Board of Directors
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Mike Pedersen
- Chair of the Board
Chair of the Board
Mike Pedersen brings more than 35 years of leadership in global financial services, with a proven record of providing governance and strategy oversight through periods of impactful growth and transformation. Most recently, he served as Chair of the Board at Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) from 2018 to 2023. He has a distinguished career in banking, holding leadership positions across consumer and commercial banking, wealth management and insurance, ultimately serving as President and CEO of TD Bank Group’s U.S. banking business from 2013 to 2017.
Based in Toronto, Pedersen currently serves on the boards of CGI, AtkinsRéalis and Clean Prosperity. Additionally, he is Chair of the Advisory Committee for the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation at the University of Waterloo, and is a member of the Sustainable Finance Advisory Committee at the Global Risk Institute. He is also a past Chair of the Canadian Bankers Association.
He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of British Columbia and a Master of Industrial Relations from the University of Toronto. He maintains an active presence in his community and has a long history of involvement in organizations dedicated to environmental sustainability and urban poverty.
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Chadwick Westlake
- President and Chief Executive Officer
Director
Chadwick Westlake has more than two decades of executive leadership experience across banking and financial services, with a proven record of driving growth, innovation, and transformation in complex, high-performing organizations. A long-time architect of EQB's growth strategy, he currently serves as its President and Chief Executive Officer and previously served as its Chief Financial Officer. Prior to EQ, Chadwick held progressively senior roles at Scotiabank over an 18-year period, where he last served as Executive Vice President of Enterprise Productivity & Canadian Banking Finance.
Chadwick currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Bankers Association (CBA), Coril Holdings and SickKids Foundation.
A recognized leader in Canadian business, Chadwick was named one of Canada’s 2025 Best Executives by The Globe and Mail. He holds a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation, a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Management Studies from the University of Waterloo and completed an Executive Program at The Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.
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Carolyn Schuetz
Director
Carolyn Schuetz is an accomplished executive with more than 30 years of global experience in financial services. Having spent 16 years at HSBC, most recently as the Global Chief Operating Officer for Group Retail Banking and Wealth Management, she brings deep operational expertise and a proven track record of delivering large-scale transformational change in complex, highly regulated industries. She serves on the board of OakNorth Bank plc, a UK-regulated digital bank and Altus Group Limited, which provides the global corporate real estate industry with intelligence-as-a-service solutions to maximize returns and reduce risk. She holds a Bachelor of Mathematics from the University of Waterloo, is a Chartered Professional Accountant and has an MBA from Stanford.
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Audit Committee
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Governance and Nominating Committee
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Galen G. Weston
Director
Galen Weston serves as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of George Weston Limited and as Chairman of Loblaw Companies Limited (Loblaw). He has previously held several senior executive roles within Loblaw and its subsidiaries. Prior to joining Loblaw, he worked as an investment banking analyst with Salomon Brothers in the United Kingdom.
In addition to his public company board memberships, he is Chairman of Wittington Investments, Limited, and serves as President of the Weston Family Foundation. He is also a member of the boards of the Consumer Goods Forum, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and the Business Council of Canada. He previously served as Chair and trustee of Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust from 2019 to 2021.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University and a Master of Business Administration from Columbia University.
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Joanne Ferstman
Director
Joanne Ferstman is an experienced corporate director with more than 35 years of financial executive management and public company board experience. She has extensive expertise in capital markets, financial reporting, risk management, mergers and acquisitions, and governance.
Joanne spent over 18 years with the Dundee group of companies, a diversified financial services organization operating across wealth management, capital markets, resources, and real estate. During her tenure, she held senior leadership roles including Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Dundee Corporation, Vice Chair of DundeeWealth Inc., and President and Chief Executive Officer of Dundee Capital Markets Inc. In these roles, she was responsible for financial and regulatory reporting, enterprise risk management, strategic development, and domestic and international operations.
Joanne is currently Chair of the Board of DREAM Unlimited Corp. and a Director of ATS Corporation and Sinai Health, and formerly served as Lead Director of OR Royalties Inc. and Director of Cogeco Communications Inc.
Joanne is a Chartered Professional Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a Graduate Diploma in Public Accountancy from McGill University.
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Audit Committee
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Credit Risk Sub-Committee
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Risk and Capital Committee
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John Sullivan
Director
John Sullivan spent over 25 years with Cadillac Fairview, one of North America’s leading owners, operators and developers of high-quality retail and mixed-use real estate. During his tenure, he held various senior leadership roles including President and Chief Executive Officer, Executive Vice President, Development, and Senior Vice President, Development. In addition, he also held various senior leadership roles Brookfield Corporation and Marathon Realty Company Limited.
John currently serves on the boards of Colliers International Group Inc., Forum Asset Management and the Hospital for Sick Children and is a former director of MAF Properties (Dubai), The Macerich Company (Los Angeles), Dream Global REIT (Toronto) and Multiplan (Rio de Janeiro).
He holds a Bachelor of Civil Engineering from Concordia University, an MBA from McGill University, and completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.
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Credit Risk Sub-Committee
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Governance and Nominating Committee
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HR and Compensation Committee
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Kishore Kapoor
Director
Kishore Kapoor is a Corporate Director and the former President and Chief Executive Officer of RF Capital Group Inc. and Richardson Wealth, having retired in September 2024. Until 2011, he was President of Wellington West Holdings Inc., the parent company of a number of subsidiaries that provided wealth management and corporate finance services to retail and institutional clientele in Canada. From November 2003 to June 2005, he was Executive Vice-President of Corporate Development at Loring Ward International Inc., a public company formed to hold the U.S. operations of Assante Corporation, previously one of the largest wealth management firms in Canada, and served as its Executive Vice-President, Corporate Development from March 1994 until November 2003. He also served as a director of Manitoba Telecom Services and Audit Committee Chair from 1994 until 2003. He has a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Manitoba and is a Chartered Professional Accountant and former tax partner with KPMG LLP. He has been a member of the Audit Committee since November 2016.
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Risk and Capital Committee
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Audit Committee
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Marcos Lopez
Director
Marcos Lopez is CEO of CreditApp, a fintech company. He was previously CEO of Solium Capital Inc. (now Shareworks by Morgan Stanley). His long stewardship of Solium culminated in its acquisition by Morgan Stanley for $1.1 billion. Under his leadership, Solium’s Shareworks platform evolved into a world-class suite of products and services used by more than 3,000 companies worldwide. After Solium was acquired by Morgan Stanley, he became Co-Head of Morgan Stanley at Work, ensuring a successful integration of the business and ultimately helping create the largest employee share plan administration business globally. Before becoming Solium’s CEO, he was the co-founder of Bitonic Solutions Inc. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science from the University of Calgary, and was the 2012 recipient of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award for the technology section, Western Canada.
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HR and Compensation Committee
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Risk and Capital Committee
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Richard Dufresne
Director
Richard Dufresne is the President and Chief Financial Officer of George Weston Limited (GWL) and Chief Financial Officer of Loblaw Companies Limited (Loblaw). He is a highly respected leader in both finance and retail and brings with him decades of experience in investment banking, mergers and acquisitions, and equity and debt, among other areas of financial expertise. Prior to joining Loblaw and GWL in 2012, Richard was Chief Financial Officer at Metro Inc.
In January of 2018, Richard took on the role of President of GWL. Richard’s scope of responsibility includes overseeing the day-to-day operations and strategy for GWL which is the parent company of many well-known and respected Canadian food and pharmacy retail organizations including Loblaw, Shoppers Drug Mart, and Choice Properties REIT.
In March of 2021, in addition to his responsibilities with GWL, Richard reprised his role as Chief Financial Officer of Loblaw, a role he previously held between 2014-2017. In this expanded role Richard is responsible for leading all aspects of finance including investor relations, treasury, tax, audit and business synergies. He also oversees the real estate group.
Richard holds an MBA from the University of Western Ontario’s Ivey School of Business, and a B.Sc. in Actuarial Science from Laval University.
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Rowan Saunders
Director
Rowan Saunders has been President and Chief Executive Officer of Definity Financial Corporation since November 1, 2016. His extensive background in the P&C industry includes over 35 years of international experience including 12 years as President and Chief Executive Officer of Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Company of Canada. He is a past Chairman and current director of the Insurance Bureau of Canada, and a past member of the Financial Services Commission of Ontario’s CEO Advisory Committee. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from York University, holds the Canadian Risk Management designation and is a Fellow of the Insurance Institute of Canada.
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Susan Ericksen
Director
Susan Ericksen is a Corporate Director. She is an expert in the design, development, implementation and management of innovative, large-scale technologies and technology workforces. She had a distinguished 35-year career with Fortune 500 companies, serving as Chief Technology Officer for Fiserv, Inc., and most recently as Managing Director, Global Technology Operations, at The Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta. Her financial services experience is extensive. She served as Chief Information Officer or Chief Technology Officer at New York Life, Merrill Lynch Bank and Trust, Merrill Lynch Bank USA, CitiFinancial, and Citi Cards. She received her Master of Science degree in Computer Science from the University of Colorado, the CERT Certificate in Cybersecurity Oversight from the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration from Mount St. Mary's College, Los Angeles. She is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors with the DC designation.
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Credit Risk Sub-Committee
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HR and Compensation Committee
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Audit Committee
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Yongah Kim
Director
Yongah Kim is an Associate Professor of Strategic Management at Rotman and a core faculty member in the Leadership Development Lab and the Self-Development Lab of the Desautels Centre for Integrative Thinking. Prior to joining Rotman, she was a Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company where she spent ~25 years working across Canada, US and Asia. She has a very diverse set of experiences that span across digital & analytics transformation, global expansion, performance transformation, and digital marketing, with a particular focus on digital and performance transformations in the financial services sector. She held number of leadership positions while at McKinsey including leader of multiple industry practices, Women’s Initiatives in Asia and North America. She also served as co-chair of McKinsey’s Global Partner Election Committee for several years. She has the distinction of being the first Korean woman elected to Partner and Senior Partner at McKinsey. She has a BA in Business Administration from Yonsei University and a MBA from Harvard Business School. She is currently Vice Chair of the Board of The Hospital for Sick Children.
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