Category: Lunch With a Leader – Past

As Executive Vice President, General Counsel, Anita Dusevic Oliva leads the company’s Legal, Internal Audit, Compliance, ERM, AI Accelerator and Transformation Office functions across Canada, the U.S., and Mexico, and serves as a strategic advisor to the CEO and the Board. In this role, she oversees all legal services – including major M&A, divestitures and integrations, corporate finance and securities matters, litigation, regulatory proceedings, and governance. She manages external counsel and budgets, ensures compliance with TSX and NYSE listing and continuous-disclosure requirements, and stewards the company’s ERM program as well as SOX/internal controls over financial reporting. She also leads TC Energy’s AI Accelerator initiatives, advancing responsible, value-creating applications of AI with the right governance and risk oversight, as well as general transformation office work.

Prior to TC Energy, Anita was an Operating Partner in Brookfield’s Infrastructure Group,accountable for enhancing organizational effectiveness and strategic capabilities across global infrastructure portfolio companies. Anita has also held C-suite and senior legal leadership roles in infrastructure and capital-intensive industries, including serving as Chief Operating Officer with full P&L accountability for multiple business units, and earlier as a Senior Vice President, Corporate Services overseeing legal and regulatory affairs; land and stakeholder relations (including Indigenous, government, and community); human resources; information technology; and a company-wide innovation program.

Earlier career roles included Vice President, Legal, Corporate Secretary, Senior Legal Counsel, and Associate at leading organizations in the industry. Anita holds a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) and a Bachelor of Arts with Distinction, is a member of the Law Society of Alberta, and her recognitions include the Canadian General Counsel Awards – Business Achievement (2023) and Chief Legal Officer of the Year (2015).

TC ENERGY

We’re a team of 7,000+ energy problem solvers working to move, generate and store the energy North America relies on. Today, we’re taking action to make that energy more sustainable and more secure. We’re innovating and modernizing to reduce emissions from our business. And we’re delivering new energy solutions – from natural gas and renewables to carbon capture and hydrogen – to help other businesses and industries decarbonize too. TC Energy’s common shares trade on the Toronto (TSX) and New York (NYSE) stock exchanges under the symbol TRP. To learn more, visit us at TCEnergy.com.

Theresa serves on the Board of Directors of Enbridge Inc. and Shock and Trauma Air Rescue Service (STARS). With over 35 years of finance, accounting and public company experience, she was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Stantec Inc., a top-tier global engineering and design firm, for six years until her retirement in 2024. During her tenure, Theresa served as Chair of Stantec’s Executive ESG Committee, playing a key role in Stantec’s consistent ranking in the top ten of Corporate Knights’ Global 100 most sustainable companies in the world. She also represented the company on the United Nations CFO Task Force for the Sustainable Development Goals. Before joining Stantec, Theresa spent more than 25 years in the North American energy infrastructure sector, including serving as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Veresen Inc.

Theresa is a CPA (CA) and was named a Fellow of the Chartered Professional Accountants in 2020. She has been recognized with several other awards, including being named as one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women by the Women’s Executive Network, one of Canada’s Best Executives by The Globe and Mail Report on Business, and CFO of the year by Environmental Financial Consulting Group.

Martha Hall Findlay serves as the Director of the School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary and holds the James S. and Barbara A. Palmer Chair in Public Policy. Alongside her academic leadership, she holds several key governance and advisory roles, including serving on the Expert Group on Canada-U.S. Relations, sitting on the Board of Directors for TELUS, and acting as a Senior Advisor for Teneo.

Prior to joining the School of Public Policy, Martha Chief Sustainability and Chief Climate Officer at Suncor Energy, and before that served as president and CEO of the Canada West Foundation. She has long had a reputation for being non-partisan, objective, and pragmatic by advocating for public policy solutions based on thorough research and analysis.

As a Member of Parliament, she was a member of the Official Opposition shadow cabinet and served on several House of Commons committees as the critic for International Trade; Finance; Government Works and Public Services; and Transportation, Infrastructure and Communities.

As a corporate lawyer and senior business executive in both Canada and Europe, she developed extensive experience in energy, telecommunications, sustainability, trade (international and internal) and global markets.

She was for several years a member of the Deputy Minister of International Trade’s Trade Expert Advisory Council. She wrote the ‘Energy and Climate Change’ chapter of The Indo-Pacific – new strategies for Canadian engagement with a critical region (2022, Fen Osler Hampson, Goldy Hyder and Tina Park, eds.) She is a member of the Asia Business Leaders Advisory Council, and a member of the Executive Committee of the Canada Korea Forum.

