G-20Y Summit Expert Council:
Karla Chaman
Sr. Civil Society Officer
International Monetary Fund, Washington DC
Chantal Dejou
Senior Human Development Specialist
Governance & Innovation Practices
World Bank Institute, Washington DC
Prof. Dr. Holger Erchinger
Partner KPMG LLP New York
Reijo Kemppinen
Director of Communications
European Bank of Reconstruction and Development, London
Prof. Dr. Lars D. Wellejus
University of Applied Sciences, Business Administration
– Decision Systems, Frankfurt Main
Keynote speeches were delivered by the following experts on summit agenda topics:
David Miller
Mayor of Toronto
Miller received a degree in economics from Harvard University and a law degree from the University of Toronto. Before running for public office, he was a partner at the Toronto law firm Aird & Berlis, where he specialized in employment and immigration law and shareholder rights. Miller and his wife, lawyer Jill Arthur, are the parents of two children.
David Miller was elected Toronto's 63rd mayor in November 2003 and was re-elected in November 2006 with nearly 60% of the popular vote and a mandate to make Toronto a city of prosperity, livability and opportunity for all.
Mayor Miller has worked to make Toronto a world-leading city on environmental issues and on June 4, 2008 he was appointed chair of the influential C40 Group of World Cities leading the fight against Climate Change. As chair of C40, Mayor Miller had a key role in organizing the Copenhagen Climate Summit for Mayors which urged national governments at the COP15 Conference in Denmark last December to engage, empower and resource cities to meet the challenge of global warming.
Lawrence Sherwin
Deputy Director of Communications
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
Since 2002, Lawrence Sherwin has worked as Deputy Director of Communications for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, a multilateral international financial institution with its headquarters in London. Prior to this, he was a manager in international corporate communications at Novartis AG and Syngenta AG, Swiss multinational corporations. From 1995 to 1998, he was Managing Director of a joint venture underwritten by the US Public Broadcasting Corporation to distribute US public radio programmes in Europe. From 1980 to 1995, he was at Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), an American funded radio station broadcasting to Eastern Europe and the countries of the former Soviet Union, where he worked in broadcast administration, as Deputy Director of RL, as well as Deputy Director of the Russian Broadcasting Department.
Mr. Sherwin speaks fluent Russian, German and French, and holds an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley, an MA in International Relations from Harvard University, and a BA in European History from Brown University. He also attended Leningrad State University as an exchange student in the mid-1970s.
Bert van Selm
Deputy Chief IMF Strategy Unit, International Monetary Fund
Bert van Selm (42) is deputy chief of the International Monetary Fund’s Strategy Unit. He has been with the IMF since 2000, working as economist and senior economist on country teams for Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Nigeria, and he served as the Fund’s Resident Representative in FYR Macedonia from 2006 to 2009. Prior to joining the Fund, van Selm was a lecturer in international economics at the University of Leiden, the Netherlands (1995-1998) and coordinator for IMF affairs at the Dutch Ministry of Finance (1998-2000). He has a PhD in economics from the University of Groningen, also in the Netherlands. He has published numerous articles and one book: The Economics of Soviet Break-up (Routledge, 1997).
Guillermo Babatz
President of the National Banking Commission, Mexico
Mr. Babatz has a PhD in Economics from Harvard University, and graduated with a degree in Economics from the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM). Mr.Babatz is currently the President of the Bank National Commission and Securities. He supervises and regulates in the sphere of competence, to the financial institutions, in order to ensure its stability and proper operation, as well as maintaining and promoting the healthy and balanced development of the financial system as a whole, in protection of the interests of the public institution.
Previously, he has served as a Director of domestic credit in the Ministry of Finance and public credit (SHCP), with the responsibility of issuing the domestic public debt of the Federal Government and the development of domestic debt management programs.
In the SHCP, Mr. Babatz served as Director of General insurance and securities, with the main function of play the activities of the Secretariat in the regulation and promotion of values and insurance markets. This responsibility was, among others, as a leader in the draft reform of the law of market values and the new law society’s investment in 2001, as well as officer in charge of privatization of insurance Hidalgo, S.A.
Prof. Dr. Holger Erchinger
Partner, KPMG LLP New York
Prof. Dr. Holger Erchinger has a PhD in Economics and MBA. He is a US-Certified Public Accountant and a Member of AICPA, a German Certified Public Accountant. Since 2008 Dr. Holger is a partner with KPMG LLP in New York.
Dr. Holger worked before in the KPMG offices in Munich (1996-2002 and 2005-2006), in Berlin (2006-2008), and in New York (2002-2005).
Dr. Holger had been a Professor for business administration at Berlin School of Economics between 2006 and 2008. He also serves on the Board of the International Association of Accounting Education and Research (IAAER).
Dr. Djordjija B. Petkoski
Head of Business, Competitiveness and Development Program
World Bank, Washington DC
Dr. Petkoski is a Lead Specialist at the World Bank and the Head of the Business, Competitiveness, and Development team at the World Bank Institute. He is a Senior Fellow at the Carol and Lawrence Zicklin Center for Business Ethics Research, the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He has a work experience in Asia, Latin America, the Former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa. Dr. Petkoski has engaged with over 100 companies worldwide, including Nestle, Unilever, SAP, Mars Co., Pepsi Co, CEMEX, Tetra Pac, etc.
