Executive Team

		Anne Golden President and CEO

Anne Golden, Ph.D., C.M., has been President and Chief Executive Officer of The Conference Board of Canada since October 2001. Previous to that, Dr. Golden served as President of the United Way of Greater Toronto for 14 years.

Dr. Golden gained national recognition for her role in the public policy arena through chairing two influential task forces: one in 1996 for the provincial government on the future of the Toronto area, and another in 1998 for the City of Toronto and the federal government on homelessness. Both of her reports, Greater Toronto: Report of the GTA Task Force and Taking Responsibility for Homelessness: An Action Plan for Toronto, remain relevant and are still referenced today in academic courses. Also noteworthy is her work on The Canada Project, the largest public policy project undertaken by The Conference Board of Canada, for which she co-authored Volume III: Mission Possible: Successful Canadian Cities.

Author of numerous publications on public policy issues, Dr. Golden has held research positions including Director of Policy Research for the Ontario Liberal Party (1981-82), Special Advisor to the Provincial Leader of the Opposition (1978-81), and Research Coordinator for the Bureau of Municipal Research (1973-78).

In 2003, Dr. Golden’s commitment to social justice was recognized in her appointment by the Governor General as a Member of the Order of Canada. She has received eight honorary doctorates from McMaster University (2011), University of Calgary (2011), University of Western Ontario (2008), Royal Roads University (2005), the University of Toronto (2002), York University (2000), and Ryerson Polytechnic University (1997), including an honorary diploma from Loyalist College (2005).

Anne has received two awards from the Canadian Urban Institute: the Jane Jacobs Lifetime of Achievement Award (2012) and the Urban Leadership Award for City Engagement (2004), as well as the WXN Canada’s Most Powerful Women: The Top 100 Award. In 2003 and in 2002, the National Post’s annual ranking of Canada's brightest and best women executives named Dr. Golden among the elite of Canada's businesswomen. In August 2000, she was named one of the “City of Toronto’s Top 10 Power Brokers” by the National Post; and in 1993 she was chosen by Toronto Life magazine as one of the “Eight Best People in Metropolitan Toronto.”

Throughout her career, Dr. Golden has gained considerable knowledge of governance matters. As President and Chief Executive Officer of both The Conference Board of Canada and the United Way of Greater Toronto, she has worked with Canada’s most senior corporate and community leaders who comprised her Boards of Directors. As President and Chief Executive Officer of The Conference Board of Canada, she helped to create and currently supervises the Directors College, a joint venture of The Conference Board of Canada and McMaster University. Her governance experience includes two corporate Boards, the University of Toronto Board, and several not-for-profit Boards.

In July 2011, Dr. Golden announced her intention to step down as President and Chief Executive Officer of The Conference Board of Canada in June 2012.

Glen Hodgson Senior Vice-President and Chief Economist Glen Hodgson brings 29 years of experience and a specialization in international economic and financial issues to the position of Senior Vice-President and Chief Economist of The Conference Board of Canada. Mr. Hodgson is responsible for overseeing the Board's macroeconomic outlook products, tourism, custom research, and conference programs. He is the Board's chief spokesperson on economic issues, has written extensively on Canadian and international economic and financial issues, and is bilingual. He plays a central role in enhancing the Board's public policy analysis. He is the editor and a contributing author of the book Crisis and Intervention: Lessons from the Financial Meltdown and Recession, published in November 2010. Glen is launching the Board's latest research initiative, the Canadian Alliance for Sustainable Health Care. He took the lead in creating the Board's International Trade and Investment Centre and has published over 140 articles and briefings. He is co-authoring a new series of briefings on the economics of pro sports in Canada. Glen is a regular contributor to the Board's economic blog Hot Topics in Economics. Mr. Hodgson joined the Board in September 2004, after 10 years at Export Development Canada (EDC), where he held several senior positions, including Vice-President of Policy and Deputy Chief Economist. He also spent 10 years with the federal Department of Finance. From 1984 to 1988, Mr. Hodgson served as Advisor/Assistant to the Executive Director for Canada, Ireland, and the Caribbean at the International Monetary Fund. Mr. Hodgson has an MA in Economics from McGill University and pursued PhD studies at McGill. He resides in Ottawa with his wife and the younger of his two sons, and spends his leisure time coaching youth soccer and cycling.

Michael Bloom Vice-President, Organizational Effectiveness and Learning The Conference Board of Canada

Dr. Michael Bloom, Vice-President, Organizational Effectiveness and Learning at The Conference Board of Canada, is responsible for managing five research groups: Organization Effectiveness and Learning Research; Education, Health & Immigration Programs; Organizational Excellence; Governance and Sustainable Enterprise; and the Directors College. He oversees funded research projects at the Conference Board and has management responsibility for nineteen executive networks.

Corporately, Michael is leading a major three-year Conference Board research initiative, The Centre for Food in Canada, which is developing a vision, framework and core plan for a National Food Strategy. He is also leading the Centre for Business Innovation whose goal is to bring about major improvements in firm-level business innovation in Canada as a cornerstone of improved national competitiveness and prosperity. Previously, he led CanCompete, a flagship Conference Board research initiative whose 25 studies explored strategies for enhancing Canada’s sustainable competitiveness.

Recent major research projects under his direction and studies authored by him include: Governing Food: Policies, Laws and Regulations for Food in Canada (2011); Saskatchewan in the Spotlight: Acquisition of Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc.—Risks and Opportunities (2010); Navigating Through the Storm: Leaders and the World of Work in 2020 (2010); Building From the Ground Up: Enhancing Affordable Housing in Canada (2010); Healthy People, Healthy Performance, Healthy Profits: The Case for Business Action on the Socio-Economic Determinants of Health (2009); Turning Green Into Gold: Green Marketing for Profit (2009); Learning and Development Outlook 2009 (2009); “Hollowing Out”: Myth and Reality: Corporate Takeovers in an Age of Transformation (2008).

Other projects include: How Canada Performs—Education and Skills Chapter; Canada Partner—The Global Competitiveness Report; 2011 Annual Report Card on the State of Board Diversity; Sector Council Research Project; Socio-Economic Benefits of Sport Participation in Canada; and the Public Works and Government Services Procurement Project. He also oversaw development of the Innovation Skills Profile, the General Innovation Skills Aptitude Test (GISAT), and the Skills Credentialing Tool.

Dr. Bloom speaks on human capital, work and workplaces, education trends, innovation and productivity, immigration, health, organizational effectiveness, food policy, credentialing, skills, learning and development, and international benchmarks.

Dr. Bloom is a graduate of the University of Oxford (DPhil) and Carleton University (BA, MA).

Jean-Pierre Boisclair Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer

J-P Boisclair is Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer of The Conference Board of Canada, responsible for the Board’s financial and performance management and reporting.

Prior to joining the Conference Board in 2004, his experience included serving as head of a non-profit research and educational organization and, in the private sector, as CEO of an aerospace industry company. He has been a Partner in a national public accounting firm, and chaired of the Independent Panel on Modernization of Comptrollership in the Government of Canada.

He chairs the Board of Directors of the Ottawa Children's Treatment Centre, has served as a Governor of the Ottawa Hospital and is currently a member of the Board of Directors of eHealth Ontario where he chairs the Finance Committee. He is a Chartered Accountant and was elected a Fellow of the Ontario Institute of Chartered Accountants in 1985.

Perry Eisenschmid Vice-President Marketing, Sales and IT

Perry is Vice-President, Marketing, Sales & IT and Chief Privacy Officer at The Conference Board of Canada. He joined the Conference Board in January 2002. In this position, Perry has overall responsibility for establishing and implementing an annual corporate marketing, sales, and I.T. plans. Perry also oversees The Conference Board of Canada’s virtual network of over 500 Chief Marketing Executives from across the country—a subset of which gathers periodically for live meetings to hear from top marketing-related authors and practitioners and to discuss and debate the top marketing issues of the day.

Perry started his career in management with Quaker Oats and Procter and Gamble. Prior to joining The Conference Board of Canada, Perry held senior management positions at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce that culminated in the role of President and CEO of CIBC Trust along with membership on the Board of Directors of CIBC Bank and Trust Cayman Ltd.

Perry is a graduate of York University, with a bachelor and masters in Business Administration, specializing in marketing.

David Stewart-Patterson Vice-President Public Policy

David Stewart-Patterson is respected as one of Canada’s most creative and articulate policy minds. He joins the Conference Board of Canada after 15 years at the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, the past seven as its Executive Vice President, where he engaged in policy development and advocacy across a broad range of national and international issues.

A graduate of Carleton University’s School of Journalism, David has written three books and worked as a reporter, editor and senior manager in print and broadcast media, with positions including Parliamentary correspondent for The Globe and Mail’s Report on Business and business anchor for CTV’s Canada AM.

A bilingual native of Montreal, David is a passionate volunteer, currently Vice Chair of the Canadian Youth Business Foundation, which last year provided experienced mentors and no-collateral financing that enabled young Canadians to launch 600 new businesses. He also is a director of The Prince’s Youth Business International, the U.K.-based global network of charities supporting young entrepreneurs.

Barb Hogberg Executive Director Human Resources

Barb Hogberg is the Executive Director of Human Resources at The Conference Board of Canada. In this position, Barb is responsible for the leadership and management of all strategic and operational Human Resources initiatives at The Conference Board of Canada, which has been recognized three times in recent years as a top employer in the National Capital Region. Barb also acts as an internal reviewer for select HR-research reports on behalf of her research colleagues.

Prior to joining The Conference Board in 1998, Barb held human resources positions of increasing scope and responsibility at Deloitte & Touche, and its predecessor firm, Touche Ross. Barb is a member of the Human Resources Professional Association of Ontario; the Ottawa Compensation Group; the Employer Council of Champions; the Council of HR Executives, and, the CHRO Roundtable. Barb recently stepped down from her role on the Board of Directors of the Hospice at May Court.