Alexandra Wilson discovered a passion for co-operatives in 1974, when she led her neighbours in a successful fight to create the Bain Apartments Co-operative, putting a stop to the landlord’s plans to evict 260 low-income households. This involvement as a teenager in saving her own home led to a career spanning 47 years in the development, management, and provision of association services to housing co-operatives at the local and national level. Alexandra spent 22 years on the board of Co-operative Housing International and in 2017 was elected to the global board of the International Cooperative Alliance. She is a member of the board of the Funeral Co-operative of Ottawa; a member of the board, vice chair, chair of the Risk and Compensation Committee and past chair of the audit and sustainability committees of The Co-operators Group, a multi-line co-operative insurer; a past member of the board and audit committee chair of Vancity Community Investment Bank; and past chair of the Credit Committee of Alterna Savings and Credit Union. From 2012 to 2021, she served on the Advisory Board for Sustainable Business of Chartered Professional Accountants Canada. In 2021, Alexandra retired from her position as CEO of the Agency for Co-operative Housing, an organization she founded in 2005.

As Vice President, Sustainability and Citizenship, Chad leads the effort to embed and integrate sustainability principles at Co-operators, including in its investment strategies and underwriting practices. In this capacity he serves as a member of Co-operators Management Investment Committee and represents Co-operators with a wide range of partners and coalitions, including the United Nations-convened Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance (NZAOA). He also oversees the national community investment and partnership programs, which include the Co-operators Community Funds and Co-operative Development Program.

Prior to joining Co-operators, Chad was the Founding Director and Lead Animator of the Energy Futures Lab, a diverse coalition of innovators and partner organizations working to advance solutions for a transformative energy vision for Canada. He earned his masters degree as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar at the International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics at Lund University in Sweden and completed the Oxford Social Finance Programme at Oxford University’s Saïd School of Business. Chad is also a former Executive Director at The Natural Step Canada.

Kristen is partner in the firm and has practiced law at Taylor McCaffrey LLP since her call to the Bar in 1996 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Her primary area of practice is corporate & commercial law, where she has had the opportunity to represent corporations, cooperatives and partnerships in their business endeavors, from structuring start-ups to crafting by-laws, assistance with general commercial contract matters, obtaining financing from traditional financial institutions, drafting shareholder and member agreements, and assisting with fundraising. She has represented clients in pursuit of matters with both the Manitoba Securities Commission and the Cooperatives Regulator and has provided general assistance to the Manitoba Cooperatives Association in lobbying for changes to applicable legislation.

She has assisted new generation cooperatives in assembling business plans and prepared them for equity drives. She also represents more traditional cooperatives and multi-stakeholder co-ops, and has assisted in drafting by-laws and articles of incorporation for every type of co-op, both provincially and federally. Kristen provides general legal advice to cooperatives in a variety of industries, including agriculture, housing, insurance, retail, and oil and gas, to name a few. Kristen has assisted cooperatives and credit unions in addressing multi-jurisdictional issues.

Kristen currently sits on the Board of Directors of Red River Co-op, a retail fuel and food co-op serving over 300,000 members located in Winnipeg and the surrounding region.

Michael Beland is Director of Operations and Support Functions at Desjardins Ontario Credit Union. In his role, he’s responsible for working with regulatory authorities and enhancing the credit union’s support functions such as finance, risk management, operational process management and compliance. He has previously been employed in various roles within the Desjardins, including strategic and major project management, for the past 9 years.

Michael is a steadfast cooperator who has been involved in all levels of the cooperative movement, including local co-operatives, co-operative federations and national co-op associations for over 20 years. His involvement has led him to work with cooperatives in various sectors, particularly in the areas of health services, shared services and financial services. He has worked in co-operative education, co-operative start-ups, cooperative management and cooperative development of nation networks across the country. He played a key role in founding the Canadian Cooperative Investment Fund. He’s also served on various boards, including the Coopérative de santé de Thurso.

