Corporate
Governance

Karen Farbridge

Board Chair and Independent Director

Committees: Governance & Nominating Committee

• Read bio
  Karen is President of Karen Farbridge & Associates Ltd. which she established in 2015 to provide integrated solutions for building healthy and prosperous cities.
  
  Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, Karen served for 17 years in municipal politics including 11 years as mayor of Guelph.
  
  She has served on numerous boards including: Guelph Police Services Board, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health Board, Guelph Municipal Holding Inc., Guelph Hydro Inc, Guelph Hydro Electric Systems Inc, Ecotricity Inc, and Guelph Junction Railway Inc.
  
  Karen has a MSc and PhD from the University of Guelph and has a Chartered Director designation from the Directors College, a joint venture of McMaster University and the Conference Board of Canada.  She is an active community volunteer including many years of involvement in local United Way campaigns.
  
  Karen was elected to the Meridian Board in 2013 and is currently Board Chair.

Phil Braginetz

Independent Director

Committees: Risk Committee (Chair); Audit & Finance Committee

• Read bio
  Phil is a respected financial services executive with a core background in banking finance, capital markets and investment management. As the founder of P. Braginetz Associates, he advises many sectors of the financial industry including regulatory & risk management, capital markets and strategy & corporate finance.  
  
  Phil has extensive experience in the banking and credit union sector; his leadership and professional expertise has led to the design and successful execution of winning business strategies.
  
  Phil’s work experience includes time at Deutsche Bank, Credit Union Central of Ontario, Home Capital Group, CIBC and Bank of Nova Scotia. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Concordia University, completed the Queens Executive Program and holds a Chartered Financial Analyst designation.
  
  Phil’s professional affiliations include Past Director roles at the Canadian Scholarship Trust Foundation, Ethical Funds Inc., Society of Canadian Treasurers and Canadian Capital Markets Association.

Jim Orlando

Independent Director

Committees:  Audit & Finance Committee

• Read bio
  Jim is a Managing Partner of OMERS Ventures, leading investments in North American high-growth technology, media and telecommunications companies. With more than 17 years of experience in venture capital and private equity, Jim has a strong track record of finding deals, closing investments, and working directly with founders, CEOs and management teams on the development and growth of their businesses. He is responsible for OMERS Ventures' investments in Citizen Hex, Digital Currency Group, Jobber, Nudge, OB1, Ranovus and Wattpad. Jim also led OMERS Ventures’ investment in Shopify (NYSE, TSX: SHOP).
  
  Prior to joining OMERS Ventures, Jim was a Managing Director at OMERS Private Equity, which directly owns and actively manages a diversified, multi-billion dollar portfolio of investments in North America and Europe. Jim led direct investments in the manufacturing, software, mobile telephony and retail sectors.
  
  Jim has also held key roles with Bell Canada’s venture capital arm and Battery Ventures in Silicon Valley and has ten years of operational experience in the telecom industry. Jim holds Bachelor of Computer Engineering / Management and Master of Electrical Engineering degrees from McMaster University. In his spare time, Jim writes iPhone games.

Tamara Paton

Independent Director

Committees: Governance & Nominating Committee (Chair); Risk Committee

• Read bio
  Tamara is an independent strategy consultant with 20 years of success and experience advising clients in financial services, digital media and the retail sector.
  
  She currently works as a Strategy Consultant and Facilitator, and has also held positions at Harlequin Enterprises, McKinsey & Company and TD Securities Inc.
  
  Tamara complements her client work with a strong board service record, contributing to strategy development and risk oversight on corporate, co-operative and non-profit boards including Mountain Equipment Co-op, Carson-Dellosa Publishing, and ServoAnnex, a digital consulting firm.
  
  Tamara holds a Bachelor of Mathematics from the University of Waterloo and an MBA from The Wharton School. She also holds Chartered Financial Analyst and Chartered Director designations. During her personal time, Tamara is an active volunteer and enjoys living in Niagara with her husband and young children. Tamara was elected to the Meridian Board in 2013.

Andrew Poprawa

Independent Director

Committees: Audit & Finance Committee (Chair), Risk Committee

• Read bio
  Andy has extensive experience in the financial services industry gained over the past 38 years as a credit union CEO, an external auditor and a regulator. In addition to the last 23 years as the CEO of the Deposit Insurance Corporation of Ontario – the province’s prudential regulator and deposit insurer, he also served as the market conduct regulator of credit unions in Ontario during the early nineties.
  
  Andy currently advises regulatory agencies in Canada and around the world on supervisory processes to enhance the regulation of financial services.
  
  Having spent 10 years with the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions in various capacities including banking supervision, insurance company oversight and policy development, he has developed an in-depth understanding of the regulatory processes required to maintain confidence in financial institutions.
  
