Prakash Amarasooriya is currently the Product Owner, Business Credit Cards, at TD Canada Trust and has fulfilled various roles during his time at TD since starting in 2016. He is the CEO and Lead Producer for Kashamara Productions, a Canadian production company that builds and presents special events worldwide to bring fans together as a community. These projects include partnerships with Marvel Studios, Disney, Sony, Cineplex, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Ubisoft, and many more.

He has been featured in the media for the financial literacy campaign he initiated in October 2016 in his work with the Toronto Youth Cabinet. Prakash created a proposal to have financial literacy incorporated into the Ontario Grade 10 Career Studies course as well as a petition to get the attention of the public and the media. After meeting with the Minister of Education, Minister Hunter published a press release stating that she had accepted his proposal and will be putting financial literacy into the Grade 10 Careers course, which went into effect in 2019.

His passion for volunteerism has been recognized as the recipient of both the Volunteer Toronto Award and the Canada Volunteer Award, and as one of York University’s inaugural Top 30 Under 30. Prakash graduated from York University with a Bachelor of Science Honours degree, majoring in Kinesiology and a minor in Psychology. He is also a published neuroscience researcher.

Noah Booth is a fourth-year Environmental Science student at Dalhousie University in Halifax. At 15, he wrote and self-published "A Rich Future: Financial Literacy for Youth," which has sold more than 8,000 copies, reached #1 on Amazon's financial literacy list, and been featured by The Globe and Mail and CBC. He partnered with RBC Wealth Management to teach financial literacy to young people across Canada. He has given keynotes at CPA Canada, CPA Ontario, and CFEE's Alberta Financial Literacy Symposium, and has helped develop financial literacy curriculum resources for the Limestone District School Board and the Ontario Ministry of Education. Noah is also a research assistant in health sciences and plans to pursue a career in medicine and public health. Outside of school, he is a varsity runner, tree planter, and avid surfer and canoe tripper.

Mr. Branchaud is a civil engineer with a Masters degree in transport from Imperial College, London and an MBA from Strathclyde, Scotland. From 1973 to 1992, he held various positions, as project manager and president of subsidiaries within the Lavalin Group, the largest engineering and construction group in Canada. He joined the Société Générale de Financement du Québec in 1992 and, for 5 years, acted as Vice President, Metals and Minerals. From 1996 to 2000, he was the General Partner for an international infrastructure fund with, as Limited Partners, the Caisse de Dépôt du Québec and other key institutions such as Manulife, the Royal Bank of Canada and Hydro-Québec. Since 2001, Michel Branchaud is the President of Groupe Montaigne, a private business advisor group with North American and European principals whose mission consists in the identification, conception, negotiation, financial engineering, and syndication of real estate and other investment programs in Europe, Asia and North and South America.

Sharron Callahan has built a distinguished career rooted in community service, social welfare, and advocacy. Since 2002, she has served as a Board Member of the Newfoundland and Labrador Public Sector Pensioners’ Association, where she has held several leadership roles. She played a key role in supporting the Board’s transition from a working board to a governance board and was appointed the Association’s first permanent Executive Director.

Sharron was instrumental in establishing the NL Seniors’ and Pensioners’ Coalition, which provides an advocacy platform and collective voice for 14 participating organizations.

A retired registered social worker, Sharron holds a Bachelor’s degree in Social Welfare, as well as certificates in Criminology and Public Administration. She has also completed the Governance Essentials Program for Directors of Not-for-Profit Organizations through the Institute of Corporate Directors.

Sharron also serves as President of CARP NL and is a lifelong member of Girl Guides of Canada, where she has held numerous leadership roles, including becoming the first and only Chief Commissioner from Newfoundland and Labrador. Her longstanding commitment to community service has been recognized through several honours, including St. John’s Senior of the Year, the Queen Elizabeth II Golden and Diamond Jubilee Medals, the MUN Alumni Tribute Award for Outstanding Community Service, and the Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers.

