The William H. McGannon Foundation (the Foundation) was established following the release of a study by the RIMS Canada Council in 1999 that evaluated the need for a Canadian organization to support risk management education and advance the profession of risk management in Canada.
The William H. McGannon Foundation
The Foundation was established to provide resources in the form of scholarships, research grants and student involvement to advance risk management by way of education, research, mentorship and work experience programs.
It is modeled after the Spencer Foundation in the U.S. and acts independently from Spencer and RIMS. It is a registered Canadian Foundation and has been granted charitable status under the terms of the Canadian Income Tax Act. Registration #865757082.RR001
The Foundation is established as a Canadian Corporation under the provisions of the Canada Corporations Act and is governed by the provisions of that Act and by the By-laws of the Foundation.
The long term goal of the McGannon Foundation is to establish chairs of Insurance and Risk Management at major universities across Canada.
Who is Bill McGannon and Why is the Foundation Named After Him?
For those few people in the business that did not know him, Mr. William McGannon was one of the first risk managers in Canada to set up a full service risk management department with loss prevention services and statistical support at NOVA Chemicals Corporation in Alberta in 1979. He retired from that position in 1998. Bill frequently lectured at the University of Calgary where he was instrumental in setting up the Chair of Risk Management and served as ‘Executive in Residence’ from 1998-2000. Sadly, Mr. McGannon passed away in August of 2015 and his presence is sadly and profoundly missed.
The Foundation was named after Mr. McGannon given he was a long time supporter of risk management education and he is also one of the founding Fathers of the Foundation. When searching for a name for the Foundation the initial Board felt that it was most appropriate to attach a name synonymous with excellence in the risk management profession and long time support of education.
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Directors and Officers
Joe Restoule, President and Director - Foundation Governance and Strategy
Location: Calgary, AB
Email: jrestoule@shaw.ca
Joseph is the principal and owner of Restoule Risk Management LTD., founded in October 2010. The company was established following Joe’s retirement from Nova Chemicals Corporation. Joe served as the Leader of Risk Management and spent 23 years practicing risk management.
Currently, Joe is a Consultant, Business Development for AEGIS Insurance Services. Joe served on the AEGIS Risk Management Committee for many years.
Joe’s experience in Risk Management is focused in the energy sector including gas transmission, drilling, mid stream, power generation and petrochemicals. His areas of expertise in Risk Management included global risk financing programs, captive management, M&A, operational and enterprise risk management.
Joe served as RIMS President in 2009 and had served on the RIMS Board since 2001 in various capacities including the executive offices as vice-president, treasurer and secretary. Formerly, he was the Chair of the RIMS Canada Council (1997-2000) and the former Chair of the American Gas Association Risk Management Committee (1997-1998).
In 2004, Joe was honoured as the recipient of the Donald M. Stuart Award, RIMS highest honour for risk management professionals in Canada. In 2009, he was named to the Treasury and Risk Magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in Finance in North America.
Currently, Joe is the President of the William H. Mcgannon Foundation, and serves on the Advisory Board of the University of Calgary’s Haskayne Business School, faculty of Risk and Insurance.
Joe attained a Bachelor’s degree in Criminology from the University of Alberta, is a Chartered Insurance Professionnal (CIP) and holds the designation of Certified Risk Manager (CRM).
Frances Weeks, Director - Marketing, Website and Social Media
Location: Calgary, AB
Email: fweeks@irsnavacord.com
Frances is a Managing Partner at Iridium Risk Services. Iridium provides leading edge risk management and insurance brokerage solutions to energy and energy-related companies operating in Canada and around the globe. Frances joined Iridium in 2006 and is a member of the executive team, with responsibility for operations and human resources. She is also the Account Lead on a number of energy, marine and energy service companies.
Frances started her insurance career in 1990 in the risk management department at Husky Energy, where she spent 14 years providing internal consultative risk management advice. In 2004, Frances joined global broker Aon as a Senior Risk Analyst, providing outsourced risk management services to a variety of multi-national clients, including Fairmont Hotels & Resorts.
Frances is a past Board Member of the Southern Alberta chapter of RIMS (SARIMS) and was a Program Committee member for both the 1999 and the 2006 RIMS Canada conferences. She is a frequent volunteer with the Calgary Drop-in and Rehab Centre.
Frances holds the Certified Risk Manager (CRM) designation.
April Savchuk, Secretary and Director - Communications, Website and Donor Events
Location: Toronto, ON
Email: April.savchuk@yamana.com
April’s risk management career spans over 25 years during which she has developed extensive experience in operational risk management, claims management and the design of insurance and risk management programs.
April’s exposure to risk management began with her career in the consulting division of Aon Toronto followed by her subsequent ten year tenure in the Hudson’s Bay Company corporate risk department where April held various roles of increasing scope and responsibility.
April joined Catlin Canada in 2005 and served in various roles as the Canadian Hub grew and matured. She became a member of Catlin’s Executive Committee in 2008 and was further appointed Chief Risk & Compliance Officer in 2009 and then assigned the key responsibility of managing the risk of the Catlin’s Canadian operations inclusive of their Broker distribution network.
In 2014, April joined Yamana Gold with responsibility for directing their insurance and risk functions. Yamana is a Canadian-based gold producer with significant gold production, development and exploration properties and land positions throughout the Americas including Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Canada.
As an active participant within the risk management community, April has served as a long term Board Member and two term President of the Ontario Chapter of RIMS, Co-Chair Industry of the 2008 RIMS Canada Conference, Chair of the RIMS Canada National Conference Committee, Co-Chair of the 2017 Toronto RIMS Canada Conference and Member of the RIMS Nominating Committee. She has also previously served on the Risk Management Steering Committee for the Girl Guides of Canada. At present, April sits as Secretary of the Board of Directors of the William H. McGannon Foundation which supports advancement of the risk management profession in Canada through scholarship grants, education, research, mentorship and work experience programs.
April holds both Chartered Insurance Professional and Certified Risk Management designations.
Javier (Hobby) Pardo - Director
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Email: hobby.pardo@nfp.com
Hobby was one of the first graduates from the University of Calgary’s Risk Management & Insurance concentration within their Business degree program. That program sparked a long and very rewarding career in the risk and insurance industry.
Hobby has accumulated 30 years of experience in risk management including risk management roles at large companies such as Parkland, Nexen, Enmax and Shell as well as experience in insurance underwriting at a Canadian property & casualty insurance company.
Hobby is currently Senior Vice President, Complex Risk Solutions Group at NFP Canada; a leading insurance broker, consultant and financial services firm. Besides his Bachelor of Commerce degree, Hobby holds the FCIP and CRM designations.
Hobby is passionate about advancing the profession of risk management in Canada and participates on this Foundation’s board to help realize that passion.
Ann M. Hildreth - Director
Location: Toronto, ON
Email: ahildreth@biico.com
A very self-motivated risk and insurance professional with over 35 years of property and equipment breakdown underwriting and broking experience in heavy industry, in particular: power generation and transmission, hard rock mining, forestry and steel. Ann is a proven leader, she is collaborative, empathetic, driven, a problem solver and always expresses the most positive approach to her colleagues, team and any challenges. Ann is currently Vice President at HSB Canada, leading the Technical Risk and Underwriting Solutions Team. Prior to such, she worked at Marsh Canada Limited in their Toronto office.
During her 20 plus year tenure, Ann successfully led the transformation of Marsh Canada’s national B&M department into the “Machinery Risk Solutions Practice (MRSP)” with a team of 15 which included 5 highly experienced specialist engineers and 7 technical broking specialists. The skills and abilities of the MRSP team, to solve complex coverage, engineering and claims EB challenges, were deeply imbedded in Marsh’s value proposition for their mining and power generation clients. Ann attained the level of Senior Vice President in 2010 and her most recent assignment at Marsh was as their Toronto Power Leader, within the Mining and Power Practice, in Toronto.
Ann’s passions projects are Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I); she is on the global RIMS DE&I Council and is a Director of DE&I (their first) for ORIMS, in addition to mentoring and coaching the next generation of insurance professionals.
