The Canadian Leadership Congress

The Canadian Leadership Congress is dedicated to strengthening Canada’s pension network by bringing its key decision makers together to share experiences and build strong connections.

CLC Forums are designed to be small, intimate, and exclusive with agendas focused on issues that matter to Canada’s pension leaders right now.

We invite you to be part of the conversation and build lasting connections with our network of leaders.

MEET THE TEAM

Dr. Caroline Cakebread
Co-CEO & Co-Founder

Before founding the Canadian Leadership Congress, Caroline spent 17 years producing and hosting Canada's top pension events. As a pension expert, she has consulted with Canada’s top pension boards to enhance management‑trustee conversations and improve communication on complex topics such as pension risk and liability‑driven investing. She recently authored a paper on pension governance with Hugh O'Reilly and Louise Greig for the CD Howe Institute and she is the author of the book, Back From the Brink: Lessons from the Canadian ABCP Crisis (2016). She has a PhD in English from the Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham, and continues to lecture and publish on Shakespeare and contemporary culture.

Connect with Caroline:

Joanne Boccia
Co-CEO & Co-Founder

Joanne co‑founded the Canadian Leadership Congress with Caroline and brings a wealth of experience to the brand. She has worked in the conference and event industry for close to 20 years, managing corporate marketing functions which includes product launch, brand management, advertising collateral, sports and media campaign events. Joanne has forged strong relationships with Canada’s top pension investors through a series of exclusive and innovative conferences. She creates winning events that people want to return to again and again. Plus, Joanne’s network of hotels and suppliers around the world allows her to create unique experiences you won’t find anywhere else.

Connect with Joanne:

Andrea Waddell
Marketing Manager

Andrea discovered her passion for events over ten years ago. She has worked in both non‑profit and corporate B2B industries, and understands the pivotal role events play in encouraging and fostering thought leadership.

Andrea delivers a wealth of knowledge in executing results driven marketing strategies, and managing exclusive business relationships.

She has a Bachelor of Arts in English and Women’s Studies from Western University and a Postgraduate diploma from Humber College in Fundraising and Volunteer Management.

Connect with Andrea:

James Mitchell
Chief Financial Officer

James brings more than 25 years of managing marketing and event driven companies and organizations. For the last eight years, James has been a partner in Cakebread Inc. where he plays a key role as strategist and project director on some of the companies most demanding projects; from the development of a stakeholder engagement framework for the FCAC Financial Literacy Leader to strategic work for the Ontario Securities Commission and its Investor Education Fund. Prior to joining Cakebread Inc., he led and worked on some of Canada’s most innovative and timely social initiatives, ranging from clean air and aboriginal rights, to respiratory health and the growth of asthma. With the launching of the Canadian Leadership Congress, James takes on the role of general manager with responsibility for financial and back‑office oversight and management.

Connect with James:

Dennis Foot
Marketing & Design

A graduate of the Graphic Design program at Fanshawe College in London Ontario, Dennis uses his strong understanding of design principles and creative energy to help his client's businesses get noticed. Over the years, Dennis has helped hundreds of organizations develop and maintain their brand, through strong functional design, strategic marketing campaigns, and other creative advertising and marketing solutions.

Connect with Dennis:

Jennifer Hughey
Head of Partnerships

Jennifer has worked for 15 years as a journalist and project manager, specializing in conference content production and execution. She has the knack for crafting sessions that leave a lasting impression, securing engaging speakers, and building dynamic marketing strategies. Jen started her own media company three years ago and continues to execute events for multiple organizations, including the newly created Canadian Leadership Congress. She recently ran for municipal council in The Township of Minden Hills – and won! Jen has a Bachelor of Arts Honours Degree in Journalism from Ryerson University.

Connect with Jennifer:

ADVISORY BOARD

Stewart Beck
Former President and CEO,
Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada

Stewart Beck is the former President and CEO of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. Prior to joining APF Canada, Stewart served as the Canadian High Commissioner to the Republic of India with concurrent accreditation to the Kingdom of Bhutan and to Nepal. He joined Canada’s Department of External Affairs and International Trade (now Global Affairs Canada) in 1982 and served abroad in the United States, Taiwan, and the People’s Republic of China.

In Ottawa, he held a number of progressively more senior positions, including Director General of the North Asia Bureau, Director General Responsible for Senior Management and Rotational Assignments, and Assistant Deputy Minister for International Business Development, Investment, and Innovation. He was Consul General in Shanghai and prior to his posting to India, he was Consul General in San Francisco.

James Davis
Chief Investment Officer,
OPTrust

James C. Davis is Chief Investment Officer of OPTrust, one of Canada’s largest pension funds with assets of $18.4 billion.

Mr. Davis leads OPTrust’s investment strategy and oversees its diversified portfolio spanning the globe with public market, private market, infrastructure, and real estate assets.

Mr. Davis has over 25 years of strategic investment planning and leadership experience, including proven results in liability driven investing and portfolio design. Most recently, he held the role of Vice President, Strategy & Asset Mix and Chief Economist at Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (Teachers’).

Before Teachers’, Mr. Davis was Vice President & Head, Global Fixed Income & Currencies at a large Canadian asset manager.

Don Ezra
Former Co-Chair, Global Consulting,
Russell Investments

Don Ezra (now happily retired, but still intellectually active) is the former co-chair of
global consulting for Russell Investments, responsible for institutional relationships
around the world. After retirement he served on the Investment Committee of the
Margaret A Cargill Philanthropies, and is today a director of Lifeworks Investment
Management Ltd and a member of the Advisory Board of the World Pension Summit.

In addition to speaking at conferences around the world and serving on many editorial
advisory boards, Don is a widely published author in the investment industry. His best-
known book is Pension Fund Excellence (1998). Among many awards, he received the
Award from the Employee Benefit Research Institute in 2004 for “extraordinary lifetime
contributions to Americans’ benefit security”.

His focus these days is on individuals rather than institutional investment, and his book Life Two and his website donezra.com are devoted to helping people create their happiest years after they graduate from full-time work.

Jim Keohane
Former President and CEO,
HOOPP

Jim Keohane was President and CEO of the Healthcare of Ontario Pension plan from 2011 until his recent retirement in March 2020. He joined HOOPP in 1999, bringing more than 25 years of institutional investing experience with several national firms.

Jim was the architect of HOOPP’s Liability Driven Investment strategy and is considered a global expert in this area. He is a strong advocate for collective pension schemes and has championed several studies on the topic.

After completing his Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Ottawa, Jim obtained his MBA at Queen's University. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst and has completed the Directors Education Program (Rotman School of Business) at the Institute of Corporate Directors.

Jim is on the Board of Queen’s University and is the Chairman of the Investment Committee and Chairman of the Pension Committee. Most recently, Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo) added Jim as a member of their board of directors.

He is a former member of the Board of the Canadian Coalition on Good Governance, and previously served on the Board of Home Capital. He was selected as a member of the Ontario Technical Advisory Panel on Retirement Income Security.

Dr. Marlene Puffer
Advisory Board Member,
Canadian Leadership Congress

Marlene has a wealth of experience in traditional and alternative investments, capital markets, and pension governance. She has held CEO, board positions and senior roles at major Canadian pension funds and other financial institutions. Most recently, she was the Chief Investment Officer for AIMCo. She was responsible for all global investment activity on behalf of AIMCo’s 17 clients, including investment strategy and Total Portfolio Management. Prior to this role, she was the President and Chief Executive Officer at CN Investment Division and Vice-Chair of the Board of the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP).

She is the Vice-Chair of the Pacific Pension and Investment Institute. She is a strong advocate for diversity and inclusion and is co-founder of NeuroInclusion Works and a past president of Women in Capital Markets.

Marlene is a CFA charterholder and holds the ICD.D designation. She received her Ph.D. in Finance and Statistics from the Simon Business School, University of Rochester and economics degrees from the University of Toronto.

Jaap van Dam
Principal Director, Investment Strategy,
PGGM

Jaap van Dam is Principal Director of Investment Strategy at PGGM in the Netherlands. Jaap is an experienced and innovative Director of Strategy. Jaap is the investment director responsible for developing and benchmarking PGGM's Investment Practice in order to stay best practice. He is currently working on PFZW's Investment Strategy 2025. Jaap has broad knowledge and experience on strategy, investment policy formulation, asset allocation and value chain design. In 2013 he was voted CIO / “Investment Head of the Year” by aiCIO.

Current other activities include being chairman of the VBDO, the Dutch Association of Investors for Sustainable Development, Chairman of European Chapter of the 300 Club and Member of the Research Committee International Centre for Pension Management (ICPM). Together with Kees Koedijk and Alfred Slager he authored “Achieving Investment Excellence: A Practical Guide for Trustees of Pension Funds, Endowments and Foundations.” Jaap holds a Master’s Degree in Finance from the Erasmus University Rotterdam.

Poul Winslow
Advisory Board Member,
Canadian Leadership Congress

Poul Winslow recently retired from his role as Senior Managing Director and Global Head of Capital Markets & Factor Investing at CPPIB. Poul is now focused on board and advisory activities — including serving on the Investment Committees of University of Toronto Asset Management and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and the advisory boards of Canadian Leadership Congress and the International Centre for Pension Management (ICPM).

Previous to CPPIB, Poul was CIO of Sweden’s AP2/Andra AP-fonden and also held several senior leadership roles at Nordea Investment Management in Denmark, Sweden, and the US. Poul served for seven years as a Trustee of the Standards Board for Alternative Investments (SBAI/HFSB).

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The Canadian Leadership Congress

MEET THE TEAM

Dr. Caroline CakebreadCo-CEO & Co-Founder

Joanne BocciaCo-CEO & Co-Founder

Andrea WaddellMarketing Manager

James MitchellChief Financial Officer

Dennis FootMarketing & Design

Jennifer HugheyHead of Partnerships

ADVISORY BOARD

Stewart Beck Former President and CEO, Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada

James Davis Chief Investment Officer, OPTrust

Don Ezra Former Co-Chair, Global Consulting, Russell Investments

Jim Keohane Former President and CEO,HOOPP

Dr. Marlene Puffer Advisory Board Member, Canadian Leadership Congress

Jaap van Dam Principal Director, Investment Strategy, PGGM

Poul Winslow Advisory Board Member,Canadian Leadership Congress