Our Team

Mr. Gibson is a recently retired Managing Director of Rothschild Canada. Prior to co-heading Rothschild's Calgary office, in 2002 Mr. Gibson was a co-founder of Mustang Capital Partners, a boutique energy M & A advisory firm. Mustang Capital was sold to Rothschild in 2010. Before founding Mustang Capital, Mr. Gibson spent 10 years with T.D. Securities, lastly as head of its U.S. energy unit in New York.

Mr. Gibson holds an MBA from the Ivey School of Business, at the University of Western Ontario, and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.

Bob has been a member of the Board of Directors of The
Calgary Foundation since 2010.

Ms. Peters is an investment portfolio manager. Her company, Liberty House Asset Management, manages private client portfolios. Prior to starting her company in 1991, she worked for 10 years in the UK as an institutional salesperson covering Global Emerging Markets. Ms. Peters graduated from the University of Western Ontario with a BA in Economics.

Elizabeth has been a volunteer on the Environmental Grants Committee at the Calgary Foundation for 6 years, serves the family board of the Galvin Trust and on the board of the Calgary Society of Financial Analysts.

She is a native of Calgary, where she now resides with her family, and enjoys her passions for horses, skiing and almost anything where she can be outside.

Kay Best, FCA, ICD.D, is currently a Corporate Director at Canadian Natural Resources Limited, Superior Plus Corporation, AltaGas Ltd.,Wawanesa Insurance and Aston Hill Financial. Previously, Kay was the Executive Vice President, Risk Management and Chief Financial Officer of the Calgary Health Region and was named the interim CFO of Alberta Health Services, which was formed by the integration of all Alberta health regions.

Kay, a chartered accountant, was a partner with Ernst & Young LLP in Calgary where she worked for nineteen years, the last ten as Corporate Audit Partner. Kay has been a member of the Board of Directors at The Calgary Foundation since 2011.

Kay is an active member of the volunteer community having served in a number of positions with the United Way of Calgary, including a term as Chair of the Board of Directors. She has held several positions with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Alberta, including serving as an elected representative on the Institute’s Governing Council. Currently, Kay is a member of the Audit Committee of the Calgary Stampede, a director of the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation and is a member of the Audit Committee of the University of Calgary.

Jim Brownlee, CFP, CLU, CHFC, is an executive with Great-West Lifeco. Based in Calgary, he runs the Western Canadian operations of London Life and its subsidiary, Freedom 55 Financial. Jim is also a licensed financial advisor, and has an established business in guiding clients through the fields of financial, retirement, estate, and philanthropic planning. Over his 30 years in financial services, Jim has held many management and executive roles in Calgary, Toronto and London. Jim is new to The
Calgary Foundation Board in 2014 and also sits on the Foundation’s Audit Committee.

Jim’s past volunteer work includes; National Planned Giving Advisory Board, Ducks Unlimited Canada. He currently sits as; Board Member, Alberta Insurance Council; Advisory Board Member, Haskayne School of Business, Insurance and Risk Management Faculty.

Jim is a native Calgarian, where he lives with his wife and two children.

John Fischer is the Director of the Iniskim Centre that supports First Nations, Inuit, and Metis university students through the Medicine Trail Program, the Aboriginal Education Program, the Aboriginal Science and Technology Education Program, and Aboriginal Student Housing.

Previously, John was a high school principal with the Calgary Board of Education. He was principal of Forest Lawn High School, Chinook Learning Services, and Alternative High School. He was a high school science teacher and administrator for 34 years.

John was a founding Director of The Connections Education Society and volunteered with The Calgary Foundation Community Grants Committee for several years.

Murray received his Doctor of Ministry degree from St. Stephen’s College in 2003, has worked in church ministry since 1983 and is currently the minister of Parkdale United
Church.

His work experience includes facilitating strategic planning with faith based and community organizations, leading major capital fundraising programs and coordinating comprehensive church building renovation projects.

Murray has been an active volunteer with The Calgary Foundation Community Grants Committees since 2003. His volunteer experience includes St. Stephen’s College, the University of Calgary Child Care Society, Board of Directors and the University of Calgary Institute for the Humanities, Advisory Council.

Greg Lohnes is recently retired from TransCanada Corporation where he held various executive positions including Executive Vice President, Operations and Major Projects, President of Natural Gas Pipelines and Chief Financial Officer.

Mr. Lohnes was formerly the chair of TC PipeLines GP, Inc. and a director since 2007. Greg has been a member of the Board of Directors at the Calgary Foundation since
2011.

Melanie McDonald is the Regional Director, Estate and Trust Services (Western Canada), with BMO Trust Company. In this role Melanie provides expertise and technical leadership for trust and estate solutions, as well as overseeing strategy, products and policies for BMO trust professionals.

Before joining BMO Trust Company, Melanie was a partner at a national Canadian law firm advising business owners and executives with respect to their estate, tax, business, and philanthropy planning. In addition, Melanie has assisted executors, trustees and beneficiaries to manage estates and trusts and resolve related disputes.

