The Group of 78 is kept running through the efforts of many. These individuals make up the Executive Committee, which takes care of the daily business of Group of 78.
Ted Jackson, Chair
Edward (Ted) Jackson is a professor, consultant, and editor with current research interests in sustainable finance, gender lens investing, jobs in the transition economy, and community-university partnerships. He is a retired tenured public-policy professor, former associate dean (research) and co-founder of the Carleton Centre for Community Innovation, at Carleton University, where he continues to serve as a senior research fellow. He is also an honorary associate at the Institute of Development Studies at Sussex University. As president of the consultancy E. T. Jackson and Associates, he has advised bilateral and multilateral development agencies and banks, investment funds, foundations, non-profits, and universities in 60 countries, including Bangladesh, Belize, Ghana, Kenya, Singapore, South Africa, and Vietnam. An active volunteer, he co-founded the McLeod Group and has advised the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, an American farmworkers’ rights non-profit, and the Singapore-based Sweef Capital impact fund.
Susan Tanner, Vice-President and Chair of CCEWC
Susan Tanner previously held positions in both the Federal and Ontario governments Susan has maintained an active role in community organisations as both a board and staff member. Susan was a founder of Halton Hills Community Legal Services (1978) and founding chairperson of LEAF (Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund) (1985). She represented Friends of the Earth at the 1992 UNCED in Rio and in 1995, Friends of the Earth Canada accepted a UNEP award for work on the Montreal Protocol done under her leadership. While serving as Executive Director (2007-10) Canadian Environmental Network, Susan was honoured as a United Nations Association of Canada “Championne” for her work on human rights and the environment. Her federal government positions included: Senior Advisor to the Deputy Minister, Justice Canada, on Gender and Diversity; Senior Manager, Federal participation, Expo 86; Forum Lead, Disaster Management, World Urban Forum, Habitat Jam; Counsellor, Association of Executives (APEX). Her provincial positions included: Member of the Ontario Environmental Assessment Board; Vice Chair of the Social Assessment Review Board; Mediator at the Ontario Grievance Settlement Board, Clinic Education Officer for the Ontario Legal Aid Plan. Susan holds a Masters’ of Environmental Studies and a Masters’ of Law, is a member of the Ontario Bar, has consulted in the private sector on sustainability, and taught as a sessional lecturer at Carleton University.
Roy Culpeper
Roy Culpeper is a development economist, Honorary Senior Fellow of the University of Ottawa’s School of International Development and Global Studies, Adjunct Professor at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University, and a Fellow of the Broadbent Institute. From 2014 until 2025 he was Chair of the Group of 78, which focuses on international affairs and Canadian foreign policy. From January until May 2011 he was Fulbright Canada Visiting Research Chair at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. From 1995 until 2010 he was President and Chief Executive Officer of The North-South Institute, Ottawa. Earlier in his career he was an official at the World Bank in Washington, the federal Departments of Finance and External Affairs in Ottawa, and the Planning Secretariat of the Government of Manitoba in Winnipeg.
Roy Culpeper obtained his Ph.D. in Economics at the University of Toronto in 1975. He has published widely on the issues of international development, finance and global governance.
Ruby Dagher
Ruby Dagher is an international development professional, researcher, consultant and instructor. She has worked in the private sector, the public sector, and academia. She completed her PhD in Public Policy (at Carleton University) where she examined the legitimacy of states in post-conflict countries, and particularly the importance of performance legitimacy acquired through the delivery of basic goods and services.
Ruby has worked as a program analyst at the Canadian International Development Agency (now Global Affairs Canada), a financial analyst in the financial industry, a post-conflict workshop facilitator, and an evaluator of programs, projects and loans. Her research interests are focused on post-conflict development, the Middle East, fragile states, post-conflict legitimacy, decentralization and state legitimacy, foreign aid policy and donor programming, and the role of civil society in non-Western cultures.
Leah Darbyson
Leah Darbyson is a Master’s student at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs where she specializes in Health, Displacement, and Humanitarian Policy. Her research focuses on climate-induced migration, property rights in conflict zones, and the intersection of legal regimes, development, and displacement. Her work reflects a strong interest in rethinking international cooperation, sustainable development, and the governance of emerging technologies.
Richard Harmston, Secretary
Richard Harmston worked with and for internationally-focused civil society organizations for more than 50 years, primarily in the field of international development and North-South cooperation. He has specialized in organizational development, NGO-government relations, inter-organizational cooperation, and strengthening civil society, particularly on themes of development, peace, & governance. He directed the International Student Movement for the United Nations (Geneva), created and managed the Public Participation Program in the Canadian International Development Agency (Ottawa), and was Executive Director respectively of the Canadian Council for International Cooperation (now Cooperation Canada) and South Asia Partnership Canada. He was on the founding board of directors of the North South Institute, the Group of 78, the Canadian Committee for UNIFEM, and the Civilian Peace Service Canada. He is retired in Ottawa, Canada, and continues engagement with the Group of 78 (Chair, 2006-24) and CPSC.
Genevieve Harrison, Treasurer
Maude Stephany, Executive Secretary, Ex-Officio