Board of Directors

Earl Campbell is a Past Chair of Metro Credit Union, Alterna Savings, Alterna Bank and Interim Executive Director, Ontario Credit Union Foundation.  Formerly CEO and Director of Education, Scarborough Board of Education, he is the President of Earl G. Campbell Consulting, an entrepreneur, business coach and mentor for leadership development and strategic planning.  Mr. Campbell is a former Vice Chair of the Ontario Consent and Capacity Board.

Mr. Campbell has Bachelor of Arts and Master of Education Degrees along with mediation training at Osgoode Law School.

Earl Campbell has served as an Executive Committee Member for a number of National and International education organizations.  He has been recognized with a number of professional and community awards including a Star on the Scarborough Walk of Fame and as a Distinguished Educator of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.  In 2022 Mr. Campbell was honoured as a recipient of the Gary Gillam Award for Social Responsibility in the Credit Union Sector and with the Long Term Service Award from the Directors’ Forum in recognition of his outstanding commitment to the credit union system.

Maria has been a member of Alterna Savings and its predecessor organizations since the early 1970’s.  She is the Immediate Past Chair of Alterna Bank and is Chair of Alterna Savings.  She has also served and Chaired a number of other Boards and advisory committees.

Maria retired from the federal public service as President of the Public Service Commission of Canada.  Before that she was Assistant Auditor General at the Office of the Auditor General of Canada.  She has a Ph.D. in sociology and is currently Executive-in-Residence at the Sprott School of Business, Carleton University.  

​In her retirement from the federal government she continues to serve as a community volunteer and to pursue her interests in public service reform, governance, financial and human resource management.

Dr. Ken Chan has served on the Board of Alterna Savings since 2012 and Alterna Bank since 2013. He is a Partner and the Health, Government and Public Sector Practice Leader at Optimus SBR, an independent Canadian management consulting firm.

Ken’s previous roles included Chief Administrative Officer and Bursar at Victoria University, Vice President for Administration at Brock University, Assistant Deputy Minister at the Ontario Government, Public Affairs Director at Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Vice President, Advocacy, Research and Healthcare at Cystic Fibrosis Canada. His international experience included positions with the UK Department for Business and Trade and at London City Hall. Ken is on the boards of the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA), Pathstone Foundation and Open For Business (UK). He holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors.

Between 2019 and 2022, Ken served on the board of the Directors’ Forum Co-operative, an organization that has provided professional development, education and networking opportunities to credit union directors for over forty years.

Ken has an Executive PhD from ESCP Business School, a Master of Forensic Accounting from the University of Toronto, a Master of Business Administration from the City University of Seattle and a Bachelor of Arts from Simon Fraser University.

Marianne Johnson is proud to have been an active member of Alterna Savings since 1986 and a member of the Board since 2016.

Marianne is retired from the Bank of Canada, where she worked for over 20 years.  While at the Bank, her career focused on economic forecasting and modelling as well as financial sector issues and regulation.  Over the years, Marianne also took the opportunity to work and lead in the areas of mentoring and change management.  More recently, she has taken on interesting assignments with the Government of Canada.  Marianne holds a Masters of Arts (Economics) from Carleton University and a Bachelor of Arts from Queens University.

​Marianne also has first-hand knowledge of the challenges facing small business in Canada, owning a family plumbing and heating business, with her husband since 1987.  She is married with four children and three grandchildren.

Richard is a fluently bilingual Fellow Chartered Professional Accountant and Fellow Chartered Accountant in Ontario, Québec and Alberta. He has served as past Chair of the Alterna Bank and Alterna Savings’s Boards of Directors. Richard is currently the Chair, Finance and Audit Committee for Alterna Bank and Alterna Savings. Richard joined the Federal Public Service in 1972 and held Senior Executive Positions culminating in being appointed Deputy/Comptroller General for Canada (Chief Financial Officer for the Federal Government). 

He was also appointed the Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer for the Royal Canadian Mint. Richard is on several Boards of Directors and has received Order-in-Councils appointments. 

​He is a Commander in the Order of St-John Ambulance and is the Vice-Chancellor on their Board of Directors.

Robert Paterson is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Alterna Savings and Alterna Bank.  He joined the Alterna team in May 2013.

​Robert Paterson is a Senior Banking Expert with over 20 years in Financial Services. He has worked for and advised several large financial institutions in North America, Europe and Asia. He has a diverse background within Financial Services and has held senior executive positions within Consumer, Small Business, Commercial Banking and Private Equity. He has deep management experience in each of these client segments across Strategy, Sales, Product Management, Marketing, Risk Management, Channel Management, Branch Design, Cash Management, Direct Distribution and Joint Ventures. He has also developed and executed attacker strategies in partnership with leading retailers.