Among Melanie’s extensive board and community experience, she is a member and past Chair of the Calgary branch of STEP – Society of Estate and Trust Practitioners, member of the Canadian Association of Gift Planners, and a founding member and director of WINK – Women Investing in Knowledge. In 2012, Melanie received the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for community service and in 2013 she was voted one of Calgary’s
“Top 40 under 40” by Avenue Magazine.

Siân M. Matthews is a corporate director and a leading practitioner in governance and private client matters. Siân assists a small number of private clients with wealth structuring and governance, as well as acting as a consultant to an international private bank.

Siân is the Chairperson of Canada Post Corporation. Canada Post has over 67,000 employees and serves the parcel and mail needs of Canadians from coast to coast to coast. She also serves as a director on the Board of Directors of Tricon Capital Group (TSX:TCN); an asset manager and principal investor focused on the residential real estate industry in North America with approximately $2.3 billion of assets under management.

Sian has formerly served as director of the Calgary Municipal Lands Corporation, which is undertaking the redevelopment of East Village, a formerly derelict area adjacent to Calgary’s downtown core and currently the largest brown field redevelopment project in Canada. She is a former board member of the Heritage Park Society, Canada’s largest historical village, where she chaired the Governance and Nominating Committee. Siân also sat on the Board of Directors of the Calgary Opera Association.

Sian has been recognized by her peers on the Best Lawyers in Canada list and the Lexpert Leading Practitioners List.

Mr. Peters is Vice President, Investments at Wawanesa Insurance.

Prior to Wawanesa Insurance, Mr. Peters was Managing Director in charge of Pension Plan Management at Canadian Pacific.

Past roles include Senior Partner at Mercer, providing investment advice and portfolio management services to institutional investors across western Canada. Prior to joining Mercer, Mr. Peters was Superintendent of Pensions for the Province of Manitoba.

Mr. Peters holds a B.Comm (Hons) from the University of Manitoba. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst, Past President of the Calgary CFA Society, and a member of the Foundation’s Investment Committee since 2008.

Patti Pon is the President & CEO of Calgary Arts Development Authority, the City of Calgary’s arm’s length arts development agency responsible for the distribution of $4M annually in grants to arts organizations. She also provides facilitation and consulting services specializing in organizational change, capacity building, strategic planning and financial management.

Previously, she held roles as Vice President, Administration with the EPCOR CENTRE for the Performing Arts (Calgary), as Technical Assistance Director at the Alberta Performing Arts Stabilization Fund and as General Manager/ Producer for a number of theatres across Western Canada such as Alberta Theatre Projects (Calgary), the Waterfront Theatre (Vancouver) and Carousel Theatre (Vancouver) and was a founding member of Shakespeare in the Park (Calgary).

As a volunteer, Patti is currently Board Chair of CKUA Radio and has been on the boards of several agencies including the EPCOR CENTRE for the Performing Arts, the Asian Heritage Foundation (Southern Alberta) and the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres. Patti also served as a member of the Steering Committee for imagineCalgary. Patti has been a member of the Board of Directors at the Calgary Foundation since 2011.

Phil Scherman obtained a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Saskatchewan in 1972, joined the Calgary office of KPMG that year and was a partner of the firm from 1981until he retired in 2012. Phil is a member of the Canadian and Alberta Institutes of Chartered Accountants and was awarded the Fellow of the Chartered Accountants designation.

Phil was the engagement partner for both public and private energy entities. Phil also provided transaction related services to non-audit clients, including due diligence assistance, accounting for risk management activities and control evaluations. He has served as an expert witness on accounting and audit matters in arbitration and court proceedings.

In addition to serving as a client partner, Phil was the Canadian Oil and Gas Practice Leader for KPMG for many years and was a Securities Reviewing Partner. Phil was the Professional Practice Partner for the Calgary office for a number of years. Phil also served on the KPMG Canada Board of Directors for six years.

Phil is currently on the board and chairs the audit committee for two public companies, a trucking and logistics company and a fluids and chemical company. He is also currently a member of the audit committee of the Province of Alberta. Phil has served on the boards of a number of NPOs.

Phil was a member of the Alberta Securities Commission Financial Review Committee and the Alberta Securities Commission Financial Advisory Committee for a number of years.

Widely respected in the Calgary community, Ms. Friesen has an extensive background in providing effective leadership. She has been the President and CEO of The Calgary Foundation since 2005. Prior to joining the Foundation, Ms. Friesen was CEO of the Calgary Health Trust for 4 years, and had a 22 year career with the YWCA spanning three cities: Winnipeg, Yellowknife, where she was CEO for five years, and then Calgary where she was the CEO for 12 years.

Ms. Friesen has served on a variety of Boards including the Calgary Police Commission, the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, and the Calgary Rotary Club (Downtown). Eva was the recipient of the 2011 Haskayne School of Business MAX Award, an award given annually to an alumni in recognition of outstanding success.

She has an MBA from the University of Calgary and a Bachelor in Physical Education from the University of Manitoba. Eva also holds an ICD.D designation through the Institute of Corporate Directors and ICD-Rotman, Directors Education Program.