Roy Ratnavel was born in 1969 in the capital city of Colombo, Sri Lanka — a tiny island nation located in the Indian Ocean just 18 nautical miles from the southern tip of India. Growing up in the city of Point Pedro, in the northern part of the island during a time of war, he has experienced harrowing incidents that few people will ever know — and from which most would never recover. At the age of seventeen, he became a political prisoner — and spent gruelling months in brutal and oppressive conditions.

After his miraculous release from prison, he arrived in Canada all alone at the age of eighteen with $50 in his pocket, then rose from the mailroom to the boardroom. Ratnavel is now a retired Bay Street executive who was the Vice Chairman of Canada’s largest independent asset management company. For him, “started in the mail room” is more than just a figure of speech. It’s the lead line on his résumé. 

Roy is also the recipient of Report on Business, Canada’s 50 Best Executives 2020 award. He is involved in many philanthropic causes—including the 2019 successful summit of Mount Kilimanjaro to bring awareness and shatter the stigma surrounding mental illness and to raise money for the fight against this debilitating health issue. He is a mentor to many emerging young leaders in the asset management business. He is a keynote speaker and a bestselling author. His first book, Prisoner #1056, became an immediate #1 national bestseller in Canada.

Roy is an accidental Sri Lankan by birth, an unapologetic Tamil by heritage, and a proud Canadian by choice.