Senior Advisors
Our Senior Advisory Team provides RSI with an unparalleled resource of extraordinary expertise and performance, in business, government and academia. Each one stands at the top of their field, combining a record of pioneering innovation in sustainability and future-ready management, with a reputation for thoughtful engagement and decisive action.
Our Senior Advisors collaborate with RSI at the highest leadership level to deepen and enrich our strategic insight, and to expand our expertise in developing organizational, technological, social and economic solutions, for energy and climate preparedness on a medium- and long-term horizon.
- Laura Barnett, MBA
Senior Advisor, Governance Committee - Peter Boyd
Senior Advisor & Climate Lead, Founder & CEO, Time4Good Group - Sylvain Charlebois, PhD
BComm, MBA, DBA, Researcher and professor in food distribution and food policy at Dalhousie University
- Richard Fitzgerald
Senior Advisor Former Vice Chair add Former Vice Chair - Alexander Hay
Senior Advisor & Systems Risk Lead, Founder & Principal of Southern Harbour Ltd. - Peter Love
Senior Advisor & Founding Director - Liz McHardy
Senior Advisor, Partner at LURA - Joe Tankersley
Senior Advisor, Futurist
Equipped with her BA in Linguistics from York University, Glendon and MBA in Risk Management from Walden University, Laura has used her educational background to connect her people-focused skills with operational efficiency in both her professional and volunteer community work. She is passionate about supporting people to discover and develop their skills for betterment of their own local communities.
Laura has served on not-for-profit boards in Toronto and has been involved in several community development projects, both in Toronto and through partnership with organizations internationally.
He has over fifteen years of commercial experience with the Virgin Group, latterly serving as CEO of Virgin Mobile South Africa. He started his career with McKinsey & Co. after graduating BA Hons. from Oxford University reading Philosophy, Politics & Economics.
In parallel to his work at Time4Good, he is a member of the board of trustees at Earthplace and serves on the mayoral Green Task Force in his hometown of Westport, CT (which also recently targeted a ‘Net-Zero by 2050’ sustainability goal).
Over a 30 year career he has provided CEO leadership for international and domestic consumer packaged goods and beverage companies. He led the planning and implementation of growth and innovation focused sales, marketing, operations, mergers and acquisitions. He has served on Canadian corporate, NGO and NFP Boards—creating impressive and sustained growth in shareholder value.
Rick is a Director of VIVO Cannabis Inc., and Founder/Chair of the Socks4Souls not-for-profit charity. Previously, he was Chair of the Board of Dillon Consulting, he served for eight years, as an Ontario Power Authority Director, Diageo Chairman, and Richmond Hills Philharmonic Orchestra Director and Chair.
He is a sought-after keynote speaker and advisor to CEOs and senior decision-makers on key issues that impact their businesses and address how to translate future readiness strategies into sustainable action.
Previously: DIALOG Resilience & Security practice leader; British Royal Engineers specialist for over 25 years in fortifications and infrastructure development in various global assignments (the Americas, High Arctic, South Atlantic, Europe, North Africa, Middle East and Asia); and, Infrastructure Protection planner for the NATO estate in Afghanistan.
A Chartered Engineer, licensed in Alberta and Ontario, Alec is a Fellow, mentor and peer reviewer of the Institution of Civil Engineers and the Institution of Royal Engineers. He is also International Secretary of the Register of Security Engineers and Specialists.
Other qualifications include: founding Director of the University of Toronto Centre for Resilience of Critical Infrastructure; Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers Capacity Building Panel, responsible for futuring civil engineering competencies in the 2025 international marketplace and beyond; Founding Trustee of the Explora Foundation and director of its veteran widows and orphans education charity and research not-for-profit; Author; and a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.
Alexander Hay is RSI Senior Advisor and was an RSI Director from 2014 to 2019.
“I am excited to join RSI Board of Advisors because its mission aligns with my personal and professional values and passion; for advancing the readiness of individuals and communities to reimagine and co-develop a more sustainable future.”
Liz holds an MBA in Leadership from Royal Roads University. As a lifelong learner and systems thinker, she has completed several executive development programs. In 2019 she was a recipient of the Clean 50 Award which honours Canada’s top 50 contributors to sustainable development and clean capitalism.
Prior to launching his own consultancy in 2015, Joe spent twenty years with Walt Disney Imagineering. During his time with WDI he worked as writer, producer, and internal futurist for Disney’s elite Blue Sky studio. Whether he was designing immersive experiences for global audiences or helping executives discover future opportunities Joe used the power of story to spark imagination and help individuals see beyond the horizon.
Building on his Disney experience, Joe developed his Strategic Narrative Foresight Technique. This unique approach to futures thinking combines rigorous research with the creativity of storytelling to help unlock future possibilities. Joe has used this technique to help fortune fifty companies, nonprofits, and community groups "Imagineer their best tomorrows."
Joe has long been an advocate for others working to expand our imaginative capacities. In 2021, he partnered with Karyn Zuidinga of Nextwave Innovation to start The Practopia Project. The project’s goal is to inspire positive tomorrows by showcasing the latest in imaginative foresight and speculative fiction.
Joe has served on the boards of directors of the Global Future Forum, Association of Professional Futurists, The Federal Alliance for Safe Homes, The Blue Community Consortium, and the Whale Center. He is currently a community fellow at the Center for Global Economic and Environmental Opportunity at the University of Central Florida.
Joe's essays and speculative fiction have appeared in professional foresight journals and popular environmental and business periodicals. In addition, his collection of strategic narratives, Reimagining Our Tomorrows, was published in 2018.
He graduated from Emory University with a B.A. in English and received his M.A. in Communication from Florida State University.