Our Board of Directors

Jennifer Fiddian-Green, CPA, CA-IFA, CFF, CFI, CFE, CAMS Partner, Grant Thornton LLP, Board Chair

Jennifer is a partner with Grant Thornton LLP and she leads the firm’s Risk and Forensic practice. She has worked to support and raise awareness of fraud, corruption, money laundering and human trafficking issues across the country and across communities for many years. Jennifer has investigated, reported on and managed investigative teams for fraud and money laundering and she works with clients on the governance structures needed to support good business, ethics, anti-corruption, fraud prevention and regulatory compliance.

Jennifer considers it an honour to serve in this role to continue the work to collaborate together as we work to End Human Trafficking.

Larissa Maxwell, CEO of The Maxwell Consulting Group, Board Member

Larissa is the CEO of The Maxwell Consulting Group, where she builds responsible, accountable, and purpose-driven businesses. She leads worldwide ESG projects that protect ecosystems, end human suffering, and create lasting systemic change.

In addition to being a clinical therapist and leadership coach, Larissa has 17 years of direct experience leading innovative anti-human trafficking initiatives in Survivor inclusion and leadership, ethical supply chains and migratory work, housing and rehabilitative therapies, participatory research, employment equity, criminal and civil justice innovation, international policy development, ethical storytelling, and acts as a secondary support to Indigenous-led anti-human trafficking approaches throughout Turtle Island.

Jim McDade, Chief Operating Officer, Aware360, Board Member

Jim McDade is a passionate leader as the Chief Operating Officer at Aware360, a Calgary-based technology company providing real time monitoring innovations that help companies and organizations around the world manage their people, places and things with optimal efficiency and safety.

Prior to joining the team at Aware 360, Jim held various senior management roles with Alberta Health Services, Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB), Salesforce.com, Purolator Courier Ltd., and Accenture.

Throughout his careers, Jim has embraced the potential that technology and innovation can have on an organization and brings with him an excitement for how it can change the non-profit sector.

Laine McGarragle, JD, Director & Counsel, Heuristica Discovery Counsel LLP, Board Member

Laine is a lawyer working in Toronto as a Director and Counsel with Heuristica Discovery Counsel LLP. Laine cares deeply about empowering survivors and promoting legislative change to end human trafficking in Canada.

She has worked in both English and French with Community Legal Aid and Avocats sans frontières (Lawyers Without Borders), to advocate on behalf of underserved populations.

Laine also worked with the founders of the Business Model Canvas at the Swiss company, Strategyzer, to support top executives at global companies to shape their innovation strategies. Laine is honoured to serve on the Board and to contribute towards the End of Human Trafficking.

Angela Kermer, In a Good Way Consulting, Board Member

Angela’s ancestry includes Haida and Coast Salish, and she carries the Haida name Sgaan Jaad Kwahst’aang, Finning Killer Whale Woman. As principal of In a Good Way Consulting, Angela uses strength-based values from her cultural, academic, career, and life experiences to create future reconciliatory legacies at organizational levels.

Angela has served with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for 25 years. She has been a board of director with the Stó:lō Service Agency since 2011. Angela holds a BA from Simon Fraser University, a MA in Leadership from Royal Roads University, and she teaches sociology and laws courses at the Justice Institute of British Columbia.

Working with local and international anti-human trafficking groups, Angela has been supporting Survivors as a learner and in advisory and project lead roles for over a decade. She now focuses on project development that seeks to transform justice for and with Survivors.

Cameron Field, BA, MSc, CAMS, Vice President – The Vidocq GroupFA, CFF, CFI, CFE, CAMS Partner, Grant Thornton LLP, Board Member

Cam is a Vice President with The Vidocq Group. He leads the firm’s Toronto operations where they consult on financial crime, money laundering, sanctions, regulatory risk, investigative due diligence, and complex corporate investigations. Prior to that he worked in the anti-money laundering team at BMO Financial Group as the head of intelligence liaison and operational effectiveness.

Before his career in the private sector, he served 32 years with the Toronto Police Service and retired in 2017. He served in many roles including Officer in Charge of the Threat Assessment, Investigative Training and the Corporate Crimes Unit. His work in law enforcement and at BMO was heavily focused on human trafficking and child exploitation. He currently sits on the Private Sector Liaison Committee for the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police and is a Board member for the Children’s Aid Society of Halton Region. He holds a BA in Justice Studies from the University of Guelph and a MSc in Criminology from the University of Leicester in the UK. He is also a certified anti money laundering specialist. He speaks internationally and has published numerous articles and publications on financial crime and money laundering with an emphasis on community safety.

Board Chair Emeritus

Margot Franssen, O.C., Founder

Margot Franssen passionately and effectively brings women’s issues to the forefront of public consciousness. Margot founded The Body Shop Canada which raised awareness and funds and dedicated thousands of volunteer staff hours to help STOP Violence Against Women.

Boldly declaring Women’s Rights are Human Rights, Margot and her company’s campaigning gained award recognition from the United Nations for advancing an issue of vital concern. Since Margot sold her company in 2004, she has devoted herself to the advancement of women and girls. She is a Founding Board Member of Women Moving Millions, a community dedicated to mobilizing unprecedented resources for women’s issues; and she Co-Chaired The National Task Force on Sex Trafficking of Women and Girls in Canada. Margot is also a past Board Member of the CIBC, and currently sits on the Board of Directors for Goldcorp Inc. Margot has received numerous accolades including being appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2002; being recognized with the Outstanding Achievement in the Advancement of Women Award from UNIFEM; and being named one of the 21 Leaders of the 21^st Century by Women eNews in America.

Sheila O’Brien, C.M., Founder

Sheila O’Brien, President of Belvedere1 Investments, is a corporate director and business consultant specializing in workforce and leadership capacity with over 30 years of experience in the oil and gas, pipeline and petrochemical sectors in Canada, USA and Europe. Ms. O’Brien has held executive positions in the areas of human resources, investor relations, public affairs and government relations with Amoco International, Petro-Canada and NOVA Corporation. She created and implemented an innovative workforce restructuring program, based on the dignity of the employee, which was designated a World Wide Best Practice by Watson Wyatt International Consultancy.

She was a member of the founding Board of Directors of the Alberta Energy Regulator, and currently serves as Board Chair.

Ms. O’Brien previously served on the Board of Directors of Gildan Activewear, a Montreal-based, publicly traded company from 2005 to 2018; PPPCanada from 2014 to 2018 Advantage Oil and Gas Company, a Calgary-based, publicly traded corporation (2007-13); MaRS, Canada’s innovation hub, Toronto (2004-13); on the Board of Directors of Skye Resources, a Vancouver-based, publicly traded nickel mining company (2007-08); on the Board of Directors of TransForce Income Fund, Canada’s largest trucking enterprise, publicly traded and headquartered in Montreal (2006-07); and as a member of the Board of Directors of CFM Majestic, a Canadian, publicly traded company (1998-2003).

Ms O’Brien’s board experience includes chairing Human resources and Compensation Committees for Advantage Oil and Gas, Alberta Energy Regulator, Gildan Activewear, MaRS, Transforce Income Fund and Skye Resources, as well as Chairing the Corporate Governance Committees for Advantage Oil and Gas, Gildan, MaRS and Skye Resources.

From 2009-2012 was Executive in Residence at Canada West Foundation in Calgary, Alberta. While at Canada West Foundation Ms. O’Brien co-authored, “An Extraordinary West: A Narrative Exploration of Western Canada’s Future”, published in 2010; “Catching a Rising Tide: A Western Vision for Energy in Canada”, published in 2011; and “A Place to Call Home”, published in 2012. In 2013-2014 she Co-chaired a National Task force on Human Trafficking for the Canadian Womens Foundation which produced the report “ NO MORE: Ending Sex Trafficking in Canada”

She served on the Board of Governors of Alberta College of Art and Design from 2008 to 2014, and currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the Art Gallery of Alberta, and the Board of Careers:The Next Generation and is a Trustee of the Calgary Zoo.

Active in government and community affairs, Ms. O’Brien has served as a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council for the Faculty of Commerce & Business Administration, University of British Columbia; and the Alberta Foundation for Environmental Excellence Honorary Council. She has been a member of The Executive Committee of The Conference Board of Canada, Council of Human Resource Executives, and The Board of Directors of The Canadian Centre for Philanthropy, C.D. Howe Institute, the Public Policy Forum.

Ms. O’Brien has served as a Commissioner with the Canadian Human Rights Commission and as a member of the Advisory Group on Working Time and the Distribution of Work, Human Resources Development Canada. She has served on the Boards of Directors of the Alberta College of Art and Design, Wordfest, Grace Women’s Wellness Foundation, Foothills Hospital Foundation, Canadian Mental Health Association, Alberta Status of Women Action Committee, Therese Casgrain Foundation, ABC Canada, and a national literary foundation, Theatre Calgary, the Alberta Theatre Projects on and the Society of Management Accountants. She was President of the Board of Directors of the Calgary YWCA, Campaign Chair of the University of Calgary Alumnae campaign and member of the United Way campaign cabinet. She has served as a member of the Development Appeal Board, the Alberta Regional Council of the Canadian Pension Conference and was Founder and President of the Western Women’s Committee for Pension Reform. She was a member of the steering committee of Catalysts’ ground breaking study “Closing the Gender Gap” in 1998. She is the Co-Founder of The Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking.

In 2004, Ms. O’Brien accepted a special assignment as a member of the Executive Team at the University of Calgary. Over the course of 2 years she led a highly successful re-engineering of all administrative systems used by students in their pursuit of education, resulting in greatly improved student satisfaction at the University of Calgary.

Ms. O’Brien has devoted much of her volunteer service to the advancement of women, and has been the founder of several enduring awards, recognition and mentorship programs for women, including Rising Stars, Women Celebrate Women and Turning Points.

She has served as the Executive in Residence at Chatham College, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and also was the Chairperson, MBA Advisory Board. She was selected as the 2002 Distinguished Ethics Speaker at Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and has spoken and led seminars at various colleges and universities in western Pennsylvania on business issues and The Diversity Imperative.

Ms. O’Brien’s past associations in the areas of women’s issues, human rights, education and health and welfare have been recognized through her receipt of the Women of Distinction Award in the category of Advancement of Women, and a Citation for Citizenship – Government of Canada Award for Community Leadership, and The Presidential Citation from the Students Union in recognition of her passion and commitment to Students in 2007. In February 1999, she was invested as a member of the Order of Canada, the country’s highest honour, and in 2012 she was awarded The Diamond Jubilee Medal for her significant contributions to Canada.

Board Chair Emeritus

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