Council of the Great Lakes Region (Canada) Announces New Board of Directors

OTTAWA, ON and CLEVELAND, OH / January 12, 2022 – The Council of the Great Lakes Region (CGLR), a Canadian not-for-profit forum of business, government, academic, and non-profit leaders committed to working across sectors and the Canada-United States border to strengthen the bi-national Great Lakes region’s long-term competitiveness and sustainability, is pleased to announce that the following nominees have been elected to its Board of Directors following the organization’s virtual Annual General Meeting.

  • Brian Ames, Chair of CGLR and former SVP, The Dow Chemical Company.
  • David Ceolin, Partner, Innovation Grade Ventures.
  • Brenda Drinkwalter, Corporate Director and former SVP Corporate Affairs, Canada and Latin America, and Global Privacy Coordinator, IMS Health.
  • Peter S. Drummond, Founder, PSD+G Strategy Group and Adjunct Professor, Smith School of Business, Queen’s University.
  • Heather Ferguson, SVP, Business Development, Strategy and Corporate Affairs, Ontario Power Generation.
  • William Friedman, President and CEO, Port of Cleveland.
  • Lorne Gorber, CEO advisor, Chief Communications Officer, and Reputation Management and Investor Relations Expert.
  • Howard Learner, Executive Director, Environmental Law and Policy Center.
  • Eric Lee, Founder, Copper Country Capital Consulting, and Global Electrification Mobility and EV Ecosystem Strategist and Commercialization Leader.
  • Matthew McCurdy, CGLR Treasurer and Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers.
  • Charles (Chuck) Peters, Managing Member, Altair Holdings LLC.
  • Stephen J. Petras, Jr., Director, Cox International Law Center, Case Western Reserve University and U.S. National Director of the Canada – United States Law Institute.
  • Marie-Hélène Sicard, Entrepreneur, YPO Board Member, and former EVP, Business & Industry, Sodexo North America.
  • Nikki (Cassidy) Stone, EVP, Publicis Groupe.
  • Jeffrey Weiss, CGLR Secretary and Partner, Steptoe & Johnson LLP.
  • Patrick Whalen, President and CEO, Canadian/American Border Trade Alliance.
  • John Wilkinson, Corporate Director and former Ontario Environment Minister.
  • Wayne Garnons-Williams, Principal Director, Indigenous Sovereign Trade Consultancy Ltd. and Chair, International Inter-Tribal Trade and Investment Organization.

Concurrently, these individuals serve as the Board of Directors of the Ohio-based Council of the Great Lakes Region, a member-driven 501c6 trade association (CGLR USA). The Executive Committee of CGLR Canada and CGLR USA also serves as the Board of Directors of the Ohio-based CGLR Foundation, a 501c3 public charity.

CGLR Canada President and Chief Executive Officer, Mark Fisher commented: “The bi-national Great Lakes region, the largest freshwater system and sub-national regional economy in the world, is the centrepiece of the United States – Canada relationship and the engine of the North American economy, serving as vital hub of trade, manufacturing, higher education, R&D, food production, and so much more. The individuals appointed to CGLR Canada’s Board of Directors will help continue the organization’s growth and impact on a consolidated basis with CGLR USA and the CGLR Foundation, ensuring the region, as well the US-Canada relationship, can compete and win in a new world economy driven by sustainability as well as global trade, innovation, and labour mobility.”

Other actions taken at the virtual Annual General Meeting of members included the reappointment of KPMG as the auditors for CGLR Canada and the presentation and approval of CGLR Canada’s audited financial statements for fiscal year April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021.

Learn more about the new Board of Directors by visiting CGLR’s About Us page. 

About the Council of the Great Lakes Region

CGLR is a network of organizations comprised of CGLR Canada, CGLR USA and the CGLR Foundation. It is dedicated to creating stronger, more dynamic regional collaborations through dialogue, policy research and programs, and advocacy in order to find new ways of harnessing the bi-national Great Lakes region’s economic strengths and assets, improving the well-being and livelihoods of the region’s citizens, and protecting the environment and the Great Lakes for future generations. Learn more at https://councilgreatlakesregion.org/.

Contact

Mark P. Fisher

President and CEO

613-668-2044 / mark@councilgreatlakesregion.org