Alexa Blain is co-Founder and Managing Partner of Deetken Impact, where she leads portfolio management, finance and operations. Deetken Impact is a Canadian impact asset manager focused on investments in women’s empowerment, clean energy, and impact enterprises in Latin America and the Caribbean. Deetken Impact manages over US$150 million in assets across five funds with a diverse team of seasoned investment professionals based in Mexico, Central America, South America, the Caribbean, and Canada, and spanning a track record of more than two decades of direct investing experience.

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 the Chair and Co-founder of Steadyhand Investment Management, a boutique manager focused solely on better outcomes for individual
Canadian investors. He co-founded the firm in 2007.

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 appointed 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 38 years in the investment trenches.

In addition to his duties at Steadyhand, Tom is a long-standing member of the Investment Committee at the Vancouver Foundation and an enthusiastic advocate for individual
investors through his blogs, bi-weekly articles in the National Post and speeches to industry groups.

Amanda Farrell is the President and 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 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 Collections and Research Building Project, part of the Royal BC Museum Modernization Project, and the Surrey Langley SkyTrain. Prior to TI Corp, Amanda served as the President and CEO of Partnerships BC for five years.

Amanda focused the organization’s culture on client responsiveness and strengthening relationships with current and future clients in the development of major public infrastructure projects from hospitals to courthouses to transit lines. Amanda also served as Chief Project Officer on the now completed 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, a member of the programming committee of the BC Construction Roundtable, and a founding director of 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.

Hyewon Kong is Vice President of Responsible Investing at the Investment Management Corporation of Ontario (IMCO), where she leads IMCO’s sustainable/responsible investing strategies.

With over 20 years of experience in both corporate and investment management in Asia, Europe and North America, Hyewon has been an ambassador of sustainable investing as an experienced portfolio manager and a subject matter expert on ESG. Since moving from the UK to Canada 6 years ago, Hyewon has been instrumental in creating broad collaborations in the Canadian financial industry to drive a sustainability agenda and has been named to Canada's 2020 Clean50 leaders.

Hyewon serves on the Environmental Finance Advisory Committee at the University of Toronto and lectures on Investing for Impact, Environmental Finance and Sustainable Investment courses.

Hyewon is a CFA charterholder and a member of the Toronto CFA society and has cofounded and co-chaired Canadian Responsible Investment Working Group to provide platforms for collaboration and engagement to address key ESG issues.

Frank Laezza is the Vice President, Finance & Operations for UBC where he leads a team of over 1400 individuals in the core financial, facilities, and safety functions of the university across both the Vancouver and Okanagan campuses.

Frank joined UBC in March 2023 from Murdoch University, Australia, where he was Chief Financial Officer with responsibility for leading the university’s business and finance functions, as well as management of its financial and capital resources. Prior to this, he worked at Technical and Further Education State Vocational College (New South Wales Australia); University of Technology, Sydney; and University of New South Wales, among other institutions. In addition to his strategic financial and operational leadership, Frank has experience with IT transformation — including Workday — as well as major capital works project oversight.

Frank is a strong believer in connected leadership, bringing a focus to collaboration and honest, two-way dialogue that enables him to build meaningful and productive relationships within his team as well as with external partners.

Azim has over 25 years of financial experience and has held senior management roles in several public and private real estate companies.  For the past 4 years, he was on the UBC Board of Governors and during his tenure served as Co-Vice Chair of the Board, Chair of the Finance Committee and Chair of the Audit Committee.

A Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CA) and a Chartered Business Valuator (CBV), Azim graduated from The University of British Columbia with a Bachelor of Commerce degree in 1992.

Yale has been the Treasurer at the University of British Columbia since joining the university in March 2019. In this role he is responsible for providing financial analysis to support strategic initiatives and capital projects for all UBC campuses and locations, and ensuring UBC has sufficient financial liquidity through strong cash and debt management practices. He is also responsible for leading strategic financial planning, tax, leases and licences, and revenue accounting. In his role, Yale oversees all of UBC’s financial assets, including UBC’s $2 billion endowment pool, and is heavily involved with UBCs efforts to evolve and further strengthen our responsible investing framework for the $2 billion endowment fund. Yale has over 30 years of capital markets and corporate experience. He joined UBC from Aritzia, where he served as Treasurer and previously held senior roles with Finning International, Capital Power Corporation, and BC Hydro.

In addition to being a member of the Board of Directors at UBC Investment Management, Yale is also a member of the Board of Directors of the UBC Staff Pension Plan. Yale currently serves his community as a member of the finance Committee of the Board at West Point Grey Academy. He was previously a member of the United Way of the Lower Mainland Campaign Cabinet and a member of the Board of Directors of the Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver Foundation.

Yale is a commerce graduate from UBC and earned an Masters in Business Administration from Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Management. Yale also holds his 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. He is currently a partner at the Industrial Innovation Venture Fund within BDC Capital, a fully owned subsidiary of the Business Development Bank of Canada. As a venture capital investor, he supports early-stage 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. 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 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”.