Alexa Blain is co-Founder and Managing Partner of Deetken Impact, where she leads finance, operations and new business initiatives. Deetken Impact is a Canadian impact asset manager with decades of experience delivering strong, stable returns through investments in climate finance, women’s empowerment and impact enterprises in Latin America and the Caribbean. With a multicultural, gender-balanced team that lives and works in many of the countries in which we invest, Deetken Impact provides not only capital but also technical assistance to help companies enhance their business models, manage social and environmental risks, and deepen their impact.

Prior to joining Deetken, Alexa was an executive with African Alliance, a pan-African financial services group and an associate with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and the Macquarie Group in Toronto.

Recognized as one of Vancouver’s Top Forty Under 40 by Business in Vancouver magazine, Alexa is a CFA Charterholder, a Chartered Business Valuator and holds an MA in Financial Economics from the University of Toronto.

Follow Alexa on Twitter at @lexablain or connect on LinkedIn.

Tom Bradley is a Portfolio Manager with Purpose Investments and Co-founder of Steadyhand Investment Funds (which is now a division of Purpose Unlimited).

Tom started his career in 1983 as an Equity Analyst at Richardson Greenshields. He spent eight years with the firm, the last three as Director of Institutional Sales. In 1991, he joined Phillips, Hager & North as a Research Analyst and Institutional Portfolio Manager. He was appointed to the Board of Directors of PH&N in 1996 and names President and CEO in 1999, a role that he held until he resigned from the firm in 2005.

Tom’s education includes a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Manitoba (1979), an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business (1983) and 40+ years in the investment trenches.

In addition to his duties at Purpose, Tom is a member of the Investment Committee of the Canadian Olympic Committee and an enthusiastic advocate for individual investors through his blogs, bi-weekly articles in the Globe and Mail and speeches to industry groups.

Amanda Farrell is the Chief Executive Officer at Transportation Investment Corporation (TI Corp). Amanda took on this role in December 2018 to lead the management and delivery of major infrastructure projects, including the new Pattullo Bridge, the now completed Kicking Horse Canyon Project – Phase 4 and the Broadway Subway. Since that time, TI Corp’s portfolio has expanded to include the George Massey Crossing Project and the new Steveston Interchange, the Royal BC Museum’s Collections and Research Building Project, and the Surrey Langley SkyTrain Project.

Prior to TI Corp, Amanda served as the President and CEO of Partnerships BC for five years, and also served as Chief Project Officer on the Evergreen SkyTrain Line in Vancouver during that time.

Earlier in her career, Amanda gained public policy and operational experience in the UK before moving to British Columbia. Amanda is a Board member of Family Services of the North Shore, and a founding director and ambassador for the BC Women’s Infrastructure network. Amanda was honoured by her peers as the recipient of the 2018 Women’s Infrastructure Network Outstanding Leader award.

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Naveen is a recently retired actuary with over 44 years of extensive pension and benefit plan experience. He spent seven years as President of D.A. Townley, the largest third-party employee benefits administrator in western Canada. Prior to that role, he was a Senior Consultant with Mercer, and he had management and consulting roles with Hewitt Associates, now known as Aon.

Naveen has been a trusted advisor to numerous boards, executive committees and unions on pension plan design, funding and investment policy. He is currently the Independent Chair of the UBC Staff Pension Plan Board.

Naveen is a Fellow of both the Canadian Institute of Actuaries and the Society of Actuaries, and has a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Simon Fraser University.

Hyewon Kong is Director of Sustainable Investment at Gresham House, where she leads the firm’s sustainable investing strategies.

With over 20 years of global experience spanning Asia, Europe and North America, she has held senior executive roles in corporate and investment management, managing sustainable and impact investment portfolios and leading net zero and sustainability strategies.

Hyewon has served on various boards and committees, including as an Investment Committee member at The Atmospheric Fund (Government of Ontario Endowment) and on the Environmental Finance Advisory Committee at the University of Toronto. She lectures on environmental finance and sustainable and impact investment.

She was a member of the Canadian Taxonomy Technical Experts Group, appointed by the Sustainable Finance Action Council, contributing to the development of a Canadian Green and Transition Finance Taxonomy. She founded and chaired the Canadian Responsible Investment Working Group and was named as one of Canada’s Clean 50 leaders in 2020 for fostering collaboration within the financial industry to advance a sustainability agenda.

Hyewon holds a Master of Science in Environmental Policy from the University of Oxford and is a CFA charterholder.

Frank Laezza is the Vice-President, Finance & Operations (VPFO) at the University of British Columbia, leading a team of more than 1,400 staff across finance, facilities, safety, risk, and assurance on the Vancouver and Okanagan campuses.

Reporting directly to the President and Vice-Chancellor, Frank is a member of UBC’s executive leadership team, representing the VPFO portfolio in collaboration with internal and external partners to support and advance the university’s academic mission through the stewardship and continuous improvement of its physical and financial assets. In addition to his core responsibilities, Frank serves as a board member and oversees UBC’s relationships with UBC Investment Management and UBC Properties Trust. He is responsible for the strategic development and management of UBC’s real estate assets to support the long-term benefit of the university community.

Azim Lalani is a senior finance executive based in Vancouver, B.C., and is currently the Chief Financial Officer of Tantalus Systems, a smart grid technology company driving utility transformation across North America.

With over 25 years of experience, Azim has led finance, capital markets, and strategic planning activities at several public companies. He is Chair of the Board for UBC Investment Management Inc and a former board member of the UBC Board of Governors, where he served as Co-Vice Chair and chaired both the Finance and Audit Committees.

Azim is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CA) and Chartered Business Valuator (CBV) and began his career at KPMG in Vancouver. Azim graduated from The University of British Columbia with a Bachelor of Commerce degree in 1992.

Yale is responsible for overseeing treasury, tax and strategic financial planning for the University of British Columbia. This includes responsibility for UBC’s $1 billion working capital fund, capital project financial analysis, corporate borrowing, cash management, financial projects management, tax, leases, payment card industry compliance, and revenue accounting.

Yale also oversees UBC’s $2.8 billion endowment, and led the development of UBC’s responsible investing framework, which includes a commitment to divest of fossil fuel investments and achieve a 45% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030, together with the publication of UBC’s first Task Force for Climate Related Financial Disclosure report.

Yale has over 30 years of capital markets and corporate experience. He joined UBC from Aritzia, where he served as Treasurer and previously held progressively senior roles with Finning International, Capital Power Corporation, and BC Hydro.

Yale is a commerce graduate from UBC and earned his Masters in Business Administration from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management. Yale also holds ICD.D, Chartered Financial Analyst and Chartered Professional Accountant designations.

Rakesh Saraf is a senior private equity and infrastructure investments professional. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce(1986) from the University of Chennai, India; a Master of Management Studies(1998) from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, University of Mumbai, India; a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA, 2003) designation; and is an ICD.D Charterholder since 2008.

He has over 30 years’ experience in investment management, governance, strategy, growth, audit/risk management and HR/compensation. Draws from a diverse set of experiences rooted in hands-on principal investing across multiple strategies, industries and numerous direct equity situations. General management techniques are grounded by strong quantitative analytical investment skills. International experience in all facets of investment management, spanning both Private and Public Market investments.

He was a Senior executive at Alberta Teachers’ Retirement Fund Board and Alberta Investment Management Corp., where he represented both organizations at the Board of Directors of investee companies that included RTL-Westcan, Klemke Mining Corporation, and NCSG Ltd, and was a Director of the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association.

He is currently a Board member of BeneSys, Inc., a provider of Taft-Hartley Trust Fund Administration and Information Technology services; Skyline Renewable LLC, an independent wind power producer; and POI Business Interiors a Workspace Interiors and Office Furniture Company.

He also serves his community as Member, Board of Governors and Senator at University of Alberta and, serves on the Investment Committee of Edmonton Community
Foundation.

Byron Thom joins UBCIM as a representative of the UBC Board of Governors, where he is Chair of the Finance Committee. He is currently a partner at the Industrial Innovation Venture Fund within BDC Capital, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Business Development Bank of Canada. As a venture capital investor, he supports early-stage companies through direct investment and advises his portfolio of companies on corporate strategy, go-to-market opportunities, and governance. Byron brings more than 20 years of experience in the technology sector as a founder, lawyer, operator, and investor/board director. He previously held senior roles at Cymax Group Technologies and Framework Venture Partners.

Byron is a graduate of the University of Ottawa, where he earned an LL. B with a concentration in Law & Technology and Simon Fraser University, where he received a Bachelor of Applied Science (Honors) degree in Engineering Science. In 2019, he was recognized as one of Business in Vancouver’s “Top Forty Under 40”. He also holds his ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors.