Françoise E. Lyon
Mandeep Roshi Chadha
Paul R. Baay
Lisa Browne
Terry Burgoyne
Susan Côté-Freeman
Dominique Hamel
Adad Hannah
Brian McBay
Sara Stasiuk
Clayton Windatt
The Board of Trustees sets the Gallery’s direction through its Corporate Plan, the centrepiece of the accountability regime adopted by Parliament for Crown corporations. The Plan keeps Parliament and the public informed of the Gallery’s priorities, objectives, strategies, and performance indicators. It commits the Gallery to a planned strategic direction over a five-year period.
The Board’s oversight role requires regular monitoring of corporate performance, annual assessment of the performance of the Director, and annual reporting to Parliament. Regular monitoring of corporate performance alerts the Board to new developments within the Gallery and in its external environment, and assists the Board in decision-making.
The Board ensures that the Gallery’s principal business risks have been identified and that appropriate systems to monitor and manage these risks are implemented. All major decisions involving Gallery assets and their financing are reviewed and approved by the Board.
For reassurance about the integrity of the information it receives, as well as the Gallery’s internal control system, the Board relies heavily on the Gallery’s audit system. The internal and external audit regime is set out in Part X of the Financial Administration Act. An external Gallery audit consists of an annual audit and, at least once every ten years, a Special Examination conducted by the Office of the Auditor General.
The Board establishes a set of corporate policies that clarify its expectations and management’s authority and responsibilities. These policies govern areas such as acquisitions, research, conservation, exhibitions, human resources and contracting. The Board of Trustees reviews and updates all corporate policies according to a five-year cycle, ensuring that the policies continue to provide the necessary direction.
The Board plays a key role in the effective succession of Trustees and critical Gallery management positions. Notwithstanding the Government’s prerogative to appoint Trustees, the Board is expected to play an active role in making recommendations to the Government. The Board is also expected to plan for the succession of its Chairperson by establishing appointment criteria and providing nominations to the Minister of Canadian Heritage. As well, the Board appoints the Director of the Gallery with approval of the Governor-in-Council.
Françoise Lyon is a Senior Executive with 25 years of experience in the financial services industry, across of range of disciplines including business development, strategic initiatives, operations, change management, and sales and marketing. She has extensive experience working with ultra-high net worth and high net worth individuals, as well as entrepreneurial and institutional clients across Canada and internationally.
Ms. Lyon is presently the President and Managing Partner of DGC Capital, a Canadian private equity firm focused on information and communication technologies, technology, lifestyle and advanced manufacturing sectors. Prior to her appointment to DGC Capital, she was Senior Vice-President-Canada at Pembroke Private Wealth Management Ltd. (2011-2017); Vice-President and Head-Eastern Canada for the Private Client Services Group with the Bank of America Merrill Lynch (2010-2011); and Vice-President, Strategy and Marketing - Wealth Management Group with National Bank Financial Group of Canada (2006-2010).
Ms. Lyon holds a Bachelor in Business Administration Degree from L’Ecole des Hautes Études Commerciales (HEC) in Montréal and a Certificate in Public Relations Management from McGill University, complemented by advanced studies through the Canadian Securities Institute, the International Business Specialization Exchange Program at Bath University in England, and the Harvard Business School.
In addition to her work with the National Gallery of Canada, Ms. Lyon serves on a variety of boards and associations. She is currently President and Managing Partner of DGC Capital; a global board Director of the International Women’s Forum and President of their global endowment Fund committee; Chair of the board of ambassadors of Citizn Canada; President of the Quebec Financial Women’s Association; an external board Directeur of the Fonds de Solidarité FTQ; Chair of the board of Ecologyst; board Director of Bopper Music and Founder of the Women of Influence Circle of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.
In 2015, Premières en affaires magazine named Ms. Lyon one of Quebec’s 8 Incontournables en finances (Eight Key Female Financial Players). In 2014 she was named by the Canadian Board Diversity Council as a Diversity 50 Fellow. Ms. Lyon is also the recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.
Mandeep Roshi Chadha, a Montrealer, has many years of experience in the art world. Her primary interest is Inuit art, which she has explored through her education, as a collector, and by initiating art exchanges between Canada and India. She is a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Award.
