Maria is president of M.E. Phipps & Associates Inc., an information and knowledge management consultancy which she founded in 1980. For the past 35 years her firm has provided information management solutions to corporations and organizations across Canada.

Maria graduated from Lakehead University in 1970, University of Guelph in 1978 (psychology), and holds a Masters of Information and Library Science (1979) from the University of Western Ontario.

Maria’s personal involvement with Trinity College School started in 1993 when her son, Geoff ’98, attended the School, following in the footsteps of his father, David ’62, as well as his grandfather and great uncle, both of whom graduated in the early 1920s. The attendance of her daughter, Elizabeth ’03, at the School ensured further commitment.

During the last 28 years she has served on the TCS Board of Governors twice, served on the campus concepts committee, the library & archives renovation task force and the headmaster’s search committee. She also served on the School’s infrastructure committee and IT sub-committee, was appointed a trustee in the fall of 2005, and was involved in the School’s strategic planning workshop in 2006. Maria was the chair of the School’s 150th history book committee, who were responsible for the creation of the celebratory book, Hearts & Minds: 150 years of Trinity College School. She was awarded the Colin T. Brown Medal in the fall of 2015.

She is a TCS Foundation director and was chair of the governance committee of the TCS Foundation prior to becoming its chair in 2019.

Maria’s passion for Lake Superior and Northwestern Ontario is exhibited in many ways. The family property on Nicol Island, Rossport, Ontario is an integral part of her life. Until recently she was a director of The Friends of Battle Island Lighthouse, Lake Superior, which provides stewardship to this national historic site.

Maria has served twice on the board of governors of St. John’s-Kilmarnock School and remains a member of the corporation. She was a member of the Lakehead University’s board of governors for nine years where she was chair of the external relations committee was a member of the presidential and chancellor search committees.

Maria continues to reside in Aberfoyle, where she and her husband, the late David ’62 (2017) made their home in the 1990s. Her two children, Geoff ’98 and Elizabeth ’03, their spouses and grandchildren reside in Toronto.