Board of Directors
Meet The Swim Drink Fish
Board Of Directors
Swim Drink Fish is proud to have a passionate Board of Directors, and we are grateful for their commitment to protecting our waters. Over the past few years, our Board has made great strides in improving our governance model, including reviewing and implementing a variety of new policies and practices. Our Board is committed to strategic direction, risk management, financial oversight, fundraising, and ensuring that Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are integrated into every aspect of our organization. We thank them for everything that they do.
Jennifer Baichwal - Past Chair
Jennifer Baichwal is a Canadian documentary filmmaker of bi-racial (South Indian and British) descent. Jennifer was born in Montréal and studied philosophy and theology at McGill University. Jennifer’s works include Let it Come Down, The True Meaning of Pictures, Act of God, Payback, Long Time Running, Into the Weeds and the trilogy of Manufactured Landscapes, Watermark and Anthropocene: The Human Epoch, made along with stewards Edward Burtynsky and Nicholas de Pencier. Jennifer joined the board of directors in December 2017 to fill the vacancy left by Gord Downie.
Kathleen Padulo - Chair
Kathleen Padulo is a member of the Oneida Nation of the Thames, and is from the wolf Clan.
Kathleen currently works at the Chiefs of Ontario where she has gained a wealth of experience in her role as the Environment Director.
More recently, Kathleen was the recipient of the 1st Joy O’Farrell Fellowship hosted by Human Rights Watch Women’s Rights Division in New York City. Kathleen lives in Toronto where she is active in her community through volunteering and fundraising in the annual 10k run for kids with cancer supporting Campfire Circle (formerly Camp Oochigeas), and more recently a nomination to Chair of the Board of Directors at Swim Drink Fish; with a mission for swimmable, drinkable, fishable water for everyone using community science, technology, and communications to connect people to water.
Lynda Gauthier - Treasurer
Lynda Gauthier is the Group Chief Risk Officer and Chief Sustainability Officer at Sagicor Financial Company. Prior to that, she was the Vice President, Governance & Reporting, Group Risk Management at RBC and the Executive Co-Chair of Group Risk Management’s Diversity & Inclusion Leadership Council. Lynda has been with RBC for 18 years and has held progressively more senior roles in Investment Banking and Investor Relations, prior to her role in Risk Management. She also led various advancements of risks governance, controls, and policies to drive greater operational effectiveness. Over the years, she has been involved with many events hosted by Swim Drink Fish. Currently based in Toronto, Lynda grew up on the Lake of Two Mountains in Quebec and has a deep and personal connection to water.
Kevin Lowe - Director
Kevin Lowe is a retired defenceman and coach in the NHL. As a defenceman, he played for the Edmonton Oilers and the New York Rangers. As well as being a six-time Stanley Cup winner, Kevin was a five-time NHL all-star. Kevin’s interest in clean water grew out of his original bond with the Shuswap Lake. As he became educated on everyday practices that were threatening our watersheds, Kevin felt a pull to take responsibility for stewardship of this lake and other waters. Along with his wife Karen, Kevin has played a trustee role for the US-based Waterkeeper Alliance and the Edmonton-based North Saskatchewan Riverkeeper.
Steven Joyce - Director
Steven Joyce is the CEO of Fox Harb’r Golf Resort & Spa in Nova Scotia. He is also a Trustee of the Joyce Foundation, dedicated to supporting the social, economic and emotional well-being of children and youth. His expertise in business and charity work is invaluable for the Swim Drink Fish / Lake Ontario Waterkeeper Gala Committee, which Steven joined in 2011.
Caroline Jimdar - Director
Caroline Jimdar is Vice President, Operational Risk & Shared Services, for RBC Wealth Management Global Operations. Prior to joining Wealth Management, Caroline was the Senior Director, Business Risk and Governance for RBC Canadian Banking - Cards, Payments & Banking (CP&B). Caroline was Assistant General Counsel in RBC’s Law Group, leading the Canadian and Caribbean Banking Litigation Team. Before joining RBC in 2009, Caroline was a Commercial Litigator at Lerners LLP and Fournie Mickleborough LLP. Committed to social responsibility, Caroline is Co-Executive Chair representing Wealth Management at the Enterprise Employee Giving Campaign Committee and was the Co-Executive lead for the CP&B Diversity & Inclusion Committee. Caroline had the privilege of spending many summers on Lake Wentworth in Quebec and visiting the island of Trinidad and Tobago where her family originally hails from and her connection to water began.
Madhu Nagaraja - Director
Madhu Nagaraja is a Technology Leader in RegTech, FinTech and Sustainability initiatives. He currently leads and manages the Technology operations division at PointChain Technology USA CA Inc.
Madhu learned to swim as a child in India, in his hometown of Mysore in India. It was there that he first learned about the Great Lakes when he was in the fifth grade. Little did he know what a major role this lesson would later play in his life.
He is now a long-distance swimmer, ultra marathon runner, community organizer, sustainability advocate, Arctexyx Adventure Athlete Ambassador, and the winner of the 2019 Arc’teryx Problem Solvers initiative. Madhu joined the Swim Drink Fish board in 2023 and has been a long-time ambassador.
William Charnetski - Director
Bio coming soon
Founder Mark Mattson is also an officer of Swim Drink Fish.