The mission and work of the Canadian Educational Standards Institute (CESI) is overseen by a volunteer Board of Directors. The term of office of elected Directors is three years, renewable once. Ordinarily, Directors retire after two terms. A majority of the directors are people who are independent of CESI accredited schools, that is not Heads of Schools, Chairs of Boards, directors, officers or employees of CESI accredited schools. Accreditation is a peer-review process; however, all accreditation standards, procedures and decisions are made by this arm’s length governing body to ensure the integrity of the accreditation process.
CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD
Mr. Jeff Paikin, Chairman
Jeff Paikin is the Chair of the Board for the Canadian Educational Standards Institute. He graduated from Hillfield Strathallan College and earned his B.Commerce degree at Mount Allison University. He is a past board member at Mount Allison Alumni Association and the Junior Achievement Board of Directors. He is a past director of the Hamilton Health Sciences Foundation and is currently a member of the Children’s Aid Society Capital Campaign for Hamilton. He has been a committee member of the B’Nai Brith Sports Celebrity Dinner since 1984, and has served as dinner chair or co-chair 11 times since joining the committee. It is the largest annual fund raising dinner in Hamilton.
Since 1994, Jeff has been the President of New Horizon Homes. He is currently a Partner and Board Member with the Hamilton Bulldogs Hockey Club. Jeff has a keen interest in education and has been Chair of the Hillfield Strathallan Board of Governors since 2005, and a member of their board and of the Board of Trustees since 1999.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Mary-Pat Armstrong
Mary-Pat is a committed leader of non-profit organizations, focused in the health care, education, community service and arts sectors. In the past ten years, she has served on the Boards of the Toronto Children’s Chorus Board, the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) Campaign Advisory Board, the Kohai Educational Centre’s Capital Campaign, and the Conference of Independent Schools Board. She is the Founding Director of Ronald McDonald House and Camp Oochigeas. She was also a Lecturer at Concordia University and McGill University in the School of Nursing.
Mary-Pat currently sits on the Board of the Resource Development Committee and Patron’s Council of Community Living Toronto and Chair’s their Major Gifts Committee, and the Branksome Hall School Foundation Board.
Nancy Birt
Nancy Birt, is a Board Governor at Strathcona Tweedsmuir School in Okotoks, Alberta. She has served on various board committees such as: Governance, Risk Management and Academic. Ms. Birt currently is a senior principal with KPMG and serves as National Director, Audit Marketing. Nancy has qualified for the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors and is a certified management consultant.
Robert Campbell
Dr. Robert Campbell is President and Vice-Chancellor of Mount Allison University. He was educated at Trent University, the University of Toronto and the London School of Economics, where he received his PhD. He taught Political Science and Canadian Public Policy at Trent for two decades, where he became Provost and Dean of Arts and Science, before moving to Wilfrid Laurier University as its first Dean of Arts. Dr. Campbell is the author of nine books in economic policy and postal policy including: The Politics of the Post: Canada’s Postal System from Public Service to Privatization, The Politics of Postal Transformation: Modernizing Postal Systems in the Electronic and Global World, and four editions of The Real Worlds of Canadian Politics. He has recently completed a review of Canada Post for the federal government, has consulted on postal matters for unions, governments and postal corporations, and is a founding member of the Aspen Postal Initiative. He is presently examining international postal governance issues, completing a study of the Universal Postal Union. He has edited the Journal of Canadian Studies and has been Chair of its Board. Dr. Campbell is a Director of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC), co-chair of the Southeast New Brunswick Education and Industry Council, and is on the Executive of the Association of Atlantic Universities. He is a former member of the Board of Lakefield College School, where he and his wife, Dr. Christl Verduyn, carried out the external study which led to LCS becoming a co-educational school.
Elaine Danson
Elaine Danson’s first hand experience in working with students, teachers, families and schools is extensive. Having taught in the public, private and independent sector and then leading Montcrest School as principal for 15 years are accomplishments that provide her with extensive knowledge. Montcrest School is a coeducational, independent, elementary school located in the Riverdale area of Toronto. Elaine served on the Board of Governors of both the Canadian Association of Independent Schools and Royal St. George’s College. Presently she serves on the Board of the Conference of Independent Schools, the Mabin School and on a Board committee of the University of Toronto Schools. She has a Masters of Education, in Special Education.
Elaine began to consult to families, students and schools in September 2006.