He also sits on the International Advisory Board of Instituto Ethos, Brazil, and the International Advisory Council of the International Center for Corporate Accountability, Inc. He was a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at Harvard University in the early 1990's and a Visiting Scholar at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1979-80. Dr. Petkoski teaches two courses on Corporate Responsibility and Ethics at Wharton Business School jointly with Professor William Laufer. He is author or co-author of 15 books and over 120 articles. Dr. Petkoski received his Master's degree in Public Administration at Kennedy School of Governance, Harvard University, Ph.D. in Economics at the University of Zagreb, and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering at the University of Belgrade.
Paul Bates
Dean, De Groote School of Business McMaster University
A Certified Management Accountant (CMA), Dean Paul Bates has been a leader and educator in the Canadian business community for more than two decades. He is currently serving his second term as Dean and Industry Professor in Financial Management Services at the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario; the first Dean in its 42 year history to serve a second term. Dean Bates also serves as a member of the Board of Governors at McMaster University. As a former Adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, he was awarded an Outstanding Teacher Award in 2003 and again in 2004. Dean Bates recently completed a second edition of his best-selling book, Sales Force Management in the Financial Services. He also chairs the Investor Education Fund. Bates has held the president’s office at four major brokerage and investment firms. In 2002, Bates was awarded the Queen’s Jubilee Medal for community service. In January 2008 Dean Bates was appointed to a three year term to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).
Prof. Dr. Lars D. Wellejus
University of Applied Sciences
Business Administration – Decision Systems, Frankfurt Main
Lars holds a professorship in Business Administration and Decision Systems at the University of Applied Sciences, Frankfurt Main, Germany. He lectures in Finance, Financial Modeling and InstitutionalEconomics/Economic Analysis of Law. His scientific interests comprise Information Economics, Project Finance and Development Aid Financing. After his PhD Lars worked as a consultant for corporate finance and strategy consulting at PwC, before he changed to an investment bank specializing in project and export finance, to build up a team of analysts for financial modeling. Lars holds a PhD in Financial Economics from the University of Hagen, Germany.
Jonathan Levi
Consul for Economic Affairs & Trade Commissioner, Government of Israel, Economic Mission to Canada
Jonathan Levy is the current Consul of Economic Affairs and Trade Commissioner in Toronto.
Prior to his arrival in Canada, Jonathan held several positions in the Foreign Trade Administration including Director of the North-America Division (trade between Israel and the US & Canada), Director of Central & Eastern Europe (trade between Israel and European countries), Economic Attaché at the Israel Embassy in Vienna, and Deputy Director of the European Department in Israel.
Jonathan has a BA in Economics, LLB, and a MBA in Marketing & Finance, all
completed at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Jonathan is a member of the Israeli Bar and a Captain (Reserves) in the Israel Defense Force. As well, Jonathan is certified in Mediation by the Israeli Center for Negotiation & Mediation.
Yvette M Thakurdial
Independent Associate
PPL Legal Care of Canada
Yvette Thakurdial holds a degree in Automotive Technology from Centennial College, Canada. She has a long history of experience working with corporations in Canada and the United States. Yvette owes her own business and works as an Independent Associate at PPL Legal Care of Canada. The parent company Pre-Paid Legal Services Inc, is publicly traded on the NYSE: PPD. Pre-Paid Legal’s Life Events Legal Plan is designed as the solution for getting the legal counsel needed to navigate the murky waters of life’s legal events-big or small. The Pre-Paid Legal Services Membership provides a partnership between the typical family in North America and a PPL Provider Law Firm. With the Identity Theft Shield, PPL is the only company that offers help before, during and after the event –in all five areas of identity theft: driver’s license, Social Insurance number, medical, character and financial. Yvette also works to provide identity theft security services with Kroll Background America. She is married with three children.
Frank Jin (Jin Jianyun)
President, “Relay-China” Association
After graduation at MBA Far Eastern University Philippines Jin has worked in financial firms and began his own businesses. Jin represents the new generation of young entrepreneurs in China and is ready to contribute to the development of his companies, his country and the whole world. He also plays an important role in some influential social organizations: he is a Chairman of China Finance Organization, Director of Relay China Association. Jin is also engaged in charitable foundations and has helped many poor children complete their education.
Donna Messer
Owner, Connect US Canada
As President of ConnectUs Canada, Donna’s contact network extends well into the tens of thousands – a network that she routinely and freely shares with her clients, associates and acquaintances via the extensive speaking engagements and workshops she holds around the world. A dynamic, highly sought-after speaker, Donna has spoken throughout North America, the Caribbean, Mexico, Europe and Iceland on a host of topics dealing with the art of networking and the ties that bind. She has spoken before Federal, Provincial, Municipal and State governments, even serving as an advisor to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on issues relating to women in business.
Among Donna Messer’s several hundred clients are top tier financial institutions, boards of trade, major accounting and law firms, and leading universities and colleges across Canada. Donna is also a frequent featured speaker at HAPPEN, Canada’s largest executive networking organization.
A sampling of her name clients include: Bell Canada, Honeywell, Certified Management Accountants, Canadian General Accountants, RBC, TD Canada Trust, BMO, CIBC, Scotiabank, Schulich School of Business, Rotman School of Business, Ernst & Young, Industry Canada, HP (Hewlett Packard), and IVY School of Business. She was also Ernst and Young’s nominee for Entrepreneur of the Year.