Jeremy is a financial services executive with over 35 years of experience in capital markets and wealth management. He is currently Managing Partner, FFS Consulting, a firm specializing in financial services expertise. Prior to this, he spent the bulk of his career at TD Securities as Managing Director, where he was responsible for managing the firm’s relationship with TD Wealth. Jeremy has a BA in Economics from Queen’s University and holds numerous professional designations including that of a Chartered Investment Manager. He is also a Past Chair of the Toronto Bond Traders Association. Jeremy is married with three children and lives in Toronto.

Jim’s approach to leadership was shaped long before he entered a classroom, boardroom, or the public service. Growing up in a Canadian military family, he spent much of his youth living in countries around the world, learning new languages, experiencing different cultures and customs, and adapting to unfamiliar surroundings.

Those formative experiences profoundly influenced the leader he became. They taught Jim to listen before judging, remain curious about different perspectives, adapt to changing circumstances and, above all, understand that leadership is fundamentally about people.

Jim currently serves at Senior Associate with Governance Solutions Inc. and he is co-writing a book on the human aspects of being a Chair. Jim also serves as Chair of the Board for CDRCP, a non-profit, charitable organization providing services for young children and families in the Region of Peel. He also recently joined the CFEE Board of Directors.

Jim retired as CEO of Entente Education Canada (formerly RTOERO) in December 2025. The national not-for-profit organization provides health insurance and other services to 88,000 retirees and members of Canada’s not-for-profit communities.

From 2009 to 2015, Jim served as Assistant Deputy Minister of Early Years for the Ontario Ministry of Education, where he was responsible for implementing full-day kindergarten and leading work involving child care and family support programs.

Earlier, Jim held progressively senior positions in public education, culminating in his service as Director of Education for the Ottawa-Carleton and Peel District School Boards, two of Canada’s largest school systems. Throughout his career, his leadership remained grounded in lessons learned early in life: understand people, respect different perspectives, build trust, and create the conditions in which others can do their best work.

Jim holds a Master’s degree from OISE/University of Toronto and undergraduate degrees from York University and Victoria College at the University of Toronto.

A highly visible and approachable leader and speaker, Jim has delivered keynote presentations nationally and internationally on leadership, education and early childhood development, including at conferences hosted by the World Bank, UNESCO, OECD and the Council of Ministers of Education Canada. His international work brought him full circle—continuing to learn from different cultures and perspectives while sharing leadership lessons accumulated over a lifetime.

Trevor Krahn is a tenured community investment professional, with experience providing strategic direction and executing national, regional and local community investment programs. He has over 20 years’ experience within the financial services and healthcare industries in various marketing and community related roles. He is currently the Executive Director of the Seven Oaks General Hospital Foundation which is the philanthropic arm of Seven Oaks General Hospital and its affiliated entities – The Wellness Institute and the Chronic Disease Innovation Centre. Trevor has also served on a number of national thought and practice leadership councils, including the Conference Board of Canada’s Corporate Community Investment Council and Volunteer Canada’s Corporate Community Engagement Council. In addition, he is an Advisory Council member for the Manitoba Financial Literacy Forum which works to improve financial literacy within the province. He is an Honours graduate from Red River College and has also obtained his Marketing Management Certification and his Certificate in Corporate Community Involvement Management through Boston College.

Denis Leclerc was present since the early days of the Solidarity Fund QFL in 1985. The Fund is a development capital company that is offering and solidarity of all Quebecers. Its main mission is to help create and maintain jobs in Québec by investing in small and medium enterprises. Denis Leclerc has held since 1997 as Senior Vice President of the Fund and the shareholders registered as such, the steering committee. Upon his arrival in office, the Fund counted 328,338 shareholders. It now has over 615,000. Since 2002, Mr. Leclerc is also president and CEO of the Foundation for economic education. union activist for many years, Denis Leclerc was, in 1980, president of the Association of Workers Central Quebec. He was also part of the union bargaining committee at CIP group inc., Trois-Rivières. He also served on the boards of directors of the Association of Certified Human Resources and Industrial Relations, House Casks and institutions Dulong, in Bordeaux, France. Denis Leclerc studied communications, administration and marketing. He holds a diploma in corporate governance, the College of Corporate Directors of the University Laval. Mr. Leclerc is on the Board of Directors Kruger Wines and Spirits. He is also a member of the Federation of Workers of Quebec, the Directors College, Advertising Club of Montreal, the American Marketing Association and the Association of Financial and tax planning.

