A New Year, a New Esteemed National Advisory Board
By: Gary Zed
No one can solve climate change alone. True impact requires collective action, where every one of us is contributing our respective talents and skills. That is why, at Canada’s Forest Trust Corporation, we partner with the best and brightest minds in Canada to grow forests from coast to coast to coast.
As we start 2025, we have a number of exciting announcements up our sleeves. The first one is that we are honoured to announce our National Advisory Board of experts and leaders who will accelerate nature-based solutions in Canada.
This National Advisory Board brings together some of the trusted, respected advisors who have been instrumental in CFTC’s success to date, while also welcoming new highly-esteemed members from across Canada. Collectively, these advisors bring expertise in biodiversity, forestry, education, youth engagement, Indigenous partnerships, data, business, and climate adaptation, as well as experience in various industries from insurance to retail to the auto sector. We chose them from all of these walks of life because we work at a crossroads between climate, nature, tech, youth, and business, and we are better able to work effectively when we have perspectives and talents from various sectors.
Let me introduce you to our new National Advisory Board:
As we look to engage millions of youth in Canada, we look to expertise from advisors like Michèle Andrews, the Co-Founder & Executive Director of DoorNumberOne.org, and Tam Matthews, Former Head of School of Ashbury College and West Point Grey Academy. Serena Nguyen, the Founder, CEO & Principal Consultant of Evolve Oceans and Co-Founder, The Undertow, brings new expertise on youth and civil society.
On climate action and adaptation, we will work with Joanna Eyquem, an internationally-recognized leader in climate adaptation and nature-based solutions who serves as the Managing Director of Climate-Resilient Infrastructure at the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation, University of Waterloo. We are honoured to continue working with Blair Feltmate, Head of the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation and Former Vice President of Sustainable Development at the Bank of Montreal and an Advisory Table member of Canada’s National Adaptation Strategy.
We know that every single sector needs to play a role in fighting climate change, and we increasingly work in a range of sectors, from auto to real estate to benefits. Aik Aliferis, the Senior Managing Director of Investments at Institutional Property Advisors (IPA), a division of Marcus & Millichap, brings expertise to our real estate portfolio. For our growing customer base in the auto sector, we look to Peter Porteous, the Founding Investor and Director of Growing Forests and YPO Automotive Industry Network Board Member and Chair, as well as Monte Weis, an expert in merger and acquisition activities, physical and digital retail environments, and the dealer franchise model. For brokerages, we will look to advisor Robert Tellier, former National Vice President of the Group Retirement, Brokerage, at Manulife. Tim Sanderson, the Executive Vice President at JLL and co-founder of Northwest Atlantic, brings expertise on the retail side of our business.
As part of our commitment to being a leader on data and tech, we are proud to be bringing on Anil Arora, Adjunct Lecturer at the Harvard Kennedy School; Former Chief Statistician of Canada, and a Global Digital Consultant at the World Bank. Scott Penner, the President, PeakBridge Advisors and Former Managing Director of TD Securities, brings expertise in growth capital and finance, as does Peter Van Dijk, a senior finance executive in financial services with extensive experience across global banking and life insurance organizations such as TD Bank and Sun Life Financial.
Bringing the Indigenous and business perspective, JP Gladu is the Principal of Mokwateh, and the Former President and CEO of the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business (CCAB). With a deep background in biodiversity, Steve Hounsell is the Past Chair of the Ontario Biodiversity Council and Past President of Forests Ontario and Ontario Nature. Warren Mabee is a Professor at Queen’s University, and Director of the Queen's Institute for Energy and Environmental Policy.
We are proud to announce this high-caliber group of advisors, and we don’t take their trust in us lightly. Now, we will put this group to work. We will leverage their decades of know-how and influence from various sectors to guide CFTC in our mission to deliver tech-enhanced nature-based solutions.
To learn more about the National Advisory Board, read the press release and check out what our advisors are saying about their commitment to Canada’s Forest Trust Corporation.
