Board of Directors

As President of the Digital ID & Authentication Council of Canada (DIACC), Joni builds on 15 plus years of experience in Digital Identity innovations and standards development. She helps DIACC to fulfill its vision of unlocking interoperability of public and private sector capabilities through the establishment of an identity trust framework that will grow Canada’s economy. Joni builds impactful relationships and formalizes strategic partnerships between organizations. She has participated in committees and initiatives around the world including: OECD-ITAC, ISOC, IEEE, OASIS-SSTC, ISO SC27 WG5, and she has testified before the US Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology Security and Privacy (ONC HITSP).

Dave was appointed the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Natural Gas Development on September 15, 2015. Previous to his current role Dave was the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Energy and Mines, and was the Associate Deputy Minister of the Environmental Assessment Office in 2012. In July 2005, Dave was appointed as Chief Information Officer for the Province of British Columbia and was appointed Associate Deputy Minister in October 2010. Earlier in his career, Dave spent two years as the Assistant Deputy Minister responsible for the Network BC initiative. Through his leadership in this project, Dave played a pivotal role in bridging the digital divide by connecting many rural and remote communities in British Columbia to high-speed broadband. Dave has a strong technical background and spent nearly 20 years working in management positions with progressively more responsibility, both in the B.C. government and with SaskTel in Regina, Saskatchewan.

Jonathan Cipryk is the Vice President of Canadian Technology Functions at Manulife. He leads the company’s efforts in Risk and Security Governance, Architecture, Digital Capabilities, Shared Services, and Engineering Enablement for the Canadian segment. With a strong focus on innovation and excellence, Jonathan aligns Manulife’s technology strategy with its business goals, manages the enterprise architecture portfolio, and addresses potential risks and opportunities related to technology. He oversees a dedicated team that ensures the security and continuity of operations, develops software products and platforms, and enhances user experience across digital channels. Jonathan’s key priority is providing customers with a seamless and secure digital experience, exemplified by the Manulife ID digital identity program. He is a respected leader within Manulife, dedicated to driving their digital ambitions and prioritizing customer satisfaction.

Andre is responsible for positioning SecureKey’s growth strategy, cultivating opportunities in new and existing markets, and promoting demand for the company’s solutions globally. He serves as SecureKey’s digital identity evangelist. Prior to joining SecureKey, Andre co-founded and served as chief technology officer of 724 Solutions Inc. Previously, he served as chief technology officer for Footprint Software and as chief executive officer for the company’s Asia Pacific business. In 1999, he was named one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 in recognition of his vision and accomplishments. From 1990 to 1994, he served as chief executive officer of Open Systems Limited. Andre has also served on the boards of 724 Solutions Inc., Dexit Inc., Footprint Software Pty. Ltd., and 305 Management Services.

Manish Agarwal, Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the Government Services Integration Cluster (GSIC) in Ontario, is a visionary leader committed to driving impactful change. Overseeing a portfolio that spans five ministries and enterprise services, Manish is committed to enhancing the experiences of citizens, businesses, and employees through innovation and collaboration.

Since joining GSIC in 2021, Manish has prioritized resilience, data-driven decision-making, and streamlined service delivery, making government processes more efficient and accessible for Ontario’s diverse population. He leads a team of over 700 professionals who are at the forefront of public service innovation, ensuring that services remain resilient and responsive in an ever-changing environment.

His dedication to public service is reflected in his efforts to positively impact the lives of 15 million Ontarians. At DIACC, Manish aligns with the mission to unlock interoperable capabilities across the public sector, securing Canada’s role in the digital economy. Under his guidance, GSIC continues to support DIACC’s strategic goals by advancing innovation in digital identity, positioning Canada to strengthen its presence in the digital transformation landscape.

Neil Butters has been an executive, innovator and a journeyman in the identity and payments market for more than 25 years. For the past 9 years he has held various leadership roles at Interac Association and Acxsys Corporation in both new product development and technology strategy and innovation. Through his leadership, industry knowledge, and expertise, Neil has helped Interac to advance its leadership role in the Canadian payments landscape through the development and widespread adoption of Interac Flash, Interac’s Token Service Provider, Interac Debit on ApplePay, and Mobile Pay. Neil continues to lend his expertise to international industry standard organizations including EMVCo as a Technical Associate. Prior to this, Neil was a solution architect and subject matter expert in the North American public and private sector identity issuance and authentication market and was instrumental in architecting, developing and implementing more than 15 government identity solutions in Canada and the USA at both the Federal and Provincial/State levels. In addition, he has contributed to several leading-edge identity proof of concepts including International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Machine-Readable Travel Document Electronic Passport and the Israeli Border crossing solution for migrant workers (Basel).

As CEO of IDENTOS for almost a decade, Mike has built a trustworthy reputation as the ‘go-to’ person in many governments, and healthcare circles for his clear vision of the future of digital identity and access, his in-depth knowledge, and his approachable demeanor. Recognized by participation and contributions in advancing DIACC’s PCTF framework, national health access standards, and KANTARA’s UMA 2.0 standard, Mike is regularly called by peers and the industry to share his thoughts on consumer-directed access, and how his customers are already benefiting from putting people in greater control of their data. Mike also knows what it takes to build and run a successful company. Recognized as one of Canada’s top growing companies, Mike’s provided steady growth and profitability for IDENTOS by winning and retaining an impressive roster of growing customers and partners.”

A Partner in Consulting, Giselle is a Trusted Digital identity practice leader at Deloitte – a business that brings the full breadth of Deloitte’s capabilities including business and technology transformation, cyber risk, blockchain, identity and access management, tax & legal, policy, governance, audit & assurance and Indigenous services. Most recently she aided in the advice and implementation of the Pan-Canadian proof of vaccine credential – Canada’s first country-wide verifiable credential. During this time cross-government collaboration and regular touchpoints with the private sector were essential, and Giselle will be bringing a keen eye to the upcoming public-private partnerships to accelerate Canada’s Digital ID journey. Prior to this, she has led numerous large-scale business and technology transformation engagements for clients in Retail Banking, Insurance and the Public Sector, where multi-disciplinary teams from design to operations execute on a transformation vision.

Balraj leads the vision, strategy and execution for Canada Post’s platforms and channels. In this role, he is responsible for creating and leading the Digital Identity platform as well as ecommerce-embedded shipping experiences. The Digital Identity offering will improve and increase Canada Post’s digital services by introducing frictionless digital identity capabilities for customers across Canada.

Prior to joining Canada Post, Balraj held several roles across private- and public-sector environments, where he led large-scale transformational and identity programs (both physical identity and digital identity), and various other initiatives across a range of industries, including in the health care and financial sectors. Balraj holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Toronto Metropolitan University with a concentration in IT Management, and also holds a number of product and technology certifications.

As Chief Information Officer (CIO) at TELUS, Hesham Fahmy leads the team responsible for spearheading TELUS’ transformation to an AI-first, fully-digital and cloud-enabled technology leader. An agent of transformation and an innovator with seven granted patents, Hesham has extensive consumer, digital and cloud technology development expertise.

Hesham has innovated software products and solutions for 26 years, with a track record of launching disruptive products and platforms in retail, IoT, fintech and development tooling. In 2023, Hesham was recognized as “CIO of the Year” by IT World Canada.

Erin Hardy is a lawyer with more than 17 years of experience working in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Since 2007 when she was called to the bar, Erin has worked in roles for both private practice and the civil service.  Erin is currently the General Counsel for Service New Brunswick where for the past 8 years, she has held various leadership positions within the Crown Corporation in both legal and compliance capacities. In her current role as both General Counsel and Chief Privacy Officer, she is responsible for regulatory compliance, access to information and privacy. Through her time in the civil service, she has contributed to advancements and modernization in policy and program delivery within Service New Brunswick and the Government of New Brunswick in general to support privacy and information practice within the service delivery model of government.

Prior to her time in government, Erin was a Corporate Commercial lawyer with a large regional firm for 10 years. Academically and professionally, Erin holds a Bachelor of Science degree, Bachelor of Laws degree and Certificate in Information Access and the Protection of Privacy. Erin is also a member of the Canadian Institute of Access and Privacy Professionals.

Marie Jordan is a 20-year veteran in the field of digital payments, including expertise in authentication, security, identity, and financial inclusion. Marie has spent many years working with both public and private sector organizations, connecting with government engagement and public policy teams around the globe and working with institutions representing the payments sector to promote technology advancements for privacy, security, and interoperability. For the past 4 1/2 years, Marie has been at Visa and in her current Senior Director role, she manages Visa’s engagement with Standards and Trade Associations, which includes over 100 global, regional, and in-country organizations. She also serves in several Standards and Trade Associations’ working groups advancing the voice of the payments ecosystem, including the Board of Directors of OpenID Foundation. She has authored and/or co-authored many policy documents and responses to governments’ request for comments, such as policy enablers to advance global digital identity, which can be found on the Visa Economic Empowerment Institute website. She has also worked with global organizations, such as the World Bank, World Economic Forum, FATF and others on identity policies and recommendations.

With more than 20 years of experience in information technology, Mr. Jonathan Kelly assumed the role of Assistant Deputy Minister for Government Digital Transformation in the ministère de la Cybersécurité et du Numérique (Ministry of Cybersecurity and Digital) since January 1, 2022.

Mr. Kelly holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science and a master’s degree in business administration (MBA) from Université Laval. He also completed Université TÉLUQ’s short graduate program in information technology governance.

His career path has led him to hold various management positions in private and public organizations. Mr. Kelly has experience in diverse fields such as telecommunications, manufacturing, maritime transport and more recently, in the financial services sector. These rich experiences allow him to be at the heart of major government digital transformation projects and to accompany Québec’s public administration in the digital era!

Karan is Associate Vice President and Head of Product leading innovation in identity space for the bank including a bank-based identity network known as Interac Verified. He has over 10 years of experience working in Financial Services in Canada since graduating from the MBA program at Schulich School of Business. Karan’s experience spans across various functions including Commercial Banking, Personal Banking, Credit Risk, Product Management and New Product Development at TD. Prior to moving to Canada, Karan graduated from Engineering in India and worked at Accenture in Management Consulting in Asia.

CJ Ritchie began her BC Public Service career in 1995 with the Ministry of Children and Family Development. Since 2008, CJ has held Assistant Deputy Minister postings with five agencies in various portfolios including the Premier’s Office, the Ministry of Technology, Innovation and Citizens’ Services, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Jobs, Tourism, Skills Training and Labour and the Ministry of Jobs, Trade and Technology. In January 2018, CJ was appointed to the role of Associate Deputy Minister and Government Chief Information Officer. In this capacity, she leads the strategy, policy and standards for telecommunications, information technology, IT security and the management of the IM/IT investment portfolio for the Province. Her recent accomplishments include fostering a strong and competitive investment climate driving job creation, business opportunities and growth in B.C.; leading the development of a Mental Health Strategy on behalf of seven ministries; leading the development of the #BC Tech strategy launched in 2016; and creating the Strategic Partnerships office which provided corporate leadership to a $5.8 billion portfolio of the Province’s high value technology contracts.CJ holds a Master’s degree in Conflict Analysis and Management from Royal Roads University, two Bachelor degrees from the University of Victoria in Social Work and Psychology, and has taken Advanced Negotiation courses with the Harvard School of Business.

Pierre A. Roberge is an independent bilingual expert in digital trust, co-founder of the Digital Identity Lab of Canada (2019) and SecureKey (2007). Prior to founding the Lab, Pierre was involved in a number of large-scale deployments of digital citizen identity solutions. Pierre has more than 25 years of expertise and experience in digital transformation in different areas such as digital identity, integrated privacy protection, electronic payment, banking operations and, more generally, in cybersecurity. Pierre bridges the business and technology domains in the use of emerging technologies to create and operationalize new strategic opportunities.”