Bill McNamara is a commercial lawyer whose practice emphasizes the defense of product liability class actions, anti-trust law, infrastructure and construction claims, banking law, insolvency, restructuring, and corporate disputes. Bill has appeared before the courts in Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, and Alberta, as well as the Competition Tribunal, the Federal Court of Canada, the Federal Court of Appeal, and numerous private arbitral panels. He is fluent in English and French and conducts trials in both languages. Bill was recognized by Law Business Research’s Who’s Who Legal: International as a leading lawyer in life sciences (2011-2013) and Who’s Who Legal: Canada as a leading Canadian lawyer in life sciences (2014), as well as Practical Law Company’s Cross-border Life Sciences Handbook (2007-2011). Throughout his career, Bill has represented organizations including Bayer, Tecumseh Products, Merck Frost Canada, Wyeth Canada, Pfizer, Sears Canada, and many others. He served as counsel to the Royal Canadian Commission of Inquiry into the Presence of War Criminals in Canada between 1985 and 1987. Bill is a member of the Advocates’ Society and has served in various roles with the Canadian Bar Association, including President.

During the first half of her career at Scotiabank, Susan held progressively senior roles in finance and risk management, culminating with VP & Comptroller International Banking. She then fulfilled a number of special-project assignments, taking leadership roles in mergers and acquisitions, the implementation of an international shared services organization, the development/execution of Scotiabank’s international leadership strategy, promoting diversity and inclusion and creation of a corporate finance function dedicated to supporting HR, Marketing and Communications. Susan develops young leaders by participating in the McMaster MBA and Chartered Professional Accountants (CPA) mentoring programs. She supports her community through board/council leadership roles with CPA, Queen’s University and Theatre Passe Muraille. Susan has held various committee and board chair roles on not for profit boards over the past 9 years. Susan led the Certified Management Accountants of Ontario board during the merger of the accounting bodies in Ontario and was Chair of the merged CPA organization following integration, initiating governance reform. She is now serving CPA on the national board.  

Stephen Petherbridge has been associated with CFEE for more than 20 years. He has long experience as a media executive in Britain, Australia and Canada. He has been managing editor of the Toronto Star, Executive Editor of the Financial Post and publisher of several magazines, including the Globe and Mail’s Report on Business Magazine. As a Vice-President of the Globe, he was a co-founder of Report on Business Television, now the Business News Network. He was also a professor of journalism at Ryerson for five years. He is currently editor of the online Globe and Mail Classroom Edition and a consultant in all aspects of media, providing advice on reshaping business models, including the transition to the digital era.

Corinne retired in July of 2023 after almost 33 years with the federal government including time with the CRTC, the Secretary of State, Human Resources Development Canada and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

Over her career, Corinne lead the growth and transformation of a number of federal programs including the Canada Student Loans Program, the Foreign Credential Recognition Program, Labour Mobility programming, the Going to Canada Immigration Portal, the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, the National Occupational Classification system, Labour Market Information, Career Information, Essential Skills programming, the Settlement Program and the Resettlement Program.  She also lead legislative changes to the Canada Student Loans Act, the Canada Student Financial Assistance Act, the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, and the Official Languages Act.

Between 2021and 2023, Corinne lead Canada’s efforts to settle more than 40,000 Afghan refugees and more than 300,000 Ukrainian nationals and their families.

She received three Deputy Minister's awards over her career and received the federal Partnership award from the Association of Professional Executives of the Public Service of Canada (APEX) for her ability to work with stakeholders, the private sector and civil society.

