James Appleyard is a technology investor and entrepreneur, and not-for-profit board director.

As the Founder and president of Freycinet Ventures, James takes active positions in Canadian start-up companies that are developing ‘Technology for Human Progress’. Since 2013 Freycinet has invested in, and supports through mentoring and advisory roles, some fifteen entrepreneurial teams. Prior to its acquisition in 2013, James was CEO, chairman, and controlling shareholder of Artez Interactive, a leading software-as-a-service provider of fundraising solutions to not-for-profits in North America, Europe and the Pacific.

James received his B.A. from Trinity College, University of Toronto specializing in International Relations with a minor in English, graduating with Distinction.

He went on to study at the London School of Economics and Political Science, U.K., where he received his M.Sc. in International Relations and was a Fellow of Goodenough College. After the LSE, he worked for three years at the Canadian Institute of International Affairs (now Canadian International Council) where he organized CEO missions to Asia, Latin America, Africa and Europe. He completed an M.B.A. at the Rotman School of Management; James graduated Dean’s Honour List and was a Junior Fellow at Massey College. Also at that time, James served as a program officer with the Maytree Foundation, an innovative funder of anti-poverty and refugee settlement initiatives.

James is active in community service. Currently he is vice-chair, and a trustee on the Board of The Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Arts, and chairs the museum’s Curatorial Committee. Recently, he was appointed a trustee of UK-based The Awareness Foundation, which is active on the ground in Syria and Iraq and whose aspiration is to help create conditions that will lead to peaceful co-existence between religious communities throughout the Middle East. James was a director, and chair of the board, of the Loran Scholars Foundation where he has participated in regional and national scholar selections for more than twenty years, and served as a mentor to several Loran Scholars. James lives in Toronto with his wife and their three children.

Glenn is a former ambassador and retired naval officer // Glenn est ancien ambassadeur et officier de marine à la retraite

Glenn Davidson was born in Truro, Nova Scotia and graduated from Dalhousie University – King’s College, in Halifax. He was Ambassador of Canada to Afghanistan from May 2012 until July 2013. From September 2008 until March 2012 he served as Ambassador of Canada to Syria, a period which included the beginning of the Arab Spring and Syria’s descent into civil war.

Prior to his appointment to Syria, Ambassador Davidson was a career naval officer for almost 38 years, retiring in 2008 as a Vice-Admiral. He was Canadian military representative at NATO Headquarters in Brussels from 2004-2008 and commanded Canada’s Maritime Forces Atlantic from 2002-2004. His previous appointments include destroyer and squadron commands in the Pacific, Canadian Forces Attaché at the Canadian Embassy in Japan, head of personnel for the Navy, and chief of staff for the Personnel Group of the Armed Forces.

Davidson was appointed a Commander of the Order of Military Merit in 2002, and awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Civil Law by the University of King’s College in 2007. Among his other commitments he is a Director of the Canadian International Council and a Fellow of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute.

He and his wife Petra make their home in Halifax NS.

David Dyment is a political scientist and author. //
David Dyment est politologue, et auteur.

Dr. Dyment is the author of Doing the Continental: A New Canadian-American Relationship, currently in its second printing, selected by the Toronto Library Foundation as a significant recent Canadian book, and a Quill & Quire bestseller.

David was from 2013 to 2016 the president of the Canadian International Council’s National Capital Branch, which has some 350 members and 10 programming teams which organize over 50 events a year, five or more of those broadcast nationally on CPAC.

At Carleton University he’s a senior research associate in the Centre on North American Politics and Society and teaches Canadian foreign policy most recently at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs.

David is a past director of the Parliamentary Internship Programme, and has served as a deputy director at Global Affairs Canada and on the staff of the Governor General of Canada.

Opinion pieces by David have been in the Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail and other leading newspapers, he has been on CTV, CBC, BBC, and in French on Radio-Canada. He received his doctorate from the Université de Montréal.

Patricia is a former Ambassador, and Assistant Deputy Minister // Patricia est une ancienne ambassadrice et sous-ministre adjointe

Patricia A Fortier is a retired Canadian diplomat whose career focused on political relations, governance, international security, consular/crisis management, and trade/ investment. She is currently a Fellow of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, Senior Fellow of the Graduate School of International Affairs at the University of Ottawa and on the board of the Canadian Retired Heads of Mission Association.

She acted most recently (2016) as Assistant Deputy Minister responsible for Security, Consular, and Emergency Management in Global Affairs Canada. Other assignments in Ottawa included Director General, Consular Operations (2009-11) and Director, Peacekeeping and Regional Security (1995-2000) when she was also ex-officio director on the board of the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre.

She was Canadian Ambassador to Peru and Bolivia (2011-5) and Ambassador to the Dominican Republic (2006-9) as well as Minister-Counsellor (Political) at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C. (2001-5). Her work abroad also included Senior Advisor to the OAS Electoral Observation Mission to Peru (2006) and Chief Advisor to the High Level Mission to Peru (2000-1). In Costa Rica, she worked with international NGOs on climate change (Earth Council 1994-5) and human rights/democracy (Instituto Interamericano de los Derechos Humanos 1992-4). Other postings included Chile (2000), Canadian mission to the United Nations in New York (to support Canada’s seat on the Security Council 1989-90), India ( Immigration 1987-89), Kenya and Zambia (Development) 1984-87).

Before entering the Canadian Foreign Service, she was Director of Policy Planning for City of Edmonton Transit (1981-3) where she helped plan the city’s first Light Rail Transit system.

She has a Master’s in Public Administration and a BA (Hons) from Queen’s University in Kingston (1979) and was a Weatherhead Fellow at Harvard University in Cambridge Massachusetts (2005-6). In 2016, she attended the first “Women as Directors” course at the Harvard Business School. She speaks English (mother tongue), Spanish and French.

Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of National Defence, leader of the Official Opposition and interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. //

Ancien ministre des Affaires étrangères, ministre de a Défense nationale, chef de l’opposition officielle et chef intérimaire du Parti libéral du Canada.

First elected as Member of Parliament for Toronto-Centre-Rosedale in 1993, Bill Graham served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from January 2002 until July 2004 and Minister of National Defence from July 2004 until January 2006. In February 2006, he was appointed leader of the Official Opposition and interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, positions he served until December 2006. From 1995 to 2002, Mr. Graham served as chairman of the Standing Committee of the House of Commons on Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

Active in international parliamentary associations, Mr. Graham was elected founding president of the Inter-Parliamentary Forum of the Americas. He has served as vice president and treasurer of the Parliamentary Association of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and as treasurer of Liberal International. In 2014, he was appointed Member of the Order of Canada. In 2020, he was promoted to an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Prior to his election to parliament, Mr. Graham practiced law at Fasken & Calvin, specializing in civil litigation and international business transactions, and served on the board of directors of various public and private Canadian corporations.

Subsequently, he taught international trade law, public international law, and the law of the European Community at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law.

A past president of the Alliance française de Toronto, Mr. Graham has been recognized for his contributions to French language and culture in Ontario by being appointed a Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur and Chevalier de l’Ordre de la Pléiade.

Renald is a former foreign service officer // Renald est un ancien agent du service extérieur

Renald Grégoire is a former Foreign Service Officer with the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. He joined the Foreign Service in 1990 and spent 25 years of his career serving overseas. He was posted as an immigration officer at the Canadian embassies in Port-au-Prince, Manila, Hong Kong and Belgrade; then as an advisor / manager of the immigration program at the Canadian embassies in Buenos Aires, Tokyo, Pretoria, Bucharest and Vienna.

He also had temporary assignments in Tirana during the Kosovo War and in Damascus during the Lebanon War. Mr. Grégoire has served as Deputy Director for Affections, Directorate General of Personnel, then Deputy Director, Control and Anti-Fraud, Directorate General for Intelligence. He has been retired since 2018.

Nicholas Hirst is the CEO of Original Pictures and runs its corporate, administrative and financing functions.

Nicholas Hirst is an award-winning newspaper editor, a member of the WGC, and has worked for the Times and Financial Times of London as a writer, with a stint as Washington correspondent.

He is now the CEO of Original Pictures, managing the company's corporate, administrative and financing functions.

During his 36-year military career in the Canadian Army, Dr. Chris Kilford served throughout Canada and in Germany, Afghanistan and Turkey in various command, instructional, staff and diplomatic roles.

// Au cours de sa carrière militaire de 36 ans dans l’Armée canadienne, M. Chris Kilford a servi dans tout le Canada et en Allemagne, en Afghanistan et en Turquie, où il a occupé divers postes de commandement, d’instruction, d’état-major et de diplomatie.

His last three postings included one year spent as the Military Liaison Officer between the Department of National Defence and the Senate Standing Committee on National Security and Defence where he worked closely with the Chair, Senator Colin Kenny. From July 2009 until July 2010, he was posted to the Canadian Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan as the Canadian Deputy Military Attaché and then to the Canadian Embassy in Ankara, Turkey as the Canadian Defence Attaché from July 2011 until August 2014. Chris retired from the Canadian Armed Forces in September 2014.

Chris completed his BA at the University of Manitoba, his two MA’s at the Royal Military College and his PhD at Queen’s University (2009) where he focused on civil-military relations in the developing world in the post-colonial period. Today he is a Fellow at the Queen’s Centre for International and Defence Policy, a Research Fellow with the Conference of Defence Associations Institute and President of the Canadian International Council, Victoria Branch.

In addition to his civilian academic qualifications he is a graduate of the Army Staff College, the Joint Command and Staff Program, the Advanced Military Studies Course and holds an equivalency for the Canadian Armed Forces year-long National Security Program.

His articles and book chapters focused on Canadian defence and foreign policy issues, plus Turkish and Middle Eastern security matters, have appeared in numerous Canadian and international publications and he is a frequent media commentator. In addition, Chris is a sessional professor at the Canadian Forces College.

Hélène is a former member of Parliament, and critic for foreign affairs // Hélène est une ancienne députée et porte-parole pour les affaires étrangères

Hélène Laverdière served as the MP for the riding of Laurier-Sainte-Marie from 2011 until 2019, while holding positions as the NDP’s deputy leader and critic for international cooperation, and foreign affairs. She obtained a doctorate in sociology from the University of Bath.

She worked for a time as a researcher and professor in the sociology department of Laval University . In 1992, she joined the Department of Foreign Affairs of Canada as a foreign service officer and was appointed to positions in Washington , Dakar and Santiago.

Returning to Montreal in 2007, she worked as a freelance translator before being elected Member of Parliament in the 2011 federal election. It was at this point that she was appointed to the NDP’s Shadow Cabinet as Deputy Leader of the Opposition and critic for international cooperation, and foreign affairs.

Following her re-election, she was reappointed in November 2015 as the NDP critic for foreign affairs.

In 2018, she announced that she was retiring from politics.

Ruth is a diversity, equity and inclusion expert with a background in communications, public relations and project management in the non-profit and public sectors.

Ruth brings a grounded expertise and lived experience to the work she does on diversity, equity and inclusion. Her career in communications, public relations and project management in the non-profit and public sectors. She is the founder of The Inclusion Project, a collaborative community for private-public sector partnerships on equity, diversity and inclusion.

Ruth is indigenous to the Yoruba tribe from western Nigeria. She migrated to Victoria, British Columbia in 2015 to pursue a master’s degree in intercultural & international communication at Royal Roads University.

She also holds certificates in community organizing & leadership from Harvard University and community-based participatory research from the University of Victoria.

She is a Black History Month laureate (2018). She was awarded the Community Leadership Award (2019) by the Lt. Governor and recognized by the Premier of British Columbia for her contribution to supporting newcomers to the region. She was part of a youth delegation to the World Economic Forum (2018) where she led conversations on gender, race and migration.

She is a fellow with the Institute for Canadian Citizenship, a lead researcher and mentor of the UNESCO Knowledge 4 Change (K4C) consortium in the Salish Sea region of British Columbia. She was recently featured on the cover of Douglas Magazine; her TV series, Community Connect, is viewed widely across Bc. She serves on the board of the Canadian International Council (Victoria chapter).

Maureen O’Neil is President of the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement.
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After joining the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement in 2008, Ms. O’Neil successfully re-oriented the Foundation from its previous mandate in applied health services research to its current role in healthcare improvement. Since that time, CFHI has become a recognized leader in spreading and scaling innovation, with a track record of building coalitions that deliver better care, value and health.

Previous positions include President of the International Development Research Centre, Interim President of the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development, President of the North-South Institute, and Deputy Minister of Citizenship, Government of Ontario.

Ms. O’Neil is, a member of the boards of e-Health Ontario, the Centre for International Governance Innovation and the Centre for the Study of Living Standards.

She is former Chair of the Board of the United Nations (UN) Research Institute for Social Development, the Board of Trustees of the International Institute for Environment and Development, the International Advisory Group, IDRC’s Think Tank Initiative, and the Advisory Council on Corporate Social Responsibility of Canada’s Export Development Corporation. She has chaired the Board of Governors of Carleton University and has also represented Canada on the UN Commission on the Status of Women and on OECD committees, and has been a member of the UN Committee for Development Planning and the Board of the UN Research Institute for Social Development. Ms. O’Neil has chaired or been a member of boards or committees of several not-for-profit organizations.

In June 2011, Ms. O’Neil was named an Officer of the Order of Canada for public service, recognizing her contributions to international development, gender equality and human rights.

Ms. O’Neil has a BA in Sociology from Carleton University and Honorary LLDs from Wilfrid Laurier University, Carleton University and the University of Ottawa.

Nicolas M. Rouleau is an appellate and constitutional lawyer.

He frequently argues cases in French and English before the Supreme Court of Canada, the Court of Appeal for Ontario, and in other provinces. He also provides advice and opinions on complex or novel legal matters, counsels Pape Barristers on appeals, and reviews potential Supreme Court of Canada cases for Pro Bono Law Ontario’s Supreme Court Leave to Appeal Assistance Project. He previously clerked for the Honourable Justice Marie Deschamps at the Supreme Court of Canada.

Nicolas strongly believes in public service and education, in Canada and abroad. Currently, he sits on Ontario’s Provincial Advisory Committee on Francophone Affairs and on the boards of various NGOs. He lived for a few years in India and West Africa, where he worked and volunteered on issues of law, democracy, and international development; he continues to consult internationally on these issues. He has also taught courses on constitutional law, legal philosophy, and political philosophy at law schools in Canada and India, published widely on those issues, and hosted and curated Toronto’s popular interdisciplinary lecture series: The Treehouse Talks.

Nicolas holds a Master of the Science of Law (JSM) from Stanford University and an LL.B. magna cum laude from the French Common Law Program at the University of Ottawa. He has also studied at the University of Toronto, where he is currently the co-chair of the Monday Club and a mentor at Massey College. He has received numerous academic scholarships.

Aphrodite Salas is an award-winning journalist who has worked across Canada and around the world.

Now Assistant Professor in the Department of Journalism at Concordia and Journalist for CTV Montreal, Ms. Salas also hosted her own radio show, and anchored the 6 o’clock news for Global Quebec. Prior to that, she covered national politics on Parliament Hill for CityTV’s Toronto and Vancouver stations.

During her time on the Hill, Aphrodite covered two prime ministers, the merging of the political right and the Liberal party’s sponsorship scandal. Aphrodite has also worked as a national correspondent for CTV News in Montreal, and was the network’s transportation reporter in Toronto. As an anchor, Aphrodite has been on the desks of CTV’s Newsnet, CityTV’s cp24 and for two CTV affiliates – CKCO Kitchener and CFQC Saskatoon.

Ms. Salas broke into television while working at the Reuters East Africa bureau in Nairobi, Kenya. In a pinch, her bureau chief needed a French-speaking journalist to travel to West Africa and produce a number of short documentaries. Aphrodite ended up traveling through Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Ethiopia as part of the assignment. She has also worked in India, England, the United States and sailed around the Pacific Ocean as part of an initiative of the Government of Japan.

Ms. Salas holds an Honours BA from the University of Toronto, an MA from Concordia University and a Certificate of Proficiency in French from McGill University.

Ms. Salas began teaching at Concordia in the department of Political Science and is now a full-time faculty member in the department of Journalism. She has also taught at the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of Western Ontario.

Her industry awards include two RTNDA awards (Central Region and National Categories for Spot News, 2000) and she was part of the team at CityTV when they won the Gemini for best newscast in 2004.

Gerald Wright is currently Senior Fellow of the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs of Carleton University

Gerald Wright received a PhD degree from the School of Advanced International Studies of the Johns Hopkins University. From 1972 to 1987 he was vice-president of the Donner Canadian Foundation. From 1987 to 2002 he served in the Government of Canada, including periods as special advisor to the Secretary of State for External Affairs and senior policy advisor to the Minister for International Trade.

He has twice (1978-1979 and 2012-2013) been a visiting professor of Canadian Studies in Japan and in 1985-1986 he was study director of the Special Joint Committee of the Senate and the House of Commons on Canada’s International Relations.

He was Skelton-Clark Fellow of Queen’s University in 2001-2002.

He has been president of the Atlantic Council of Canada, vice-chairman of the Atlantic Treaty Association, president of the National Capital Branch of the Canadian International Council and a member of the Board of the Canadian Institute for International Peace and Security.