Workshops and Presenters

Brooks Beaudoin is an international tax manager in the Toronto office of Ernst & Young LLP, specializing in transfer pricing. He has five years of experience assisting clients with tax issues, including transfer pricing documentation compliance for U.S. and Canadian tax purposes, transfer pricing planning, tax effective supply chain management, advance pricing arrangements and transfer pricing audit controversy. He serves clients in a variety of industries including chemical manufacturing, consumer products, medical device manufacturing and distribution, social media, financial services, marketing services, waste management, and transportation and logistics. Brooks is actively involved in supporting Beyond, Ernst & Young’s LGBTA employee resource network. Brooks holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Studies from the University of North Dakota, and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Minnesota.

Sania Ilahi is a Senior Manager in the indirect tax practice of Ernst & Young LLP in Toronto. Sania has more than 18 years of experience advising clients in the financial services sector on issues connected to Federal Goods and Services Tax (“GST”)/Harmonized Sales Tax (“HST”) and Provincial Sales Tax (“PST”). Her clients include large and mid-size banks, insurance companies, asset managers and investment dealers. Since April 2009, Sania has served as member of the GST/OST Harmonization Strategic Advisory Group of the Investment Funds Institute of Canada, providing advice in connection with technical issues affecting the investment industry and the impact of sales tax harmonization. Sania is also a frequent speaker on sales tax issues affecting financial institutions at various forums, including the CICA Symposium, Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association Tax Officers meeting and the Canadian Tax Foundation.

Douglas Rienzo is a partner in the Pensions and Benefits Department in the Toronto office of Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP. Douglas practises exclusively in the area of pensions and employee benefits, with a particular focus on pension surplus issues and family law issues related to pensions. He has done work for corporate sponsors of pension plans, boards of trustees, and large institutional pension funds, as well as for individual pension plan members. Douglas was a member of the Financial Services Commission of Ontario Legal Advisory Committee (Pensions), which provides confidential advice to the Superintendent of Financial Services for Ontario on the Superintendent’s responsibilities under Ontario’s Pension Benefits Act and Financial Services Commission of Ontario Act, 1997. His article “Trust Law and Access to Pension Surplus” was cited by the Supreme Court of Canada in Buschau v. Rogers Communications. Douglas is the Chair of Osler’s Diversity Committee.

Elliot works extensively on major infrastructure projects, providing assistance with project development, procurement, contract negotiation and administration issues. His practice has a strong emphasis on the procurement and construction of power plants, including natural gas, combined heat and power, wind, solar and other renewable projects, as well as the development and negotiation of power and capacity purchase agreements. Elliot also regularly advises clients on other commercial agreements such equipment supply agreements, operating and maintenance agreements and long-term utility supply agreements.

Prior to joining Osler, Elliot worked at a number of institutions involved in the deregulated Ontario electricity market, including Ontario Power Generation and the Independent Electricity System Operator. He also worked at the Ontario Power Authority, where he assisted with the development of a regional electricity supply plan.

Brad Berg has a wide-ranging counsel practice that includes both complex commercial cases and precedent-setting public interest litigation. Brad has appeared as lead counsel before various administrative tribunals, arbitration panels, inquests and at all levels of court, including all Ontario civil courts, the Tax Court, the Federal Courts and the Supreme Court of Canada.

Marianne Smith is a Partner in the Business Group. A significant portion of her practice includes advising clients on public procurement, infrastructure and public-private partnerships (P3s). Marianne frequently advises clients in the area of P3s, including both authority clients and bidders, with a focus on the development, preparation and ongoing administration of public tenders and procurement processes, and the development and negotiation of commercial agreements for the design, construction, financing and maintenance of infrastructure, including vertical, horizontal and IT infrastructure, as well as civil works.

Chris Mayer is an Associate in the Pension & Employee Benefits Group. His practice involves all aspects of pensions and employee benefits law, including the administration and governance of pension plans and various types of deferred compensation and stock option plans.

Chris initially joined Blakes as a summer law student in 2008 and subsequently articled with the Firm. He obtained his J.D. at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law. While at law school, he was both a summer student and a shift leader at Downtown Legal Services and also volunteered as an associate editor for the Faculty of Law Review. In his final year of studies, Chris spent one semester at the Central European University in Budapest, Hungary, studying EU and comparative business law.

Gilbert is a SAP-Supply Chain Management manager from Toronto and a certified PMI Project Management Professional. His skills are in Project Management, Sales and Distribution, Materials Management, Procurement and Inventory Management. He has worked in many industries including Consumer Products & Goods, Resources and Mining, Automotive Manufacturing, Pharmaceuticals and Telecommunications. He has worked throughout many geographies including, Canada, USA, Jamaica and Australia. He has also worked with Accenture delivery centers in Canada, USA, Brazil, Spain, Philippines and India. Gilbert's has been part of the LGBT Canada group since 2007 and has participated in Out on Bay Street, Pro Pride, Out and Equal and is actively part of the LGBT leadership team at Accenture Canada.

