Our Team

Lisa Dorian, President of PowellDorian, has extensive experience in internal audit, compliance methodologies, business process development, budgeting and enterprise risk management (ERM) and ERM implementation. Lisa has worked with private and public companies, not for profit organizations, all levels of government and within the financial services industry providing services related to internal audit and corporate governance, conducting quality assessment reviews, and coordinating the implementation of enterprise risk management frameworks. She is also an accomplished trainer and facilitator who has worked with all levels of management and boards of directors. Lisa previously held the position of Vice President, Finance & CFO with Citizens Bank of Canada and has held other senior financial positions within both public and private sectors.

Lisa is a member of the board of directors of Financial Executives International Canada and is a member of FEI’s National Issues and Policy Advisory Committee, chairing the sub-committee on corporate governance and internal controls. She is also past chair of FEI’s national conference, and past president of FEI’s Vancouver Chapter. Lisa is a facilitator with the CA School of Business and a faculty member for the Corporate Controllership Program of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Alberta, designing and delivering the risk management module of the program. She regularly presents courses on risk and controls to the British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan Institutes of Chartered Accountants and internal auditing courses to Canadian chapters of the Institute of Internal Auditors.

Lisa earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Manitoba, is a Canadian Chartered Accountant and also holds the U.S. Certified Public Accountant designation. She is also a Certified Internal Auditor and is accredited by the Institute of Internal Auditors to conduct quality assessments/validations. Lisa is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, the Institute of Internal Auditors and Financial Executives International.

Scott Powell, PowellDorian's Vice President, Education and Training, is a risk management specialist who has extensive experience in finance training and facilitation. Prior to his work with PowellDorian, Scott was a manager in Ernst & Young’s business risk consulting practice. At Ernst & Young Scott designed and delivered training courses to the firm’s employees and clients in risk management, internal and external audit methodologies and business process re-engineering. Scott is also president of MDA Training North America, one of the world’s leading finance training providers with offices in London, England; New York, USA; and Vancouver, Canada. MDA Training works with companies and financial institutions to enhance the financial skills of managers.

Scott is a UK Chartered Accountant (ACA) who holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree from Trent University and a master’s degree in international relations/economics from Cambridge University. He received the 2003 Certification in Control Self Assessment (CCSA) Highest Achievement Award, from the Institute of Internal Auditors, for attaining the top score among candidates from 35 countries.

Warren Newton, PowellDorian’s Vice President, Internal Audit & Advisory Services, is an experienced internal audit, control and risk management specialist. He has worked with a variety of private and public organizations in the areas of internal audit, risk assessments, control frameworks, internal control design and assessment, control self-assessment (CSA) facilitation and NI 52-109/SOX documentation and assessments. Warren currently fulfills the role of chief audit executive for clients who have fully outsourced their internal audit function to PowellDorian. He has previously held senior internal audit positions in international financial institutions and was a senior examiner for the BC Securities Commission. Prior to joining PowellDorian he was the internal auditor for a Vancouver based technology company, with responsibilities for the internal audit function and NI 52-109 implementation, reporting to the board’s audit committee.

Warren is a member of the board of the Vancouver Chapter of the Institute of Internal Auditors. He is a Certified Internal Auditor and holds the Certification in Control Self-Assessment, Certified Financial Services Auditor, and Certified Government Auditing Professional designations. He is also accredited by the Institute of Internal Auditors to conduct quality assessments/validations. Warren received his Bachelor of Commerce degree in accounting and internal auditing, from the University of South Africa and his Master of Business Administration from Edinburgh Business School.

Alec St. John, PowellDorian's Director, Internal Audit and Advisory Services, brings over 30 years of experience in internal auditing, legal and compliance, bank lending and operations. Alec’s career includes the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) as an Internal Auditor for Canada and overseas operations and the Legal and Compliance Director with UBS in the Caribbean and South America, where he was instrumental in the implementation of the compliance regime and culture. Alec was also the Chief Internal Auditor of Cayman National Corporation, an international banking, trust, fund administration and insurance group, where he was responsible for the corporation’s internal audit strategy covering all operations, reporting to the audit committee on results of the audit plan, mentoring directors, audit committee and CEO consulting services and training. He has also been a member of the Executive and Risk Committees at UBS and Cayman National. With his wealth of international experience, Alec has first-hand knowledge and expertise in industry standards and internal audit, legal and compliance best practices.

Alec earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Belgrano, Argentina. He is a member of the Institute of Internal Auditors and holds a Certified Financial Services Auditor (CFSA) designation.

Susan Clayton, PowellDorian’s Director, Financial Reporting, has extensive experience as a Certified General Accountant (CGA), and has managed numerous projects in IFRS implementations, mergers and acquisitions, corporate financing and reporting, and cross-border compliance. Her previous professional roles include Director of Finance for a Canadian Diabetes Association, and Chief Financial Officer and VP of Finance for a Canadian technology company.

Her previous professional experience lends tremendously to her vast knowledge in the financial reporting field and includes IFRS assessment and implementation projects, financial reporting, forecasting and cash management, due diligence over sale of business, compliance with cross-border operations and multijurisdictional business, process improvement, management of financial operations and budgets, development and implementation of corporate financial and personnel policies and procedures, oversight of software and website implementation projects and data conversions, and contract management policy and procedure development and implementation.

Susan, who holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Simon Fraser University, is a CGA of British Columbia and also holds IFRS certification from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (UK).

Pamela Egger, PowellDorian’s Director, Corporate Counsel, provides extensive services in the area of corporate compliance related to corporate legal, corporate secretarial, governance, public listings and regulatory compliance and filings. She has over 10 years of experience as a securities and corporate finance lawyer in Vancouver, BC, providing expertise and services to companies completing new listings on the TSX Venture Exchange (either by IPO, RTO, or a CPC), public and private equity financings, corporate re-organizations, and mergers and acquisitions (i.e. via plan of arrangement, amalgamation, or other means).

Pamela has previously held positions as a Director and General Counsel for a publicly listed energy and mineral resource company, Director and Policy Advisor for a non-profit organization, and a Securities and Corporate Finance Lawyer, managing disclosure obligations, corporate governance activities, and corporate secretary and compliance services. Her experience includes involvement in several Canadian Securities Administrator’s committees, including those responsible for the mining law disclosure (NI 43-101), MRRS (mutual reliance review system) for prospectuses, and income trust disclosure. Pamela also reviewed exemptive relief applications, participated in various local and CSA policy initiatives, and was a part of the BC Securities Commission’s takeover bid team. She has also held educational seminars and assisted senior executives of companies to better understand and manage their disclosure obligations and compliance requirements. Touching on many industries, and both public and private companies, Pamela is well-rounded and tremendously experienced in the many facets of corporate law, adding to her already in-depth and extensive understanding in assisting Canadian businesses.

Pamela earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of British Columbia, a LL.B. degree from the University of Saskatchewan, and has continuously been a member in good standing with the Law Society of BC.