Bill Maurin, CA, CPA President and Chief Executive Officer Bill Maurin was appointed Meridian s President and Chief Executive Officer in 2014. Under his leadership, Meridian has grown its assets under management from $10 billion to $13 billion, expanded its digital banking offering and increased its branch footprint by more than 10 per cent. Bill leads an Executive Leadership Team focused on implementing Meridian s strategic vision of delivering Meridian s unique brand of co-operative banking with a strong emphasis on providing quality service and innovative financial solutions while strengthening the communities it serves. With more than 25 years of experience in the financial services industry, Bill began his career at KPMG Chartered Accountants and then at The CUMIS Group as National Manager, Finance and subsequently as Director, Finance and Accounting. In 2002, he joined Niagara Credit Union as the Senior Finance Manager. Following Meridian s legacy merger between Niagara Credit Union and HEPCOE Credit Union in 2005, Bill became Meridian s Vice President of Finance and later Meridian s Senior Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer in 2008. Since joining Meridian, Bill has built a solid reputation of enabling business growth while protecting the balance sheet and ensuring that risk management is top of mind in all key strategic decisions. Bill played a key role in Meridian s amalgamation with Desjardins Credit Union in 2011 and Meridian s acquisition of Roynat Lease Finance in 2016, which created Meridian OneCap Credit Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Meridian. Bill received his CA designation in 1991 and graduated with an Honours Bachelor of Commerce degree from McMaster University in 1988. Bill currently sits on the Board of the Canadian Credit Union Association, CUMIS and CUCO Co-operative Association. He is a past member of the Board of Directors of the United Way of St. Catharines and Central 1. He currently resides in St. Davids.
Gary Genik Senior Vice President and Chief Information and Technology Officer An IT executive with 30 years of senior experience in Information Technology gained in the Banking, Securities and Technology Services industries, Gary Genik is a results-oriented leader with the ability to quickly evaluate situations. His key skills include the ability to build, lead and motivate high-performing teams. A corporate leader who enjoys working with clients, partners and staff in support of business objectives, Gary s experience in the banking, securities and technology services industries include work with CIBC; Intria-HP (a Hewlett Packard-CIBC joint venture); and the Canadian Depository for Securities. Before joining Meridian in 2008, Gary worked as a consultant for clients including IBM Canada, CIBC Intria Items Inc, MTS Allstream and First Ontario Credit Union. He is also the former Chief Information Officer and Senior Vice-President, Information Technology of The Canadian Depository for Securities (CDS). Prior to becoming Meridian Credit Union s CIO, Gary worked on a variety of key initiatives to build Meridian s Information Technology capabilities as Director, Infrastructure, including strengthening information security, data storage/ recovery and computer desktop management processes and plans. As CIO, Gary brings the required leadership, experience, expertise and understanding of Meridian to the position.
James Millard Senior Vice President and Chief Employee Experience Officer James Millard is our Senior Vice President and Chief People Services Officer, responsible for our Good to Grow employee experience at Meridian, which provides and promotes the many dimensions of career, development and rewards that employees have access to here at Meridian. James is a graduate of the University of Toronto and has more than three decades of experience in human resources, leading organizational change, shifting corporate culture and introducing new technologies, processes and systems to employees. A talented human resources executive with a strong customer focus and solid business acumen, James consistently delivers on commitments and is known as an exceptional people person with sound values and operating principles. Prior to joining Meridian, James was the Senior Vice President Human Resources at AON Canada, in which he directed human resources strategies, programs and service delivery across Canada. Before that, he was Vice President in charge of Human Resources at Eaton s, at the time one of Canada s largest Retailers. As a strategic leader, James brings insight and consistency to program development, transforming human resources strategies so that they align with the company s vision while ensuring that employees are engaged. James is an active member of his community, playing professionally in a rock band that does charity gigs, including performing for the Toronto March of Dimes. James and his wife Liz live in Burlington, and have a son, Mark, who is a graduate of Brock University.
Bill Whyte Senior Vice President and Chief Member Experience Officer Bill Whyte is Meridian s Senior Vice President & Chief, Member Services, with 30 years of extensive experience in the Canadian financial industry. Bill first joined Meridian in March 2011 as Vice President, Delivery Integration, to oversee the integration of former Desjardins Credit Union branches with Meridian. A proactive senior executive, with highly developed skills in relationship management, Bill is well known for his proven achievements in retail, SB, Wealth and Commercial operations. Bill also has a proven track record in integration management and building strategic partnerships in highly competitive markets. Prior to joining Meridian, Bill was the Vice President, GTA Central Market, CIBC Retail Distribution and held various leadership roles within CIBC s retail and wealth divisions, in which he was successful and achieved corporate goals and objectives. As a successful leader and change agent, Bill has continuously provided business management and operational disciplines to large scale teams through effective use of relationship building, resulting in the achievement of key business goals. Bill has developed and implemented several innovative and successful strategies within the Canadian distribution network, building an exceptional record of developing and leading high-calibre sales teams and achieving financial goals. Bill is an active member of the Central 1 Advisory Council since 2013. Bill joined the Northwest Ethical Investments (NEI) Board of Directors in 2014, with which he sits on the Investment Committee. He is also a current member of the overall Canadian Business Owner Strategy (CBOS) Steering Committee. CBOS works and generates growth for participating credit unions across Canada. Bill enjoys participating in his community. He has actively led United Way initiatives, and previously promoted and partnered with Skills for Change - an organization that assist newcomers to Canada and partnered with MaRS to promote entrepreneurship 101.
