Meet the Moderator
Royson James, Columnist, Toronto Star
Royson James is the Urban Affairs Columnist for the Toronto Star. Much of his writing centers around community and city building and celebrates the people and ideas that improve and sustain the livable city. His column usually appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
Meet the Panelists
Shari Austin, Vice President of Corporate Citizenship, RBC
Shari Austin was appointed Vice President and Head, Corporate Citizenship, and Executive Director of the RBC Foundation in January, 2008. In this capacity, she is responsible for three areas:
- Corporate Social Responsibility strategy and communication;
- Corporate environmental affairs; and
- RBC’s philanthropic activities
She has overall responsibility for RBC’s Blue Water Project.
From 2003 to 2007, Shari served as Vice President, Risk Policy in RBC’s Group Risk Management area, and was responsible for enterprise risk policies, risk governance, and environmental risk management. She has been with RBC since 1995.
Shari is a lawyer by training. Before joining RBC in 1995, she was Legal Counsel to the Canadian Payments Association in Ottawa for six years. She holds a B.A. (Honours) from the University of Toronto in political philosophy and Canadian Studies, an LL.B (Bachelors of Law) from the University of Ottawa; and a Masters Degree in Practicing Management from McGill University in Montreal.
She was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, and lives in Toronto with her husband and two children.
Rahul Bhardwaj, President & CEO, Toronto Community Foundation
Rahul K. Bhardwaj is the President & CEO of the Toronto Community Foundation, where he has been working to engage philanthropy in Toronto to address challenges facing the city. Formerly a corporate lawyer with a leading Canadian law firm, he was also Vice President of the Toronto 2008 Olympic Bid. Rahul was recently named Chair of the 2012 Ontario Summer Games and has served as a Director on many other cultural and civic boards in Toronto and beyond. His dedication to our communities led The National Post to proclaim him one of the “Next Generation of Toronto Civic Leaders”.
Nandini (Nan) DasGupta, Partner and Managing Director, The Boston Consulting Group
Nan DasGupta joined The Boston Consulting Group in 1996 and is now a Partner and Managing Director in the Toronto office. Nan’s experience at BCG has focused on strategy and issues of economic and industry development. She has served clients in both private and public sectors, and across several industries including consumer goods, retail and financial services.
Prior to joining BCG, Nan worked at General Electric Company as an engineer in the Industrial Motors business. She received her M.B.A. from the University of Western Ontario, Masters of Electrical Engineering from the University of Toronto, and Honours Bachelor of Electrical Engineering degree from McGill University.
Nan enjoys playing soccer, skiing, tennis, and travel with her husband and three children.
Vicki Saunders, Senior Advisor, MaRS
Vicki has co-founded and run 4 ventures in Europe, Toronto and Silicon Valley including Zazengo (an online platform for consumer and employee engagement focused on sustainability), The NRG Group (which went public on the Toronto Stock Exchange in 2000) and Impactanation, a global consulting firm focused on engaging youth to tackle the grand challenges we are facing. In 2001, Vicki was selected as a Global Leader for Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum. She speaks regularly at events around the world including; The World Economic Forum in Davos, Women of Influence Series in Canada, Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs events and the Tallberg Forum.
Leslie Woo, Vice President, Policy, Planning & Innovation, Metrolinx
Leslie Woo has led this country’s most innovative thinking in urban planning, authoring award-winning plans for transforming Canada’s largest urban centres, including The Big Move, the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area’s multi-modal regional transportation plan, currently guiding over $14B of investments in transit. As Metrolinx’s Vice President, Policy, Planning and Innovation, she heads up corporate strategic policy and long range planning as well as service planning for the operating divisions, GO Transit and Air Rail Link. She also leads the portfolio of mobility hub and station development.
Leslie is a 2011/12 Fellow of the International Women’s Forum, a global association of more than 4,500 women leaders from over 24 countries. An architect and planner. Leslie is a board director with the YMCA-GTA, a member of the Civic Action Alliance Steering Committee, the American Planning Association, and the Transportation Association of Canada’s Urban Transportation Council. Born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, Leslie is a mother of two and an active volunteer in her community.
