ATB Financial

James, Barry

Barry James chairs the board’s audit committee and is a member of the board’s risk committee. He also serves on the boards of public and private companies, foundations, and other organizations, chairs the Audit Committee of the Government of Alberta and is chief corporate development officer at Lloyd Sadd Insurance Services. Barry has a B.Comm with distinction, CA from the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants, Fellowship of the Institute of the Chartered Accountants of Alberta, and ICD.D from the Institute of Corporate

Directors. Barry was a partner at PwC, including 10 years as managing partner of the Edmonton office.

Hertz, Joan

Joan Hertz is chair of ATB Financial’s board of directors. She previously served as a director at ATB Financial from 2008 to 2018, and as chair of the governance and conduct review committee. She currently serves as a board member and chair of the governance committee for Edmonton International Airports, and is vice chair of the board and chairs the Growth and Innovation Committee of Covenant Health. She also sits as a public member on the CPA Canada Board. She has served on Alberta's Promise and was formerly with Kids Kottage Foundation and Edmonton Catholic Cemeteries board, as well as with numerous other Crown and community boards.

Minhas, Manjit

Manjit Minhas is an entrepreneur and venture capitalist in the liquor industry and also appears as a television personality on the Canadian reality series Dragons’ Den. Manjit’s unique experience has given her a range of knowledge in brand development, marketing, sales management, and retail negotiation. Manjit has a variety of board experience, including as co-chair of United Way Campaign and previously as a director of West Island College and TransCanada Trail. Manjit has her B.Sc. from the University of Regina and her ICD.D from the Institute of Corporate Directors.

Kelly, Michael

Mr. Kelly is a Chartered Professional Accountant with over 30 years of experience working with growth-oriented businesses in Canadian and international markets, including the oil sector. From 2018 to 2021, Mr. Kelly was the Chief Financial Officer of Step Energy Services Ltd., a pressure pumping company with operations in Canada and the United States. He currently serves as the board chair of Habitat Life Sciences Inc. and Enersoft Inc.

Mr. Kelly holds an Institute of Corporate Directors designation.

Matthew, Jill

Ms. Matthew is a Chartered Professional Accountant with over 30 years of senior leadership experience on large scale-operations and projects in the post-secondary education sector, utilities and energy, and government industries. Since 2019, Ms. Matthew has served as the Vice-President, Administration and Chief Financial Officer of NorQuest College. She currently serves as a director and chair of the Human Resource and Governance Committee of the Alberta Safety Codes Council. From 2010 to 2013, Ms. Matthew served as the Divisional Vice-President, Customer Services and Business Planning with Epcor Utilities Inc.

Ms. Matthew holds an Institute of Corporate Directors designation.


Saint-Laurent, Maryse

Ms. Saint-Laurent ahs over 20 years of experience as a transactional, corporate and securities lawyer in the energy and electricity sectors. She has led several public financing transactions and has a strong governance and policy development background. She has served as a director of private, public and not-for-profit corporations.

Ms. Saint-Laurent holds a LL.M., York University, Osgoode Hall, and an LL.B. and B.A. from the University of Alberta.

Smitten, Don

Mr. Smitten is a Chartered Professional Accountant, and he has significant accounting and c-suite experience. From 1980 to June 2021, Mr. Smitten held a number of positions with the Alberta Motor Association, including as it Chief Executive Officer from July 2002 to June 2021. Mr. Smitten currently serves as a director of the Excel Society, which is a non-profit disabilities and mental health services provider in Edmonton and Calgary.

Henkelman, Wendy

Having worked as a financial executive, holding positions in major oil and gas companies, Wendy Henkelman has gained extensive experience in all aspects of the finance industry. She worked as vice president of treasury and compliance and as an executive in charge of information technology with Penn West Exploration, and as an executive in charge of tax and royalties at Shell Canada. Wendy has her B.Comm with distinction from the University of Alberta, is a CPA and CA, completed the In-depth Income Tax program through the

Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada, and completed an executive leadership program from Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

Davidson, Jim

Biography not available

Fraser, Andrew

Biography not available

Logan, J. Robert

Biography not available

Neilson, Mary Ellen

Mary Ellen Neilson is the Executive Director at the Association for the Rehabilitation of the Brain Injured (“ARBI”).


Mary Ellen is a CPA-CMA with a Masters of Business Administration from York University. She also holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors. In the community, Mary Ellen has served on the Board of Directors for the Art Gallery of Alberta, the Board of Governors for the Glenbow Museum, and was a member of the Audit and Risk Committee for the Society of Management Accountants of Alberta. She also served six years on the Board of Directors for the YWCA of Calgary, including two years as Board Chair.


Mary Ellen currently serves as a Director of ATB Financial, where she is a member of the Risk Committee and the Governance Committee. She additionally serves as an elected Senator for the University of Calgary, where she was the vice-chair of the Senate Development Committee, and currently serves as the Senate’s nominee on the University of Calgary Board of Governors

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