FEMTalks

Haritha Murthy works at the Royal Bank of Canada as a Senior Manager of Merchant Partnerships. In her role, she supports new partnership development and existing partnership management to deliver value to clients across the Cards, Payments & Banking lines of business. Before this, she has held Financial Control, Audit and Assurance roles providing advisory guidance around financial impact, reporting, SOX, IFRS, risk, governance, and controls.  

The journey across three continents has exposed Haritha to challenges which she now embraces as opportunities to grow. She is passionate about authenticity, inclusion, and belonging.   

Outside of her day job, Haritha loves to volunteer in the community and work with underrepresented groups. She is Deputy Chair of the Chief Inclusion Officers Forum at Ascend Canada, podcast host, mentor to new immigrants, students, and persons with disabilities, and RBC’s CFO Pride Committee member.   

If she’s not meeting new people and making connections, you’ll find Haritha penning down a poem, learning a new tune, or baking some banana bread. She lives by Rumi’s quote, “Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”

Megan is passionate about connecting with others and a strong believer in the positive power of business. She builds strategic marketing partnerships as part of the Global Partnerships team at Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment with a focus on partnership development and innovation. 

In addition to working for MLSE, Megan is the Founder of RollUP Solutions - a social enterprise focused on providing mobility devices for individuals in financial need. She is a graduate of the Ivey Business School at Western University, and HSBC's Women Entrepreneurial Leader of the Year for 2019.

Shairi Islam is currently an HBA2 student at the Ivey Business School at Western University. Within the Western Community, Shairi is the Co-President of the Ivey Marketing Club, an Executive Member of EthnoCultural Support Services USC, and acts as a mentor for several student organizations such as PBSN, Western Marketing Association, and Ivey's Career Peer Program.   

She has past internship experience at PepsiCo in Sales, General Mills in Brand Management, and will be joining Canadian Tire full-time in the fall as a Marketing Consultant. During her free time, Shairi loves to watch movies, paint, and hike.

Colleen Johnston currently serves many boards including Shopify, McCain Foods, Q4, Private Debt Partners, Blue Shield of California, and is also the Chair of Unity Health Toronto, which includes St. Michael’s Hospital, St. Joseph’s Health Centre, and Providence Healthcare.  

Colleen retired from TD Bank Group in 2018. During her time at the bank, she served as the bank’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for 10 years. She received her CPA designation in 1984 and in 2006 was elected an FCPA recognizing her outstanding career achievements and dedication to community activities.  

Additionally, she has received numerous top industry honours as a senior finance executive including Canada’s CFO of the Year in 2012. She has also been honoured as a champion of women in leadership and diversity, equity and inclusion. At TD, she led the Women in Leadership initiative for 10 years, from 2005-2015. She was inducted into Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Hall of Fame in 2007. In 2011, for the third year in a row, she was named one of the 25 Most Powerful Women in Banking by American Banker.