Kevin Latimer is a Partner at Cox & Palmer, Halifax office, and a recognized professional in Administrative and Public Law, Corporate and Commercial Litigation, and Labour and Employment Law. A graduate of Mount Allison University (BA), with a Master of Arts from Carleton University, and a Law Degree from Dalhousie. Kevin is passionate about the transformative power of music and the arts. He serves as a Governor of the Atlantic School of Theology (AST) and is a former Governor of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design.

Clare M. Gaudet is a strategic financial services executive and lawyer with experience in financial, consumer, and professional services focused on managing stakeholder relationships and ensuring that enterprise risk management is relevant, practical and enables value creation. Over the course of her career, Clare has previously held positions at TD Bank, CIBC, and KPMG. Clare has also served as a board member for the Pine River Foundation, Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art, and Humber College.

Christian Wray is a co-founder and the Chief Executive Officer of JCM Capital. In addition to providing the strategic vision for the company, Christian also focuses on the evaluation and approval of investment opportunities and the initiation of the company’s strategic partnerships and alliances. Prior to his current position, he was the Director of Finance for Ozz Solar International, a Canadian solar energy development company focused on rooftop solar development in Ontario. Christian is a graduate of University of Toronto (B.Comm.) and is a Chartered Professional Accountant, Chartered Accountant, having worked in the Toronto and UK offices for PwC in their Banking and Capital Markets Group.

Serving as Chair of the Board of NYO Canada between 2012 and 2017, Todd Buchanan is currently a partner with KPMG, LLP in Toronto. Currently working as the as the National Leader, Accounting Advisory Services, Todd has spent 24 years auditing and consulting with both large multi-national public companies and private companies. Todd earned his B. Commerce (Accounting) at McMaster University and earned his C.A in 1993.

Performer and educator Dr. Gregory Irvine has had a long association with NYO Canada as orchestra member, summer staff member, and former and current Board member.  He values the many aspects of this association and continues to support the NYOC so that young Canadian orchestral musicians will continue to be provided with the highest level of orchestral training.  Dr. Irvine currently teaches in the Music Department of the University of Prince Edward Island.

Sharman King has been actively involved in music throughout his life. He is the bass trombonist of the Vancouver Opera Orchestra and has recorded over 300 TV programs in international distribution. Sharman is a sessional instructor at the University of British Columbia and is a member of many community and professional boards including the Vancouver Musicians’ Association, UBC Library Advisory Board, Performing Artists Lodge and the City of Vancouver’s Arts & Culture Policy Council.

Laurel Malkin holds senior governance and volunteer leadership positions with a variety of top Canadian not-for-profit organizations. Professionally, she has made career contributions in the field of education, bringing special expertise in teaching and learning for gifted students to positions in both the United States and Canada – as a middle school teacher, community college instructor, and sessional faculty advisor at Brandon University. Based in Winnipeg, Laurel is now President of the Women’s Musical Club of Winnipeg, President of the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg, and a member of the Asper Jewish Community Centre Board of Directors, among many other appointments.

A seasoned cross-functional executive, she brings to NYO a track record of transforming and innovating in areas of customer experience design and implementation, operations, product development, and digital strategy and execution. A graduate of York University in Social Studies and Psychology, Sarah also completed an EMBA from the Richard Ivey Business School at Western University. She resides with her family in Waterloo, ON.

Dr. Darius J. Bägli, MDCM, is a pediatric surgeon specializing in urology and reconstructive surgery at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, a scientist at the Sickkids’ Research Institute, and deputy chief surgeon of SickKids. A native of the United States and raised in Montreal, he trained in physiology and medicine at McGill, and in urology at Harvard Medical School and the University of Washington. In addition to being a pediatric surgeon, Darius is also an accomplished pianist, having studied under Dorothy Morton and graduating in music (piano performance) from McGill University.

Fred Gorbet has extensive experience in public policy, the private sector and academic and community service. Following a 25-year career in the Canadian public service, where he served as Deputy Minister of Finance, Mr. Gorbet held senior executive positions in the life insurance industry and in academia.

He also has an active career as a corporate director and independent consultant on public policy, serving as Executive Director of task forces on the future of the Canadian financial services sector; corporate governance; and as Chair of a task force on Auto Insurance Fraud in Ontario.

Mr. Gorbet was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2000 and promoted to Officer of the Order in 2014.

Ms. Toporowski joined VIA Rail in November 2014, first as General Manager for Central Canada and then as Vice-President Customer Experience. In August 2022, she was promoted to Chief Customer Officer and currently oversees all activities related to our customers’ journey from booking to destination and to their experience on board our trains and in our stations. Her mandate entails providing overall direction and strategic leadership to the Customer centric teams, including the development of new business opportunities and initiatives relative to marketing, product, and customer service.

Prior to joining VIA Rail, Ms. Toporowski was Vice-President, Corporate Planning and Development at Second Cup, where she was responsible for leading the Strategic Planning process; cross-functional process improvement; procurement and supply chain; and the development and negotiation of new product channels. She also spent 16 years at Air Canada where she held various senior positions, including President of Air Canada Vacations and Senior Director Six Sigma.

She holds an MBA from Concordia University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from McGill University.