Jonathan Goldbloom
A communications professional with close to three decades of experience, Jonathan Goldbloom is president of Jonathan Goldbloom and Associates, a Montreal public relations firm specializing in issue management and stakeholder communications. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Selwyn House School and chair of the Quebec Association of Independent Schools’ Committee in opposition to Bill 104, a law that limits access to English -language schools. His other volunteer involvement includes being member of the Board of Directors of the Stratford Festival and the Quebec-Israel Committee.
Kim Gordon
Kim is in her third year as Head of The Bishop Strachan School. Her career in education has spanned 34 years and has included positions of classroom teacher; staff development consultant; co-coordinator of the 2-year Masters of Teaching Program at OISE; international consultant on educating girls, educational change, assessment and evaluation and effective instruction in the classroom; as well as Vice Principal of Curriculum at BSS, prior to her appointment as Head of School in October 2004.
Beat Guldimann
Beat Guldimann and his family moved to the Toronto area from Switzerland in 1997. He holds a Doctorate in Law from the University of Basel, Switzerland and is a member of the Swiss Bar. Beat spent most of his professional career in the financial services industry where his roles included •legal counsel at Swiss Bank Corporation Head Office 1986-1996. •President & CEO of UBS Canada 1997-2001. •Head of Global Private Banking at CIBC 2001-2004. •Principal of Clearview Partners, a family wealth consulting firm 2004-2005. •Vice-Chairman at Hampton Securities Limited 2005-2007.
In the summer of 2007, Beat has established a management consulting practice under the name of Tribeca Consulting Group, focusing on financial services and governance issues in the area of small business and NGO’s.
Beat has been a member of council and deputy mayor in his native town of Reinach, Switzerland from 1983 to 1996. His board experience includes both commercial and not-for-profit roles. He is a past board member of the Country Day School (2001-2007), the Canadian Opera Company and the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art in Toronto, UBS Bank and Trust Canada, CIBC Cayman and Bahamas, a water utility and a regional public transit corporation in Switzerland. He is Chairman of a privately held printing and publishing company in Switzerland where he has been a board member for the past 20 years.
Arthur Haberman
Arthur Haberman is University Professor Emeritus of History and Humanities in the Faculty of Arts at York University. He received his B.A. from the City College of New York and his M.A. and Ph.D. from New York University. He currently teaches European History and Art History at both York University and the University of Toronto. Arthur is the author and editor of a number of works used in schools in Ontario and elsewhere, including The Making of the Modern Age and Civilizations: A Cultural Atlas. He is one of the founders of the Faculty of Education at York University and has consulted with the Ministries of Education of Ontario and British Columbia as well as with many boards in Canada and in the United States. He has been actively involved in shaping the Advanced Placement programme in European History. Arthur has received a number of teaching awards, including the 3M Fellowship awarded by the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education in Canada. He has been a member of the boards of York University and the United Synagogue Day School; he is currently on the boards of the Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto, and St. Clement’s.
Audrey Hadfield
Audrey Hadfield is Founder and Executive Vice-President of MacLachlan College in Oakville, Ont. She is a member of the CESI Board of Directors, Vice-Chair of Independent School Associations of Ontario and serves on the editorial board of Dialogue magazine. Audrey’s broad-based network and commitment to education in Ontario is reflected in her activities as a member of the Governing Council of the Ontario College of Teachers for a three year tenure and as former President of Women in Educational Administration Ontario, an organization of women holding senior administrative positions in school boards, universities and the Ministry of Education.
Audrey holds a Bachelor of Science Degree, Ontario Teaching Certification, Specialist in Special Education Diploma and Principal’s Certification.
Andy Hargreaves
Andy Hargreaves is the Thomas More Brennan Chair in the Lynch School of Education at Boston College. Before this he taught primary school and lectured in several English universities, including Oxford. Prior to coming to Boston College, he was co-founder and director for the International Centre for Educational Change at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education in Toronto. He was held visiting professorships in the US (Regents Professor, University of California, Santa Cruz), Canada (Noted Scholar, University of British Columbia), the UK (Special Professor, University of Nottingham and Simon Professor, University of Manchester), Hong Kong (Onwell Fellow), Sweden and Japan (awarded by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science)-and he is currently elected Visiting Professor at the Institute of Education in London. He has received the Whitworth Award for outstanding contributions to educational research in Canada and was awarded a writing residency at the villa Serbelloni in Bellagio, Italy by the Rockefeller Foundation.
Andy comes from a Northern mill town in England. When his primary school was rebuilt a few years ago, he was invited back to lay its inscribed foundation stone which he did with his best teacher, Mary Hindle (almost in her 90s), as he was the one who first inspired him to become and educator.