Corinne graduated with a Bachelor of Social Science from the University of Ottawa in 1988 and received her Bachelor of Laws from the University of Calgary in 1991. She articled with the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) and was admitted to the Law Society of Upper Canada in 1994 (the Ontario bar).

Corinne grew up on a grain farm in northern Saskatchewan. She has two adult children and now makes her home in the Ottawa Valley with her partner.

Daryl Rock is a philanthropist, social entrepreneur, business owner and former federal public servant. Daryl began his public service career serving in the Canadian Armed Forces. After sustaining a spinal cord injury (non-military related), Daryl returned to university graduating with a BA and Political Science and an MA in Public Administration. After graduation Daryl joined the federal public service where, over the next 20 years, he worked in increasingly senior positions designing and leading social, labour market and research funding programs in the departments of the Secretary of State, Human Resources Development Canada and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

Daryl’s commitment to community service extends beyond the workplace and includes many national, provincial, and local organizations. Over the past 30 years he has not only participated in but helped design and lead many charities and not-for-profit groups including Freedom at Death Canada, the Healthy Aboriginal Network, the Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation, the West Wind Association, and the Ontario Commandery of the Sovereign Order of St. John of Jerusalem.

Daryl and his wife Melanie moved to Vancouver in 2006. In 2010 he became the founding chairman of the Rick Hansen Institute and in 2012 led the creation of the Global Accessibility Map. Moving back to Ottawa in 2017, he now commits his energy to philanthropic activities, volunteering, investing, and travel. Daryl is currently a member the National Capital Commission’s Accessibility Advisory Committee, founding director of West Wind Association and co-founder and chair of Freedom at Depth Canada. With the goal of helping develop young leaders with disabilities, in 2019 Daryl and Melanie established four four-year scholarships at Carleton University to support students with physical disabilities achieve an undergraduate degree in any of the STEM disciplines.

His activities are guided by four core principles: the belief that we can achieve more by working collaboratively than we can by working alone; a desire to actively engage in community initiatives to make life better for everyone; the importance of lifelong learning; and finally, a commitment to work/family life balance.

Daryl is an avid scuba, diver, enjoys fishing, committed to physical fitness, has visited more than 60 countries across six continents and enjoys good wine, spirited conversations and politics.

In recognition of his community service, Daryl was awarded the Canada 125 Medal in 1992, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012 and the Order of St. John in 2013. He has also received the Rick Hansen Foundation ‘Difference Maker’ Award for his contributions to society.

Jane Rooney joined ISED’s Connected Canada Branch in December 2020 and is the Director of the Digital Programs. She oversees six digital inclusion programs aimed at providing Canadians the necessary access, tools and skills to participate in the digital economy.

Prior to this role, Jane was appointed as the Financial Literacy Leader at the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada with a mandate to strengthen the financial literacy of Canadians. While in this role, in collaboration with organizations in the private and non-profit sectors, as well as different levels of government, Jane and her team successfully developed and launched the National Strategy on Financial Literacy and implemented over 200 initiatives, including the development and delivery of educational programs and interactive tools, to help Canadians make more informed financial decisions.

A journey through print and electronic media. René Vézina has been working in communications for over 40 years. As a journalism and political science graduate from Université Laval, he began his career in 1977 on the radio and on television for Radio-Canada in the Gaspésie region before moving on to the national network in Montreal. He then moved onto scientific journalism, with an interest in economics, which has since became the area he enjoys most. He was editor-in-chief of Les Affaires from 2002 to 2005, and then remained there as a columnist until June 2018. He also hosted the show Finances on the TVA network for three years, and Déficit Zéro on Télé-Québec in 2013. He is still on the radio with daily shows on Radio-Canada in Montreal in the morning and at noon, and frequently collaborates with various radio stations throughout Quebec. In the fall of 2008, he published the guide Comment parler aux médias, through Éditions Transcontinental. The Institut québécois de planification financière awarded him the Prix de journalisme en littératie financière 2014 for his work. His ongoing challenge is to help others understand the movements of the economy, as it is experienced day to day.