Ms. Chadha holds both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Art History from Concordia University in Montreal. She has also held numerous positions on various national and Montreal-based boards, including the Board of Governors of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and the Canadian Centre of Architecture.
Paul R. Baay is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in administrative and commercial studies. As a graduate of the Institute of Corporate Directors, Rotman School of Management Directors Education Program, Mr. Baay holds an ICD.D designation.
With more than thirty years’ experience leading various energy companies, Mr. Baay has been the President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Touchstone Exploration Inc. since 2010.
In addition to his involvement with the National Gallery of Canada, Mr. Baay has held a variety of positions within the not-for-profit sector. He is currently the Vice Chair for the Alberta Foundation for the Arts and a member of the World Presidents’ Organization. Formerly, Mr. Baay sat on the board of the Rundle Mountain Charitable Foundation, the British North American Committee, the Council for Canadian American Relations, the Alberta College of Art and Design, the Calgary Humane Society, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, the Canadian Oil and Gas Symposium, the Calgary Zoological Society, the Junior Achievement of Southern Alberta, the University of Western Ontario Alumni and the University of Western Ontario Board of Trustees.
In 1998, he was chosen by the Financial Post Foundation as one of Canada’s Top 40 under 40.
Lisa Browne (BA, MBA) is Vice-President of Advancement and External Relations at Memorial University. Prior to this, she was CEO of Stella’s Circle, a social-justice community organization, for which she was name one of the Top 50 CEOs in Atlantic Canada by Atlantic Business magazine, in addition to receiving the P.J. Gardiner Newfoundland and Labrador Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
Lisa is an active contributor to her community, and has served on many boards, including The Rooms: Newfoundland and Labrador’s provincial art gallery, museum, and archives. She was also a participant and regional co-chair of the Governor General’s Canadian Leadership Conference. She currently sits on the board of Mental Health Research Canada and, for her community service, has received both the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal and a Paul Harris Fellowship from the Rotary Club of St. John’s.
Terry Burgoyne is a partner in the national law firm of Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, and practises corporate law in the firm’s Toronto office. He has a Bachelor of Commerce degree in finance from Dalhousie University and a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Toronto. Mr. Burgoyne has more than 35 years of business law experience, principally in private mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and strategic alliances, cross-border transactions and professional services businesses. In addition to his active practice, Mr. Burgoyne is also Osler’s General Counsel, with responsibility for the firm’s legal affairs and risk management, including conflict of interest and other compliance matters.
Mr. Burgoyne has been actively involved in the visual arts community in Canada for many years, having previously served as a board member of Visual Arts Ontario, the Canadian Art Foundation and the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art (now the Museum of Contemporary Art – Toronto) where he also served as Chair of the board. He is currently a member of the Curators’ Circle Committee of the Art Gallery of Ontario. In addition to his external involvement with visual arts organizations, Mr. Burgoyne has for a number of years served as the custodian of Osler’s collection of contemporary Canadian art, which the firm began in the late 1970s.
Susan Côté-Freeman is an Ottawa-based governance and anti-corruption professional whose involvement in the field, both in Canada and abroad, has spanned more than two decades.
During her career at Transparency International, the leading global anti-corruption organization, Susan worked in London, Washington D.C., and Berlin. She led programs aimed at raising the standards of corporate anti-corruption practice and represented Transparency International on global initiatives such as the United Nations Global Compact, the Partnering against Corruption Initiative of the World Economic Forum and the B20.
Following her career at Transparency International, Susan moved to the Conference Board of Canada where she managed an executive network of Canadian risk professionals and carried out research in the governance, compliance and risk areas.
In addition to being a Trustee of the National Gallery of Canada, Susan has been Chair of the Board of Transparency International Canada since 2019 and a board member since 2016. She was elected to the international board of Transparency International in November 2020. She is a past Chair of IMPACT, a Canadian non-profit dedicated to addressing the problem of conflict minerals.
A native of Québec City, Susan holds a Bachelor’s degree from Université Laval.
A Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA), Dominique Hamel holds a Bachelor’s degree in accounting from l’École des hautes études commerciales (HEC) in Montreal and a Master’s degree (with Distinction) in accounting and finance from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).
