Senior leadership | Foresters Financial

Louis Gagnon

President and Chief Executive Officer

Louis Gagnon was appointed President and CEO of Foresters Financial^™ in January 2022. Previously, Louis was with Mercer for more than 30 years in various senior roles across different cities (Montreal, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, Toronto and New York City). Most recently, he was President, U.S. & Canada Region, leading more than 5,000 colleagues...

Henry Auyeung

President Foresters Canadian Division

Henry has over 45 years of experience in the Life Insurance Industry, starting his career with Aetna Canada in 1974...

Matt Berman

President of Foresters Financial Life Insurance, U.S.

Matt Berman is the President of Foresters Financial^™ Life Insurance in the U.S. Previously, he was Chief Distribution Officer, Foresters Financial and President, Foresters Life Insurance and Annuity Company (FLIAC)....

Patricia Colavita

Vice President and Chief Internal Auditor

Pat Colavita joined Foresters Financial™ in 2007, as AVP Risk Management and was appointed as Vice President and Chief Internal Auditor in 2012. In this position she is responsible for auditing Foresters operations in the US, Canada and the UK...

Nicole Gourley

Global Chief Membership and Marketing Officer

Nicole Gourley is the Global Chief Membership and Marketing Officer at Foresters Financial^TM. In this role, she is responsible for membership strategies, benefits, events and governance that enrich family and community well-being and provides leadership and oversight for all marketing, communications and public relations....

Mehul Kapadia

Global Chief Information Officer

Mehul Kapadia joined Foresters Financial™ in 2015 and was appointed Global Chief Information Officer in August 2016. In this role, he leads the Information Technology (IT) organization that supports Foresters’ North American Life Insurance and Annuity business and corporate functions, while also advising Foresters’ executive leadership team on technology matters...

Marcia Mendes-d’Abreu

Global Chief Human Resources Officer

Marcia Mendes-d’Abreu joined Foresters Financial™ as the Global Chief Human Resources Officer in January 2019. As a member of the Executive Committee, she provides leadership and oversight of the HR function in developing and implementing talent strategies that enable the organization to meet its strategic, operational, cultural and transformational objectives...

Alvin Sharma

Global Chief Financial Officer

Alvin Sharma was appointed Global Chief Financial Officer at Foresters Financial™ in September, 2018. He has broad financial experience, most recently with Echelon Insurance where he was Chief Financial Officer. He has a wide breadth of experience across a number of areas including corporate finance, investments...

Gaurav Upadhya

Global Chief Actuary and Chief Risk Officer

Gaurav Upadhya was appointed as Chief Actuary at Foresters Financial™ in October 2018 and additionally took on Chief Risk Officer responsibilities in March 2020. Previously he held the role of Chief Financial Officer for Foresters North American Life Insurance and Annuity business. In his current role, he leads the actuarial, capital and risk functions at Foresters globally...

René Zanin

Global Chief Legal Officer, Chief Compliance Officer and Corporate Secretary

René oversees legal, compliance, special investigations and consumer complaint services enterprise-wide including all aspects of insurance law, litigation management, mergers and acquisitions, and general corporate commercial and employment law...

At Foresters, strong corporate governance helps us protect our members and the funds they invest with our organization. Our Board of Directors - elected every four years – is responsible for the business and fraternal affairs of Foresters. The Board oversees the strategic direction and management of our organization, and ensures that processes are in place to ensure the integrity and transparency of our financial reporting and that we conduct our affairs in compliance with laws and regulations. Our current Board of Directors was elected in 2021.

Daniel J. (Dan) Fortin

Chair of the Board

Dan brings board, extensive technology/transformation, digital marketing and, as a former CEO, profit and loss experience. The former president of IBM Canada, he has worked in the technology industry for more than 35 years, with 15 years of global leadership....

Richard P. Hennick

International Fraternal President (IFP), Chair - Fraternal Committee

Richard was a licensed and certified Service Technician Manager with American Opti-Net Inc., a telecommunication infrastructure organization where he worked for 29 years. He brings a strong understanding of and affinity for Foresters purpose, honed over his years as a volunteer and leader within the member network system...

Katherine A. (Kathy) Bardswick

Human Capital and Governance Committee, Risk and Investment Committee

Kathy brings extensive board experience and, as the former CEO of a purpose-driven organization, wide-ranging knowledge of profit and loss, operations, distribution, information technology, and marketing. With a career spanning nearly four decades with The Cooperators Group Ltd., Kathy stepped down as its President and CEO in 2016...

Sonia A. Baxendale

Chair - Human Capital and Governance Committee, Audit and Compliance Committee

Sonia Baxendale was appointed President and CEO of the Global Risk Institute (GRI) in January 2019, the premier organization defining thought leadership in risk management for the financial industry globally. From July 2017 to January 2018, Sonia served as Co-Interim President and CEO of Foresters Financial™...