He has a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in community and economic development. He also has a master’s degree in business administration (MBA) with a specialization in strategic project management from Université Laval.

Kelly joined La Siembra Co-operative’s Finance Team in 2010 as the co-op’s Director of Finance, Investor Relations and Capital Manager. Today, she leads this portfolio as La Siembra’s Executive Director and one of six worker-owners committed to building sustainable livelihoods for small farmers through fair trade and economic democracy.

A credit union member since childhood, Kelly has been a part of the co-operative and social solidarity movement for over 25 years. In 2012, she was elected to the Board of Your Credit Union in Ottawa, and is serving out her final year as Board Chair, having completed her training in Regulatory and Compliance, Governance and Ethics, AML, Enterprise Risk Management, and Strategic Planning.

Kelly has proudly served the members of several national and international co-operative and fair trade organizations, including serving the Boards of the Ontario Co-operative Association, Fairtrade Canada and Green Campus Co-op. She is presently serving on the Board of Equal Exchange US – one the largest worker co-operatives in the United States, and she was recently elected to the Canadian Worker Co-operative Federation’s Board as a Director at Large.

Kelly started her education in Finance and Business Administration at BCIT and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economic Geography and Political Science from Carleton University. In 2017 she was honoured to receive the Co-operative Spirit Award for her work and volunteerism in the sector.

Kelly currently resides in Ottawa with her husband Derek and is an active member of the community promoting the co-operative and credit union model.

Sean works as the Executive Director of Union Co-operative, which is working to acquire properties in Waterloo Region for permanent affordability through community ownership. He is the Principal of Scaled Purpose, a management consultancy for non-profits, charities, and co-operatives. Sean is an instructor at Wilfrid Laurier University, and the Treasurer at the construction company Fourth Pig Worker Co-operative.

Sean holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Wilfrid Laurier University, and a Master of Environmental Studies at the University of Waterloo. Sean is currently a Doctoral Candidate at the University of Waterloo where he researches the governance and financial strategies of community organizations. Sean was a 2021 Bertram Scholar, a research award provided by the Institute of Corporate Director’s Canadian Foundation for Governance Research. In 2019, Co-operatives and Mutuals Canada awarded Sean with the Lemaire Co-operative Studies Award.

Since being elected by the membership in May 2025, Glenn serves as an elected Director of the Board of Red River Co-op (335,000 member owners) and is the Chair of the Nominations Committee, a member of the Governance & Compensation Committee and the Audit Committee. Previously, Glenn was the elected Vice-Chair of the Board, Chair of the Nominations Committee, a member of the Nominations Committee, Governance & Compensation Committee, and the Audit Committee. Glenn was initially elected to the Board in 2018 and served two (2) three-year elected terms.

In addition, Glenn served as a member of the Council for the Insurance Institute of Manitoba for six (6) years; the last two (2) as Secretary-treasurer. Moreover, Glenn was a course instructor, examination proctor, and an industry lecturer for the Insurance Institute of Manitoba.

Furthermore, Glenn also served as an elected Director on the Board of Directors of Assiniboine Credit Union (220,000 members) where he was also a member of the HR Policy & Compensation Committee.

Glenn has extensive “C” suite experience as a President & CEO, COO, CFO and VP of several disciplines in a multitude of industries and has achieved and maintains the following designations all in good standing: CPA, CA, CIP (Hons), CRM, RF, CAFM, ICD.D, Co-opD. D, GCB.D, CCB.D.

Overall, Glenn has 40+ years of business experience, inclusive of 11+ years as CFO of Arctic Co-operatives Limited and Arctic Cooperative Development Fund. Arctic Co-operatives Limited is a service federation supporting 31 local member-owned Co-operatives, three (3) wholly owned Iqaluit-based subsidiaries, two (2) joint ventures, numerous equity, and portfolio investments all in Canada’s Arctic (Nunavut, Northwest Territories and Yukon).

Glenn graduated from the Faculty of Administrative Studies at the University of Manitoba with a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) on the Dean’s Honour Roll.

