MEET THE TEAM

Marlon has over 15 years of experience working in senior level leadership roles in financial services, not-for-profit and consulting industries.  He is currently the CEO of Optimal Growth Financial, responsible for crafting the strategic direction and long-term vision of its start-up investment fund.  Before that, Marlon was the Director, Finance at ICES, where he provided financial and operational leadership, accounting expertise and guidance to the organization.  He was also the Director of Finance at ACT, where he provided strategic leadership and vision for the financial functions of the organization.  In addition, he worked in senior roles at Optimal Growth Consulting, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan, and the Government of Bermuda. Marlon has strong leadership experience in financial reporting, strategic planning, analytics, risk management, process automation, governance, project management, mentoring and coaching people.  Marlon holds a Master of Business Administration from Oxford Brookes University, CPA, CGA designation from CPA Ontario, and he is a Fellow Chartered Certified Accountant.

Ruth Woods has more than 35 years executive experience in professional services management, investment banking and consulting.  She has held the position of Chief Operating Officer of Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, where she was responsible for Finance, IT, HR, Facilities and Administration.  Prior to Osler she was a founding partner of Hugessen Consulting Inc, Senior Vice President; Global Head of Human Resources at Scotia Capital; and a Founding Director of Women in Capital Markets. Ruth is currently on the board of Scarborough Health Network, and has served on the Bishop Strachan School and Royal St. George’s College Boards of Governors as Vice-Chair and Chair respectively, and on the board of Kinross Gold Corp.  Ruth graduated from the University of Toronto with a Masters of Business Administration, and from the University of Waterloo with a Bachelor of Mathematics.

Kim Warburton is a strategic communications and public affairs executive with extensive experience building corporate reputation and brand, stakeholder relationships, and employee engagement. She has held senior global and national positions in the multinational, financial, telecommunications and advertising sectors, including roles with TD Bank Group, GE and Bell Canada. She has worked in the Ontario government focusing on workforce skills and economic development. Kim is currently Vice President Strategic Communications and Public Affairs at Geotab. Kim’s interests include navigating the changing nature of work, economic participation and opportunity, and life-long learning. She recently served as Chair and Director of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and is a Director of Actua, a national organization engaging youth in STEM to build employability skills and confidence. She has also served as advisor on Mississauga’s Economic Development Advisory Board, and as Chair and Director of the Trillium Health Partners Hospital Foundation.

Ana Nunes brings more than 20 years’ experience as a senior executive in the retirement savings industry.  She held various leadership roles during her 10+ years at OMERS, including Senior Vice President of Plan Risk, Senior Vice President of Pension Services, and President of OMERS Investment Management.  During her consulting career at Mercer, she advised clients on the full spectrum of pension plan issues.   Ana is a strategic thinker who is known for deep analytical skills and an ability to clearly communicate key issues.  She has led multiple strategic initiatives that grew assets under management by over $2 billion.  She brings extensive experience supporting Boards with the oversight of risk management, pension funding, large-scale administration operations and cybersecurity.   Ana is currently Chair of the Board of Trustees of the MoveUp/ICBC Pension Plan and a member of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries Enterprise Risk Management Practice Committee.  She has been a member of the Editorial Advisory Board for the Benefits and Pensions Monitor and has volunteered her time to various charitable causes through the years.  In addition to being a Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries and Society of Actuaries, Ana is a CFA charter holder and holds the ICD.D designation.  

Megan MacRae is an experienced executive with a demonstrated history of working in complex unionized organizations.  She is skilled in Transformational Change, Labour Relations, Human Resource Management and Drug and Alcohol Testing. Megan is the Chief People Officer at ONxpress Transportation Partners; before that, she was the Executive Director of Human Resources at the TTC. Megan began her labour relations career in the Canadian airline industry and moved towards public transit first at GO Transit before joining the TTC in 2008.  In her time at the TTC, Megan has held a variety of positions, including Employee Relations Consultant, Director of Compensation Services and Director of Employee Relations, and has led multiple rounds of collective bargaining.  Megan has been a Board member on the TTC Pension Plan since 2013 where she serves on the Governance Committee as well as the Investment Committee. Megan has contributed as a Board member previously with the Ontario Municipal Human Resources Association as well as Big Brothers and Sisters of Ajax Pickering. Megan has her undergraduate degree in Industrial Relations from McGill University and her Masters in Industrial Relations and Human Resources Management from Queens University and holds an advanced certificate in trust management.  

Melissa Qi is an experienced professional specializing in strategy, governance, policy, and project management. With a decade of experience in the public sector, she has worked for the Ontario Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration, Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport, City of Markham, Region of York, Ontario Energy Board, and currently the City of Brampton. Melissa has advised elected officials and senior leaders on dozens of Boards and Committees. Melissa has served on the York Regional Police Community Liaison Committee and York University Community Safety Council.

Tracey Taylor-O’Reilly brings over two decades of executive experience.  Before joining Pathways to Education Canada as President & Chief Executive Officer, Tracey held leadership and teaching positions at York and McMaster universities and worked in the public and consulting sectors. She joined York University in December 2013 with the mandate to create a pan-university School to support adult and non-traditional learners, and founded the York University School of Continuing Studies. Tracey and her team created what became an internationally award-winning School in English language and professional education that is among the largest of its kind in North America, serving students from over 130 countries. In 2021, Tracey was honoured with the WXN Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada award, and with a Stevie award as the global Female Executive of the Year in the large government and non-profit category.  A Chartered Director (C.Dir.), she has also served as a Director and as President of the Canadian Association for University Continuing Education.  

