering short qualifying university training programs in communities, online and in Montreal.  

Thanks to these impactful projects in Canada, earned her the prestigious “Canada’s Clean 50” award that "recognized the most impactful 50 individual LEADERs that have demonstrated measurable leadership in fighting climate change and helping Canada transition to a low-carbon economy."  

In April 2024, the French CCI in Canada also rewarded its team with the Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) Award, for all the initiatives implemented in sustainable development and social responsibility at L'Oréal Canada. 

In July 2024, Maya Colombani received the Top 25 ESG leadership 2024 award in Calgary, for her Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) practices. 

Another important achievement for her is being named President of the “Positive Impact Club” of the French CCI in Canada, to have a positive impact on our society and reinforce the bond between France and Canada.  

Maya graduated from Reims Business School and completed an MBA semester of International Business Strategy in Victoria University, Australia. She now lives in Montreal, Québec, Canada with her family.  

Chris Côté

Executive Director, MSCI Research, MSCI

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John A. Cook

SVP, Portfolio manager, Team co-lead, Mackenzie Investments

John Cook is a Senior Vice President, Portfolio Manager, and Team Co-Lead with the Mackenzie Greenchip Team. 

John’s career in the investment industry began in 1991. He was President of Greenchip Financial Corp. since it was founded in 2007 and became part of Mackenzie Investments in 2021. Prior to Greenchip, John led corporate development at one of Canada’s largest innovation hubs. He has also held a number of executive positions at Canadian mutual fund companies. 

John holds a BA from Queen's University and the Chartered Investment Manager (CIM) designation. 

Jeff Cyr

CEO, Raven Indigenous Outcomes Funds

Jeff is Métis and hails from the White Horse Plains area of Southern Manitoba, the traditional Buffalo Hunt staging grounds. For nearly 25 years, he has provided strategic leadership for Indigenous, not-for-profit, and government organizations. Recently, he was Vice-President of the Indigenous Innovation Initiative at Grand Challenges Canada and a guest lecturer at Oxford University in Social Finance. Jeff is a Managing Partner and founder Raven Indigenous Outcomes the first Indigenous-led and owned outcomes-based fund and the only outcomes fund in Canada. Jeff is also the co-founder of Raven Indigenous Capital Partners, the only Indigenous-led and owned venture capital firm in 2018 and he also established the Raven Indigenous Impact Foundation in 2019. Jeff has helped create and implement the Community-Driven Outcomes Contract (a unique pay-for-success social finance model) and the Indigenous Solutions Lab process, which earned him an Ashoka Fellowship in 2019 and led to the establishment of the Outcomes Fund. He is currently a Board Member of the TIPP (The Table of Impact Investment Practitioners). Jeff is a proud husband and father of five and currently lives and works on unceded Algonquin lands in what is now known as Mont-Tremblant, QC. 

Naomi Desai

Partner, Boston Consulting Group (BCG)

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Hervé Duteil

Chief Sustainability Officer, Americas, BNP Paribas

Hervé Duteil created the first position of Chief Sustainability
Officer for BNP Paribas in 2014, in the Americas. In this role, he works with all relevant 
stakeholders in the definition and implementation of the Bank’s regional ESG strategy.

In  2018,  Euromoney  selected  him  as  one  of  the  10 “champions of global impact banking”. On 
the opening day of Climate Week NYC 2022, he was honored by  Insider (formerly Business Insider) as 
one of the 30 “top global leaders  working  toward  climate  solutions”  in  their inaugural 
Climate Action 30, along with Francia Márquez, Vice President of Colombia, and Ed Markey, U.S. 
Senator from Massachusetts.
Hervé has spent most of his career with BNP Paribas in New York.  He specialized in trading 
derivatives and managing capital  market  activities,  spanning  across  commodity, currency,  
fixed  income  and  electronic  markets.   More recently, he led BNP Paribas’ efforts to close its 
first two Social Impact Bonds, including one for the benefit of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Hervé served as a member on the CFTC’s Climate-Related Market  Risk  Subcommittee  of  the  Market  
Risk  Advisory Committee, WBCSD’s Sustainable Finance Policy and SIFMA Sustainable Finance task 
forces. He currently sits on the Yale Initiative on Sustainable Finance Advisory Board as well as 
Insider’s One Planet Advisory Council.

