Shari Austin, Ian Bird, Andrea Cohen Barrack
Philanthropy's Evolution: New Roles and Expectations
Shari Austin was appointed Vice President, Corporate Citizenship, and Executive Director of the RBC Foundation in January, 2008. In this capacity, she is responsible for three areas:
• Corporate Social Responsibility strategy and communication;
• Corporate environmental affairs; and
• RBC’s philanthropic activities.
She has overall responsibility for RBC’s Blue Water Project and Social Finance Initiative.
Shari joined RBC in 1995 and has worked in a number of public policy, regulatory, compliance and risk roles. In 2000, she was appointed Vice President of Policy and Regulation for RBC Global Services (correspondent banking, trade payments and cash management). From 2003 to 2007, Shari served as Vice President, Risk Policy in RBC’s Group Risk Management area, and was responsible for enterprise risk policies, risk governance, and environmental risk management.
Shari is a lawyer by training. Before joining RBC in 1995, she was Legal Counsel to the Canadian Payments Association in Ottawa for six years. She holds a B.A. (Honours) from the University of Toronto in political philosophy and Canadian Studies, an LL.B (Bachelors of Law) from the University of Ottawa; and a Masters Degree in Practicing Management from McGill University in Montreal.
She was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, and lives in Toronto.
Ian Bird is the President of Community Foundations of Canada (CFC), the national network that connects the country’s 191 community foundations.
From the moment Ian joined CFC in 2011 he embraced its ‘all for community’ vision and immediately began exploring opportunities to mobilize its diverse network to achieve greater collective impact in communities across the country.
A two-time Olympian in field hockey, Ian was well known in the sport community for his ability to bring groups together to affect change. He quickly began doing the same at CFC. From expanding CFC’s circle of champions to include new voices and expertise, to building new partnerships based on common interests and outcomes, Ian has worked hard to find new ways for the movement to address complex community issues.
Under his leadership, CFC established its landmark effort to help build a smart and caring nation leading up to Canada’s 150th birthday in 2017. Smart & Caring Communities will see the movement expand its reach and establish special Smart & Caring Community Funds to celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday.
The early success of the initiative has led to many opportunities including the network`s first national advertising campaign, a 2017-focused partnership with CBC Radio-Canada and Via Rail Canada, and a unique invitation to play a key role in establishing the Rideau Hall Foundation – a new foundation for Canada.
As the incubator of this foundation, community foundations will share their leadership experience and expertise and Ian will serve at the foundation’s first Executive Director while continuing to serve as President of CFC.
Ian is a native of North Vancouver and currently lives in Chelsea, Quebec.
Andrea Cohen Barrack is the current CEO of the Ontario Trillium Foundation, Canada’s largest granting foundation. The Foundation helps to build healthy and vibrant communities through investments in arts and culture, sports and recreation, human and social services and the environment. She believes that a strong public benefit sector is critical for supporting healthy and vibrant communities. She is dedicated to strengthening the NFP sector by building capacity which promotes civic participation and encourages innovation. A transformative leader, she has a demonstrated history of both developing strategies which promise positive change and leading others to deliver on those promises. She came to OTF following a lengthy and successful career in community healthcare, most recently as CEO of Unison Health and Community Services. She is recognized for her expertise in making organizations more effective by ensuring that systems are integrated and impact is both measured and assessed.
A long-time volunteer, she is currently a member of the Governing Council of the International Planned Parenthood Federation where she serves as Chair, Western Hemisphere Region. Her community involvement includes participation in initiatives that seek to find creative and collaborative solutions to issues such as: building public space, access to healthcare and safe communities.
to