Board of Directors

Phil Armstrong is a corporate director with a 40+ year career in financial services. He held c-suite positions leading technology, innovation, cyber and operations functions at some of Canada’s largest financial institutions. Mr. Armstrong is a CIO Hall of Fame inductee, an independent corporate director of Greenshield, and Chairman of the Board for Macanthium Ventures Inc. with expertise in corporate governance, business strategy, risk management, technology, and cyber security.

Mr. Armstrong holds a B.Comm from York University, a B/TEC from Leeds University, and holds his Canadian Securities Course and Canadian Derivatives Course Certifications. He is a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors attaining an ICD.D and holds a GCB.D ESG and Sustainability designation from Competent Boards. Mr. Armstrong attained a DipCorpGov with distinction from the Corporate Governance Institute and holds his AI Ethics and Board Oversight certification from the Diligent Institute.

Upkar Arora is a seasoned organizational leader and board director with a proven track record of delivering results. He is dedicated to systems change to create a more just and equitable society, using financial, human and social capital.

Upkar is currently the CEO of Rally Assets, Canada’s leading impact investment management and advisory firm. Rally is a purpose-driven organization, and an award-winning B Corporation, committed to using business as a force for good.

Prior to Rally he worked in finance and leadership roles with some of Canada’s most successful organizations for more than 25 years - building, operating and advising companies of varying sizes, stages and sectors, domestically and globally.

Upkar has extensive governance experience, having served on boards of several for profit and not-for-profit organizations including Vancity Community Investment Bank, the University of Waterloo, Institute for Canadian Citizenship, and Metrolinx.

He is an FCPA, FCA having been awarded CPA Canada’s highest honour in 2017, holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors and is also a BMW Foundation Global Responsible Leader. He is an adjunct lecturer at the University of Waterloo where he received the Distinguished Teacher Award in 2022.

Jacqueline (Jackie) Beaurivage is a C-suite executive with over 30 years’ experience in the financial services sector. She is currently serving her second term as a Director of Meridian.  Previously, Jackie was a member of the board of directors of Home Capital Group. She also  served on the boards of First Caribbean International Bank, CIBC West Indies Holdings Inc., CIBC Securities Inc., CIBC Suisse, CIBC Mortgage Corporation, and CIBC Trust (President & CEO). Prior not-for-profit boards include St. Michael’s Hospital Foundation and the Mood Disorders Association of Ontario.

In her corporate career, Ms. Beaurivage was a member of the executive team at the University Pension Plan of Ontario (UPP), where she was instrumental in building the start-up foundation as Chief of Staff.  At Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP), Jackie led the strategy and enterprise project management teams. Jackie was also a Senior Vice-President at CIBC, holding numerous positions, including leading the internal controls division, managing the Greater Toronto Area salesforce, heading up the Barclays/CIBC integration team in the Caribbean, and leading the Wealth Management group.  Ms. Beaurivage also held executive positions in marketing and retail banking- as well as Canada-wide roles in corporate and commercial banking- with RBC.

Jackie holds a BA from the University of Regina, and an MBA from McGill University. She also holds the ICD.D designation, having completed the Director’s Education Program at the University of Toronto.

Betsey Chung has a track record of over 25 years of driving digital transformation and most recently served (from 2017 to 2023) as the Executive Vice President and Global Chief Marketing Officer for TD Bank Group, the 6th largest North American bank by assets listed on NYSE and TSX. Prior to TD, Betsey was the Chief Marketing Officer Global Banking and Wealth for BMO Financial Group, an international financial service company, also listed on NYSE and TSX. Betsey holds a CPA designation and was the Finance Director for American Express and P&L owner for its Lending, Insurance and Small Business Card portfolios. Earlier in her career, Betsey was an audit, tax and strategic consultant at KPMG Consulting (UK).

Ms. Chung currently is an Executive in Residence with Beringer Capital a private equity firm investing in portfolio companies digitally transforming the sector of marketing, media, data and technology. She is a strategic, operating partner and on the Board of high growth portfolio companies.

Betsey holds an MBA from London Business School. She is the winner of several Cannes Lions awards. Ms. Chung was the recipient of the Best Executive award by Report on Business, Globe and Mail (2020), and was nominated as one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women (2023). She is a leader in Enterprise Inclusion and Diversity, Women and Visible Minority Councils.

Larry is President & CEO of lmperium Energy Inc. From 2006 to 2011, he was President & CEO of the Peterborough Utilities Group. Prior to that, Larry spent over 30 years with Ontario Hydro and Ontario Power Generation in a number of leadership positions. He has over 20 years of Board experience in a combination of for-profit and not-for-profit organizations as well as having achieved his ICD designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors. Larry has been a credit union member for over 40 years.

Karen Farbridge is President & Urban Connector of Karen Farbridge & Associates, working with business, governments and organizations to build healthy and prosperous communities. Karen was elected to the Meridian Board in 2015. Karen served as Meridian Board Chair for a six-year term from 2018 to 2024 and during her tenure on the Board has served on the Governance, Audit & Finance, Risk, Human Resources and Nominating Committees of Meridian. She also serves as Board Chair of Motusbank and QUEST. She is a member of the Sustainable Energy Initiative (SEI) at York University where she is adjunct faculty. 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 in the private, public and non-profit sectors. Karen has a MSc and PhD from the University of Guelph and a Chartered Director designation from McMaster University.

Stacey Grant-Thompson is a marketing and customer experience expert who has successfully designed, scaled, and optimized multiple businesses. Most recently she was the Chief Marketing Officer for Manulife Canada. Stacey has broad and deep expertise in digital transformation and artificial intelligence. Stacey brings a deep understanding of business model design and a multi-faceted perspective from her executive experience as a GM with P&L ownership, CMO, and Strategy function lead in both financial services and telecom. Stacey is a member of the Board of Directors of Meridian Credit Union and Pathways to Education. She is an advisor to several early-stage digital-first companies and is a mentor for Creative Destruction Lab’s AI Stream. Stacey began her career with McKinsey & Company and holds an MBA from INSEAD, an HBA from IVEY at UWO, and the ICD.D designation.

Lianne Hannaway is a finance professional and business transformation consultant with 20 years of experience in financial services, having held senior leadership positions at TMX Group and KPMG LLP.  

Lianne is passionate about financial empowerment for all Canadians, especially its underserved and underestimated populations. She is the founder of WealthNuvo Financial, a wealth advisory platform that helps underrepresented women build generational wealth by addressing their relationship with money. She recently earned her Trauma of Money™ practitioner certification to facilitate frameworks for healing collective and individual traumas to create financial well-being.

Lianne complements her professional work with a strong board service record. In addition to her board service with MCU, she is currently Treasurer of the Equality Fund, a groundbreaking partnership combining philanthropy, grant-making and investing that supports global women and girls’ rights organizations and movements. She is also a member of the Board and the Black Advisory Council of Kids Help Phone, Canada’s only 24/7 national support service providing professional counselling and volunteer-led text-based support to youth across Canada. 

Lianne holds a Bachelor of Mathematics and Master of Accountancy from the University of Waterloo and a Chartered Professional Accountant designation.

Gail Harding K.C. retired from Canadian Western Bank Financial Group in 2018 where she served as Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary with responsibility for the legal, governance, regulatory compliance and ethics functions. Gail also sat on the board of CWB’s subsidiaries which offered equipment financing, wealth management, insurance and trust services.

Gail is an active volunteer in the community and in her profession having served on the boards of numerous not-for-profit entities and crown corporations. In recognition of her accomplishments Gail has received several awards including the Canadian General Counsel Award, the Women in Law Leadership Award and the King’s Counsel designation. She currently serves on the board of the Alberta Securities Commission and Pieridae Energy Limited. Gail received both her Bachelor of Education (Honours) and Bachelor of Laws from the University of Alberta and her Master of Laws from York University. She holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors and the FSA designation from the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board.

Mr. Panday is a seasoned financial executive and corporate director. He has spent over 40 years in financial services sector in Canada and USA, in addition to being an external, internal and IT auditor. As a founding President & CEO, he established a full-service bank and a securities firm in Canada and led the wealth management business for North America. Currently, he serves on corporate boards as a Chairman, Audit and Finance committees and is a member of Risk and Governance and Nominations committees. In addition to Meridian, he is a director on the boards of the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC). He has served on several corporate and not-for-profit boards, and a designated provincial administrative authority board. He teaches accountability and corporate governance at York Univ. and has authored on Cross-border Corporate Governance. He is currently an Honorary Colonel in the Canadian Army. He has a Fellowship from CPA Canada (FCPA, FCGA), is a certified director in Canada (ICD.D) and in the USA (NACD.DC). His volunteer service was recognized when he received The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.

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.