Hervé  holds  a  Master  in  Business  Administration  with distinction from the Harvard Business 
School, a Master of Science from the University of Cambridge, and a Bachelor of Science  in  
Mathematics  &  Physics  from  the  Sorbonne
University of Paris.

Emmanuel Faber

Chair, International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB)

Emmanuel Faber was appointed as the inaugural Chair of the International Sustainability Standards Board in December 2021, effective 1 January 2022. He is well-known for his passion for sustainability and his leadership positions at multi-national food products company Danone for the past 20 years. He joined the company in 1997 as Chief Financial Officer, Strategy, and served as its Chief Executive Officer from 2014, as well as Chair of the Board from 2017 until 2021. He became a partner at Astanor Ventures in October 2021.

Faber has lived and held senior leadership positions in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe. He has founded and chaired several international organisations and initiatives, including the One Planet Business for Biodiversity coalition and the G7 Business for Inclusive Growth coalition―co-chaired with the OECD Secretary General. He initiated Danone Communities, a social business initiative providing funding to bring nutrition and water access for vulnerable communities, as well as the Livelihoods Venture, which provides funding for ecosystem restoration and the development of sustainable farming in emerging economies.

Prior to joining Danone, he held roles as Chief Financial Officer and later Managing Director at Legris Industries. He also has experience from investment banking at Baring Brothers and as a consultant at Bain & Company.

He holds a Master’s degree in business administration from HEC Paris, France.

Jorge Familiar

Vice President and Treasurer, & Pension Finance Administrator, World Bank & World Bank Group

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Will Fayed

RVP Institutional Sales & National Accounts - Québec, Mackenzie Investments

Will Fayed is an accomplished financial professional with over 18 years of experience in the investment industry. He currently serves as the Regional Vice President - Institutional Sales & National Accounts at Mackenzie Investments in Montreal. In this role, Will oversees strategic sales initiatives and manages key national accounts, leveraging his extensive expertise in institutional sales to drive business growth. 

Prior to this role, Will spent nearly 8 years as the District Vice President at Mackenzie Investments, where he was instrumental in expanding the company's presence across the Montreal region. His tenure at Mackenzie, which began in May 2016, has been marked by significant achievements in sales leadership and client relationship management. 

Will holds a degree in E-Commerce from McGill University and a degree in International Business from Concordia University. Additionally, Will holds the Chartered Investment Manager (CIM®) designation. 

Will Fayed is recognized for his strategic vision, leadership skills, and deep understanding of the investment landscape. He continues to make a significant impact in the financial industry through his innovative approaches to sales and client management. 

Solène Hanquier

Principal Director & Head of Responsible Investment, National Bank of Canada

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Justine Hendricks

President and CEO, FCC

Justine comes to FCC after 17 years with Export Development Canada (EDC) and seven years with Royal Bank of Canada (RBC). She is an impactful strategist whose diverse experience includes delivering financial services on the front line, leading successful organizational transformations, evolving risk management capabilities, spearheading the development of innovative financial products, and developing and executing corporate strategies. Much of her career has been focused on lending to and supporting Canadian businesses across critical export sectors, including agriculture and agri-food. 

In her time at EDC, Justine was responsible for several different business functions, including business development in the resources, forestry, seafood, agricultural equipment, light manufacturing and extractive sectors, the transformation of EDC’s Financing and Investment Group, and full responsibility for EDC’s $9B Insurance and Working Capital Solutions portfolio. Her most recent role saw her responsible for aligning EDC’s 10-year corporate strategy with evolving business principles and practices focused on the environment, human rights, and innovation. Justine is recognized for her energizing leadership style, mobilizing and listening to her teams while putting the client at the centre of decisions. 

Justine is a member of the University of Ottawa Board of Governors and currently sits on their Audit Committee. She also volunteers extensively and currently serves as Chair of the Digital Opportunity Trust and was past Chair of the Forum for Young Canadians. 

Justine earned an MBA from the University of Ottawa and a bachelor of arts in urban studies from Carleton University. She’s received several awards related to her inspirational leadership and community involvement. 

Gaya Herrington

Vice President, Sustainability Research, Schneider Electric

Gaya is an internationally known sustainability researcher and wellbeing economist, living in Seattle. A regular guest lecturer and keynote and TED speaker, Gaya has been shaping conversations at local and global levels with her message that true sustainability will not be achieved without transforming our economic system away from an obsession with perpetual growth to one that centers around human and ecological wellbeing. Her work, which also includes a book publication and a peer-reviewed article in Yale's Journal of Industrial Ecology which went viral in 2021, offers a vision for something society would want to do even if it was not faced with impending ecosystem breakdown: re-design our economy to something that meets all human needs – physical, emotional, and spiritual – within planetary boundaries by design.  

Showcasing her multidimensional approach to effecting change, Gaya has held pivotal roles in both policy and the corporate world. She's currently working as Vice President at Schneider Electric, a multinational working in the energy transition, which was voted most sustainable corporation in the world by Time Magazine in 2024 and by Corporate Knights in 2025. Gaya is a Member of the Club of Rome, a global think tank, and of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Working Group for a Wellbeing Economy in the US. She has one Master's degree in Econometrics from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and another in Sustainability from Harvard University. 

Christelle Lim-Severe

Sustainability Practice Leader, Beneva

Christelle Lim-Severe is the Sustainability Practice Leader at Beneva, the largest insurance mutual in Canada. The company has over 3.5 million members and clients with more than 5,500 employees. Christelle holds a Bachelor of Science in Actuarial Science from the London School of Economics and Political Science in the United Kingdom. She is also an Actuarial Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (FIA) and a Fellow Chartered Accountant (FCA), both obtained in the UK. She is a senior leader with over 18 years of global experience in the insurance and financial services industry. Before joining Beneva, Christelle has worked in consulting, corporate strategy, transformation, finance, and risk management. She also led purpose driven and sustainable strategic initiatives.  

In her role as Sustainability Practice Leader at Beneva, she is responsible for the strategy and implementation of Beneva's sustainability action plan. Her capacity to combine her financial expertise with sustainability factors makes her an invaluable ally in accelerating a just transition towards a greener and more resilient world. 

A mother of two children, Christelle is also determined to contribute in creating a more sustainable world for the future generation. 

Stephen M. Liberatore

Portfolio Manager, Head of ESG/Impact, Global Fixed Income, Nuveen

Steve is the lead portfolio manager for Nuveen’s fixed income strategies that incorporate Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) criteria and Impact investments. He is also a member of the Investment Committee. 

Steve was a member of the ICMA Green Bond Principles initial executive committee and subsequently its Advisory Council. He serves on the Steering Committees of the Debt Conversion for Nature and Climate Practice Standards and the Orange Bond Principles. He is also a member of the UN Capital Development Fund’s working group on Climate Resilient Infrastructure Finance, Sustainalytics’ Investor Committee and the board of the Fixed Income Analysts Society, Inc.. He is a frequent speaker at conferences and a subject matter expert across media outlets. Steve and his team were awarded “ESG Fund of the year –fixed income” at Environmental Finance’s (EF) 2024 Sustainable Investment Awards in addition to “Investment team of the year –asset manager” and “Fund of the year –fixed income” at Environmental Finance’s (EF) 2023 Impact Awards. Previously, Steve and team were recognized as “Investor of the Year” (EF 2020 Bond Awards) and “Impact Report of the Year (for Investors)” (EF 2022 Bond Awards). 

Steve graduated with a B.S. from the State University of New York at Buffalo and an M.B.A. in Finance and Operations from Wake Forest University. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation and is a member of the CFA Society of North Carolina and the CFA Institute. 

Catherine McKenna

Founder and CEO, Climate & Nature Solutions; Chair of the United Nations high-level expert group on net zero emissions commitments of non-state entities.