Glenn is a lifelong Winnipegger. He is a strong supporter of the Winnipeg Humane Society via walking dogs waiting for adoption, committee work to raise funds for the Annual Bow Wow Ball Gala and personal financial benevolence; a Canadian Blood Services blood donor; a supporter of Prairie Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre and Rare Dementia Support Canada; and a long-time supporter of Siloam Mission whose vision is: “A Winnipeg Without Chronic Homelessness”.

Andy Morrison retired in 2016 as the CEO of Arctic Co‑operatives Limited, a position he held since 1995. Andy was responsible to the elected Board of this aboriginal-owned and democratically controlled Co-operative federation. He provided leadership, direction and support in the business affairs and governance of Arctic Co‑ops, including operational and technical support services to the locally-owned and controlled Co-ops in the Canadian Arctic. Between 1986 and 1995, Andy was the General Manager of Arctic Co-operative Development Fund, the financial arm (Loan Fund) of the Co-op System in the Arctic. Andy also held financial management positions with Arctic Co-operatives Limited, including that of Controller. Under his leadership, Arctic Co-ops, Arctic Co-op Development Fund and the Co‑op System in the Arctic experienced very positive growth and development.

Prior to joining Arctic Co-ops, Andy held retail and financial management positions with Co-operatives in Atlantic Canada. He is a graduate of Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Andy serves on the Board of Directors of a number of organizations including:

as President of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Co-operative Investment Fund (CCIF), the new national Co-op Development Fund in Canada.
The Board of Directors and the Executive Committee of NorWest Co-op, a Community Health Centre in Winnipeg.

Andy has a broad range of Co-operative and corporate experience on the Boards of Directors of numerous Co-operative and private sector organizations in the fields of housing, insurance, communications, transportation, finance and advocacy. Andy and his wife Paula reside in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Since joining The Co-operators in 2009, Dave has held increasingly senior leadership roles within the finance area for the group of companies. Currently Dave is the VP, Financial Accounting Services where he is responsible for setting the strategic direction and ensuring operational success of The Co-operators shared service financial functions. Over his tenure with The Co-operators he has had a focus on financial reporting, operational accounting and financial systems. He has made significant strides in reducing operational expenses and increasing team engagement. Prior to this he worked in the auditing of manufacturing and not-for-profit sectors for PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Dave holds an Honours Bachelor of Commerce degree with distinction from McMaster University as well as a CPA, CA designation from the Institute of Chartered Professional Accountants.

Dave lives with his family in Guelph and is active in the community through involvement as the president of a local nursery school cooperative, a member of the Guelph General Hospital Board of Directors and is a Guelph Minor Soccer coach.

Greg O’Neill has 30 years’ experience in the Canadian Co-operative sector. He served as a Director and Advisor to the Canadian Worker Co-operative Federation for many years. He managed a small loan fund for worker co-operative development in Newfoundland. He has also successfully served as a developer for numerous worker co-operative enterprises and as a contributor to the BC Institute for Co-operative Studies publication “Effective Practices in Co-op Development” for writing the chapter, “Capitalization of Co-operative Development in Canada”.

Greg has also had extensive experience with the multi-purpose co-operative members of Artic Co-operatives Limited. He spent 8 years as the General Manager of the Arctic Co-operative Development Fund. He also did planning for the creation of a development fund for the Fédération des Coopératives du Nouveau Québec (FCNQ).

Most recently, Greg has been working in the Canadian housing co-operative movement with the Agency for Co-operative Housing. He served as the Director of Lending and Default prevention Services. He was responsible for developing secondary financing plans for Housing Co-operatives in difficulty. He was also instrumental in developing a program for market-based housing co-operative refinancing with the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation and the Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada.

The breadth of experience in a variety of Co-operative enterprises primarily in a senior role related to their financing makes Greg uniquely qualified to provide service to the Canadian Co-operative Investment Fund as a member of the Investment Advisory Committee.