Merriam Haffar is the Director of Stewardship. In this role, Merriam leads the firm's sustainability engagement efforts and overseas the team's proxy efforts, in collaboration with Mackenzie investment boutiques and in service of Mackenzie's sustainability commitments. Merriam holds a PhD in Environmental Applied Science and Management and is a SSHRC Vanier Scholar with over 15 years' experience in sustainable investing and corporate sustainability. Before joining Mackenzie in 2022, Merriam served as Manager of Sustainable Investing in the commercial real estate sector and as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. Throughout her career, Merriam has led multiple ESG workshops and industry roundtables at global ESG fora, such as Sustainable Brands and Innovation Forum, taught university courses on sustainable business strategy, and has published numerous research papers on ESG disclosure and strategic decision-making in several FT50 business journals and other thought leadership channels.