Lisa Kramer manages the campus recruiting program for Accenture in Canada and is responsible for overseeing the recruitment sourcing strategy and campus program execution for undergraduate and MBA consulting candidates across all of Accenture’s workforces.  Lisa joined Accenture in April 2010 bringing 15 years of student recruiting experience in both corporate and university positions to her role. She has hired thousands of students over the years and has seen many changes in how students apply to positions, how employers interact with students and how social media is changing the game. When she’s not busy crisscrossing the country in search of top student talent, she can often be found running (sometimes as part of the Accenture charity team) or trying to catch up on her sleep, which during campus season is always a challenge!

Melissa Larson is a recent addition to the Campus recruitment team this year and is looking forward to the upcoming Campus season. Being involved in a recruiter capacity for over three years in total, Melissa enjoys the relationships she has built and the opportunity to match candidates to jobs which align to their skills and experience.

Carol Poulsen, Senior Vice President, Group Architecture and Solution Delivery Services, joined RBC in July of 2008. Her mandate currently includes setting direction for Technology and Applications Architecture, T&O Risk Management, Global Resourcing, Performance Management, Quality Assurance, Systems Development Lifecycle, Project Management Lifecycle, Application Portfolio Management, and Enterprise Incident, Change, and Release Management. As a member of RBC's Technology and Operations (T&O) Operating Committee and Diversity Leadership Council, she contributes to the development of the overall priorities and direction of T&O.

Prior to joining RBC, Carol worked with TD Bank Financial Group, CGI Group, Amdahl, and Allstate Insurance of Canada.

In 2009 Carol was selected as one of Computerworld's Premier IT 100 Leaders.

Carol received her Honours Bachelor of Arts degree from York University in Toronto, and her Computer Programming Diploma from Seneca College. She is married with two young daughters.

Tatyana joined RBC’s Technology and Operations Associate rotational program after graduating from Rotman School of Management in May 2011. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Education from Polotsk State University, Belarus.

Tatyana has over nine years of international experience in strategic planning and implementation, change management and human capital development. Prior to joining the bank, she started and ran a successful professional services agency, advised American diplomats on security matters, established strategic alliances with leading European cosmetic and fashion brands for a large European importer.

Tatyana is on the Board of Directors of the Out on Bay Street Conference and is an active member of RBC PRIDE Employee Resource Group.

Jennifer currently plays a key role in a large IT/real estate program within RBC as a Change Enablement Program Manager. Responsibilities of this role include both internal and external stakeholder communication and the alignment of the program's change plan to internal business plans for the next 2 years.

A Six Sigma and Lean professional for 13 years, her experience includes supply chain management (Honeywell, Aerospace division), Lean Six Sigma deployment in Financial Services (CIBC, RBC), and most recently, a Master Black Belt, deployment leader, facilitator and trainer for technology, operations and functional groups.

Jennifer has a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the Ohio State University.

André B. Bacchus is the Director of Professional Development at Heenan Blaikie LLP. Heenan Blaikie LLP is one of Canada’s fastest growing law firms, with more than 550 lawyers and professionals across the country and internationally. André is responsible for all aspects of the Toronto office's associate and student programs as well as managing the office's orientation, continuing legal education and mentoring programs.

As a former practitioner and alumnus of Osgoode Hall Law School, André has a wealth of knowledge and experience about the legal industry. Prior to attending law school, André held various positions with the Toronto law firms of McMillan LLP and Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP. Following his legal studies, André worked as an Associate with the New York law firm of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP. André has also worked as a Recruitment Manager for Robert Half Legal, through which he has presented lectures and seminars to various audiences.

Maggie joined TELUS in 2010 as Business Analyst, where she supports the development and delivery of Diversity and Inclusiveness initiatives as well as employer brand strategies for TELUS. Maggie graduated from Queen’s University in Canada with an honours degree Political Studies and has a Masters in African Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of Bradford in the United Kingdom. Prior to joining TELUS, Maggie worked and volunteered for a number of not-for-profits, gaining 12 years of experience in engagement work which focuses on diversity, anti-oppression and social justice. More recently she worked as a Research Consultant examining the most effective way to deliver Labour Market Information to displaced workers. In her free time Maggie enjoys working with young people on human rights and equity issues, as she believes they are an essential component to creating lasting change.

Liz is the Strategic Alliance Director on the TELUS Customer Solutions team, managing the relationship with two of the top five strategic business partners, was a founding member of the TELUS LGBTQ Employee Resource group called ‘Spectrum’ and is a member of the national planning committee and also provides leadership in women’s outreach.

