Paul Ray, Trustee, Chair
Paul works in the financial services industry with a focus on risk management and compliance. As a trustee and the Chair of the Bill 7 Award Trust, Paul brings experience as an auditor for Ernst & Young LLP. Paul obtained his Bachelor of Commerce from the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University and has been a Chartered Accountant since 2010. He is a long-time supporter of charitable organizations that make a difference in the lives of young people in his community.
Stacey Petersen, Trustee
Stacey is a Vice President at RBC Direct Investing. She is a recent (2019) addition as trustee of the Bill 7 Award Trust and delighted to be able to support the community in such a tremendous way. Stacey is a proud member of RBC’s CEO Diversity Leadership Council and a strong supporter of LGBT+ inclusion through active participation in LGBT+ issues at work and in the community. Stacey obtained her Bachelor of Science from Bishops’ University and her Master of Business Administration from the Rotman School of Management.
Ana Qarri, Trustee
Ana is the first recipient of the Bill 7 Award to sit on the Board of Trustees. She is currently pursuing a JD/BCL degree at the McGill Faculty of Law. Before law school, she held a variety of legislative and public policy positions in Toronto, including as a non-partisan intern to the New Democrats' Critic for LGBTQ+-issues. Ana is interested in making law accessible and welcoming for queer and trans lawyers-to-be; during her time at McGill Law, she has served as an editor for Contours, a journal for gender minorities in law. She was awarded the 2020 Women General Counsel Canada scholarship for her commitment to the advancement of women in law. Ana’s interest in law is primarily at the intersection of law and technology, including privacy issues that impact marginalized communities. As a first-generation Albanian-Canadian, she is excited to expand outreach efforts for the scholarship to reach a wider diversity of LGBTQ+ students across Ontario.
Tatsuya Aoki, Trustee, Treasurer
Tatsuya currently works in Finance at an operating entity of Brookfield’s Insurance Solutions business group. He previously worked at EY and was involved with EY’s LGBTQ+ professional network, Unity, from which he first learned about and became a supporter of the Bill 7 Award Trust. He was recently (in 2023) appointed as a trustee and treasurer of the Trust, bringing his financial reporting skills and technical accounting knowledge as a Chartered Professional Accountant. Born and raised in Tokyo, Japan, Tatsuya came to Canada for his undergraduate studies at UBC, where he earned his Bachelor of Commerce degree.
Josh Lemers, Trustee
Josh (he/they), a 2015 Bill 7 Award Alumni, is a Black queer gender non-conforming disabled community organizer and child welfare survivor attending Osgoode Hall Law, York University at the Ph.D level. Josh has a Bachelor and Master of Social Work from Toronto Metropolitan University and graduated his Juris Doctor from University of Windsor in 2022. Josh is also one of the co-creators and the Executive Lead of the Collective of Child Welfare Survivors, and has extensive experience working across various communities in many settings.
Michael Turco, Trustee
Michael is a higher education professional with 20 years of student-facing and leadership experience in the sector, working in the US, UK, and Canada. He currently works in Equity and Operations at Toronto Metropolitan University, where he co-chairs the Faculty and Staff 2SLGBTQ+ network, and was a recipient of the Alan Shepard EDI Award. He previously worked at the Royal College of Art, The University of East Anglia, The UK Ministry of Justice, the British House of Commons, and The Ohio State University. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Art, with an MA from King's College London, and a double BA from Ohio State, where he was the recipient of the Harold MacIntosh LGBTQ Service Scholarship. Michael is a life-long volunteer and maintains a commitment to social justice and equity-deserving causes. He brings with him to the Bill 7 Trust a deep understanding of the social and economic needs of 2SLGBTQ+ students, as well as years of experience navigating the post-secondary industry.