Message to the community from the Board of Directors

Wednesday, March 6, 2024

The Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation is pleased to announce that it has designated a new interim President and CEO, as well as six outstanding Canadians to serve on the Foundation’s Board of Directors under a new chair, following the well-earned retirement of its most recent chair.

Dr. Bettina B. Cenerelli will start her mandate as President and CEO (pro tem) on May 1, 2024. Dr. Cenerelli is currently Senior Director, Strategic Academic Planning and Student Affairs, in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. She is returning to the Foundation after having served as our first Program Officer, and then Program Director, from 2004 to 2011, having contributed at the time to building the Foundation’s programs.

In addition, the Foundation welcomes the following six new Directors, who join the Board’s current Directors, Martha Durdin, Edward Johnson, OC, Bruce McNiven, MC, and Peter Sahlas.

Jeremy Adelman is the Henry Charles Lea Professor Emeritus of History at Princeton University and the Director of the Global History Lab at the University of Cambridge, which is based at the Center for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and the Humanities.

Pascale Alpha is Global Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion – Strategy and Indigenous Relations at CAE, after serving there as Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer since May 2022.

Feridun Hamdullahpur is President of ACEM Consulting Ltd. He served as President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Waterloo from October 2010 to July 2021. He is a Professor of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering at the University of Waterloo.

Nimi Nanji-Simard’s multifaceted career has been underpinned by a passion for helping others. She is a seasoned professional with a diverse background in resource development and entrepreneurship operating at the intersection of community and social change.

Duncan Reid is a lawyer in Vancouver, BC, and a partner at Farris LLP. Born and raised in Vancouver, he lived and worked in London, Hong Kong and New York for Goldman Sachs International and for New York law firm Sullivan & Cromwell LLP before returning home to Vancouver with his family in 2012.

Deborah Saucier was appointed President and Vice-Chancellor of Vancouver Island University in July 2019. Dr. Saucier holds a PhD in Psychology from the University of Western Ontario and a BSc and MSc in Psychology from the University of Victoria.

Peter Sahlas, current Director and Member of the Foundation, has been elected to serve as the next chair of the Foundation’s Board of Directors. From 2002 to 2005 he was the Foundation's inaugural Executive Program Director. He has been a Member of the Foundation since November 2008 and became a Director in February 2017.

The Foundation expresses heartfelt gratitude to Edward Johnson, OC, who has retired as Chair of the Board of Directors, having served the Foundation tirelessly and with dedication for an additional year beyond his initial two-year term.

For more information on the Directors of the Foundation, please click here.

The Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation