Faculty
The Caribbean Governance Training Institute utilizes the expertise of governance experts to address the underlying challenges related to the governance of local organizations in the Caribbean.
Dr. Chris Bart | FCPA, F.CIoD, RCC, HRCCC, C.Dir
Principal and Lead Faculty
Dr. Chris Bart is the Chairman and Co-Founder of the Caribbean Governance Training Institute and Co-founder and Chairman of the Caribbean Institute of Directors.
He is also the Founder of The Directors College of Canada, where from its inception in 2003 to 2013, he served as its inaugural Principal and Lead Professor. Currently, Dr Bart is the CEO of Corporate Missions Inc – an international consulting firm dedicated to helping organizations excel in the execution of their strategies.
He has also authored several books including the 10 year Canadian business best seller, “A Tale of Two Employees and the Person Who Wanted to Lead Them” as well as the widely acclaimed publication: “20 Essential Questions Corporate Directors Should Ask About Strategy” – 3rd Edition”.
A retired Professor of Strategy and Governance, Dr. Bart currently serves as Associate Editor of the International Journal of Business Governance & Ethics and he continues as a Research Fellow of the Asian Institute of Corporate Governance at Korea University.
He is the recipient of numerous awards including the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for his service to Canada. Dr. Bart is listed in Canadian Who’s Who.
He is a Top 50 Governance Professional (NACD Directorship 100 Awards 2024).
Marcel D. Mongeon | BCom, LLB, BCL, MBA, MSc, LLM, CMed
He is a lawyer qualified in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec (now retired) as well as New York State in the USA. He is a Registered Patent and Trade-mark Agent in Canada. Marcel is also a deputy judge in Ontario, often sitting in courts outside of his home community of Hamilton because of his fluency in French.
Marcel runs and is principal instructor for ezCPD.ca, his own firm offering online Continuing Professional Development for legal professionals. He is an experienced international speaker and seminar leader in many areas, including governance, mediation and arbitration, negotiations, business strategy and IP management.
As a Chartered Mediator (C.Med.), Marcel brings his more than 30 years of experience negotiating and mediating solutions to the table as faculty at the Caribbean Governance Training Institute. His practice focuses on complex cases involving corporate and commercial matters, real estate, technology and insurance disputes. He is known for his principled, adaptive approach to the mediation and arbitration process.
Sylvia Groves | FCG, Acc. Dir.
She created Governance Studio from her award-winning work with one of Canada’s foremost governance leaders. The firm is dedicated to Adding Value to Every Seat at the Boardroom Table ™. Sylvia’s no-nonsense practical advice has helped thousands of corporate secretaries and directors enhance the effectiveness of their boards and their organizations.
Private, public, co-operative, crown, charitable, hybrid and not-for-profit boards appreciate working with Sylvia to enhance their governance programs for the benefit of their stakeholders. Sylvia listens to each client’s unique needs and applies her decades of expertise to build the right systems and processes for each individual organization. “There is no one size fits all here – to be effective, governance has to fit the specific company and its particular culture and operations,” notes Sylvia.
A self-proclaimed “governance nerd”, Sylvia has spent over two decades honing her craft. She has a special affinity for helping Governance Professionals and Corporate Secretaries, who are often the unsung heroes of implementing good governance.
Heather Laxton | LL.M, FCG
She is a seasoned governance professional with over 23 years of governance, corporate secretarial, and securities regulation experience with a focus on the mining sector. She is currently Chief Governance Officer and Corporate Secretary with Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd. and during her career, she has served in several senior management and executive roles for companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, TSX Venture Exchange, London – AIM and NYSE AMEX including Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd., European Goldfields Ltd., Northern Gold Mining Inc., and High River Gold Mines Ltd.
Heather has been involved in numerous transactions and financings, and has extensive experience working with management teams and boards of directors on both simple and complex governance matters. She has led the evaluation, design, implementation and monitoring of governance programs for several companies, and specializes in governance crisis recovery.
Heather began her career as a professional corporate and securities law clerk in multi-national law firms. She obtained an honors diploma from the Law Clerk Program at Seneca College, completed the Canadian Securities Course (CSC) in 2000 and will complete a Master’s Degree in Law (Business) at Osgoode Hall Law School in 2021. Heather is a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors and the Governance Professionals of Canada (GPC), and is a member of the faculty with the GPC Education Program. She is an active public speaker, faculty, course lecturer and passionate governance advocate.
Robert A. Canuel | CHRL, CHRE | HRPA Award Winner
Bob Canuel is a bilingual senior Human Resources Professional with over 35 years of business experience in various operational and staff functions. He has been described as a strategic leader with a successful and practical record of initiating and managing best in class HR practices while always ensuring attainment of corporate objectives. Bob has a reputation of being a visionary builder and leader with a broad based experience in Organizational Effectiveness, HR Planning, Executive Coaching, Employee / Labour Relations, Total Rewards, Change Management and Learning and Development.
It is because of his reputation and business experience Bob has been recruited to sit on various Corporate Boards of Directors in the Automotive parts (Wescast inc.), Plastics (Polytainers Inc.), Retail (Hallmark Canada Ltd.) and Food sector Startups (David’s Condiments). He has chaired and has been a member of the compensation committees along with his general board responsibilities for these organizations.
Bob also has a long and successful history on boards of “Not for Profit” and Professional Associations such as CSTD (Canadian Society for Training and Development 2500 members), HRPA (Human Resources Professional Association 24,000 members), Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine (publishing) College of Nurses of Ontario, as well as numerous charities.
Throughout his career Bob has been a leader in employee relations in Canada. He was elected to the newly created position of Ombudsman at Kraft Canada (1978-1983). Bob has also been a speaker at various professional conferences focused on innovative human capital management.
In 2014 Bob was selected as the “Outstanding Certified Human Resources Executive” by the Human Resources Professionals Association.
Bob is a graduate of Concordia University and is a graduate of the Mc Gill University –Kraft Foods Ltd. executive MBA program. He has participated in numerous Governance programs offered through McMaster Directors College ( graduate of the IOG –HRPA Board Governance program).
Bob took early retirement in January 2010 from Hallmark Canada where he was VP Human Resources for 13 years. He now has a Human Resources and Governance practice with select clients across Canada.
David Pasieka | MBA, BSc, C.Dir., RCC, CEC
He has extensive experience sitting on Boards as a member and as a committee chair. He’s currently the Chair of the Finance & Audit committee of Oakville Hydro, a member of the Board of Aleafia Health. He’s also sat on the Boards of Liberty Utilities, IseeMedia, and Luxell Technology.
David is a highly-regarded, trusted, and focused visionary who has served in senior officer roles, including President, Chief Operating Officer (COO), and Chief Transformation Officer (CTO), for privately held and publicly traded companies based in Canada, the U.S. and Internationally. In his 30+ year career, he has been recognized not only for his resourcefulness, determination, and financial acumen, but also his highly adaptive, innovative and inspired leadership.
During a term at the MaRS Discovery District Innovation Hub, as Entrepreneur-In-Residence, he helped over 240 Cleantech startups establish all aspects of their businesses – from securing funding and establishing operating protocols to hiring staff.
Life-long learning is one of David’s tenets. He completed undergraduate work at the University of Waterloo, earning a Bachelor of Science.
He holds a Master of Business Administration in International Business from the Schulich School of Business at York University. After becoming a Chartered Director through the Directors College at McMaster University, he was invited back as a guest lecturer on Succession Planning and Climate Change.
David recently completed a Graduate Certificate in Executive Coaching from Royal Roads University, Sustainable Corporations Programme at the University of Oxford and Cyber Security at Harvard University.
Binu Mathai | MAcc, CPA, CA, CBV, CIA, CFE
He is currently an Associate Vice President at TD Bank Group, a top 10 North American bank. Previously, he held roles in the professional services, investment management and consumer packaged goods industries.
Binu holds a Master of Accounting and is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CA), Chartered Business Valuator (CBV), Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) and Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE).
He has taught and created finance courses at the undergraduatand graduate levels, including teaching in the Master of Financial Accountability program at York University (Canada), which is focused on governance, accountability and risk management.
He has a wide range of experience spanning external auditing, internal auditing, taxation, investor relations, business valuations, financial planning & analysis, business case development, expense governance, and policy creation & management. He has also served as a board member and faculty of a non-profit organization providing programs and resources for youth, families and community members.
David Kunsch | PhD.
He received his PhD. from the Richard Ivey School of Business focused on corporate governance and deviance. His research centres upon risk attitudes and processes at the board level and what drives prudent board behaviour. Dr. Kunsch is a faculty member at the Caribbean Governance Training Institute, where his ongoing studies and research focus on areas like risk process compliance and the cognitive biases that interfere with appropriate risk responses among board members.
Dr Kunsch conducts research into critical thinking and performance both at the individual and the team levels. Also, Dr. Kunsch is conducting research into risk attitudes, emotional intelligence and negotiating practices and effectiveness.
Dr. Kunsch regularly lectures internationally on corporate governance, specifically in the areas of strategy, risk, board performance, structure and effectiveness.
Prior to his PhD., Dr. Kunsch received his Bachelor of Electrical Engineering from the General Motors Institute (now Kettering University), his LLB. from Osgoode Hall Law School and his Masters in Hazardous Waste Management from Wayne State University.
He has been a litigation lawyer in private practice as well as senior counsel to a Dow 30 Canadian subsidiary and managed several of the company’s businesses. Dr. Kunsch’s experience is heavily concentrated in the legal, environmental, and business risks of large multinational organizations.
Dr. Kunsch is committed to understanding the treatment of risk by boards and their individual members and conducting research that will be of practical value to board members and the stakeholders they serve.
Olga Giovanniello | C.Dir
Olga Giovanniello is currently the Chief Human Resources Officer and Executive Vice President, at Sienna Senior Living. Sienna is one of Canada’s largest owners and operators of senior living options with high-quality residences in Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan with a workforce of over 12000 employees. During her 35 year career in the financial services, retail, real estate, health care and senior living sectors, she has served in executive HR and operational roles representing large publicly traded companies, including Toronto Dominion Bank, Sears Canada and Canadian Tire Corporation. She has broad human resources experience leading and implementing strategies in large, complex organizations and is currently responsible for all aspects of Sienna’s HR function, and part of the Executive team leading all aspects of the business. Prior to joining Sienna Senior Living, Olga was at Canadian Tire Corporation where she was most recently Senior Vice-President, Human Resources and Organizational Effectiveness and led the Company’s HR agenda. Olga also spent ten years at Sears Canada in various HR and business roles including Vice-President, Financial Services. Her HR career began at TD Bank where she spent 10 years in management positions and senior HR roles. In all her executive roles, she served as advisor to the CEO, Executive Team, Chairs of Boards and Chairs of Governance, Nominating and Compensation Committees. Olga was the former Chair of Trillium Health Partners Foundation Board, founding Chair of the Board’s HR Committee and a Director of Trillium Health Partners.
Olga has a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Master of Education degree from the University of Toronto and has taken courses at Rotman School of Management a the University of Toronto and the College of William and Mary. She holds the Chartered Director (C.Dir) accreditation from McMaster University.
Dr. Arnold Mol
Arnold matriculated at Kimberley Boys High and attended the universities of the Orange Free State, Port Elizabeth and Pretoria. He taught for 16 years at the University of South Africa where he held the position of and is currently in private practice as a . He has written several books on the topic of , and , and frequently addresses businessmen, teachers, parents and couples on these subjects.
He and his wife, Joy, regularly present throughout South Africa. They live in Pretoria and have three married children and ten grandchildren. They are actively involved in their church and frequently conduct Bible studies for church groups.
He is perhaps best known for his work on the of people in their work situation. Since 1978 he has conducted more than for managers in commerce, industry, and agriculture in every part of South Africa. (as well as in America, Europe, Asia and other African countries). The successes in this field have been the topic of several television programmes as well as numerous magazine articles.
Andrew (Andy) Poprawa
Andy is currently Chair of the Audit Committee of a Canadian federally regulated Bank as well as serving as an advisor on governance and regulatory matters to several financial institutions and other organizations. As a former regulator in the financial services sector, he has also advised various regulatory agencies in the Caribbean region as an expert attached to the Capital Markets Division of the International Fund (IMF) on matters related to financial matters. He is co-founder and long time Chair of the International Credit Union Regulators Network and continues to work with the international credit union sector through the World Council of Credit Unions. Andy has over 35 years of extensive experience as a Board Chair, Committee Chair and board member of large, mid-sized and small public, private and non-for-profit organizations. He continues to serve on the faculty at several academic and industry organizations which offer director training.
Laurie Pearce
Laurie is well-known in the disaster management community as a practitioner, an educator and a researcher. She currently teaches in the field of business continuity at the University of Victoria and the Justice Institute of British Columbia (JIBC) for certificate and undergraduate degrees. She also teaches in the Master of Disaster and Emergency Management at Royal Roads University, in emergency management at the British Columbia Institute of Technology, and in the area of emergency management and critical incident stress management at JIBC.
She was the Research Chair at JIBC, managing the SIMTEC project which focused on developing identifying stressors in Emergency Operations Centres for first responders, and others, and developing strategies to support them. Laurie Pearce’s current research is focused on the impacts of disasters on evacuated households, particularly those impacting Indigenous communities; on the evaluation of provincial governments’ initial response to COVID-19; and her work continues in regards to the psychosocial impacts of disasters on first responders. In addition, Laurie has extended her research interests in managing stressors to COVID-19 in the health care field.
Laurie worked with the Ministry of Children and Family Development with the Provincial Government of British Columbia in various line and management positions in emergency child protection, business continuity, and administering special projects.
Laurie has been an active volunteer with the Disaster Psychosocial Services (DPS) Program, supported by the Provincial Health Services Authority in British Columbia for many years. As well, she continues to sit on the BC DPS Council and co-chairs the Training Sub-Committee. She has been a member of Canada’s National Advisory Committee for Disaster Risk Reduction and a board member of the Emergency Preparedness for Industry and Commerce Council of BC, the Emergency Social Services Association, and other organizations. She maintains a strong sense of community and currently serves on the executive as the secretary for the Woodlands, Sunshine and Cascades Ratepayers Society and the treasurer of the Sunshine Falls Road Society.
Laurie completed a PhD (2000) at the University of British Columbia (UBC), and previously completed an MA at the School of Community and Regional Planning at UBC, a Masters of Social Work at UBC and undergraduate studies in sociology and psychology. She is a Registered Social Worker with the BC College of Social Workers, a member of the BC Association of Social Workers, and a member of the Canadian Risk and Hazards Network.