Andy is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Educational Change. He is leading editor of the first and second International Handbooks of Educational Change. His books achieved outstanding writing awards from the American Educational Research Association, the American Libraries Association and the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, and are translated into many languages. His 2003 book, Teaching in The Knowledge Society was also one of the three finalist, two-years running, for the $200,000 Grawemeyer Award for the best book or idea in the world in education. His most recent books are Sustainable Leadership (with Dean Fink – Wiley 2006), Change Wars (with Michael Fullan-2008), and The Fourth Way (with Dennis Shirley-in press). Articles publish in the last 6 months or in press can be found in Teachers College Record, the American Educational Research Journal, Educational Leadership and Phi Delta Kappan. His current research is organizations that perform beyond expectations in education, health, business and sport.
Mr. George Kitching
George Kitching is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Idelia Advisers Inc. His investment banker career began at RBC Dominion Securities in 1979 and continued at the Canadian arm of N.M. Rothschild & Sons in Toronto. Mr. Kitching is a member of the National Statistics Council which advises Statistics Canada. He serves as Secretary/ Treasurer of The Association for Commonwealth Studies. He is an executive committee member of the British North American Committee. He serves as a Trustee of the Confederation Centre of the Arts in Charlottetown and as Chairman of the Trust’s National Vision Task Force. He is a Governor of the United World College of the Atlantic in Wales and a former Trustee of Pearson College.
Jonathan Leigh
Educated at Eton and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, Jonathan’s degree was in Modern History where he held a Tenor Choral Scholarship. His teaching career saw him cut his teeth at Rugby School before moving to Cranleigh in Surrey. There, at various stages, he was head of history, housemaster, warden of the 6th form centre, and for the last four years of a 16 year stay, second master. In 1992 he moved to Blundell’s, Devon and headed that school until it reached its 400th anniversary in 2004.
Jonathan’s interests include continued active participation in singing, a love of opera and drama, and his succession of Labrador retrievers, including his present one, Lucy. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, has also governed 4 schools and was a Vice-Chairman of Exeter Racecourse.
Additionally he served for 10 years on the Admiralty Interview Board, was a representative on the Association Européen des etudiants (section Belge) and was a Director of the Inner Cities Young Peoples Project. He remains hugely committed to the ideals of global linkage in Education.
Since coming to Canada he advises the Vimy Foundation and chaired the C.E.S.I. evaluation at Lakefield College School. He has recently joined the C.E.S.I. Board and he is also HMC representative on the International Confederation of Principals.
Married to Emma for 32 years the Leighs have two children, Izzy (who has recently graduated from the University of Toronto with a degree in English and Philosophy) and Charlie (who studies Arabic and Persian at S.O.A.S., London University, UK).
Guy McLean (Advisor)
Guy McLean is an alumnus of Sedbergh School in Montebello, Quebec, where he won the Governor General’s Medal and served as Head Boy. He is also a graduate of Atlantic College in Wales and holds a B.A. in English from Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. He received his Master’s Degree in English Literature from the University of Wisconsin in 1971.
Guy joined the Appleby staff in 1971 teaching Latin, English and Math in the Junior School. Prior to being appointed Headmaster in 1987 he held a number of leadership positions – Head of English, Director of Athletics for the Junior School, Assistant Director of the Junior School and Director of Studies.
Guy is an active Oakville community member having been Chair of the United Way Campaign and has served on the United Way board. He has been an Athena Award nominee and has been an active supporter of the arts and community service through a variety of personal and school initiatives. He currently sits on the board of the Canadian Education Standards Institute, Round Square and the Friends of Round Square Canada.
Jill Morison
Jill Morison is a governor at Hillfield Strathallan College, Hamilton. She is on the finance, board development and strategic planning committees. Jill has previously served as chair of the board development committee and been a member of the executive, nominations, marketing and communications, and bursary committees. Jill has also been a member of HSC’s Board of Trustees.
An editor and journalist, Jill spent almost 20 years in print journalism. She was a senior manager and editor at The Hamilton Spectator. Some of the positions held included: Saturday editor, Futures editor, Books editor, Assistant GO editor, Special Sections editor and Health and Wellness editor. Jill started her career as a reporter in The Spectator’s city news and life departments. She also worked with the paper’s marketing department to introduce televised open forum meetings with the Hamilton area community. Jill is a graduate of HSC and holds a degree in political science from the University of Western Ontario and a graduate journalism degree from Carleton University. Jill is also a volunteer fundraiser for the Hamilton-Burlington YMCA’s Virtual Y program.
Jim Nelles
Jim Nelles and his family have been members of the Country Day School community since 1991. Together with his wife Louise, Mr. and Mrs. Nelles have participated in numerous CDS activities over the past fourteen years. Jim has been a member of the CDS Board since 2003 and was elected Chair in 2005. Jim and Louise have three children all of whom have attended CDS since JK. Jamie started JK in the fall of 1991 and graduated in June of 2005 while his brother Andrew is currently in grade 12 and his sister Megan is in grade 8.
Jim’s working background is in media where he has held various senior level management positions in the conventional and specialty television sectors. In addition he has served on a number of broadcast industry related boards and committees. Community involvement currently includes serving as a Board member of the Kensington Health Centre in Toronto as well as serving as a member of its finance committee. Jim is also an advisor to George Brown College where he is a member of the Management Studies Program Advisory Committee. In addition Jim is a member of the Board of Governors of Rothesay Netherwood School in New Brunswick. His educational background includes an undergraduate degree from Bishops University and a Master of Science degree from Boston University.
Jim Power
Dr. Jim Power became the 18th Principal of Upper Canada College in August of 2004.
Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pa., Dr. Power has a bachelor’s degree in English from College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts, a master’s degree in the Art of Teaching from Boston College, and an Ed.D in Educational Leadership from Boston University. He also attended Columbia University on a Klingenstein Visiting Heads Fellowship. Dr. Power started his career in independent schools in New England and taught at both the elementary and high school levels, at both co-ed and single-sex schools, and at both boarding schools and day schools. For 11 years — immediately preceding his move to UCC and to Canada — he was Head of Georgetown Preparatory School, a boys’ school in North Bethesda, Md.
In addition to demonstrating leadership in education, Dr. Power has been an active volunteer in the community throughout his career.
Dr. Power and his wife Mary have five children: four sons, who are all UCC students, and one daughter.
George Rutherford
George has been a career teacher and learner. He is an alumnus of St. George’s College (now Royal St. George’s College) in Toronto. He holds degrees from York and U of T. He has taught for the TDSB, at RSGC and at HTS. George served as HTS’ Admissions Officer, Development Officer and Assistant Head. He was appointed to the position of Head of School in February 1992 and has continued to teach English throughout his tenure. He has presented at the CAIS Assistant Heads Conference and at the CAIS Leadership Institute. Among the many conferences and workshops that he has attended as Head, the most notable include the Principal’s Institute at Harvard University, The International Management Development Institute in Lusanne, Switzerland and the Independent School Management sessions held in Delaware, USA.
Robert (Bob) Snowden
Robert Snowden received his BA in English and Philosophy from University of Toronto. A boarding student himself during high school, he has always lived and worked at schools where boarding is a significant part of the life. He has a deep interest in both athletics and the arts, coaching sports and participating in musical and dramatic activities. Bob served on the Board of the CAIS and as President of the Independent Schools Association of British Columbia. In 1995 he moved to Victoria to become Head of School at St. Michaels University School where he has overseen a review of the school’s Mission and Strategic Plan and a subsequent facilities redevelopment plan amounting to $30 million.
Peter Sturrup
Peter Sturrup is currently Headmaster at Pickering College in Newmarket Ontario. A graduate of Wilfred Laurier University with both a B.A. and an M.A. in Geography, Peter completed his B.Ed. at the University of Toronto. Peter has spent ten years as a lecturer in Geography at the W.L.U. and for the past nineteen years has been at Pickering College serving in various capacities including teacher, Dean of Residence, Assistant Head and most recently as Headmaster. Peter lives on campus with his family.
Claire Sumerlus
Claire Sumerlus received her Bachelor of Education from the University of Manitoba and her Level 1 Administrator’s Certificate from the Manitoba Department of Education. Claire joined Balmoral Hall School as their Head in 1999. Prior to arriving at Balmoral Hall School, she taught all grades from Kindergarten through Grade Nine and worked as a Youth Violence Prevention, and Behavior Management Specialist for the Winnipeg School Division. In addition, Claire has been a Vice Principal, and also a Principal in the public system in Winnipeg. She was in her tenth year at Balmoral Hall when she left to assume the position as Head of the United Synagogue Day Schools in Toronto.
David Taylor
David recently retired as a senior partner in the Toronto office of KPMG LLP. He currently serves on the board of several organizations, both for-profit and not-for-profit entities. David has served as board chair of Havergal College, was a director of the Canadian Red Cross Society and served as a member of the board of the Canadian Outward Bound Wilderness School. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario and has completed the Institute of Corporate Directors Corporate Governance College at U of T’s Rotman School of Management.
