Noëlle Richardson
Chief Diversity Officer
Ontario Public Service
Noëlle Richardson was appointed Chief Diversity Officer of the Ontario Public Service (OPS) on August 18, 2008. In that role, she is responsible for guiding the 66,000 employee organization toward its goals of inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility. In 2008 and 2009, the OPS was named one of Canada’s Top Diversity Employers, and currently, Ontario is the only province to have a Chief Diversity Officer.
Prior to joining the OPS, Noëlle worked nationally and internationally as a diversity consultant for major corporate clients. She has significant experience developing and implementing diversity strategies and programs for large and highly complex organizations.
She first began her career in broadcasting with Toronto’s CFMT-TV and CBC Television, earning a high-profile slot as news anchor for the program Midday.
Noëlle is past co-chair and current member of the Board of Directors for Literature for Life, an organization that promotes the use of language among teenaged moms through reading and poetry writing.
Noëlle is passionate about the need to create inclusive organizations so that both public and private sectors alike can be responsive to the needs of Ontario’s increasingly diverse population.
Alok Mukherjee
Chair
Toronto Police Services Board
Alok Mukherjee has been Chair of the Toronto Police Services Board since September 2005. He is the first South Asian to occupy this position. As a Vice President of the Ontario Association of Police Boards and Secretary-Treasurer of the Canadian Association of Police Boards, Dr. Mukherjee is actively involved in efforts to promote community-based policing under civilian oversight provincially and nationally. He is frequently called upon to speak on policing issues to a variety of audiences. He brings a unique perspective to law enforcement issues from his experiences in a highly multicultural and multiracial environment.
Dr. Mukherjee has worked as an educator and a consultant. He has written extensively in a variety of areas including diversity and inclusivity, employment equity for racially visible and aboriginal people, and anti-racist education.
Dr. Mukherjee has held several public appointments, including membership on the Toronto District School Board Safe and Compassionate School Taskforce and the Ontario Civilian Commission on Police Services, and has served as Vice Chair and Acting Chief Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission.
Dr. Mukherjee plays an active role in the community. His volunteer activities have included Chair of the Council of Agencies Serving South Asians (CASSA); a member of the Board of Governors, Centennial College of Applied Arts and Technology; President of Indian Immigrant Aid Services; Chair of the Housing Sub-Committee, Social Issues Committee of the Children’s Aid Society of Metro Toronto; Chair of the Sub-Committee on Access to Services, City of Toronto Mayor’s Committee on Community and Race Relations; and a member of the Multiculturalism Committee, United Way of Greater Toronto.
Dr. Mukherjee has received the Ontario Volunteer Service Award (1996), the Molson New Pioneers Award for Leadership by Skills for Change, Toronto (1996) and Commendation by the Mayor of Toronto (1987).
Peter Sloly
Deputy Chief
Toronto Police Service
Deputy Chief Peter Sloly is in his 21st year with the Toronto Police Service (TPS). Peter Sloly has a Criminal Justice Education Certificate from the University of Virginia, Incident Command System Certification from the Justice Institute of British Columbia, a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from McMaster University and a Masters in Business Administration from York University’s Schulich School of Business. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and the University of Toronto Rotman Police Executive Leadership Program. Peter Sloly has authored articles for several law enforcement and justice magazines on community mobilization, crime prevention and emergency management. He is an adjunct Professor at the University of Guelph-Humber and a regular lecturer at the Ontario Police College.
Peter Sloly is presently in charge of Executive Command which has 410 civilian and uniform staff and an operating budget of over $31 million and is comprised of 3 pillars and 12 business units which include; Professional Standards, Investigative Unit, Risk Management Unit, Legal Services, Corporate Services, Corporate Planning, Public Information, Crime & Information Analysis Unit, Records Management, Property & Evidence Management Unit, Audit & Quality Assurance and the Video Services Unit.
Peter Sloly was in charge of the Operational Services pillar with 1890 staff and an operating budget of $162 million which included the following units: Emergency Task Force, Traffic Services, Marine Unit, Mounted & Police Dog Services, Communication Services, Court Services, Parking Enforcement Unit, Public Safety & Emergency Management, Central Paid Duty Office and the Special Constables Program.
Peter Sloly has also overseen the Staff Planning & Community Mobilization pillar which included the following units: Employment, Training & Education, Staff Planning, Diversity Management and Community Mobilization. He has also been the Unit Commander of 55 Division, 53 Division and Corporate Communications. He was a senior manager at 31 Division, 52 Division and Duty Operations. He has worked in Community Response, Major Crime, Youth Bureau and Public Order. Peter Sloly also participated in the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) where he was a Command Staff Officer and the Canadian Contingent Commander.
Deputy Chief Sloly is on the Board of Directors for the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP) – he also the Co-chair of the OACP Emergency Preparedness Committee and he is the OACP Zone 3 Director. He is a member of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) where he is a member of the CACP Emergency Management Committee. Peter Sloly is also a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), the FBI National Academy Associates (FBINAA) and the Association of Black Law Enforcement Officers (ABLE). Peter Sloly is on the Board of Directors for the Black Business & Professional Association’s National Scholarship Foundation, Covenant House and the Toronto City Summit Alliance.
Peter Sloly was born in Jamaica and immigrated to Canada in 1976 – he is proud of his Jamaican heritage and treasures his Canadian citizenship. Peter Sloly was a professional soccer player with the Toronto Blizzard and he played with the Canadian National Soccer Team. He enjoys sports, reading, travel, family time and enjoying the dynamic, diverse City of Toronto where he lives with his wife and daughter.
Inder Sidhu
Senior Vice President, Strategy & Planning
Worldwide Operations, Cisco Systems
Inder Sidhu is Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales Strategy & Planning at Cisco Systems, the $35+ billion worldwide leader in networking for the Internet. He co-leads Cisco’s Enterprise Business Council (with SVPs Rob Lloyd and Don Proctor) – this council is responsible for Cisco’s Enterprise business, representing about half of Cisco’s overall revenues. Mr. Sidhu also co-chairs Cisco’s Emerging Countries Council (with SVPs Paul Mountford and Owen Chan) – this council is responsible for driving business success in Cisco’s fastest growing geographies, such as Brazil, Russia, India, China, Middle East and Africa. Additionally, he is a member of Cisco’s Commercial Business Council, and participates in Cisco’s Operating Committee.
With Cisco since 1995, Mr. Sidhu has served in various executive management positions in the Sales, Services, and Business Development organizations, including VP/GM Worldwide Professional Services, VP/GM Advanced Engineering Services, and VP Strategy & Business Development, Customer Advocacy.
Mr. Sidhu’s professional career has been split equally between line and staff roles. Prior to Cisco, he was with McKinsey & Company, an international management consulting company. He has also held several senior management / engineering positions at Intel, 3Com and Novell.
Mr. Sidhu is a graduate of the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School, and holds an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He also holds a Masters degree in Electrical & Computer Engineering from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, India.
Mr. Sidhu serves on the Board of Directors of Goodwill of Silicon Valley. He has a passion for education – he teaches at all of Cisco’s Leadership Development programs, and guest lectures at Harvard Business School, Stanford University, and the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley. He lives in Saratoga, California with his wife and three children.
