Meet our Board of Directors
CUA is a full-service banking institution serving 25,000 customers with flexible products, personalized service and quick decisions. The Board of Directors provides strategic oversight and direction to the organization. The following individuals make up the current CUA Board:
Carrie Cussons
Chair of Board
Andrew Inch
Vice Chair of Board
Joyce Carter
Chair of Audit Committee
Don Bureaux
Chair of Credit Committee
Karim George
Chair of Governance Committee
Mike Casey
Director
Malcolm Fraser
Director
Christine Hanson
Director
Nancy MacCready-Williams
Director
Meet Carrie
Carrie is the former President & CEO of Events East Group, with accountability for the leadership of the Halifax Convention Centre and the Scotiabank Centre. Joining the organization in 2009, Carrie has been a strategic leader in all areas of the business with a core responsibility for ensuring the efficient delivery of corporate and operational initiatives to support business growth and success. She has more than three decades of executive management experience with a strong focus on financial and operational leadership. She has held senior roles in both the public and private sectors, including with the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation, the CCL Group, and Ernst and Young.
A graduate of Acadia University, Carrie is an FCPA, FCA and completed the Director’s Education Program through the Institute of Corporate Directors. Carrie is currently a member of the CAA Atlantic Board of Directors and the International Women’s Forum of Canada, Secretary of NAIG 2023 (North American Indigenous Games), and Past Chair of the 2020/21 IIHF Women’s World Championship. Carrie has received recognition as a Canadian Progress Women of Excellence Award winner, WXN Top 100 Most Powerful Women and an Atlantic Canada Top 50 CEO.
Carrie joined the CUA Board in 2021 and is the Chair of the Board.
Meet Andrew
Andrew is a long-term resident of Halifax. For over fifteen years, he has worked in executive roles for large family-owned businesses in the infrastructure construction and real estate development industries throughout both Atlantic Canada and internationally. He has been responsible for leading strategic business development initiatives, government and corporate relations, and complex transactions.
Andrew is a lawyer, called to the Bar in 2004, and practiced for several years in the areas of litigation and dispute resolution at a large private law firm in Halifax. In addition to his business roles, he continues to provide legal advice spanning a wide range of law topics impacting businesses, including contracts, regulatory and administrative matters, dispute resolution, property, health and safety, human resources, and mergers and acquisitions.
He has always enjoyed contributing to the community in various volunteer capacities.
Andrew joined the CUA Board in April 2018, is the Vice Chair of the Board and is a member of the Credit Committee.
Meet Joyce
Joyce is currently the President & CEO of Halifax International Airport Authority (HIAA), a role she has held since 2014.
Joyce has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Saint Mary's University and is a graduate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nova Scotia, receiving the designation of Fellow Chartered Accountant. She also obtained the Institute of Corporate Directors ICD.D designation in 2015 and was named one of Atlantic Canada's Top 50 CEOs by Atlantic Business Magazine from 2017-2020 and as 2019 Business Leader of the Year by the Halifax Chamber of Commerce.
Joyce has been on numerous boards, including the Airports Council International (ACI) World Governing Board and the ACI North America Board of Directors, and Chair of the Canadian Airports Council, the first woman to hold that role, and the Atlantic Canadian Airports Association.
An active community leader, Joyce has also served as a director for several organizations, including Dalhousie University, Develop Nova Scotia and the Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia.
Joyce joined the CUA Board in 2022 and is the Chair of the Audit Committee.
Meet Don
Don is currently the President & CEO of the Halifax Chamber of Commerce, and prior to that was the President of Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC), a position he held for 14 years.
Don holds a certificate in Adult Education and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Acadia University and an MBA from Heriot-Watt University in Scotland. Don is a Chartered Professional Accountant, Certified General Accountant and holds an international designation as a Certified Business Counsellor through the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). He has been granted his Fellow Chartered Professional Accountant (FCPA) designation by CPA Canada and his Fellow Certified General Accountant (FCGA) designation by CGA Canada.
Don has been recognized as one of the Top 50 CEOs by Atlantic Business Magazine for five consecutive years and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2019. In 2022, he received the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal for his work in the field of education. Don serves on the boards of many not-for-profit organizations in Nova Scotia.
Don joined the CUA Board in 2024 and is the Chair of the Credit Committee.
Meet Karim
Karim began his career in corporate banking; learning all he could about what makes a successful business. In 2012, Karim put his knowledge to work and started his own business in video production, which quickly grew to a full-service marketing agency.
Karim’s determination, drive and ability to see opportunity where others didn’t earned him a great deal of respect and recognition in Halifax. In 2016, Karim was an RBC top 25 Canadian Immigrant and in 2019 and 2020 he was a finalist for the Chamber of Commerce Business of the Year award.