Catherine McKenna is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Climate and Nature Solutions. She is Canada's former Minister of Environment and Climate Change as well as Minister of Infrastructure. She is Chair of the UN Secretary General’s High-Level Expert Group on Net-Zero Commitments of Non-State Entities which released its Integrity Matters report at COP 27 setting out criteria for net zero commitments of business, financial institutions, cities and regions. She founded Women Leading on Climate and a Visiting Professor in Practice at the Grantham Research Institute at the London School of Economics. She is an advisor to the Climate Data Steering Committee for the Macron/Bloomberg Net Zero Data Public Utility, Singapore's International Advisory Panel for Carbon Credits, the Taskforce on Net Zero Policy, the LSE Just Transition Finance Lab, as well as to the University of Ottawa's Information Integrity Lab. She is a graduate of the University of Toronto, the London School of Economics and McGill Law School and is called to the Bars of Ontario and New York.  She advises many private sector boards. She is a frequent speaker on climate action, net zero leadership and women empowerment. 

Adriana Mendez

Director, Sustainable Investment, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ)

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Anne-Marie Monette

Managing Director, Financial Markets, Sustainable Finance, National Bank of Canada

Anne-Marie Monette is a Managing Director in the Sustainable Finance team at National Bank Financial Markets (NBF), where she plays a key role in establishing connectivity with the financial community across the country and contributes to several strategic workstreams. In her role, she supports NBF’s clients in sustainable finance transactions structuring and provides strategic advisory services on sustainability positioning and practices.  

Prior to joining NBF, Anne-Marie was leading ESG equity institutional sales efforts across Canada at RBC Capital Markets, acting as a sustainable finance senior relationship manager for large asset owners and asset managers. She previously led the responsible investment practice across capital markets at PSP Investments, where she occupied the role of Senior Director, Responsible Investment.  

Anne-Marie is highly involved in the sustainable finance ecosystem and is an active member of CFA Montreal’s ESG Committee. She obtained an executive certification in sustainable finance from the NYU Stern School of Business, the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board credentials and the CFA Institute ESG Certificate. She was a lecturer in sustainable finance at HEC Montreal and Concordia University. She was also the founding chair for the Montreal chapter of Women in Capital Markets and is a founding member of Women in Climate Finance.  She holds a Bachelor in finance from HEC Montreal. 

Geneviève Morin

President and CEO, Fondaction

President and CEO of Fondaction, a labour-sponsored fund with CAD 3.50 billion in net assets, Geneviève Morin has been leading the shift and focus of the financial industry towards sustainability for over 30 years in Québec, Canada. Recognized as a pioneering and for her expertise in sustainable finance, she actively works to mobilize capital and various stakeholders for the positive transformation of the economy to make it more equitable, inclusive, green and successful. 

Catherine Poitvin

Emeritus Professor, Biology Department, McGill University

I obtained by Ph.D. from Duke University, North Carolina, U.S.A. in 1985, and since then I have always worked on issues related to global climate change. I am Emeritus Professor in the Department of Biology at McGill University in Montreal where I held the Canada Research Chair on Climate Change Mitigation and Tropical Forest (Tier 1; 2013-2024) . I am a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, recipient of both the Romanovski and Dawson Medals of the RSC and of a Fellowship from the P.E. Trudeau Foundation. My research focuses on the need to reduce deforestation and forest degradation in the tropics. To do so, our research projects span a broad range of issues from quantifying forest carbon stocks to capacity building and conflict resolution, the unifying theme being forest conservation and climate change. I have been working with the Embera people of Panama since 1994 and this long-term collaboration led me to develop participatory approaches that integrate the human dimension in biological analysis. During my career, I have edited two books and published >135 scientific journal articles or book chapters. I served as Panama’s negotiator of REDD in the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (2005-2009). I lead the Sustainable Canada Dialogues, an initiative that mobilizes 80 scholars from across Canada to propose a blueprint for Canada’s transition to a low carbon economy. I served as a member of the Comité consultatif sur les changements climatiques of Québec between 2021-2024.

