Our Team
We thank our departing co-chairs Mike Pedersen from TD Bank, Kilian Berz from The Boston Consulting Group, and Eva Ligeti from the Clean Air Partnership for their years of dedication, and welcome University of Waterloo's Blair Feltmate, BMO's Cam Fowler and RBC's Linda Mantia to the leadership team.
We are happy to report that Mike and Kilian will continue to apply their wealth of experience and insights to Greening Greater Toronto as members of CivicAction's Board of Directors. We are also thrilled that Eva is continuing her involvement with us as a Co-Chair of the WeatherWise Partnership, and as a member of CivicAction's Steering Committee.
Founding and Former Co-Chair
David Pecaut (1955 – 2009)
David Pecaut was a visionary, an inspiring leader and an avid city-builder. David devoted himself to civic entrepreneurship and called for collective leadership in tackling the Toronto region’s most pressing urban challenges.
David Pecaut was the Founder and voluntary Chair of the Toronto City Summit Alliance, a diverse coalition of civic leaders whose mission is to accelerate social and economic development in the Toronto region. The Alliance's 2003 report, Enough Talk, was a comprehensive action plan for much that ails the region: from transportation, economic renewal and social infrastructure to arts and culture. Since its publication, David helped mobilize the Toronto region to implement the plan by co-founding the Toront03; the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council; the Toronto Region Research Alliance; the Strong Neighbourhoods Task Force; the Task Force on Modernizing Income Security for Working Age Adults; Luminato, the Toronto Festival of Arts and Creativity; Greening Greater Toronto; and DiverseCity.
David was a Senior Partner and Managing Director in The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) where he was a major force in building BCG’s global strategy, e-commerce and public policy practices.
David was also the founder and Chair of the Canadian eBusiness Roundtable, a public/private e-business policy recommendation forum; co-founded Career Edge, the national youth internship program; served on the Prime Minister's External Advisory Committee on Cities and Communities, Co-Chaired the Conference Board Roundtable on Commercialization; and served on the Boards of Canada Basketball, The United Way of Greater Toronto, and Pathways to Education.
David’s legacy of city-building lives on in the work of Greening Greater Toronto.
Co-Chair Biographies
Blair Feltmate, Associate Professor, and Director of Sustainability Practicem School of Environment, Enterprise and Development (SEED), Faculty of Environment, University of Waterloo
Dr. Feltmate is Associate Professor, and Director of Sustainability Practice, in the School of Environment, Enterprise and Development (SEED), Faculty of Environment, University of Waterloo.
Positions he holds include: Chair, Climate Change Adaptation Project, Canada; Chair, Pollution Probe; Co-Chair, WeatherWise Partnership, City of Toronto; Senior Advisor (and Past Chair), Sustainable Electricity Program, Canadian Electricity Association; Board member, Duke of Edinburgh Awards; Member, Ontario Securities Commission's Environmental Reporting Advisory Committee; and Board Member, Sustainable Hamilton.
Prior to joining the University of Waterloo, Dr. Feltmate was Director of Sustainable Development, Ontario Power Generation, and before that he was Vice President of Sustainable Development, Bank of Montreal. Earlier in his career, Dr. Feltmate spent twelve years developing sustainable development programs for two dozen multi-national companies and industry associations.
Cameron Fowler, Executive Vice President, Personal and Commercial Banking Canada, BMO Financial Group
Cameron Fowler was appointed Executive Vice-President, Personal and Commercial Banking Canada in July 2010. In this position, he is accountable for the development and implementation of customer, market and product strategies for all personal and commercial banking lines of business in Canada, with a focus on achieving an advantaged position for BMO Bank of Montreal in the Canadian market. Mr. Fowler joined BMO Financial Group in January 2009 as Executive Vice-President and Head of Strategic Management and Corporate Marketing.
Cameron joined BMO from Barclays Wealth in London, UK, where he spent more than five years and was, before his departure, Managing Director, Head of Barclays Wealth International. Prior to this role, he held various senior positions within Barclays, Delano Technology Corporation, Braxton Associates/Deloitte Consulting and served as Policy Advisor for the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Government of Ontario.