She was named a Canadian Climate Champion in 2021; a top global female oil and gas executive and one of the top 275 global energy women influencers; and was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee Medal. She was silver medalist at the 1976 Canadian Alpine Ski Championships, and coached several young skiers who went on to compete in the Olympics. She has served on the Boards of various non-profit and community organizations, including in some cases as Chair.

She has written dozens of essays, articles, book chapters and op eds and is frequently interviewed for national and international print and broadcast media, in both French and English.

Chief Katie McLellan possesses a unique perspective rooted in extensive policing and security experience across both the private and public sectors. Her time as a private-sector security expert reinforced her belief in building safe, resilient communities through partnership and collaboration. Consequently, she remains a strong advocate for crime prevention through social development.

Immigrating to Calgary from Scotland, Chief McLellan joined the Calgary Police Service (CPS) in 1987. For the next thirteen years, she served in the Communications Section and as a patrol Constable and Sergeant in Districts 4 and 3. These foundational years in grassroots community policing taught her that police cannot solve crime in isolation; success requires the support of communities and social agencies committed to improving the lives of all Calgarians.

Chief McLellan’s CPS career has spanned numerous critical areas, including the Professional Standards Section, the Chief Crowfoot Learning Center, and the Emergency Communications Center. Notably, she served as the first Inspector of the Criminal Operations Section. Following her promotion to Superintendent in 2008, she led the Information and Technology Division and the Executive Office of the Chief Constable. In this capacity, she oversaw Professional Standards, Legal Services, Strategic Communications, and Freedom of Information and Privacy.

From 2010 to 2013, as Superintendent of the Field Operations Division, she and her team of commanders led frontline policing for the City of Calgary. In this role, she played a strategic part in advancing the model of community mobilization and engagement. The complexity of social issues encountered during this time furthered her resolve to leverage social service supports to ensure public safety.

In 2013, Chief McLellan retired as Senior Superintendent to join an international oil and gas company as Senior Security Advisor. In the corporate realm, she focused on the critical interface between security and policing, workplace violence prevention, and building inclusive environments. Working alongside Human Resource teams, she performed a strategic leadership role in fostering healthy and respectful workplace cultures.

Driven by a goal to return to public policing, she joined the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in May 2018 as the Officer in Charge of Federal Policing South, Serious and Organized Crime (K Division). In December 2019, she returned to municipal policing to begin the next stage of her career as a Chief of the Calgary Police Service.

Chief McLellan holds a Bachelor of Professional Arts degree in Criminal Justice from Athabasca University and a Corporate Executive Diploma from the University of Alberta. Her professional development includes graduation from the Senior Management Institute for Police and various certificates in Senior Police Management and Leadership. She is also trained as a Hostage Negotiator, an Emergency Operation Centre Lead, and an Incident Management Team Commander.

She is a decorated officer, having received the Police Exemplary Service Medal, Alberta Police Officer Centennial Medal, Alberta Emergency Services Medal, Calgary Police Distinguished Service Medal, and the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal. Chief McLellan looks forward to enhancing community partnerships and working with all CPS employees to ensure Calgary remains a safe place to live for everyone.

Melinda Park is the Regional Managing Partner of the Calgary office of Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (BLG) and a Partner in the firm’s Securities and Capital Markets Group. With more than 30 years of experience in securities, governance, corporate finance and commercial transactions, she is a trusted advisor to clients across Canada and internationally. She regularly counsels boards of directors, public and private companies and not-for-profit organizations on governance, strategic planning, risk and complex transactions. A dedicated mentor and leader within the firm, she previously served as Chair of BLG’s Partnership Board, becoming the first woman to hold the role, and has played a key part in developing the next generation of legal talent.

She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce and is a member of the TSX Venture Exchange Local Advisory Committee. Her past governance roles include 6 years on the Board of Governors of the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, where she served as Chair and Vice-Chair. A frequent speaker on public company governance and women’s leadership, she has received numerous honours, including her 2024 appointment as King’s Counsel, the Women’s Executive Network Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Award, and the Calgary Influential Women in Business Award for Professional Services, along with longstanding recognition in leading legal directories.

Jim Dewald is a professor of strategy and global management at the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary. He earned a BSc in civil engineering and MBA from the University of Alberta, and a PhD from the Haskayne School of Business. He has several research and teaching awards, three books, two book chapters, over 20 academic papers, and over 60 newspaper and practitioner articles.

Prior to entering academia, Jim held several senior executive positions, including President & CEO of Walker Newby & Partners Inc., President & CEO of Hopewell Residential Communities Inc., President & CEO of StoneCreek Resorts Inc., and President of 411HomeNet Inc.

