Senior Leadership Team | 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

Chief Distribution Officer, Foresters Financial | President, Foresters Life Insurance and Annuity Company (FLIAC)

Matt Berman, Chief Distribution Officer, Foresters Financial™, is responsible for insurance product development, pricing and sales across the United States and Canada...

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 Officer

Nicole Gourley is the Global Chief Membership Officer at Foresters Financial™. In this role, she is responsible for membership strategies, benefits, events and governance that enrich family and community well-being...

Mehul Kapadia

Chief Information Officer, Vice-President of IT and Business Transformation

Mehul Kapadia joined Foresters Financial™ in 2015 and was appointed 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...

David Longfritz

Global Chief Marketing Officer

David Longfritz was appointed Global Chief Marketing Officer at Foresters Financial™ in May, 2018. In this role, he provides leadership and oversight for all marketing, communications and public relations...

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. In 2021, Alvin was appointed onto the UK Board of Directors. He has broad financial experience, most recently with Echelon Insurance where he was Chief Financial Officer.

Gaurav Upadhya

Global Chief Actuary and Chief Risk Officer

Gaurav Upadhya was appointed as Chief Actuary at Foresters Financial™ in October, 2018. 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 were 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....

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....

Interim CEO, Chief Finance Officer, United Kingdom

Latinka joined Foresters in May 2015 and has over 20 years' experience in the Insurance industry. In 2021, Latinka was appointed onto the UK Board of Directors...

Chief Operating Officer, United Kingdom

Lynzi joined the company in 1987 and has held posts of Model Office Manager and New Business Manager before becoming Head of Customer Services in 2006, Head of Operations in 2013 and Chief Operating Officer in 2014.

Chief Risk Officer and Interim Chief Compliance Officer, United Kingdom

Elizabeth joined Foresters in 2015. She has over 20 years of experience across a broad range of industry segments; latterly specialising in financial services...

John Young

Independent Chairman & Non-Executive Director, United Kingdom

John Young has been a director of Forester Life Limited since 2013 and Chair of the Board since 2017. He retired as a Partner in Hogan Lovells, the international law firm, in 2012 after 33 years with the firm and its predecessors. During his final eight years...

Latinka Pilipovic

Interim CEO, Chief Finance Officer, United Kingdom

Latinka joined Foresters in May 2015 and has over 20 years' experience in the Insurance industry. In 2021, Latinka was appointed onto the UK Board of Directors...

Alastair Clarkson

Independent Non-Executive Director, United Kingdom

Alastair Clarkson has been a director of Forester Life Limited since December 2021. He is a qualified actuary and Chartered Enterprise Risk Actuary with over 30 years’ experience in the life insurance industry with...

Colette Dunn

Independent Non-Executive Director, United Kingdom

Colette joined the Board of Foresters as a NED in 2021 and is also a member of the Audit and Compliance Committee. She has worked in insurance for 30 years, providing strategy and...

David Robinson

Independent Non-Executive Director, United Kingdom

David enjoyed a long executive career as an actuary, culminating in being the founder and CEO of life insurer, Bright Grey, backed by Royal London. Since retiring, David has held a number of non-executive roles, including...

Emmy Labovitch

Independent Non-Executive Director, United Kingdom

Emmy has held a variety of international roles in investment management and was a member of the executive committees of Fortis Investments and UBP Asset Management. Until 2018, she was a Senior Policy Adviser at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development...

Gemma Godfrey

Independent Non-Executive Director, United Kingdom

Gemma Godfrey joined the Board of Forester Life Limited in 2021. She is a member of the Risk and Investment Committee and responsible for championing Environmental, Social and Governance factors for sustainability.

Jon Taylor

Independent Non-Executive Director, United Kingdom

Jon joined the Board of Forester Life Limited in December 2021. Before that he held the role of CEO of Ascentric, a funds platform serving the IFA market. Jon was also CEO of Co-operative Life Insurance which he...