Leo Gautreau, CMA - Senior Vice President and Chief Risk Officer As Meridian s first Chief Risk Officer, Leo is accountable for Meridian s overall enterprise risk management strategy, including oversight of organizational risk management activities in all core risk categories, including strategic, credit, market, liquidity, operational and Member risk. Bringing more than 30 years of financial experience to the role, Leo has a proven track record of building strong risk management tools and processes, including the early development of Meridian s current Enterprise Risk Management framework. Prior to his current role, Leo held various senior leadership positions at Meridian including Vice President, Credit Management and Vice-President of Risk Management, where he had accountability for the overall Credit Risk, Risk Management, Loss Prevention and Internal Audit Services functions. A longtime supporter and champion of the Ontario credit union system, Leo held various roles and responsibilities at Niagara Credit Union one of Meridian s legacy credit unions. In his 15 years at Niagara Credit Union, Leo played a significant role in shaping the credit union s retail delivery and commercial services divisions. He also had executive responsibility for the Marketing division, and played a key role in leading the Credit Union to exceptional growth over that time. Leo began his financial services career at CIBC where he managed both retail and commercial banking operations. An active volunteer in the Niagara community, Leo has served on a variety of boards and committees including, the St. Catharines Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club of Niagara and the Greater Niagara General Hospital Foundation.
Tim Smart, CPA, CA Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Tim Smart brings more than 20 years of cross industry experience to Meridian. As Meridian s Interim Chief Financial Officer he is responsible for the current financial state of the credit union, as well as risk mitigation, financial performance measurement and building and maintaining relationships with Meridian s key financial partners. Prior to joining Meridian, Tim worked as the Chief Financial Officer for a number of financial services and technology companies including OANDA Corporation, Audatex Canada Q9 Networks Inc. and First Asset Management Inc. He has experience in corporate finance, planning and reporting, as well as business development activities involving mergers, acquisitions and divestitures. Tim is also very active within the youth community. He was previously a member of the Board of Directors of Durham Children s Aid Society and is currently a member of the Board of Directors for Horizons for Youth. Tim holds a Masters of Business Administration and an Honours Bachelor of Commerce from McMaster University.
Sunny Sodhi Chief Legal Officer and Chief Innovation Officer As Meridian s SVP & Chief Legal Officer, Sunny Sodhi is responsible for overseeing all of Meridian s legal and regulatory affairs, as well as Meridian s government relations function. Sunny brings deep and extensive knowledge of the financial services sector to Meridian, having generally focused his legal practice for over a decade on advising domestic and international banks and insurance companies on a broad array of complex corporate and regulatory matters. He has been recognized repeatedly by top international legal rankings as a leading lawyer in Canada for corporate/m&a and banking. Since beginning his practice in 2003, Sunny has advised on transactions involving over 40 countries, and the purchase, sale or transfer of over $100 billion in assets. In particular, he has been involved in some of the largest and most notable banking sector transactions in Canada. Also, he has advised on the establishment and growth of numerous banks and insurance companies in Canada, assisting such entities closely with the development and execution of multi-year business plans, all aspects of their operations, organic and inorganic growth initiatives, corporate governance, capital raising, compliance and building strong relationships with regulators. Prior to joining Meridian in 2014, Sunny practiced law in Toronto with Torys LLP and, ultimately, Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP as a partner. He also worked abroad for some time with top international law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP in its Singapore office, focusing on cross-border mergers and acquisitions. As a very knowledgeable, collaborative, business savvy and solutions-oriented legal services professional, Sunny s leadership will help Meridian continue to execute on its growth initiatives in sound and innovative ways, and in a manner that ensures complete adherence to evolving and increasingly complex financial sector regulation and the adoption of best practices to maintain strong, sustainable, prudential operations. Sunny has been involved in establishing several not-for-profit and charitable organizations, and he is devoted to numerous community initiatives, including participating as a mentor in a University of Waterloo mentorship initiative. Sunny graduated from the University of British Columbia with a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours), and from the University of Victoria with a Juris Doctor. He has been a member of the Bar in Ontario and New York since 2003.
David Baldarelli Vice President of Digital Banking and Enterprise Analytics With more than 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, David Baldarelli joins Meridian as the credit union s first Vice President of Enterprise Analytics. In his role, David will oversee the strategy and management of Meridian s enterprise-wide data and analytics portfolio to support the corporate strategy. Prior to joining Meridian, David had held numerous executive positions and most recently was the Chief Credit and Operating Officer at Mogo Finance, a Canadian digital financial services company aimed at millennials. David also served as the Chief Credit Risk Officer at HSBC Finance, Head of Analytics at HSBC Bank of Canada and was the former Vice President, Analytics at Coast Capital Savings Credit Union. During his eight years at BMO, David was responsible for credit risk management across multiple lines of business. David is a board member of BC SOS Children s Village where he serves as corporate secretary. David has a Bachelor degree in Mathematics from University of Waterloo in 1993, a Master of Business Administration from University of Toronto Rotman School of Management in 2009 and a CPA, CMA professional accountancy designation in 2014