From 2012 to 2023 he served as dean of the Haskayne School, piloting the establishment of the Creative Destruction Lab (Rockies) and six new Centres of Excellence (leadership, entrepreneurship, real estate, corporate sustainability, business futures, and social entrepreneurship). During his tenure, the school grew in funding, programs, and national ranking, attracting over $100 million in philanthropic funding, and added Mathison Hall, a 100,000 square foot student learning centre.

Jim has served on over 30 boards, including Lead Trustee of Boardwalk REIT, Deputy Chair of the SAIT Board of Governors, Chair of the Business Schools Association of Canada, and the Canadian appointee to the Continuous Improvement Review Committee for AACSB.

He was named Calgary’s Citizen of the Year, Thought Leader by Alberta Real Estate Foundation, Honorary Member of the Appraisal Institute of Canada, and 2022 Male Champion in the Calgary Women in Business Awards. He currently serves on the board of Trico Group Inc. and as an Advisor to several organizations.

Beckie Scott is one of Canada’s most respected leaders in sport, recognized nationally and internationally for her achievements as an athlete and advocate. A three-time Olympian, Scott made history at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City by winning Canada’s first-ever Olympic medal in cross-country skiing. She competed at the 1998 and 2006 Olympic Winter Games and remains one of the most accomplished Nordic skiers in Canadian history. 

An Olympic champion and Officer of the Order of Canada, Scott is the Founder of Spirit North, Canada’s largest sport-for-social-development organization, working to improve health, wellness, and education outcomes for Indigenous youth through the power of sport and play. 

Following her athletic career, Scott rose to become a leading figure in anti-doping, chairing the World Anti-Doping Agency’s Athletes’ Commission and playing a prominent role during the Russian doping scandal, where she was acknowledged globally for her principled leadership and advocacy for integrity, athlete rights, and clean sport. 

Scott currently serves as the CEO of Nordiq Canada, the national sport organization for cross-country skiing and para nordic skiing, where she is focused on strengthening high-performance systems, and driving values-based organizational change. 

Her contributions to sport and society have been widely recognized. She is an inducted member of the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame, Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame, and Canadian Ski Hall of Fame, and is a recipient of the Alberta Order of Excellence. She holds Honorary Doctorate degrees from the University of Alberta, the University of British Columbia, and Mount Royal University, and is a frequent CBC Sports broadcast analyst. 

Jenna Kaye is the CEO and Founder of Odyssey Trust Company. She is the first female founder of a Federally Regulated Financial Institution.

Jenna is also a Principal of Icebook Investments Corp, a family office with over $20 million of capital invested in early-stage companies across a wide variety of industries), a Founder and Director of Axis Connects Corp., a diversity and inclusion non-profit organization, and Corporate Diversity Consultants, a consulting firm for public issuers providing governance, recruiting and pipeline building solutions to increase diverse representation at the board and c-suite levels.

Jenna has a passion for deregulated finance and cryptocurrency and is the Co-Founder and Director of Tetra Trust Company, Canada’s first regulated crypto custodian, backed by Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN). Ms. Kaye has an MBA/LLB from Dalhousie University and practice law at a national law firm.

Adam is the President of the Business Council of Alberta. He has worked with the founders since Day 1 of the organization to create something new and unique—an organization of business leaders advocating for shared prosperity and a better life for Albertans.

Adam has spent over two decades building and leading high-performance teams and organizations in business, public policy, and economic development. He is a life-long student of economics and history and believes strongly in the ability of a team to create something remarkable.

He was the 18th President and CEO of the Calgary Chamber where he transformed a struggling organization into a national and international award-winning entity. He was previously a Director at the Haskayne School of Business, and Vice President and Chief Economist at Calgary Economic Development. He is the author of Making Remarkable.

Adam serves on the boards of the Calgary Counselling Centre and Vibrant Communities Calgary and sits on the boards of several Calgary-based private companies.

Dr. Roselle M. Gonsalves is Head of Inclusion & Reconciliation at ATB Financial, where she leads systemic efforts to embed equity, inclusion, and socio-economic reconciliation with Indigenous communities across the organization. A transformational leader, storyteller, and bridge-builder, she brings over 15 years of experience advancing equity and belonging in sectors spanning social services, consulting, and post-secondary education. 

Roselle holds a PhD from the University of Calgary, where her research explored immigrant identity, Canadian multiculturalism, and intersectionality. She serves on the Board of Governors at Curling Canada, represents Canada at the World Curling Federation, and sits on the Executive Advisory Board at Boston College’s Centre for Corporate Citizenship. 

Named one of Edmonton’s Top 40 Under 40 in 2022, Roselle is also the author of The Ordinary Turned Precious: A Quest for Belonging, an Amazon bestseller. She makes her home in Mi’kma’ki, now called Nova Scotia.