Ms. Hamel is part of the corporate finance team at Intact Financial Corporation, having previously worked in accounting and audit with National Bank and KPMG. As a Research Associate at Harvard Business School, she co-authored several case studies highlighting risk management practices in fields from toy manufacturing to hydroelectricity production. She also collaborated with professors at HEC to study productivity in Quebec’s public sector, and developed teaching material for undergraduate, MBA and Executive Education courses at both Harvard and HEC.
Ms. Hamel has been President of the Montreal chapter of the LSE Alumni Association since 2014. She was a member of the Conseil jeunesse de Montréal, an advisory body to the city’s municipal administration, and has served on the Executive Committee of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts’ Young Philanthropists’ Circle. A committed supporter of the visual arts, Ms. Hamel resides in Montreal with her husband and three children.
Adad Hannah is an artist living in Burnaby, British Columbia. He was born in New York, spent his childhood in Israel and England, and moved to Vancouver in the early 1980’s.
Mr. Hannah holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Emily Carr University of Art + Design, along with a Master and Doctorate of Fine Arts both from Concordia University in Montreal.
Mr. Hannah exhibits regularly at Pierre-François Ouellette art contemporain in Montreal and Equinox Gallery in Vancouver. His works often take the form of video-recorded tableaux vivants. Through his videos, photographs, and installations, he explores the nexus of photography, video, sculpture, and performance and how the human body occupies this space. He has produced commissioned projects for museums around the world and has been the recipient of numerous grants and prizes including the Canada Council for the Arts’ Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton Award for mid-career artists. Mr. Hannah’s work can be found in the permanent collections of many institutions, including the National Gallery of Canada, the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the Musée Rodin in Paris, the Museo Tamayo in Mexico City, and the Samsung LEEUM Museum in Seoul.
Brian McBay is Co-Founder and Executive Director of 221A, a Vancouver-based non-profit organization that works with artists and designers to research and develop social, cultural and ecological infrastructure. He is known for applying his unique skillset and training as an industrial designer to non-profit property design, construction and regulation.
In 2018, Mr. McBay was named a Fellow at the Salzburg Global Forum and has been invited to speak on art, policy and urban development to a range of cultural, civic and institutional audiences. In addition to his role with the National Gallery of Canada, Mr. McBay is a board member of the Chinese Canadian Museum of British Columbia.
Sara Stasiuk is CEO of The Forks North Portage Development Corporation, with more than 25 years’ experience in community development, business operations, culture and music. As a born-and-bred Winnipegger, she has also participated in local arts and culture all her life.
Throughout her career, Sara has contributed to The Forks as a meeting place — both from outside as Executive Director of Manitoba Music and Director of Operations for Six Shooter Records and the Interstellar Rodeo Music Festival, and from within through five years as Vice-President of Finance & Operations for The Forks itself. During her time with Manitoba Music, Sara served on the Winnipeg JUNO Committee, the Western Canadian Music Alliance, the boards of FACTOR and the Polaris Music Prize, and many other music, entertainment and arts-focused boards and committees.
Sara is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CMA) and holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) degree from the University of Manitoba. Her priorities are innovation, relevance, sustainability, and reconciliation. Outside the workplace, she continues to lend her skills to supporting the arts. In addition to her work with the National Gallery of Canada, she serves on the boards of the Manitoba Arts Council and Travel Manitoba.
Clayon Windatt is a Métis, non–binary multi-artist living and working between Sturgeon Falls and Toronto, Ontario. With an extensive history working in artist-run culture and community arts, Clayton works towards healthier relationships for national and global Indigenous artists and communities.
The former Executive Director of the Aboriginal Curatorial Collective, Clayton is an active writer, filmmaker and visual-media artist, who also works with several colleges and universities, arts magazines, arts councils and organizations, providing professional services as a critical writer, columnist and consultant.
Clayton is an active filmmaker and director with works featured in festivals such as ImagineNative and the Toronto International Film Festival, and recent commissions by the National Film Board of Canada.
Clayton holds a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts degree from Nipissing University and certification as a Graphic Designer from Canadore College.
