Peter Linkletter is the Director General, Executive Coordination at the Department of National Defence (DND). In this role, he supports integrated strategic decision-making by coordinating senior management staff support to core strategic governance committees and by providing strategic review and analysis of governance documents for an organization with nearly 100,000 employees and an annual budget of $22 billion.

In his previous role as Director General, Real Property at DND, he served as the functional authority for real property for one of the largest real property organizations in the country with over 100 million square feet of floorspace and over 20,000 buildings. Peter was named to Realcomm’s global 'Top 35 People to Watch' lists for in 2008 and 2009. Peter began his public service career in 1996 and has held a succession of increasingly challenging roles within PWGSC and the Treasury Board of Canada, Secretariat.

Peter started his working career by taking a “year off” between high school and university to play keyboards with the Ottawa rock band “US”. The band released original recordings, graced the airwaves, and toured coast-to-coast. After four years as a member of the band, and much to his parents’ relief, he continued his academic pursuits. Peter went on to complete a Combined Honours Bachelor of Arts degree (Political Science and Geography) from Carleton University as well as Master of Urban and Regional Planning and Master of Business Administration degrees from Queen’s University.

Peter is the Chair of the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation and has served on the Boards of Directors of the Real Property Institute of Canada (www.rpic-ibic.ca) and the Open Standards Consortium for Real Estate (www.oscre.org).

Jon Dervin is a Partner in the Assurance and Advisory practice at Ernst & Young LLP in Ottawa.   He has over 18 years of professional experience providing assurance, accounting and advisory services to established publicly traded technology companies, Crown corporations, federal government departments and emerging businesses working with Canadian, international and U.S. accounting standards and securities rules and regulations.

Gregory Sanders is a renowned Canadian Tax lawyer and is head of Perley-Robertson, Hill & McDougall LLP’s Tax Practice. A graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School, and a Chartered Accountant, Gregory has 20 plus years in private client tax law. In addition, he is highly regarded as a writer/educator in the field, with numerous publications to his credit, and experience teaching law at the Law Society of Upper Canada.
Gregory has expertise in all key tax related areas including: tax and estate planning, dealing with CRA, tax litigation, cross-border/international tax law, charities tax issues and dealing effectively with changes to tax legislation.

Guy Legault is former President and CEO of the Canadian Payments Association (CPA), which operates Canada's national clearing and settlement system. He has more than 20 years' executive experience in the not-for-profit sector, having held positions with organizations in the financial, fundraising, legal and health policy fields. Prior to joining the CPA in 2003, he served as President and Chief Operating Officer of the Certified General Accountants Association of Canada for eight years.

Mr. Legault served from 1996 to 2000 as an advisor for Canada on the Council of the International Federation of Accountants. In 2001 he was named vice-chair of the Forum for International Trade Training, an organization he served as a director from 1997 to 2003. In 2004, he was appointed Director on the Board of Directors for the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation.

He received the Banff Centre/Canadian Society for Association Executives Award for Excellence in Association Leadership in 2000.

Mr. Legault holds a Bachelor of Science (Industrial Relations) degree from the University of Montreal and a Master's of Business Administration from the University of Sherbrooke. He received his CGA designation in 1986, and in recognition of his contributions to the profession, was named a Fellow of the Certified General Accountants Association of Canada in 1995. He also holds the Certified Association Executive (CAE) designation.

Linda Eagen is a dynamic, results oriented community leader who has a strong track record of performance in the not-for-profit sector. Linda began her career as a student of psychology and emergency medical care.  Her passion for helping others then led her to the fundraising profession.  Over 20 years, she has raised more than $150 million for social, arts, health and educational organizations. In 2002 she obtained an MBA from the University of Ottawa. 

For the last eight years, Linda has been the President and CEO of the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation. She and her team have raised $50 million for cancer care and research in Eastern Ontario.  In 2011, the Cancer Foundation opened the doors to Canada's first cancer Survivorship Centre. The Centre's team of professional Cancer Coaches now provides health and social care to people with cancer, their families and caregivers.  This innovative community service complements the work of medical professionals helping people take an active part in their health and wellness. 

Linda and her team have been recognized for their outstanding leadership and community service receiving prestigious awards from the University of Ottawa, the Chamber of Commerce, le Regroupement des Gens d'Affaires and the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

Robert Gould retired after almost 40 years as a professional engineer and lawyer. Before his retirement Robert was a partner at the Ottawa law firm of Smart & Biggar. He has been active in a number of associations including The Intellectual Property Institute of Canada (past President); International Trade-mark Association (Director and Executive Committee Member); Board of Directors of The Ottawa Children's Festival, Orpheus Musical Theatre Society, Ottawa Arts Advisory Board, Ottawa International Society of Magicians (past President), NAC Friends of English Theatre (past Chair) and others.