David Roy

Executive Director, Ateliers pour la Biodiversité

David Roy leads Workshops for Biodiversity, a nonprofit organization that helps businesses and institutions integrate biodiversity into their strategic decisions. Through workshops, training programs, and concrete projects, he fosters a transition where economic and ecological priorities align for sustainable solutions. His organization also spearheads the Nature and Business Summit, a key event bringing together decision-makers and experts to accelerate action for biodiversity. 
 
A board member of the Fresque de la Biodiversité and actively involved in Réseau Environnement, he operates at the intersection of economic and environmental sectors. With 15 years of experience in management and marketing (BDC, Aldo Group, Tourism New Zealand), he holds a Graduate Diploma in Environmental Management (Université de Sherbrooke), a Certificate in Business Sustainability Management (University of Cambridge), and a Bachelor’s degree in Management (HEC Montréal).

Marina Severinovsky

Head of Sustainability, Americas, Schroders

Marina Severinovsky is the Head of Sustainability, North America, and leads the sustainability and environmental, social and governance (ESG) integration for Schroders investments in North America. She collaborates with senior managers on market strategy, client communications, product development, sales, and investor management. 

Marina was previously the Investment Director for North America for the Quantitative Equity Products (QEP) team from 2020 and was responsible for communicating QEP’s investment policy and strategy with clients, as well as business management in the Americas.  

Prior to joining the QEP team, Marina was an Investment Strategist from 2016 to 2019, working in partnership with Hartford Funds to represent Schroders strategies to financial advisors and intermediaries across all client channels, primarily in the Central US region.  

Marina was an Alternatives Specialist at Schroders from 2010 to 2016, which involved supporting the development of Schroders’ Alternatives business in the Americas. Her product management activities covered multiple strategies, including Commodities, Absolute Return Emerging Market Debt and Insurance Linked Securities.  

Marina joined Schroders in 2010 and is based in New York. Prior to joining Schroders, she was an Associate in Investment Banking at Citi Capital Markets and Banking from 2008 to 2010, which involved supporting buy- and sell-side mergers and acquisitions, equity and debt transactions, and fairness opinions for a broad range of corporate clients in the Healthcare and Tech, Media & Telecom coverage groups. She was a Consultant and Client Relationship Manager at Digital Mandate, LLC from 2005 to 2007, which involved providing legal technology, process consulting, and technology optimization solutions to large law firms and corporate legal departments. She was an Analyst at Chicago Partners, LLC from 2004 to 2005, which involved finance, economics and accounting consulting, in the context of litigation and regulatory review activities.   
 
Marina brings 18 years of professional experience to her role at Schroders, including economic analysis, research, and financial modeling, as well as product development, strategy, and client relationship management. She is conversationally fluent in Russian. 

Baltej Sidhu

Sustainability and Transition Strategist, Equity Research, National Bank of Canada

Baltej Sidhu is a Sustainability & Transition Strategist based in the company’s Calgary office. In his current capacity, Baltej is responsible for all facets of National Bank Financial’s (NBF) Sustainability, Transition and ESG thematic research presence, functioning as a subject matter expert for internal and external clients, while collaborating with the fundamental analyst team and acting as a conduit to the dynamic and fluid world of Sustainability and ESG. Baltej joined the NBF Research team in 2019 as an Associate Analyst helping with the coverage of a diversified suite of companies engaged in the Energy industry before transitioning to become the ESG Analyst at the beginning of 2022. Prior to joining NBF, Baltej spent time as a Geophysicist with leading organizations focused on the upstream exploration sector of the energy industry with experience ranging from both domestic operations to international. Baltej holds a Bachelor of Science in Geophysics from the University of Calgary and an MBA from the Ivey Business School at Western University. 

Mihaela Stefanov

Senior Vice President, Enterprise Risk Management and Corporate Social Responsibility, Boralex

Mihaela Stefanov is Senior Vice President, Enterprise Risk Management and Corporate Social Responsibility at Boralex. This role was created in 2022 to focus on risk exposure monitoring in the changing and increasingly complex energy environment. It demonstrates Boralex’s willingness to seize business opportunities with even more confidence and resilience, and will ensure the implementation of Boralex’s overall CSR strategy. 

Mihaela joined Boralex in April 2021 as Director, Corporate Social Responsibility, before being promoted to Vice President, Corporate Social Responsibility. She orchestrated the development and deployment of the CSR strategy throughout the company and coordinated the various internal and external disclosures in this area. She has 12 years of experience in strategy and consulting in sustainable development and social responsibility. Before joining Boralex, she worked in the climate change and sustainable development department at EY for 10 years before joining the Boralex team. 

Mihaela holds an MBA from HEC Montréal and a bachelor’s degree with Honours in economics from McGill University. Involved in the sustainable development and CSR business community, Mihaela is dedicated to connecting people and ideas to accelerate a responsible energy transition. 

Alison Sunstrum

Founder & CEO, CNSRV-X Inc.

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Susan Thompson

Managing Director, Global Head of Sustainable Finance & Advisory, TD Securities

Susan is a Managing Director, Global Head on the TD Securities Sustainable Finance & Advisory team, who joined TD in 2006. She has previously worked in Institutional Money Market Sales, Fixed Income Derivatives Origination, Institutional Fixed Income Sales, and most recently, Government Finance, where she covered public-sector borrowers on derivatives, origination, and deal execution as well as advised clients on GSS bond issuance. 

Christopher Warburton

Chief Scientific Officer, Entosystem

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Benoit Waeckel

Founder & Vice-President, COOP Sens Climat

Benoît Waeckel is a dedicated facilitator raising awareness of environmental issues. Founder and Vice-President of Coopérative Sens Climat, he has led over 130 climate workshops, trained more than 300 facilitators, and supported dozens of Quebec organizations. He facilitates the Climate Collage, Biodiversity Collage, Digital Collage, Mobility Collage, and the 2Tonnes Workshop. He will host the quiz on the Planetary Boundaries  at the Sustainable Finance Summit. 

Avra van der Zee

Chief Operating Officer, Elemental Impact

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Philippe Zaouati

CEO, Mirova

A pioneer of green and sustainable finance, Philippe Zaouati leads Mirova, an asset management company specializing in sustainable investment, which he founded within Natixis in 2014. After a career in various financial institutions, he is fully dedicated to the development of responsible investment. In particular, he chaired the Responsible Investment Commissions of the French Association for Financial Management (AFG) and the European Association for Funds and Asset Management (EFAMA) and participated in the emergence of the theme of sustainable finance in several international organizations, including the International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN). Eager to make Paris one of the leaders of greener and fairer finance, Philippe Zaouati co-founded in 2016 the Finance for Tomorrow initiative (newly called the Institute of Sustainable Finance), which he chaired until 2019. 
 

In addition to his professional duties, Philippe Zaouati contributes to the political debate in France and is committed to a profound transformation of economic and financial systems. It promotes an impact economy that strives to preserve nature. Involved in the public debate, Philippe Zaouati contributed to the drafting of Emmanuel Macron’s presidential program on the environment, before being the referent of La République en marche in Paris from 2017 to 2018. 
Author of several books including “Green Finance Begins in Paris” in 2018 and “Finance Faced with Planetary Boundaries” (dialogue with the philosopher Dominique Bourg, 2023), he contributed to market and regulatory developments in France and Europe. 
 

Philippe Zaouati is also the author of several novels, including “The Refusals of Grigori Perelman”, whose English translation was published by the American Mathematical Society, “State of the Union” (2022) and “Naufrages” (2024). 
Philippe Zaouati graduated from the National School of Statistics and Economic Administration (ENSAE), he teaches and lectures on sustainable finance in different French and foreign schools and universities. 
He also works with young entrepreneurs and press and publishing companies (So Good, Chut Magazine, The Publisher Apart) as a business angel. 

Barbara Zvan

President and CEO, University Pension Plan (UPP)

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