Andre Beaulieu
CHAIR
Between 2015 and 2024, as Senior Vice-President, Corporate Services for BCE, André Beaulieu was responsible for one of the largest procurement portfolios in Canada, and the Strategic Business Transformation team which led all major restructuring initiatives as well as the integration of BCE acquisitions. He was also in charge of Real Estate operations, Corporate Security — including cyber-security and corporate responsibility, including ESG, for BCE.
Between 2012 and 2015, André served as Senior Vice President for Wholesale, a $1B division serving 700 telecommunications customers in 180 countries. During the same period, he was President of BCE Nexxia, the entity that owns and manages Bell’s network in the U.S. Between 2007 and 2011, André has occupied a series of executive functions, including VP Strategy.
Before joining Bell, André was a strategy consultant with Kearney (in Paris) and Bain & Company (in Paris and Boston.) His main areas of client service were in private equity investment on the buy side and strategy for large technology companies. Previously, André has worked with the Privy Council Office of the Government of Canada and for the United Nations in multiple countries.
Born in Québec City, André received both his BA (Honours) and his B.C.L/LL.B from Montréal’s McGill University.
An active member of the community since his return to Montreal in 2007, he sits on the boards of the Azrieli Foundation — the largest public foundation in Canada (Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee), CORIM (Executive Committee), the Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation (Executive Committee), and the Public Policy Forum (Chair of the Board). He is also a co-founder of the Banff Forum.
Antonia Maioni
Antonia Maioni is a Professor in the School of Population and Global Health at McGill University, and the 2023-24 William Lyon Mackenzie King Visiting Professor in the Canada Program at Harvard University’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. She previously served as McGill’s Dean of Arts, as Associate Vice-Principal for Research and International Relations and as Director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada (2001-2011). She has also served as the President of the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, as a member of the Board of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research and the Institute for Research in Public Policy, on the management team for the Banff Forum, as a mentor with the Action Canada Program and as a Fellow with the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation. Fully fluent in both English and French, she has extensive experience in local, national and international media.
She holds a B.A. from Université Laval, an M.A. from Carleton University’s Norman Paterson School of International Affairs and a Ph.D. in political science from Northwestern University.
Brett House
Brett House is a Professor of Professional Practice in the Economics Division at Columbia Business School, where his teaching and writing are focused on macroeconomics and international finance. He is also a Fellow with the Public Policy Forum and a Senior Fellow with the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy and Massey College. Earlier in his career, Brett held teaching and research positions with McGill University, the Earth Institute at Columbia University, Keble College Oxford, and the University of Cape Town.
Previously, Brett was Deputy Chief Economist at Scotiabank, Chief Economist at a Toronto-based asset-management start-up, and Global Strategist at a New York-based global macro hedge fund. He cut his teeth in financial markets at Goldman Sachs and the World Bank.
In policy-making roles, Brett was an Economist at the International Monetary Fund for nearly a decade and Principal Advisor on Economic Issues in the Office of United Nations Secretary-General during the global financial crisis.
Brett holds degrees in economics from Queen’s University at Kingston, Ontario, and the University of Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. He was awarded the King Charles III Coronation Medal in 2025 for policy research, advocacy, and volunteer leadership.
Karen Restoule
Karen Restoule is Director of Indigenous Affairs and a Senior Fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, and Senior Advisor at Oyster Group, where she counsels on complex public affairs issues at the intersection of industry, First Nations, and government.
She brings a rare breadth of experience: previously advising clients at one of Canada’s top public affairs firms; serving First Nations leaders on justice, law, community development, and sustainability; leading Ontario’s administrative justice system as a senior public sector executive; and co-founding BOLD Realities to advance industry-Indigenous partnerships.
A sought-after voice, Restoule contributes regularly to national media, radio, and conferences in Canada and abroad. She holds a law degree from the University of Ottawa’s French Common Law Program and was inducted into the Faculty of Law Honours Society for her significant contributions to society through law. Restoule is Ojibwe from Dokis First Nation.
Maureen O’Neil
Maureen O’Neil chairs the board of WaterAid International and is a member of the boards of the Centre for International Governance Innovation and the Centre for the Study of Living Standards.
She is the former senior executive officer of EHealth Ontario and the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement (CFHI). She was also President of the International Development Research Centre and Deputy Minister of Citizenship for the Government of Ontario.
Maureen O’Neil is former chair of the board of the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), the Board of Trustees of the International Institute for Environment and Development, Chair of the Board of Carleton University, former President of the International Development Research Centre, IDRC’s Think Tank Initiative and earlier in her career Deputy Minister of Citizenship in Ontario.
She has also represented Canada on the UN Commission on the Status of Women and on committees of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and has been a member of the UN Committee for Development Planning and the Board of the UNRISD.
She has received honorary doctorates from Laurier University, Carleton University, and the University of Ottawa. In June 2011, Maureen was named an officer of the Order of Canada for public service, recognizing her contributions to international development, gender equality and human rights.
Neil Desai
Neil Desai is a corporate director and executive with extensive experience in the public and private sector. Most recently, he served on the leadership team of Magnet Forensics, a Canadian technology company that develops digital investigation software used by more than 4,000 police, national security and other public and private organizations in over 100 countries. There, he helped lead the growth of the company, from a start-up to its initial public offering on the Toronto Stock Exchange in 2021 and $1.8-billion sale in 2023. Neil is a senior fellow with the Centre for International Governance Innovation and entrepreneur-in-residence with the Rogers Cyber Catalyst. He chairs Solace Power and ClearRisk Inc. and serves on the board of directors of the Public Policy Forum, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, Innovation Asset Collective and is a past director of YMCA Canada. Neil previously served in the Government of Canada in senior roles at Global Affairs Canada and the Prime Minister’s Office.