Corporate Governance

Christopher Harris is the founder and Chief Investment Officer of Rutland Gate Partners and a Senior Advisor at Imperial Capital. He joined Imperial Capital in 2007 from KPMG where he worked in the M&A Transaction Services department. Chris obtained his Master of Business Administration from the University of Oxford and his Bachelor of Commerce from Queen’s University. He is also a Chartered Professional Accountant.

Rhonda is currently Chief Marketing Officer of CAA Club Group, the largest independent automobile club in Canada and the owner of several companies in the Property & Casualty and Travel insurance businesses. Previously she held executive roles at CAA Insurance Company and Lombard Insurance Company. Throughout her extensive career, she has successfully driven company growth and profitability through thought leadership and strategic direction in the automotive and insurance industries. Rhonda served on the Board of the Markham Stouffville Hospital Foundation, retiring as Past Chair of the Foundation in 2019. Rhonda currently sits on the Markham Stouffville Hospital Board, chairing the Finance & Audit Committee. Rhonda is a CPA, and CMA and received her undergraduate degree and MBA from the Ivey Business School.

Prior to his retirement in 2017, Stephen was Executive Vice President, Legal and Corporate Secretary at IHS (now IHS Markit), a leading global, publicly-traded, Information Services company. In that role, Steve led a team of professionals worldwide delivering support to the company through the legal, compliance, risk management and insurance functions. Steve led the successful IPO of IHS in 2005 and multiple successful follow-on secondary offerings and public and private debt offerings. Steve was instrumental in implementing the company’s M&A strategy, completing over 70 transactions, including the roll up of companies to establish a market leading position in information and analytics in the energy and transportation industries, including automotive, and culminating in a transformational merger of equals between IHS and Markit.

Prior to IHS going public, Steve was general counsel to both IHS and the industrial companies that made up the remainder of the portfolio of TBG, a family-owned conglomerate that, in addition to IHS, included companies with leading positions in various manufacturing industries. Steve holds a BA from Yale University and received his JD from Columbia Law School.

Mr. James is a Board member and the Audit Committee Chair of Corus Entertainment. He is Chair of the Audit Committee and Vice-Chair of ATB Financial. He was the Audit Committee Chair of the Government of the Province of Alberta, a Senator and Board member of the University of Alberta, and a Trustee of the University Hospital Foundation. He is President of Barry L. James Advisory Services Ltd., a private consulting firm. Previously Mr. James was a partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. He has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Alberta, has been recognized a Fellow of the Chartered Accountants by the Chartered Professional Accountants of Alberta, and also holds the ICD.D designation.

Steve Carlisle was previously the Executive Vice President and President of General Motors North America, after more than four decades with General Motors. Before leading General Motors North America, Steve had been Senior Vice President and President of Cadillac and President and Managing Director, General Motors of Canada. Over the course of his career with General Motors, Steve has held other senior leadership positions, including Vice President, Global Product Planning, Vice President, U.S. Sales Operations, and President, Southeast Asia Operations. Steve obtained his Master of Business Administration from the MIT Sloan School of Management and his Bachelor of Applied Science from the University of Waterloo.

Mr. Lebel is the Founder and Managing Partner of Rowanwood Equity, a Toronto based investment firm. Prior to that, he spent 13 years at Birch Hill Equity Partners, a leading mid-market private equity fund, where he was a Partner and served on the investment committee. He currently sits on the board of Alaris Equity Partners Income Trust, Midland Appliance, Morningside Capital, and the advisory board of Sherweb. Over his career, he has been actively involved in sourcing, executing and exiting investments and played an active role on the boards of many companies including Softchoice Corporation (Chair and Lead Independent Director), Citron Hygiene (Chair), Groupe Maskatel (Chair), Sigma Systems and Harbour Air Seaplanes. He has experience investing across various b2b and b2c sectors including IT Solutions, software, fixed-route logistics, facility services, equipment rental, manufacturing, fast transit and telecom. Prior to joining Birch Hill, he was at EdgeStone Capital Partners and in the Investment Banking division of CIBC World Markets. Mr. Lebel received a Bachelor of Commerce degree from McGill University (Great Distinction) and is a CFA charterholder