Sharon Altman-Leamen

Ms. Altman-Leamen is a past Director and a current Board Member of the Canadian Federation of Pensioners, and Chair of its Advocacy Committee. She is also the co-founder, and past President of the Yellow Pages Pensioners Group. Her focus is protecting the pensions and benefits of active and retired members of Defined Benefit Plans in Canada, especially with regards to underfunded pension plans that have in some cases ended up in windup, due to bankruptcies or insolvencies.

Lucy Becker

Ms. Becker is a public affairs executive with the Retirement Homes Regulatory Authority (RHRA). She has extensive regulatory experience having also served on the senior leadership teams at the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) and the Law Society of Upper Canada (now Ontario). She also serves on the Consumer Advisory Committee of the Electrical Safety Authority (ESA).  

Throughout her career, she also worked in the Ontario public service at various ministries including the Attorney General and Financial Institutions, which at the time oversaw the insurance, pension, and securities commissions. In 2021, she was appointed to the governing council of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) and the Board of Directors for the Bereavement Authority of Ontario (BAO).  

Deeply committed to access to justice Ms. Becker is a Director of the Don Valley Community Legal Services, a legal aid clinic serving one of the most diverse communities in Toronto.

Kristina Booi

Ms. Booi is a Commercial Insurance Advisor and Life Insurance Advisor, with a history in tax planning, law, and banking. With a Financial Planning Designation, LLQP, and CAIB, she lends a varied perspective to consumer needs and cross-sectoral policy. She believes that communication at all levels is imperative in enacting positive change. As a commercial insurance advisor, protecting the consumer, educating them, and building relationships through listening are top of mind. 

Rhona DesRoches

Ms. DesRoches is the Chair of the Board of FAIR Association of Victims for Accident Insurance Reform. She has extensive experience in the insurance industry from a consumer perspective, preparing and presenting materials to government, regulators and other stakeholders for the past 25 years with a particular focus on accident victims.

Zahir Dharsee

Mr. Dharsee was a Manager in the Supervision and Regulation Group with the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) Canada.

He has over 30 years of extensive knowledge and experience in the Supervision and conducting Risk based Examinations of various Financial Institutions regulated by OSFI.

As part of executing the OSFI Supervision and Examination Frameworks and Processes, he was also responsible for reviewing and ensuring Compliance with various regulatory requirements for the Consumers of Life and Property and Casualty Insurance companies and the Banking, Trust and Loan and Credit Union Deposit Taking Institutions.     

He started his career in the Federal Public Service with the Office of the Auditor General of Canada.  He has a BA (Economics and History) from York University, Bachelor of Commerce Accounting and Finance from the University of Windsor.  He is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) and a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE). He is currently pursuing a master’s degree in history at York University.   

Harold Geller 

Mr. Geller is a lawyer who helps investors, and the insured get what their financial advisors promised them. He is a member of the Ontario Securities Commission’s Senior Expert Advisory Group and the Ombudsman of Banking and Investment’s Consumer and Investor Advisory Council. He serves on the Executive Committees on Elder Law for both the Canadian and Ontario Bar Associations, and on the Canadian Bar Association’s Executive Committee on Insurance Law. 

Julie Kuzmic

Ms. Kuzmic started her career in consulting at Accenture, then migrated to the financial services arena where she has spent the past 15+ years leading complex IT, sales and product launch initiatives across the banking, insurance and wealth management industries. 

Since joining Equifax Canada in 2016, Ms. Kuzmic has become a recognized authority in consumer credit. She has served as an expert witness on credit scores in provincial court, and she often speaks to industry groups, government, clients and consumers to shed light on Canada’s credit ecosystem. In her role as senior compliance officer, consumer advocacy with Equifax Canada, she helps Canadians build credit confidence. She is additionally responsible for working across business units and corporate functions to ensure fair treatment of consumers in compliance with applicable legislation.

Harvey Naglie (Vice Chair)

Mr. Naglie is a member of OBSI’s Consumer and Investor Advisory Council. He has been involved in Ontario's financial services sector for over 40 years, working in both the public and private sector, including as a Senior Policy Advisor for the Ontario Ministry of Finance’s Financial Services Policy Division.

Krysta Nesbitt

Ms. Nesbitt is a Certified Financial Planner, Life Insurance Advisor, and Responsible Investment Specialist. She also spent 15 years in a successful career at a major Canadian bank.  She is a Public Advisory Council member for the Health Data Research Network, and a Patient Partner with the University Health Network. Krysta helps to shape the future of the financial planning profession by writing and grading exams for FP Canada and focuses on how behavioral finance concepts can help clients understand their financial biases leading to better financial health. 

Chris Robinson

Dr. Robinson is Professor Emeritus of Finance and Senior Scholar with 38 years of research and teaching at York University. He is a Certified Financial Planner®, a Fellow of FP Canada and Chartered Professional Accountant with 48 years of professional and academic experience.

Dr. Robinson is a leading researcher and author in the personal finance field with an international reputation in Canada, Australia and the US. His work on retirement planning and regulation of payday lending is influential. He has advised extensively on litigation related to investments, accounting and professional ethics and testified on regulation of payday lending. He designed multiple undergraduate and graduate courses for university faculties and achieved several honours and awards for his research, teaching and service. He is the author and co-author of textbooks, research papers, monographs and over 200 newspaper articles.

He served his community as a volunteer financial adviser to La Chasse Galerie (Ontario Francophone Cultural Organisation) and the League of Canadian Poets and is part of the Black Creek Financial Advisory Network.

Udia Umoette

Mr. Umoette has over 10 years of experience in the sales and partnership arena where he creates marketing strategies and action plans for various organizations. He is the Co-Founder and Advisor at Loystar Solutions, where he helps businesses increase sales and build customer loyalty.

With experience within the IT sector in the United Kingdom and Canada, Mr. Umoette’s strong area of focus includes promoting inclusion and partnerships with financial institutions and challenges consumers may encounter with financial services. Mr. Umoette has a strong affiliation with his community and volunteers his services with efforts for SickKids Hospital, Canadian Red Cross, Cerebral Palsy Initiatives and Richmond Hill Soccer Club.

Laura Tamblyn Watts (Chair)

Ms. Tamblyn Watts is a public policy lawyer with 20 years of expertise in the aging, financial, disability and consumer sectors. She founded and was the National Director of the Canadian Centre for Elder Law, and the Chief Public Policy Officer at CARP. She recently founded CanAge, a new non-profit voice for seniors in Canada. She has extensive experience in banking, securities, regulatory and law reform in the consumer and financial sectors. She teaches at the University of Toronto in the Institute for LifeCourse and Aging, and the Factor Inwentash Faculty of Social Work.

Todd White

Mr. White started his career as an Investment Specialist at Toronto Dominion Asset Management, where he provided mutual fund and investments advice, before moving into a managerial role to conduct sales and market share analysis.

He served as a committee chair for a credit union, providing oversight for members interests and employees’ pension plans and was an elected councillor in his community in Southwestern, Ontario, advocating for the communities’ interests with the provincial and federal governments. Being a consumer, running his own business for the last 20 years, Mr. White has extensive experience working with seniors, advocating with health care providers, municipal and provincial governments on their behalf and has a personal and professional understanding on how important it is to ensure that consumers’ concerns have a voice.