  Andy has been the CEO of a credit union and Chief Financial Officer of an airline subsidiary. He is a Chartered Professional Accountant, Chartered Accountant and a former auditor with an international accounting firm. He is also a Certified Government Financial Manager and received his Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Toronto.
  
  He also serves on the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) Ontario Chapter Executive and has served on the Conference Board of Canada’s Advisory Committee on Governance. He participates as a faculty member in the Directors College at McMaster University in Ontario.
  
  Andy is a founder and immediate past Chair of the International Credit Union Regulators Network and past Chair of the Credit Union Prudential Supervisors Association in Canada.
   

Bill Maurin

President & CEO, Meridian Credit Union, and Non-Independent Director

Committees: Governance & Nominating Committee

• Read bio
  As the President and Chief Executive Officer of motusbank, Bill works with his team to develop and build industry leading digital banking capabilities. With more than 30 years of experience in the financial services industry, Bill began his career at KPMG Chartered Accountants and then at The CUMIS Group. Bill has a passion for growing successful consumer oriented businesses.
  
  Bill joined Niagara Credit Union in 2002 as the Senior Finance Manager. Following Meridian’s legacy merger between Niagara Credit Union and HEPCOE Credit Union in 2005, Bill became Meridian’s Vice President of Finance and later Meridian’s Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in 2008.
  
  In 2014 Bill was appointed Meridian’s President and Chief Executive Officer. Under his leadership, Meridian has grown its assets under management significantly, expanded its digital banking offering and increased its branch footprint.
  
  Bill received his CA designation in 1991 and graduated with an Honours Bachelor of Commerce degree from McMaster University in 1988.
  
  He currently sits on the Boards of the Canadian Credit Union Association (Board Chair), Meridian OneCap Credit Corporation (Board Chair) and motusbank.

Gary Genik

Senior Vice President & Chief Operating Officer, Meridian Credit Union, and Non-Independent Director

• Read bio
  Gary Genik is the Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Meridian Credit Union. An IT executive with 30 years of senior experience in Information Technology gained in the Banking, Securities and Technology Services industries, Gary is a results-oriented leader with the ability to quickly evaluate situations. His key skills include the ability to build, lead and motivate high-performing teams.
  
  Gary’s experience in the banking, securities and technology services industries include work with CIBC; Intria-HP (a Hewlett Packard-CIBC joint venture); and the Canadian Depository for Securities.
  
  Before joining Meridian in 2008, Gary worked as a consultant for clients including IBM Canada, CIBC Intria Items Inc, MTS Allstream and First Ontario Credit Union. He is also the former Chief Information Officer and Senior Vice-President, Information Technology of The Canadian Depository for Securities (CDS).
  
  Prior to becoming Meridian Credit Union’s CIO, Gary worked on a variety of key initiatives to build Meridian’s Information Technology capabilities as Director, Infrastructure, including strengthening information security, data storage/ recovery and computer desktop management processes and plans.

Sunny Sodhi

Chief Strategy & Corporate Affairs, Meridian Credit Union, and Non-Independent Director

• Read bio
  Sunny Sodhi is the Chief Strategy and Corporate Affairs Officer at Meridian Credit Union, where he is responsible for overseeing the following functions: Enterprise Strategy and Corporate Development, Innovation, Legal, Corporate Governance, and Government Relations.  This includes overseeing Meridian’s strategy to expand into new lines of business and markets, and to incorporate innovation into its overall corporate strategy.  Sunny has previously also overseen Meridian’s Corporate Communications function.
  
  Sunny brings deep and extensive knowledge of the financial services sector to Meridian. Prior to joining Meridian, he focused his legal practice on advising domestic and international banks and insurance companies on a broad array of complex corporate and regulatory matters.  He has been recognized repeatedly by top international legal rankings, including Chambers and Partners, as a leading lawyer in Canada for corporate/M&A and banking. Sunny advised on transactions involving over 40 countries, and the purchase, sale or transfer of over $100 billion in assets.  He has been involved in some of the largest and most notable banking sector transactions in Canada, and he has advised on the establishment and growth of numerous banks and insurance companies in Canada.  He has assisted such entities closely with the development and execution of multi-year business plans, operations, organic and inorganic growth initiatives, corporate governance, capital raising, compliance and building strong relationships with regulators.
  
  Prior to joining Meridian in 2014, Sunny practiced law in Toronto with Torys LLP, and then Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP as a partner.  He also worked abroad with top international law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP in its Singapore office, focusing on cross-border mergers and acquisitions. 
  
  Sunny has been involved in establishing several not-for-profit and charitable organizations, and is devoted to numerous community initiatives.  
  
  Sunny graduated from the University of British Columbia with a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours), and from the University of Victoria with a Juris Doctor.  He has been a member of the Bar in Ontario and New York since 2003.