He has received the highest award for volunteer service, the Ben Karp Award, issued by the Jewish Community Centre of Ottawa.

Robert has authored and produced numerous theatre productions and has been a children's magician in Ottawa, performing especially for CHEO, over the past 30 years.

Brian McIntomny is a partner at Fasken Martineau LLP and a member of the Corporate Commercial Group. Mr. McIntomny’s practice has focused on all facets of business law for more than 25 years. Brian practices business law with particular emphasis in the areas of structuring transactions and business relationships, mergers and amalgamations, acquisitions, divestitures, secured financings, securities including public offerings and private placements, strategic alliances and corporate governance.

Brian has lectured at conferences and seminars on a variety of corporate law topics including directors’ and officers’ liabilities, governance compliance, private placements, mergers and acquisitions, strategic alliances and other business relationships.   He has lectured at TSX Venture Rules and Tools Workshop (Ottawa, 2003) and the Women’s Executive Network (Ottawa, 2004).

He has been involved with the Cancer Foundation since 2006, both as a member of the Audit and Finance Committee and an active volunteer with our NAC partnered events.

Mark Thaw is a creative consensus-builder with over twenty-five years of information technology sales and sales management experience. He is a Senior Manager at Dell Ottawa, one of the largest computer manufacturers, with over 60,000 employees. With his collaborative and engaging manner, Mark possesses a unique blend of tenacity and flexibility that yields beneficial outcomes for all involved—be it in complex negotiations or day to day affairs. Mark is a positive team member and a leader that inspires loyalty for the active pursuit of joint goals.

In addition to his professional life, Mark is active in the community and has been since his teens. He is Co-Chairperson of the High Tech Sector for the Ottawa Jewish Federation, Chair of the Global Community Involvement Group Dell Canada which encourages employees of Dell Canada to give back to their local community. He was one of 60 people worldwide to receive the prestigious Dell Community Ambassador award given to employees who demonstrate a high level of community involvement. He also was one of the 75 recipients of the being honored by the Ottawa Jewish Federation 75th anniversary for his active involvement in the Jewish community. Mark is also an active volunteer with Dreams Take Flight Canada, an organization which hosts disabled or underprivileged children to Disneyworld and active with working with CHEO on their yearly dream home.

Mark and his wife have established a Family Fund with the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation to support clinical trials. He has supported the Cancer Foundation in various ways; providing prizes for events, supporting the lottery and donating desktops and laptops. Most recently, he worked with the ORCF to create a new Tribute Fund campaign and stepping up he and his colleagues at Dell made established a fund to support clinical trials.

Coming soon

Coming soon

Jeff Polowin is the Senior Vice-President, Municipal Public Affairs at Hill+Knowlton Strategies Canada, Ottawa.

Jeff has developed the City of Ottawa's leading municipal government relations practice. His extensive knowledge of City Hall and his experience over the last decade has proven highly beneficial for developers, property owners, coalitions and many others in dealing with the City of Ottawa. He is part of the following organizations:

• The Cancer Foundation’s Courage Cabinet since 2009.
• Appointed to Roger’s House Board in 2011

PAST

• Chair of the Queensway Carleton Hospital Board of Directors
• Director of the Jewish Federation of Ottawa

Bernice Rachkowski has been the Marketing Director at St. Laurent Centre for 15 years, where she oversees a staff of 10 with an annual marketing budget of 1.7 million. Her focus is on achieving high ROI on projects, 'big picture' strategizing and securing sponsorship revenue for the Centre.

With her guidance, St. Laurent Centre has won national and international Marketing Awards for special events, advertising, PR and community initiatives, including the 2012 Ottawa Philanthropy Award for Small Business.

An ambassador for the community, her involvement with St. Laurent Centre has included a 20 year partnership with the Wild About Walking Club for seniors, support of the Cancer Telethon, Toy Mountain, Salvation Army Kettle Campaign, and Stride auction, to name a few. Recent events have included acting as the presenting sponsor for the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation’s Bust a Move in April of this year, which raised almost $350,000 and brought in Richard Simmons as a celebrity ambassador; and hosting the 2012 Juno Fan Fare, featuring various Canadian recording artists.

Bernice has been an active volounteer of the Cancer Foundation since inception and is Chair of the Cancer Foundation’s BAM Leadership Committee.