Tina Woodside
Ms. Woodside is currently the head of the Corporate Finance Department in Gowlings’ Toronto office. Since the merger of Smith Lyons with Gowlings in 2001, Ms. Woodside had held a number of senior management positions within the firm including being a member of the firm’s National Executive Committee and Chair of the National Professional Development and Associates Committee and Chair of the firm’s Governance Committee. Ms. Woodside practises corporate and securities law with particular emphasis on corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions and corporate governance matters. Ms. Woodside’s M&A practice involves advising acquirors and target companies regarding friendly and hostile takeover bids and other forms of business combinations. Her corporate finance practice involves advising issuers and underwriters, both domestic and foreign, regarding prospectus offerings, private placements and establishing operations in Canada, and providing advice with respect to corporate governance matters and securities regulatory matters. Ms. Woodside is a graduate of the Institute of Corporate Directors/Rotman School of Business Directors’ Education Program. In May 2005, she became a “certified director” and was awarded the ICD Corporate Governance College designation “ICD.D”. She is currently a director of General Minerals Corporation, a TSX listed mineral exploration company, and a director of the Smart Systems for Health Agency, established by the Province of Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.
Mrs. Anne-Marie Kee (Executive Director)
Anne-Marie completed a B.A. in English, a B.Ed, and an M.Ed. in Curriculum at Queen’s Uniersity in Kingston. She also completed qualifications in Special Education, Design and Technology and Principal’s Qualification Program. She worked in the public system for six years with the Lennox and Addington School Board (currently Limestone District) where she taught English, Physical Education, and Technology. For six years, she worked at Lower Canada College in a variety of roles: English teacher, Information Technology Coordinator, and Dean of Studies. She has made presentations at “Springboards” Montreal English teachers annual conference, Quebec Association of Independent Schools conference, National Association of Independent Schools annual conferences, and the Canadian Independent Schools’ Best Practices conference; she teaches the “Accreditation and School Improvement” module at the CAIS Leadership Institute. She currently serves on the boards of Our Kids Magazine and Dialogue and on the NAIS Commission on Accreditation.
Honorary Directors: Tom Hockin, Mr. John Stevenson, Prof. Tom Symons.
Thomas Hockin
Tom is an accredited corporate director (ICD.D.) who currently serves on several public, private and voluntary boards. After retiring from eleven years as President and CEO of the Investment Funds Institute which represents Canada’s $600 billion investment funds industry, he chairs the support office for the International Investment Funds Association; the Canadian Educational Standards Industry; the Advisory Board of Ticoon Technology and T.H.I. (a holding company). He is a member of the Board of the Pacific and Western Bank and the Mutual Fund Dealers Association and the Trusted Digital Repository Corporation.
A federal Privy Council since 1986 and a Parliamentarian from 1984 — 1993, he was a federal minister for over 7 years with a number of portfolios including Minister of State (Finance), Minister of Tourism and Small Business (where he carried political responsibility for Southwestern Ontario) and Minister of International Trade.
Previous to public life, he was a full professor at York University and the University of Western Ontario in business and government and a Headmaster of St. Andrews College. He is an author of four books and many scholarly articles in books and journals. He also was founding president of Sotheby’s Canada. His Honours BA in Business is from the University of Western Ontario. His Masters of Public Administration and Ph.D. in Government are from Harvard University. He was awarded an Honourary Doctor of Commerce by Ryerson University on June 24th, 2005 for his leadership in public life, corporate life, academic work and his volunteer work.
John Stevenson, QC
Mr. Stevenson is Partner Emeritus at Gowlings LLP practising in the areas of corporate and commercial law. Mr. Stevenson is a member of the Canadian Bar Association and the Canadian Tax Foundation. He is affiliated as a director or officer with a number of companies and is also Honorary Counsel of the Canadian Educational Standards Institute of which he was a founding director at the time of its incorporation.
Thomas H.B. Symons
Founding President and Vanier Professor Emeritus of Trent University, Thomas Symons served as Chair of the Commission on Canadian Studies that produced To Know Ourselves, the landmark report on the state of teaching and research about Canada in many fields. He is the author of numerous reports and articles dealing with education, public affairs, heritage conservation, human rights, culture, and international relations. He has served as Chair of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, the Ontario Human Rights Commission, the National Library Advisory Board, the Canadian Polar Commission, the Commission on French-language Education in Ontario, and the Birthplace of Confederation Commission appointed by the Premier of Prince Edward Island. Internationally, he has been chairman of both the Association of Commonwealth Universities and United World Colleges. He is currently Chair the Association for Commonwealth Studies and a Director of the Ontario Heritage Trust.
Founding Chairman of the Canadian Educational Standards Institute. Professor Symons is a Companion of the Order of Canada, a member of the Order of Ontario, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.