Michael C. (Mike) Edge

Fraternal Committee, Human Capital and Governance Committee

Mike is a retired vehicle distribution sub-contractor, specializing in inspecting, collecting and delivering vehicles through Vale Vehicle Movements of Bromsgrove UK, a fleet and vehicle movement and management service. As Foresters longest-serving Regional President, he has been an integral member of the Fraternal Consultation Group...

Shelly A. Herman

Fraternal Committee, Audit and Compliance Committee

Shelly is an Extra Curricular Activities (ECA) Secretary with Columbia Public Schools, where she has held various positions for the past 23 years. With Foresters, her extensive volunteer experience spans over 46 years and received the Foresters Leadership Award....

Mike Lombardi

Human Capital and Governance Committee, Risk and investment Committee

With a career spanning forty years in the insurance industry, Mike was an Executive Vice President at Reinsurance Group of America, Managing Principal at Willis Towers Watson, and a Senior Vice President at Prudential Group Assurance....

Christopher J. (Chris) Stranahan International Fraternal President, Chair - Fraternal Committee, Human Capital and Governance Committee

Janice Madon

Audit and Compliance Committee, Fraternal Committee, Risk and Investment Committee

Janice Madon brings extensive global experience in financial services, including insurance, banking, wealth and asset management. She is a Senior Advisor to Brookfield Asset Management and sits on the Board of Appleby College....

Gino Scapillati

Audit and Compliance Committee, Human Capital and Governance Committee, Risk and Investment Committee

Gino Scapillati holds extensive global and Canadian national experience in governance, strategy and finance. An innovative thought leader on technology enablement and its role in business strategy and talent optimization, he has advised some of Canada’s top executives and corporate directors....

Michael P. Stramaglia

Chair - Risk and Investment, Audit and Compliance Committee

Mike is a professional corporate director and President and founder of Matrisc Advisory Group Inc., a risk management consulting company. He served as Co- Interim President and CEO of Foresters Financial™ from July 2017 to January 2018....

Wendy A. Watson

Chair - Audit and Compliance Committee, Human Capital and Governance Committee

Wendy has over 40 years of experience in the financial services industry, retiring in 2009 from State Street as Executive Vice President, Global Services where she led the company’s initiative to advance all aspects of cost leadership worldwide...

Linda A. Davis Watters

Human Capital and Governance Committee, Fraternal Committee, Risk and Investment Committee

Linda is an Independent Director with John Hancock Life Insurance Company, and brings extensive state, national and international regulatory leadership experience to her role....

Robert W. (Rob) Wight

Audit and Compliance Committee, Fraternal Committee

Rob was a Maintenance Mechanic with O-I Canada for 38 years, before retiring in 2006. His extensive volunteer experience with Foresters includes positions at both the Branch and Regional levels. He served as Regional President for 11 years in Canada. In 2013, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award...

Cynthia (Cindy) L. Worley

Fraternal Committee, Risk and Investment Committee

Cindy currently supports students working towards their Masters and Bachelors degrees as well as certificate programs at Central Michigan University; particularly focused on active duty military, their families, and veterans....

Board committees

Four standing Committees support our Board of Directors in its stewardship of Foresters Financial. From time to time, ad hoc or temporary committees are formed such as the Nominating Committee and the Constitution Committee, which are constituted in advance of each International Assembly, or are a committee to manage a special project, or acquisition. The Board can form other committees on a standing or ad hoc basis as necessary in order to fulfill its stewardship responsibilities.

The composition for each of the Board committees are as follows:

Audit and Compliance Committee
Wendy A. Watson, Chair
Sonia A. Baxendale
Shelly A. Herman
Janice Madon
Gino Scapillati
Michael P. Stramaglia
Robert W. Wight

Human Capital and Governance Committee
Sonia A. Baxendale, Chair
Katherine A. Bardswick
Michael C. Edge
Michael Lombardi
Gino Scapillati
Wendy A. Watson
Linda A. Watters

Fraternal Committee
Richard P. Hennick, Chair
Shelly A. Herman
Michael C. Edge
Janice Madon
Linda A. Watters
Robert W. Wight
Cynthia L. Worley

Risk and Investment Committee
Michael P. Stramaglia, Chair
Katherine A. Bardswick
Janice Madon
Michael Lombardi
Gino Scapillati
Linda A. Watters
Cynthia L. Worley

Foresters Financial and Foresters are trade names and trademarks of The Independent Order of Foresters (a fraternal benefit society) and its subsidiaries.

412580 CAN/US/UK (06/21)