In addition to his position as Co-Chair of Greening Greater Toronto, Cameron is also Chair of the Advisory Council for the Greening Canada Fund, a non-profit corporation and the first voluntary carbon emissions reduction fund aimed exclusively at large Canadian corporations. He also serves on the Greening Greater Toronto Task Force, is a member of the Board of Directors of Moneris Solutions and is active in several local and international charities including the United Way.
Cameron was named one of Canada's Top 40 Under 40. He received his MBA from the London Business School at the University of London (UK) and his BA (Hon) from Queen's University.
Linda Mantia, SVP, Head of Enterprise Services and Chief Procurement Officer, Royal Bank of Canada
Linda Mantia is the Chief Procurement Officer and Head of Enterprise Services. She has responsibility for Procurement and Corporate Real Estate, with direct financial and operational accountability for RBC's 23MM square feet of real estate and critical properties and sourcing and oversight responsibility for RBC's $6 Billion annually in external vendor spend across RBC globally. In addition, Linda runs the Lean Six Sigma, Global Consulting Services and Enterprise Optimization Office. Linda is a member of the Group Operating Committee which is responsible for enabling the integration of governance and overseeing the day to day functional, operating and technology activities across RBC.
Linda joined RBC in 2003, leading GTO's Innovation & Process Design teams. She then moved to London, England as Chief Operating officer of Global Private Banking. In mid-2007 Linda became global head and SVP of Procurement and CRE and in December 2010 took on the additional responsibilities to become Head of Enterprise Services. Prior to joining RBC, Linda was an Associate Principal for McKinsey & Company based in Canada, the US and Australia and prior to that Linda was a partner at Davies, Ward & Beck specializing in corporate and securities law.
In addition to her position as Co-Chair of Greening Greater Toronto, Linda will also continue her leadership role as the Co-Chair of Greening Greater Toronto's Commercial Building Energy Initiative, offering guidance to programs such as the Race to Reduce.
Staff Biographies
Mitzie Hunter, Chief Executive Officer, CivicAction
Mitzie Hunter is the CEO of CivicAction, a coalition of senior business, non-profit, government and community leaders formed to galvanize action around the tough issues and big opportunities facing the Toronto region. CivicAction projects have involved over 7000 people and currently include: a major regional environmental campaign, Greening Greater Toronto; DiverseCity: The Greater Toronto Leadership Project, aimed at accelerating the racial and cultural diversity of Toronto's leaders; and the Emerging Leaders Network, connecting and developing 300+ up and coming city leaders.
In her previous role, Mitzie was the Chief Administrative Officer for Toronto Community Housing, where she led the strategic and business support functions. Mitzie has also held executive roles at Goodwill Industries, SMART Toronto and Bell Canada.
Mitzie brings a wealth of experience in strategic communications and planning along with her commitment to building strong communities. She is a seasoned executive with an extensive background in government relations, corporate branding and marketing, issues management, community and economic development, information technology and partnerships.
Mitzie is committed to building a vibrant city and is actively involved in her community. She has held governance positions in numerous non-profit organizations including co-chairing CivicAction's Emerging Leaders Network and participating in the DiverseCity initiatives. She has also served on the Board of Directors of Housing Services Inc., a subsidiary of Toronto Community Housing, TVOntario, United Way and the Yonge Street Mission. Ms. Hunter is a graduate of the University of Toronto Rotman School of Management.
Linda Weichel, Vice President, Partnerships, CivicAction
Linda brings 20 years of experience at Canada's largest employee-owned public relations firm, Media Profile, to her position as Vice President, Partnerships, CivicAction.
Linda is responsible for developing and ensuring the successful execution of CivicAction's strategy for initiating and sustaining relationships with its partners and stakeholders in its work to advance the Greater Toronto region.
Linda also oversees CivicAction's environmental initiative, Greening Greater Toronto and its projects, including the Race to Reduce. In this role, Linda draws on her business leadership, communications expertise and passion for city building as she drives a coordinated effort across sectors to improve the Toronto region's environmental performance.
Linda has deep knowledge of the financial services and real estate sectors and significant environmental communications experience with private, public and not-for-profit organizations, and has successfully advanced public policy objectives over the past two decades, particularly at the municipal level.
Linda encourages vibrant, walkable neighbourhoods as chair of the advisory board of the celebrated neighbourhood walking tour phenomenon Jane's Walk. In her spare time, Linda devotes herself to her great passions: international travel and singing in the Toronto Jazz Chorus.
