Allison Van Rooijen is a credit risk management leader, with a focus on affordable access to credit and housing, digital and data/systems transformation in the lending journey, and supporting the long term financial well-being and literacy of borrowers. She spends her days between adjudication, credit policy, compliance, strategy, portfolio management and credit recovery, leading the Consumer Credit functions at Meridian Credit Union and its national digital bank subsidiary, motusbank.

With 14 years of experience in financial services, including 11 years specializing in fraud, Andrew brings a unique blend of expertise in fraud, credit risk, and identity management. His analytical training in statistics, combined with practical business strategy knowledge, enables him to effectively bring new ideas and solutions to the fraud prevention ecosystem. Andrew leads the Fraud Data & Analytics team at TransUnion Canada and designed and developed TransUnion’s consortium fraud score, the Identity Exchange. Having worked on both the client side and with credit bureaus, Andrew has extensive experience in data sharing and consortiums, as the provider and the user of such programs.

Brent is a seasoned problem solver with over 20 years in financial services, spanning credit cards, consumer finance, and insurance. He brings deep expertise across the customer lifecycle—from product and marketing to fraud and loss mitigation. In 2018, Brent founded Payson Solutions to help companies unlock the power of their data. Since then, Payson has supported dozens of global clients, including banks, fintechs, credit unions, and alternative lenders.
Previously, Brent led digital transformation efforts at Capital One Canada, driving record growth through digital marketing, launching an agile software studio in Toronto, and establishing an innovation lab in KW.
Outside of work, Brent enjoys board games with his daughters, Payton and Addison.

Carine Bergevin-Chammah is a seasoned economist with a Master’s degree from the Barcelona School of Economics and over eight years of experience in economic research and analytics. Her career spans a wide array of topics including transportation and infrastructure projects, international trade and commodities. Through her work at BDC, Carine honed her expertise in Canadian SMEs, delving deep into the business financing market and the unique challenges faced by small and medium-sized enterprises.

Chris Scott is a senior analytics and statistics professional with deep expertise in multivariate modeling, geospatial analytics, machine learning, and customer segmentation. His work primarily focuses on the lending space, where he collaborates with cross-functional teams to build predictive models, integrate diverse data sources, and enhance decision-making efficiency.

In his current role, Chris advises senior leadership across multiple organizations, helping to identify core business challenges and design data-driven solutions throughout the customer lifecycle. He serves as a strategic bridge between business and technical teams—translating stakeholder needs into analytical frameworks, partnering with data scientists and engineers to transform complex data, and overseeing model development to deliver actionable, high-impact outcomes.

Dina Duhon is Vice President, Risk Data, Analytics and Insights at Equitable Bank, where she leads the development and governance of Retail and Wholesale Credit Risk Data, as well as Consumer Credit Risk models and analytics. Prior to joining Equitable Bank, Dina led teams responsible for building adjudication, account management, collections, IFRS 9, and Basel models (PD, EAD, LGD) across retail portfolios in both domestic and international markets. In addition to her expertise in risk management, Dina has experience designing and implementing machine learning and AI solutions for marketing and customer relationship management. She holds an MSc in Statistics from the University of Toronto: dina.duhon@eqbank.ca

Elizabeth (Liz) Billyard is Chief Risk Officer of Retail Risk. In this role, Liz is responsible for providing independent oversight and guidance for managing retail risk. As an executive leader, she oversees several teams responsible for credit originations and account management, deep analytics, risk reporting, credit systems, provisioning, as well as the adjudication center.
Liz began her career as a predictive modeller and leverages her data-driven foundation to uncover deep customer insights to drive strategic actions. She has held a series of executive roles in Retail Credit, having worked in both business and risk management with accountability for unsecured lending, auto loans, credit cards, deposit accounts, small business and real estate secured lending.
She is a member of the Board of the Bank of Montreal Mortgage Corporation and previously on the Canadian Lender’s Association. As well as a member of the Consumer Bankers Association Credit Risk Working Group. She volunteers her time to such organizations as the United Way and Kids Help Phone.

Emily Cheung is the Director, Data Analytics & Insights at Teranet. In her role, she is responsible for the end-to-end data lifecycle, from data curation, data pipeline and model development, through to analytics and insights, to deliver business value through data products and services, serving both internal and external stakeholders.

As a CPA, CA, Emily began her career at Teranet in Finance and was appointed to stand up an enterprise Data Analytics capability from scratch in 2016. Over the past 8 years, the Teranet Data Analytics capability has grown and matured significantly, and consistently contributes to business value generation, from operational efficiencies, product enhancements and development, to revenue opportunities.

Gabor Sarkany is the Senior Manager of Solutions Consulting at TransUnion, where he leads a high-performing team focused on delivering innovative, data-driven solutions to clients across the financial/consumer services landscape.

With over 30 years of experience, Gabor brings a unique blend of expertise from both the life insurance (wealth management) and lending sectors, all within a strong risk management framework. His career spans roles with established financial institutions and dynamic fintech startups, covering the full credit spectrum from prime to subprime.
Gabor holds an Honors Bachelor of Science in Actuarial Science from Western University and an MBA from Wilfrid Laurier University.

Dr. Gerald Fahner is Senior Director in FICO's Scores division, where he leads the Advanced Analytic Capabilities Research group. He specializes on innovative methods and algorithms that turn data and domain knowledge into superior insights, predictions, and decisions. Gerald is also responsible for the core algorithms underlying FICO's scorecard development platform. His work on causal modelling won the Best Paper award at the Credit Scoring and Credit Control XI conference, was awarded patents and made it into products. He won a Best Paper award at the Data Analytics 2018 conference for developing practical methods in explainable artificial intelligence and machine learning to boost the effectiveness of FICO’s credit risk score developments. These innovations also led to the development of the FICO® Resilience Index which has been recognized by the 2021 Drexel LeBow Analytics 50 award.

Prior to joining FICO in 1996, Gerald served as a researcher in artificial intelligence, machine learning and robotics at the International Computer Science Institute in Berkeley and he earned his Computer Science doctorate from University of Bonn.

Jenelle Dito is VP of Consumer Empowerment Programs and Partnerships at FICO®, where she leads efforts to improve financial literacy through initiatives like the FICO® Score Open Access program and FICO Score a Better Future credit education workshops. She works with financial institutions to provide millions of consumers in the U.S. and Canada access to their FICO Scores and enhance financial education. Jenelle previously spent 16 years at BlackRock in product strategy and development. She holds a B.A. in Social Science from California State University, Sacramento.

Jeff Brown is the Head of Commercial Solutions at Equifax Canada. He has a passion for educating and advising Fortune 500 companies on commercial credit practices, and working with them to empower the businesses that leverage their goods and services. He has been a driving force for commercial and business credit at Equifax Canada since 2016. His results are driven by partner engagement, technology, and innovation designed to empower Canada’s businesses.

Jerome Roberts is the Vice President of Global Innovation Strategy at Equifax, where he leads the innovation process from concept to value. With over 20 years of experience, he is a seasoned expert in innovation and commercial go-to-market strategy and execution.
Starting his career as a risk analyst in the financial sector, he has since held senior leadership roles spanning marketing strategy, commercial execution, pricing, business planning, and product innovation. His experience cuts across diverse organizations, from Fortune 50 companies to startups.
Most notably, as the VP of Global Product Innovation at UPS, Jerome led cross-functional teams to define innovation strategy and deliver customer-driven e-commerce and digital solutions for both small-to-medium businesses (SMB) and enterprise customers. Throughout his career, he has leveraged AI/ML platforms in the supply chain space to translate emerging technologies into tangible business results.
Jerome holds a BBA and MBA in Decision Sciences from Georgia State University's Robinson College of Business and has completed executive programs at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Kingsley leads the mortgage risk analytics practice at Verisk Extreme Event Solutions. He has held various roles in real-estate finance covering origination, servicing, private equity, and valuation. He has subject matter expertise in climate risk, stress testing, catastrophe modeling, and insurance.

Owen Walsh has been at TD since 2004. He currently holds the role of SVP, Retail Credit Risk since April 30th, 2024 focusing on the oversight of credit risk for Canadian retail lending portfolios including Real Estate Secured Lending, Credit Cards and TD Auto Finance. Prior to these roles, Owen held numerous roles in the Corporate Segment including: SVP, Risk Shared Services; Head of Corporate Data and Analytics; VP, Credit Management for Canadian Unsecured Lending; VP, Risk Management Model Development; and VP, Retail Risk Valuation and Analysis.

Prior to joining TD, Owen worked at Capital One UK where he held various quantitative roles. He lives in Toronto with his wife and two teenage sons.

Randy Aitken has spent nearly 25 years in Risk Management and has worked at major financial institutions such as Scotiabank and RBC. In 2018, Randy joined Flexiti, a FinTech, where he became the Vice President of Collections. When Flexiti was acquired by Questrade Financial Group in 2023, he soon became the Managing Director of Collection Strategy & Operations where he is accountable for all collections strategy and operations across the firm which include Questrade, Community Trust, and Flexiti.

Randy uses data and analytics to drive strategic decisioning to optimize performance, reduce losses, and provide the best possible client experience.

Richard Yap is the CEO at SCORE Statistical Consulting, where he has worked since 2000. He specializes in developing scorecards, predictive models, and decision systems for clients in financial services, collections, and insurance across Canada and the U.S. He oversees SCORE’s BPO vertical, managing $1 billion in credit card receivables and supporting the sale of over $10 billion in distressed debt for Canadian lenders. Richard holds an MBA from the Schulich School of Business and serves on the Board of the Canadian Scoring and Risk Management Association (CSRSA). Earlier in his career, he worked in health research and education management.

Romana Mizdrak is a Managing Director of Risk Quantification Division at the Office of Superintendent of Financial Institutions. With over 20 years in the financial services sector in Toronto, Romana has worked in various technical roles related to model risk management including quantitative analysis, risk monitoring, and model validation. Recently Romana has been actively engaged in understanding how advanced analytics (i.e. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning) are reshaping Financial Industry Sector in Canada. In her current role, Romana leads the team responsible for delivering advance analytics-driven, macro-prudential insights for assessing both financial and non-financial risks across the Canadian Financial System. Romana holds a M.A. in Mathematics and Statistics from York University of Toronto, and a Graduate Diploma in Financial Engineering, also from York University.

Ruth Singh is the SVP of the Risk Analytics & Credit Decisioning within Risk Management at CIBC. Ruth has more than 25 years of experience in retail risk management. She is well versed in risk strategy development and management, leading functions to manage and oversee credit risk through the economic cycle. Ruth has extensive experience with data and analytics to identify and manage risk through the client life-cycle and building risk platforms to strengthen risk management capabilities.

Ryan is the head of Scotiabank’s Credit Portfolio Management unit, a division of Global Risk Management. In this role he is accountable for the development of the Bank’s capital and provisions models, physical risk models including climate change, Enterprise Wide Stress Testing, regulatory reporting, decision modelling including Artificial Intelligence, vendor management and technology platforms for Risk Management. He has 25 years of experience in financial services ranging from Retail and Business Banking to Insurance having previously worked for TD, Bank of America and MBNA.

Sal Guatieri is a Senior Economist and Director at BMO Capital Markets, with three decades experience as a macro economist. With BMO since 1994, his main responsibilities include analyzing and forecasting the U.S. economy, Canadian and U.S. housing markets and commercial real estate markets. He is responsible for the Department’s economic forecasts prepared for regulatory and stress testing requirements and oversees analysis of financial services markets. He is a regular commentator in the media. Prior to joining BMO, Sal worked at the Bank of Canada, contributing to its quarterly economic projection and analyzing foreign exchange markets. Sal received his master’s degree in Economics from Queen’s University in 1990.

Sebastiano Silla serves as Vice President of Model Risk Management at Equitable Bank, bringing over a decade of expertise in model risk. Before joining Equitable Bank, Sebastiano held progressively senior positions at BMO Bank of Montreal. His career includes the validation across various modeling domains such as actuarial models, statistical models for credit risk, capital and wealth management models. Sebastiano contributed not only in model validation, but also in leading key transformation initiatives, and recently in the development of an AI risk management framework. Before transitioning to the banking sector, he was an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at the Polytechnic University of Marche, Italy, where his research focused on stochastic optimal control applied to finance and insurance. Sebastiano holds a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics to Finance and Economics from the University of Pisa.

Shawn is a Partner in the Risk Consulting practice at Ernst & Young LLP, based in Toronto. With extensive experience advising financial institutions on credit risk management, model governance, and regulatory compliance, Shawn brings deep expertise in the design and oversight of credit risk modelling methodologies for loss provisioning frameworks under IFRS 9 and regulatory capital.
Over the past several years, Shawn has led numerous engagements focused on credit risk model development, model monitoring, rating system modernization, and aligning IFRS 9 allowance methodologies with evolving macroeconomic conditions. His recent work includes strategic advisory on post-model adjustments and override frameworks to address emerging risks, as well as governance enhancements for model validation and audit readiness.

Shini is a seasoned leader in Financial Services Risk Advisory with over 13 years of experience in credit risk management, data analytics, customer journey optimization, and technology enablement. She leads the Credit Risk Lifecycle competency and Go-to-Market strategy for EY’s Risk Analytics Platform where she drives business growth through the strategic integration of AI-enabled solutions for risk-return optimization and operational productivity. Shini leads the development of EY’s model acceleration solution, leveraging a library of reusable AI/ML code packages to standardize credit risk model delivery. Known for building and mobilizing high-performing, cross-functional teams, she employs agile methodologies and outcome-driven KPIs to deliver scalable, high-impact solutions and programs.

Tischa Agnessi is a Fraud Solutions Consultant at Experian, specializing in identity verification and fraud prevention strategies for consumer and small business lending. With nearly 30 years of experience in data analytics, financial services consulting, and decisioning software, she brings deep expertise in operational risk management and enterprise fraud platforms. Formerly Product Director for Experian’s CrossCore platform, Tischa now works closely with financial institutions and third-party platform providers to integrate Experian’s fraud and identity solutions into credit risk workflows. She is a frequent speaker on optimizing risk strategies while maintaining a seamless customer experience.

Yara Elias is a Partner in Risk Consulting at EY Canada, she leads the AI Risk practice. She helps organizations accelerate value creation by leveraging data and AI.
Previously, Yara was a postdoc at the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in Germany. She holds a PhD in Mathematics from McGill University in Montréal.
Yara is committed to the scientific and social responsibility that comes with AI adoption. She works with organizations to activate their responsible AI journey for better business strategy, operations and client experience.