| Panel 1: Personal Journey's in Leadership |
| Our panelists will share their stories, sources of inspiration and “lessons learned.” Engage in a discussion on motivation, types of leadership styles and opportunities. Hear how to find and create opportunities for leadership and be empowered to overcome obstacles. |
| Moderator |
Biography |
Jill H. McAlpine FCA
Philanthropic Advisory Services Consultant

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Jill's mission is to promote engaged and fulfilling charitable giving and the effective use of charitable resources. Her practice is focused exclusively on the not-for-profit sector providing advisory services to high net worth individual, family and business donors, and charities and not-for-profit organizations.
Jill encourages and inspires individual donors and their families, businesses and their employees and other stakeholders to explore and enjoy the experience and benefits of developing and implementing a well-thought out and executed philanthropic plan. She has an in-depth understanding of the options available for those considering a significant philanthropic investment and she possesses extensive experience in working with donors, professional advisors and charities to develop effective community investment strategies that fulfill donors’ personal, financial and philanthropic objectives and create significant community benefit. In the case of business-based philanthropy she understands and promotes the importance of engaging employees and other stakeholders and ensuring that the programme achieves benefits for the community, the business and its employees. Jill also advises charities on major and planned giving strategies and solicitations, endowment building, income tax compliance, structuring and a range of other governance, organizational and operational matters.
For more than 25 years, Jill has provided outstanding service to her clients as a highly respected leader in the not-for-profit sector. As a result of her professional work and volunteer leadership, she is widely recognized as one of the leading experts on not-for-profit taxation and effective philanthropic planning. Jill possesses a unique perspective into the broad scope of issues relevant to philanthropic planning and the organization, governance and operation of charities.
Jill is an engaged and enthusiastic supporter of the charitable sector in her work and as an active volunteer. Jill’s current and recent past volunteer activities include her roles on the boards of Havergal College, Community Foundations of Canada, Toronto Community Foundation, the executive of the Charities and Not for Profit Law Section of the Ontario Bar Association and the Technical Issues Working Group of Canada Revenue Agency’s Charities Directorate. Jill is a knowledgeable and engaging presenter. She shares her expertise broadly with the sector through articles and frequent presentations to donors, boards and staff of charities and at conferences and seminars for the charitable sector and professional advisors.
Jill received her Honours B.A. in Physical Education from the University of Western Ontario. She is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario, and received her Fellowship designation in recognition of her significant contribution to the charitable sector and the profession.
Jill lives in Toronto. She and her husband John Haag have five children and four grandchildren. Jill loves time with family and friends, skiing, cooking, reading, learning, cottage life, travel and chocolate.
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| Panelists |
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Noëlle Richardson,
Chief Diversity Officer
Ontario Public Service

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Noëlle Richardson was appointed Chief Diversity Officer of the Ontario Public Service (OPS) on August 18, 2008. In that role, she is responsible for guiding the 68,000 employee organization toward its goals of inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility. The OPS was named one of Canada’s Top Diversity Employers in both 2008 and 2009.
Prior to joining the OPS, Noëlle worked nationally and internationally as a diversity consultant for major corporate clients. She has significant experience developing and implementing diversity strategies and programs for large and highly complex organizations.
She first began her career in broadcasting with Toronto’s CFMT-TV and CBC Television, earning a high-profile slot as news anchor for the program Midday.
Noëlle is past co-chair and current member of the Board of Directors for Literature for Life, an organization that promotes the use of language among teenaged moms through reading and poetry writing.
Noëlle is passionate about the need to create inclusive organizations so that both public and private sectors alike can be responsive to the needs of Ontario’s increasingly diverse population.
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Fiona MacFarlane,
Ernst & Young |
Fiona Macfarlane is currently a member of the Americas Tax Leadership and was most recently Ernst & Young’s Americas Chief Operating Officer, Tax.
Immediately prior to her appointment, Fiona was Ernst & Young’s Tax leader for the Canadian Tax practice, a team of over 900 tax practitioners. Fiona is the first woman among the Big Four firms to have held such a position.
Before joining Ernst & Young’s South African firm in 1983, Fiona trained as a lawyer in Cape Town, where she was admitted to the bar. She joined the Canadian firm’s Calgary Tax practice in 1987 and relocated to Vancouver two years later to build a commodity tax practice in Western Canada. She was admitted to the partnership in 1991 and became the Tax leader for the western region of Canada in 2001.
A respected commodity tax authority in the business community, Fiona was the author and associate editor of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA)’s Complete Guide to British Columbia Social Service Tax, and a contributing editor to the organization’s Complete Guide to GST. She has been a frequent guest speaker at industry events.
Fiona also sits on the Ernst & Young’s Americas Tax Advisory Board/the Americas Tax Operating Committee and was previously the executive sponsor of the Canadian Gender Equity Advisory Group. Fiona is on the cabinet of Pathways to Education, an organization that assists youth in disadvantaged areas to complete high school. She is also on the executive of the Toronto Chapter of the International Women’s Forum (IWF) an organization dedicated to advancing women’s leadership across careers, cultures and continents by connecting the world’s most pre-eminent women.
Fiona holds bachelor of arts, commerce and law degrees from the University of Cape Town. She also earned a masters of law degree from Cambridge University.
* Fiona Macfarlane is a limited partner of Ernst & Young L.P. which provides services to Ernst & Young LLP.
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Sharon Wingfelder
Vice President, Diversity & Resourcing, CIBC Human Resources |
Sharon Wingfelder is Vice-President of Human Resources for CIBC, responsible for recruiting and setting the organization’s global diversity strategy. Sharon has 18 years of experience in all facets of human resources including, organizational and leadership development, change management, employee communications, compensation and recruiting. Prior to joining CIBC, Sharon held senior positions with companies like Dun & Bradstreet Canada, Royal Bank of Canada, Sanofi Pasteur and Bell.
Sharon holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Windsor and a diploma in adult education from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto.
Sharon is a member of the board of directors for the Partnership to Advance Youth Employment, a joint initiative between private sector employers and the City of Toronto. She has also been a board member of the Canadian Manufacturer and Exporter’s Association and the Biotech Human Resources Council. She resides in Mississauga with her husband Brad and two children, Justin and Amanda.
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Carol Poulsen
Senior Vice President
Head of Group Architecture, Innovation and Solution Delivery Services |
Carol Poulsen is Senior Vice President, Group Architecture, Innovation and Solution Delivery Services. Her responsibilities include providing vision and direction to ensure enterprise technology frameworks and solutions clearly align with the priorities and timelines of RBC business units. In this role, she also leads the ongoing development of innovative new technologies and business processes that make it easier for clients to do business with RBC. As a member of RBC’s Technology and Operations (T&O) Operating Committee, she contributes to the development of the overall priorities and direction of T&O.
Carol joined RBC Financial Group in July of 2008. Carol came to RBC with a diverse background including experience in banking and insurance, IT and business, as well as vendor experience. From 2000 to 2008, Carol worked for TD Bank Financial Group in a variety of senior IT roles, including Vice President Application Delivery, and Vice President Future Technologies and Delivery Solutions.
Prior to TD Bank Financial Group, Carol worked with CGI Group as Vice President of Sales for the Public Sector, Vice President of Sales and Account Management for the Insurance Sector and Vice President of Delivery for the Insurance Sector. Earlier Carol worked at Amdahl, and started her career at Allstate Insurance of Canada running Operational Business Units.
Carol was recently selected as one of Computerworld’s Premier IT 100 Leaders.
Carol received her Honours Bachelor of Arts degree from York University in Toronto, and her Computer Programming Diploma from Seneca College. She is married with two young daughters. |
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