As Alliance Director, Liz oversees the go-to-market partnership and strategy between key System Integrator partners and TELUS. Her key responsibilities include; creating a strategic relationship driving profitable revenue growth, and leveraging partner and TELUS’ market presence and core competencies to enable differentiated solutions for clients.

Liz also has over 15 years of experience in high technology, software, and telecommunications sectors. Prior to TELUS, Liz worked at Hewlett-Packard for almost eight years in various sales, marketing, and global alliance management roles. Liz also has extensive sales and business development experience from working at PeopleSoft, Bell Mobility, and Intrawest.

Ryan Tollofson is a senior manager within the business strategy & development at TELUS and a founding leader of Spectrum, TELUS’ LGBTQ employee resource group. With over 12 years of experience in the telecommunications industry, he has worked in a number of capacities including solutions development, customer marketing, and business development. He is also an accredited professional coach and runs a successful private coaching practise that strives to improve the productivity and overall satisfaction of a wide variety of clients.

Ryan is very active in the LGBTQ community and has served on the marketing & communications committee for Pride at Work Canada and is currently the President of the Ontario Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce and cycled to Montreal in support of the Toronto PWA Foundation in 2010. A Toronto native, Ryan holds a B.Sc. in Computer Science from York University and an MBA from the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management.

Gail Wong is the Director of Student Programs (Ontario Region) and has responsibility for all aspects of the Toronto office's student program, including the recruitment, supervision and the professional development of summer and articling students. Prior to her current role, Gail practiced corporate law at McCarthy’s in Toronto and at Clifford Chance in London, England.

Bryn Gray is an associate in the Litigation Group and his practice focuses mainly on corporate-commercial disputes and professional liability. Bryn previously worked as a policy and communications advisor to two former Ontario Cabinet Ministers and has coordinated strategic communications on political leadership campaigns at the provincial and national level.

Adam Ship is an associate in the Litigation Group and his practice includes corporate-commercial disputes, professional liability and public/administrative law. He has appeared as counsel before all levels of court in Ontario, as well as the Supreme Court of Canada. Prior to joining McCarthy’s, Adam clerked for several Justices of the Ontario Court of Appeal.

Connie Bonello leads the Advanced Analytics practice within Deloitte’s Information Management and Analytics Technology Consulting practices. She has over 12 years of C-level advisory experience. She has extensive experience leading large complex programs and her areas of expertise include IM strategy, governance, business case development and business process improvement. Connie has provided advisory consulting services to a number of large organizations across Europe, Asia and North America.

Connie has facilitated seminars on topics related to IM strategy and business cases development as well as project management and is a board member of AIIM GTA chapter and Advisory Board of Bonham Centre at U of T. She enjoys road cycling, yoga, horse riding and tennis.

Alex Fisher, BBA, CA, is a Manager within Deloitte’s Advisory practice, specializing in International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”). As a CA, Alex provides a distinct multi-competency perspective, helping solve unique international reporting issues for public and private clients.

Passionately involved in learning and growth initiatives at Deloitte and the community: Alex is a part-time instructor at the Schulich School of Business, seminar leader at the Institute of Chartered Accountants School of Accountancy, technical editor for McGraw-Hill Ryerson and a learning facilitator at Deloitte.

Alex is an honors graduate of the Schulich School of Business, York University, with a specialization in Finance and Accounting.

After finishing an HBA at the Richard Ivey School of Business, at the University of Western Ontario in 2006, Andrzej joined the BMO in IT Strategy & Planning. BMO’s Applied Innovation Team researches and strategically implements the technology that gives BMO its competitive edge.

Andrezj worked for Northern Lights Franchise Consultants with clients including IMAX and Jimmy the Greek. Then came a short stint at Necho Systems Corp. supporting Fortune 500 companies on our expense management software. Andrezj has also worked in the public sector, specifically Government of Ontario within their Strategic Procurement branch.

Andrezj lives and works in Toronto.

Bernardine Perreira, CIM is an Investment Advisor who employs a holistic approach to financial planning and investment management for her clients. She specializes in serving the needs of professionals, executives and business owners in the LGBT community. She has achieved the CIM (Canadian Investment Manager) designation. She works with a team of professionals to cater to client’s wealth management, insurance and estate planning needs. Bernardine has been involved in the LGBT community for years

Pia Schmidt-Hansen has been working for over six years in the financial industry, with experience in both the hedge fund and retail banking sectors. In her current role as a Senior Business Analyst with BMO Financial Group, she works with stakeholders from across the organization to support the development and implementation of IT business solutions. Pia studied Business Administration at Durham College, and is currently pursuing a Global Business Management degree through Ryerson University. She lives and works in Toronto where she actively participates in LGBT community arts, culture and events