Executive biographies

As Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer at Meridian Credit Union, Angie Hoang is at the forefront of defining and driving the organization’s strategic direction and innovation roadmap. With a passion for fostering a culture of innovation, Angie plays a pivotal role in ensuring Meridian remains agile and responsive to the evolving needs of its members and the broader financial landscape.

Angie brings to her role a rich background in strategic planning, product development, and cultural transformation, underpinned by a deep understanding of the financial services industry. Her visionary leadership is instrumental in connecting people and purpose to drive growth, enhance operational efficiencies, and deliver cutting-edge financial solutions that meet the diverse needs of Meridian’s members.

Prior to joining Meridian, Angie held various leadership positions in prominent institutions in the financial services and technology sectors, where she was renowned for her ability to lead high-performing teams, drive organizational change, and spearhead major innovation initiatives. Her strategic acumen and forward-thinking approach have consistently resulted in significant business growth and enhanced member experience.

Angie is a strong advocate for diversity and inclusion. She believes in the power of collaboration and partnerships to solve complex problems in innovative ways. A lifelong learner, Angie holds a B. Math from the University of Waterloo, alongside various professional certifications that complement her role at Meridian. Outside of work, she is passionate about mentorship and mental health, dedicating her time to guiding and coaching emerging female leaders and the Royal Ottawa Foundation where she is member of the succession and compensation board committee.

At Meridian, Angie’s leadership is not just about envisioning the future; it’s about creating it. Her commitment to excellence, member-centric approach, and relentless pursuit of innovation continue to contribute to Meridian’s position as a leader in the credit union sector.

As Meridian’s Chief People and Culture Officer, Patty is responsible for developing Meridian’s Human Resources vision and a multi-year strategy for an employee centric flexible workplace that is relevant for today and the future. As part of this role, she oversees the design, delivery and monitoring of Meridian’s Employee Experience programs including benefits design, talent acquisition and development programs for Meridian’s 2000 employees. She will also oversee the Corporate Communications and Member Relations teams.

Patty brings innovation to Human Resource practices and employment brands. Her leadership experience is multi-faceted, including organizational design, talent and succession, employee experience, compensation, pensions, benefits, payroll, employee relations, change management, technology, and workforce analytics.

Patty is known for solving business issues, driving continuous improvement, gaining efficiencies, and taking things to the next level. She has led large transformation projects requiring strong leadership, strategic change management, and cultural sensitivity. Patty is skilled at managing mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures from an HR perspective. She’s committed to building healthy, respectful work environments that become accelerators of organizational success.

Previous to her role at Meridian, Patty was Founder & Principal of Hrxlence Consulting Inc., providing consulting services in talent attraction and retention strategies, leadership development, succession planning, benchmarking HR functions, total rewards design and HR technology strategy.

Prior to her consulting work, as a business leader at Manulife Financial, Patty managed large, diverse teams across Canada, the US and Asia with a successful track record of delivering results, driving change and improving employee engagement. She worked closely with the C-Suite as CHRO & HR Partner and held global leadership roles in shared services, executive talent and succession, rewards, technology, operations, workforce analytics, employee relations, compliance and risk management.

Currently, Patty is Chair of the Board of Directors for the Human Resources Professional Association.

A former resident of the Niagara Region, Patty lives in Burlington with her family and enjoys cottaging in Ontario and going to open-air concerts.

As the Chief Digital & Marketing Officer (CDMO) at Meridian, Matthew Seagrim leads marketing, IT, data and analytics, product development, digital platforms, and cybersecurity. He is driving development and execution of strategic initiatives to transform the business and achieve its purpose.

Before joining Meridian, Matthew spent seven years leading Scene+, where he revitalized the company by reshaping its brand and value proposition, forged new strategic partnerships, and developed digital-first technology and infrastructure. His career comprises progressive leadership roles in Financial Services, Marketing, and Loyalty sectors, including eight years at AIMIA, where he held executive positions driving strategy, product development, and innovation across Canada, Mexico, and Southeast Asia.

Matthew holds a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Engineering from Queen’s University. His ability to leverage his combination of technical knowledge with business acumen has resulted in a track record of transformative leadership and positioned him as a thought leader and a sought-after speaker at industry engagements.

Matthew currently serves on the Board of Directors of Give a Mile, a registered charity dedicated to providing flights for final visits for loved ones facing palliative illness. He also serves as a strategic advisor to several startups focused on innovation in technology-driven customer engagement.

As Chief Legal and Corporate Affairs Officer, Sunny Sodhi is responsible for overseeing the Legal, ESG, Corporate Governance, Government and Stakeholder Relations, Internal Audit and Compliance functions. With the increased complexity surrounding regulatory requirements and given Meridian’s strong focus on reflecting bold ESG objectives within its enterprise strategy, Sunny’s role allows for an integrated approach to overseeing legal, compliance and ESG.

In his previous role at Meridian, Sunny served as the Chief Strategy and Corporate Affairs Officer, with responsibility for Enterprise Strategy and Corporate Development, overseeing Meridian's strategy to expand into new lines of business and markets. Also, Sunny has previously overseen Meridian's Corporate Communications function. Sunny brings deep and extensive knowledge of the financial services sector to Meridian.

Prior to joining Meridian, Sunny practiced corporate law with a focus on advising domestic and international banks and insurance companies on a broad array of complex corporate and regulatory matters. He practiced in Toronto with Torys LLP and then Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP as a partner.  Also, early in his career, he practiced abroad with top international law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP in its Singapore office, focusing on cross-border mergers and acquisitions.  Sunny has been recognized repeatedly by top international legal rankings as a leading lawyer in Canada for corporate/M&A and banking.  He has been involved in some of the largest and most notable banking sector transactions in Canada, including several multi-billion dollar domestic and cross-border M&A deals, and has advised on the establishment and growth of numerous banks and insurance companies in Canada. He 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.

Sunny has been involved in establishing several not-for-profit and charitable organizations, and he is devoted to numerous community initiatives. He is a member of the CAMH Board of Trustees, and he is a member of the Boards for motusbank, OneCap Credit Corporation, Central 1 Credit Union, and The Sikh Foundation.  He has been a member of the Bar in Ontario and New York since 2003.

Sunny graduated from the University of British Columbia with a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours), and from the University of Victoria with a Juris Doctor. 

Hugh Swandel joined Meridian OneCap in 2019. Prior to joining Meridian, Hugh was the Senior Managing Director of the Alta Group in Canada. The Alta Group is a global consulting firm specializing in advising the commercial equipment finance industry. Hugh led the Canadian practice and was involved in numerous engagements with firms across North America. His knowledge of the industry has come from years of service to industry associations, involvement in many key industry transactions and extensive operational experience.

Hugh is an active member of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA), a board member with the Canadian Finance and Leasing Association (CFLA) and has served as a board member and President of the National Equipment and Finance Association (NEFA). In 2018, 2010 and 2006 he received the Canadian Leasing Industries highest honour when he was named “CFLA Member of the Year.” In 2013 he received an acknowledgement from NEFA for his years of board service and term as President. Hugh is also a member of the advisory board of the online industry publication “The Leasing News”.

Prior to founding Swandel and Associates, Hugh served as President and Chief Operation Officer of Electronic Financial Group (EFG). EFG was a Canadian company, which built and launched a multi-lending web-based credit system. He also spent 10 years with National Leasing Group in a variety of senior positions.

Hugh holds a BA Hons in History/Political Science from the University of Winnipeg and a BComm Hons in Business from the University of Manitoba.

He brings a broad set of industry contacts and knowledge to his role at Meridian OneCap.

With 25 years experience with the organization, Wade Stayzer is Meridian’s Chief Operating Officer.

As Chief Operating Officer, Wade has overall accountability for the running of our Retail, Wealth and Business Banking lines of business. In addition, this role also oversees operations and payments, including the launch of our credit card and all product development and implementation for these lines of business.

In his previous role as Chief People and Culture Officer and Senior Vice President Business Banking, Wade was charged with delivering on Meridian’s exceptional employee promise, employee health and wellbeing strategies, and supporting employees to succeed and grow in an adaptive culture that would embed diversity, equity and inclusion organically into its cultural core. He had single accountability for all Employee Experience functions, including the Human Resources Business Partner team, Talent Acquisition, Learning and Development, and the Corporate Communications and Member Concerns team. Wade also led Business Banking at Meridian, helping the more than 25,000 Business Members grow their businesses and build stronger communities.

During his tenure at Meridian, Wade’s People First and Member Obsession developed as his trademark while managing key lines of business including Small Business, Retail Banking and Wealth. 

He also led various strategic initiatives including the branch and banking system integration of Meridian’s legacy Niagara/Guelph Wellington and Desjardins Credit Union mergers. He is a staunch community supporter and champion of the Ontario credit union system with deep experience. 

In 2010, Wade was recognized as one of Niagara’s Top 40 under 40 for outstanding business achievement and community leadership. That same year, he was also recognized by the St. Catharines Chamber of Commerce as the Young Professional of the Year.

A tireless community advocate, Wade is engaged year-round in a number of initiatives in senior volunteer roles ranging from Wise Guys, St Catharines Rotary Ribfest and more. He was also a member of the Niagara 2022 Canada Games Host Society Board of Directors. 

Wade received his MBA from McMaster University and currently resides in Niagara with his wife and two children. 

As Meridian’s Chief Risk Officer, John is accountable for Meridian’s overall Enterprise Risk Management strategy in all core risk categories, including strategic, credit, market, liquidity, operational and Member risk. The scope of the role includes oversight of retail, commercial and special credit, privacy, compliance, anti-money laundering, enterprise risk management, fraud, corporate insurance and corporate security.

John served as Vice President, Risk at Meridian from 2014 to present and has a proven track record of building strong risk management tools and processes. Under his leadership Meridian’s credit policy and risk management frameworks expanded tremendously to support the strong growth in loan portfolio size and complexity that Meridian has experienced over recent years. John played a simultaneous role in helping Meridian achieve record levels of credit recoveries on past impaired loans. Prior to this position, he served as Director, Commercial Credit at Meridian and was responsible to assist in the overall management and administration for the Commercial Loan team within the framework of the approved credit management policies as set up by the Board.

John’s career trajectory has established him as a highly accomplished Finance Executive, with excellence in reducing costs, increasing efficiency, and stimulating bottom line growth for midsize and multimillion-dollar organizations.

He began his financial services career at Bank of Nova Scotia from 1993 – 2002 working in sales where he managed both retail and commercial banking operations before being quickly accelerated for executive training as Vice President.

John joined NuComm International, headquartered in St. Catharines where he served from 2002 – 2004 as Vice President of Finance and Business Development before becoming President (2004 – 2007). As President of the largest privately held Canadian provider of Customer Relationship and Contact Centre Services with over 4,000 employees and 15 offices, John was instrumental in growing NuComm’s revenues and improving cash flow.

Following NuComm, John took the position of Senior Vice President, Finance for Fallsview Group (2008 – 2012), based in Niagara Falls, leading the structuring, negotiating and origination of all new debt facilities for all new and existing acquisitions and developments.

As President of Trivieri Consulting Services, launched in 2012, John provided guidance and assistance to clients in developing proper financial models and reporting systems to present to their financial partners. 

A passionate advocate for entrepreneurs and start ups, John is one of the original members of the Niagara Venture Forum and Niagara Angell Network. He is also an active volunteer in the Niagara community and was Co-Chair of the Trivieri Family & Friends Heart & Stroke Annual Golf Tournament for 25 years and presently serves as Chair of Hospice Niagara. He also has volunteered as a coach for St. Catharines CYO basketball and assists annually at the Ontario Classic Senior High School Basketball Tournament.

John graduated from McMaster University with a Bachelor of Commerce and from St. Bonaventure University with his MBA in 1992. Currently resides in St. Catharines with his wife and two children.

With 25 years of experience in business banking, Kevin VanKampen, Senior Vice President, Business Banking, has sole responsibility for business banking at Meridian. Kevin and his team help more than 25,000 business Members grow their businesses and strengthen their communities.

In his previous role as VP, Business Banking, Kevin was tasked with executing the business banking strategy, demonstrating his leadership and wealth of experience in commercial relationship management, sales leadership, credit adjudication, deposits sales, and cash management.

Previous to joining Meridian in 2019, Kevin worked in various business banking roles at Scotiabank, working with the full cross-section of diversified industry sectors, from small business, mid-market commercial, to large public companies and government related entities. He also gained business banking experience in change leadership roles covering risk management, cash management sales, digital banking, and business transformation.

Kevin holds a bachelor’s degree in business from Wilfrid Laurier University and holds a Chartered Financial Analyst designation. Community involvement activities include Toronto Region Board of Trade Housing Affordability Committee, National Advisory Committee for Leading Lenders to support women entrepreneurs, and Lenders Committee at REALPAC, a national association representing the Canadian real estate industry.