Karim has a Bachelor of Commerce degree with majors in accounting and marketing.
Karim joined the CUA Board in April 2020 and is the Chair of the Governance Committee.
Meet Mike
Mike is a native Haligonian and retired chartered accountant who had been involved in public practice for forty-five years. In addition to this work, he specialized and obtained the Chartered Business Valuator (CBV) designation.
During these years, Mike became a partner (equity owner) in the firms in which he was involved: Coopers & Lybrand, PwC, and Hemming Weir Casey Inc. He has served on many boards over the years and received directors’ training in connection with these activities.
Mike’s financial background is an important asset to the CUA Board as well as his experience with small and medium-sized businesses, which he acquired as part of his audit practice. His knowledge of the business and regulatory environment is another area of expertise that adds value to the organization.
Mike joined the CUA Board in 2021 and is a member of the Credit Committee and Governance Committee.
Meet Malcolm
Malcolm is the Managing Partner of NPC Ventures. This venture capital fund invests in Canadian companies that develop naturally derived solutions that benefit people, animals and the planet. A proven innovation leader in Canada, Malcolm Fraser has founded and exited companies, managed acceleration and incubation programs, and led one of Canada’s most successful early-stage venture capital funds.
Through his career, Malcolm has demonstrated to investors and entrepreneurs that he knows what it takes to launch world-class companies from humble beginnings. During his tenure at Innovacorp, he focused the entire team on supporting companies to successfully commercialize early stage technology to globally competitive businesses. This success was recently recognized by achieving the 2022 Canadian Venture Capital Associations Deal of the Year for the $101 M gain on its Metamaterials Inc. holdings.
Prior to Innovacorp, Malcolm was a career entrepreneur, focused mainly on opportunities in the digital sector. Through companies like ISL and eplicity, he has been recognized for his leadership in the practice of digital transformation. A committed community leader, Malcolm participated in governance roles locally and nationally in the areas of the visual arts, medical research, and youth sport.
Born in Nova Scotia, Malcolm attended Mount Allison University, earning a Bachelor of Commerce in marketing and economics. He lives with his family in Chester.
Malcolm joined the CUA Board in 2022 and is a member of the Audit Committee.
Meet Christine
Christine is currently the Regional Director for North America of NATO’s Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA).
Christine earned degrees in law, public administration, and political science from Dalhousie University in Halifax. She later earned a graduate degree in international law from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. From 2015-2016, she was an International Women’s Forum Global Leadership Foundation Fellow at Harvard Business School and INSEAD in France.
She has had a distinguished career spanning over two decades in public service, including serving the Chief Executive Officer of the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission, Executive Director and Chief Administrative Officer of the Mass Casualty Commission, and most recently as the Regional Director of International Trade for Atlantic Canada at Global Affairs Canada.
Christine is an experienced board director, currently serving on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Red Cross since 2020, and the Board of Directors of Events East since 2024.
Christine joined the CUA Board in 2025 and is a member of the Governance Committee.
Meet Nancy
Nancy MacCready-Williams is CEO of Doctors Nova Scotia, the professional medical association representing over 5,500 physicians in the province. Since 2011, Nancy has led Doctors Nova Scotia in supporting a healthy and vibrant physician community while working with health-system leaders and partners to transform health-care delivery in Nova Scotia.
Nancy’s earlier career included the practice of law, followed by a number of progressively more senior roles at the Workers’ Compensation Board of Nova Scotia, the last seven years spent as their CEO. Nancy obtained her Bachelor of Laws from Dalhousie University in 1989. She also holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree (Saint Mary’s University) and a Master’s degree in Industrial Relations (Queen’s University). In 2013, Nancy received her ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors.
Nancy holds the distinction of being admitted to Atlantic Canada’s Top 50 CEO Business Hall of Fame, having been named one of Atlantic Business Magazine’s Top 50 CEOs for five consecutive years. She’s also the recipient of the Progress Club Women of Excellence Award (Management and the Professions), the Rotary Club Paul Harris Fellow Award, and she has recently been inducted into the Bertha Wilson Honour Society at the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University.
Staying active in her community is also a priority for Nancy, who sits chairs the Events East Board of Directors overseeing the Halifax Convention and Scotiabank Centres. Nancy also sits on the Medicus Pension Plan Board of Directors and has served on the Boards of the QEII Health Sciences Centre Foundation, Dalhousie University, United Way Halifax Region and Opera Nova Scotia. Nancy lives in St. Margaret’s Bay, N.S., with her husband, Alan, and they have three adult sons, Tristan, Sof and Evan.
Nancy joined the CUA Board in 2026 and is a member of the Audit Committee.
