Lekan Akindele is a risk professional with over fourteen years of experience in the financial industry. In his current role as the Director of Enterprise Risk Management at American Express Bank of Canada, he oversees development and implementation of the risk appetite framework and aspects of the risk management program including emerging risk identification, the event-driven stress testing program and the capital management program through economic capital forecasting and analysis. In his previous role as an operational risk manager at Stanbic IBTC Bank (a member of Standard Bank Group), he executed the RCSA (Risk Control Self -Assessment) and KRI (Key-risk indicator) frameworks for risk identification, measurement and reporting.

Lekan is passionate about teaching finance at all levels and he holds a Master of Finance degree from Queen’s University – Smith School of Business in Toronto. He is a CFA charter holder, a PRMIA- certified operational risk manager and a certified ISO 27001 Information Security Management lead implementer.

Elspeth has over 35 years of experience in the financial services industry. She joined OSFI in 2012 in the Life Insurance Group and is currently the Managing Director of the Operational Risk Division which is part of the Non-Financial Risk Group. Prior to OSFI, Elspeth held positions in reporting, planning, financial initiatives and capital at several large and medium-sized insurance companies. Elspeth has a B.Sc. from McGill University and an MBA from the Ivey School of Business and has a CPA,CGA.

Tracey Chinman is VP, Operational and Non-Financial Risk at Home Trust Company.  Tracey is responsible for providing a second line of defence oversight and challenge to the enterprise for all non-financial risks.  She has over 15 years financial industry experience and has been responsible for designing and implementing risk management programs, as well as executing risk management activities in all three lines of defence.  Currently, her focus is developing and implementing frameworks relating to emerging issues and trends, including risk culture, operational resilience and climate risk frameworks.

Rachael Golembuski, CIA, CRMA, CMA (US), is an audit and risk professional with twenty years of experience in the financial and professional services industries. She lives in Calgary, Alberta and is the Chief Audit Officer at Connect First Credit Union. She recently returned to her Third Line, internal audit roots after 3.5 years sowing the seeds of “risk management is FUN” while standing up a First Line risk team in a digital bank and leading a Second Line Operational & Fraud Risk Management team at an Alberta-based financial institution. Rachael’s love for the internal audit profession sprouted when she worked for a global professional services firm in Montreal and flourished as the Director, Professional Practices & Data Analytics in an Internal Audit department. She moved to Calgary 12 years ago and is fluent in English and French.

Kendra holds a Certified Chief Executive designation, as well as a Masters Certificate in Risk Management and Business Leadership.   She has led an exciting career as a senior sales and finance leader working for a chartered bank, credit union and a federal crown corporation. Kendra’s current role includes responsibility for maintaining the quality of the commercial, agriculture and retail credit portfolios, developing and implementing credit related policies, procedures and products, overseeing credit collections and asset recovery, leading both the Operational and Enterprise Risk Management programs, as well as ensuring organization regulatory compliance and effective fraud management.

Kendra is passionate about transforming risk management into an optimization program that effectively balances value creation and preservation of member capital.  She is highly strategic with a strong will to build capability and internal processes to grow and diversify the credit union and execute on their strategic priorities.  Kendra is a true collaborator and is known for challenging existing processes and translating leading-edge conceptual thinking into practical strategic actions. She implements innovative solutions that yield long-term benefits, enhanced competitive advantages, and organizational value through empowered, proactive, and results-oriented teams.

Sameer is an author, keynote speaker, motivator, community leader and mentor. He is a financial services sector veteran with a strong international experience in accounting and finance. He currently serves as a risk management professional with one of the large banks in Canada. With a solution driven approach, he has significant experience of general management, capital markets, risk management and compliance across an impressive career spanning more than three decades. Prior to his current role, Sameer spent many years in a progressive series of roles with various banks in Canada. He has also worked internationally as a Chartered Accountant (CA) in India, Management Consultant (CMA) in USA and is a qualified fellow on the Institute of the Chartered Accountants of India, Certified Management Accountants of USA. Amongst his notable international experience was being a financial consultant to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, an international fame Indian guru, known for developing the Transcendental Meditation technique. Sameer serves as Lieutenant Governor on the governing council of University of Toronto and also founded a Community Mentoring Platform www.dynamicspectrum.ca.

Narasimham Nittala is an IT Governance, Risk and Compliance (IT–GRC) professional with 20+ years of experience in the financial services industry, in the areas of GRC, Regulatory Practices, IT Security, IT Program Management, IT Audits and Assessments.

Nittala commands expertise in building IT GRC frameworks and formulating risk assessment  practices, aligning technology risk to Enterprise risk, developing technology strategies, managing Enterprise technology solutions, and, overseeing regulatory compliance and  supervision in the financial services industry. An MBA by academics, Nittala’s professional designations include CDPSE, CRISC, CGEIT and  CISA.

Nittala currently works at Concentra Bank as a Manager, Operational Risk and Technology. As a key  member of the Bank’s 2nd Line of Defence, Nittala takes pride in assessing and overseeing IT and  Information Security (IS) risk management practices in the Bank’s internal business units, new  initiatives, and vendor engagements. Nittala is also the author and reviewer of the Bank’s technology and operational strategic artifacts including enterprise IT risk policies, guidelines and IT risk  assessment frameworks.

A strong communicator, teacher and public speaker in banking industry events and ISACA meetings on topics related to IT–GRC, Nittala serves the technology community through his position on the Board of ISACA Edmonton Chapter, and teaching Cybersecurity  at Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (https://www.nait.ca/nait/home).

Amédée Prouvost was the Chief Operational Risk Officer of the World Bank where he led the institution’s risk governance and non-financial risk practice, including operational risk management, business continuity and crisis management, enterprise risk management and corporate insurance. He also served as the Secretary of the Operational Risk, Enterprise Risk, and Financial Risk Committees.

During the last 18 months of his 37-year career with the World Bank Group (WBG), he was deeply involved in shaping the institution’s emergency response to the COVID crisis and then designing its future “hybrid work model” with a view towards improving risk awareness, achieving better risk-informed decision-making, and leading to greater resilience at the individual, functional, and institutional levels.

In earlier stages of his career, Mr. Prouvost held positions across the WBG’s finance and risk functions, including CFO of MIGA (political risk insurance), Manager for Development Finance, and Financial Representative in Europe. He also served in a variety of roles in the treasury function and as Senior Adviser to three WBG CFOs. He began his professional career at Banque Paribas (now BNP Paribas) and served as a Reserve Officer with the French Navy.

Mr. Prouvost recently joined Chapelle (Risk Management Advisory, Training, Insights) as Senior Advisor. He looks forward to addressing the ERM/ORM needs of IFIs/MDBs and UN agencies globally and working with clients in the Americas.

He also serves as faculty member with the DCRO Risk Governance Institute, as President of the Board of Alliance Française of Washington DC (voted “Best Arts & Culture Non-Profit” in DC in both 2019 and 2020), as a member of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Board of UNICEF USA, and as a member of the Academic Advisory Board of the Global Business School Network.

Mr. Prouvost holds an MBA (with distinction) from the Wharton School, a Master’s degree in economics and statistics from ENSAE Paris (one of the French “grandes écoles”), and a Master of Advanced Studies in economics and finance from Paris Dauphine-PSL University.