With a vast experience in the Technology sector of the corporate world, Vase’s specialty lies in Service Delivery through Technology Management for Global Operations.  She currently leads Operational Support Strategy and Optimization for Liftion with a focus to drive global operational expansion for improved strategic positioning and better customer service.  Throughout her career, Vase has worked for many Fortune 500 companies around the globe helping them make the best use of technology to solve business problems thus promoting growth. Vase is the Regional Director for iWIN (International Women’s Inclusion Network) Canada, a Business Resource Group for corporate women in her company.  She uses this capacity to promote a culture of empowering women ‘to sit at the table.’  She believes the world needs more women in leadership roles.    

Paulo Salomao has 15+ years of consulting and executive experience across strategy, operations, technology, and investments. He is currently the National Insurance Lead at Accenture, where he focuses on helping organizations unlock business value through technology. Before Accenture, Paulo worked at OMERS, where he was a member of the senior executive team between 2014 and 2016. Prior to OMERS, Paulo held executive roles at both Manulife and Aimia, and he also spent five years at McKinsey & Company. Paulo holds a B.Eng. in Control and Automation Engineering from UNICAMP (Brazil), an M.A.Sc. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Toronto, and an M.B.A. from the Rotman School of Management, all with distinction. Paulo immigrated to Canada from Brazil in 2004 with his wife. Outside of work, Paulo is an advisor to early stage companies, and a member of the Pension Policy Council at the C.D. Howe Institute. 

Epsit Jajal brings 25+ years of senior leadership experience from a range of diverse industries including banking, consulting services, insurance, mining, construction, telecom, high tech, retail, software, energy, and various levels of the public sector. Epsit specializes in implementing organizational transformation initiatives designed to dramatically improve organizational profitability and enterprise value by leveraging innovative and strategically important digital solutions. His areas of expertise include leading global teams responsible for digital strategy, technology services, finance, professional services, and business operations. Combined with his globally recognized academic credentials in business (MBA from Western University’s Ivey School of Business), finance (CPA, CMA) and outsourcing certification (University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Business), Epsit provides insightful perspectives to Achēv that help the management team continuously enhance its operational effectiveness and positive impacts on clients.

Akshat Jhaveri (AJ) has over 18 years of experience in serving Fortune 500 clients as a trusted advisor for their critical Business and Technology initiatives. AJ is currently a Director at Accenture where he focuses on partnering with Crown corporations in helping them realize their vision to modernize the way they do their business and serve their communities better. He does so by advising them on critical components that drive success for such a vision like Target operating models, Data and Analytics strategy, Change Management and Technology Transformation. He also partners with them in execution of that strategy enabled through robust governance and controls. Before Accenture, AJ was with Cognizant where he served as the lead Partner for one of the largest Global Financial services serving them in their technology and operations transformation journey across various Insurance, Group Benefits and Wealth/Asset management. Prior to that, he has spent years as a management consultant in advising some of the Top Financial services companies to improve their business results as well as customer and community relations. Through the years, AJ has been involved in several fundraising initiatives that support causes related to ending Hunger, Blood Donation, Breast Cancer research and participating in initiatives aimed at supporting youth in receiving support needed to be successful. AJ holds a MSc in Software Engineering from a Top Engineering university in India.  

Leo Gomes is a trusted advisor who has been involved in the business advisory, internal audit, and risk management areas for close to 20 years. With solid international and multi-cultural work experience, Leo held leadership roles at different organizations and industries, such as lead National Oil & Gas in Qatar, and Fortune 500 Energy & Utility company in North America and Caribbean, most recently Capital Infrastructure and Transit Development Government company in Canada. Leo serves as Board Vice-Chair for Re-Imagine Ontario in the non-profit sector. Leo holds Master of Laws from York University – Osgoode Hall Law School, and Master in Business Administration (M.B.A.) from Bellevue University. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from the Catholic University of Minas Gerais – Brazil. He is a Member of The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), and the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE). 

Lenna Bradburn has over 25 years of executive leadership experience, primarily in the public sector. She has held executive positions at the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, Toronto Community Housing Corporation, City of Toronto, Borealis Infrastructure, and Ombudsman Ontario. Ms. Bradburn also had the privilege of being Canada’s first female police chief in Guelph, ON in 1994. Throughout her career, Ms. Bradburn has had a passion for organizational transformation leading her to become a skilled change agent focusing on strategy, innovation, people, processes and systems. Today, Ms. Bradburn is an independent consultant providing a range of consulting services to clients. 

Jay Adhvaryu is a dynamic high energy, results oriented senior finance professional with extensive experience in finance and accounting management roles. Mr. Adhvaryu is currently the Director of Finance at Match Marketing. Prior to this role, Mr. Adhvaryu held senior management roles with Shred-it/Stericycle Inc., Aimia Inc., Rogers Communications Inc., SSP Canada Food Services Inc., Oakville Toyota, among others. Mr. Adhvaryu is recognized as a leader and an exceptional people manager who is a skilled communicator that inspires and motivates teams to move business ahead and achieve desired results by working with leadership teams and collaborating effectively across the organization.