Dream

Our board of directors is made up of highly experienced, dedicated and knowledgeable professionals who each have expertise in all key areas of Dream’s businesses. Our board currently consists of 8 members:

Michael J. Cooper

James Eaton

Joanne FerstmanChair

Richard Gateman

P. Jane Gavan

Duncan Jackman

Jennifer Lee Koss

Vincenza Sera

Mr. Michael J. Cooper is the President and Chief Responsible Officer of Dream, and founder of DAM.  He is also the Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Dream Office REIT. He has an extensive track record in the real estate industry dating back to 1986. He helped found DAM in 1996 and continues to lead the business as President and Chief Responsible Officer. Under his leadership, the business has grown to approximately $9 billion of commercial real estate, residential development and renewable energy infrastructure assets under management; in addition, Dream has also completed in excess of $36 billion of transactions. Among his accomplishments, Mr. Cooper is responsible for the formation of three TSX-listed real estate investment trusts: Dream Office REIT, Dream Global REIT and Dream Industrial REIT and the formation of Dream Alternatives, a TSX-listed mutual fund trust focused on hard asset alternative investments.  He earned a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Western Ontario and a Master of Business Administration from York University. Mr. Cooper currently sits on the board of directors of Dream, Dream Office REIT, Dream Industrial REIT and E-L Financial Corporation Limited.

Mr. James Eaton is the President of Weatons Holdings, a Canadian private holding company. Mr. Eaton has been active in the founding, growth and divestiture stages of the Weatons portfolio companies across a wide variety of industries. His responsibilities at Weatons include overseeing numerous private investments and a portfolio of listed securities. Mr. Eaton is currently a partner of JJR Capital, a private merchant bank, and serves on the boards of JC Clark Ltd. and Defyrus, Inc. Mr. Eaton is a founding director of the True Patriot Love Foundation, chaired the Invictus Games Toronto 2017, and is a trustee of the John David and Signy Eaton Foundation. Mr. Eaton also sits on the board of directors of Medley Management Inc., a NYSE listed company. Mr. Eaton holds a B.A. from the University of Colorado at Boulder. In 2012, Mr. Eaton was awarded a Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Medal honouring significant contributions and achievements by Canadians.

Ms. Joanne Ferstman is a corporate director. Over an 18 year period and until her retirement in June 2012, Ms. Ferstman held a variety of executive positions with the Dundee Group of Companies. Most recently, Ms. Ferstman was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Dundee Capital Markets Inc., a full service investment dealer with principal businesses including investment banking, institutional sales and trading and private client financial advisory. Prior to January 31, 2011, Ms. Ferstman was Vice-Chair and Head of Capital Markets of DundeeWealth Inc., a diversified wealth management company. Prior to 2009, Ms. Ferstman was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Dundee Wealth Inc. and Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary of Dundee Corporation. In these senior financial roles, Ms. Ferstman was actively involved in all corporate strategy, including acquisitions and financings, and was responsible for all public financial reporting. In addition, Ms. Ferstman regularly represented Dundee Corporation on investee company boards and audit committees across various sectors. Prior to joining the Dundee Group of Companies, Ms. Ferstman spent four years as Chief Financial Officer for a national securities firm and five years at a major international accounting firm. Ms. Ferstman earned a Bachelor of Commerce and a Graduate degree in Public Accountancy from McGill University and is a Chartered Professional Accountant.

Mr. Richard N. Gateman is Vice President, Canada Gas Business Development with TransCanada PipeLines Limited.  He has over three decades of business development and legal experience in oil and gas, midstream and natural gas pipeline projects.  His experience includes major project development and management; asset transactions; stakeholder, government and First Nations engagement; and general corporate law and business development.  Mr. Gateman is also the President of Prince Rupert Gas Transmission Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of TransCanada, which is seeking to develop a major natural gas transportation pipeline to the Prince Rupert, BC area.  Mr. Gateman previously served as the President of Coastal GasLink Pipeline Ltd., another wholly-owned subsidiary of TransCanada, which is currently constructing a multi-billion-dollar pipeline project which will transport natural gas to the LNG Canada liquefied natural gas export facility near Kitimat, BC.  Prior to this role, Mr. Gateman was Vice-President, Northern Development for TransCanada where he was responsible for TransCanada’s involvement in the Mackenzie Gas Project and for the origination and advancement of new Canadian business development projects apart from TransCanada’s existing pipeline platforms. Mr. Gateman holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Calgary and a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Western Ontario.

Ms. P. Jane Gavan is the President, Asset Management of Dream and has more than 30 years of experience in the real estate industry. Ms. Gavan previously served as the Chief Executive Officer of Dream Global REIT and the Chief Executive Officer of Dream Office REIT. Since joining Dream in 1998, Ms. Gavan has played a key role in numerous transactions including the acquisition of Lehndorff Properties, the 2003 business restructuring that resulted in the creation of Dream Office REIT, Dream Office REIT’s $2.3 billion portfolio sale to GE Real Estate, and the initial public offering of Dream Global REIT. Prior to joining Dream, Ms. Gavan served as legal counsel for numerous companies including Oxford Properties Group, and Denison Mines Corp., and began her career in private law practice with Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP, specializing in real estate and corporate finance. She earned an Honours Bachelor of Commerce degree from Carleton University and a Bachelor of Laws degree from Osgoode Hall, York University. Ms. Gavan currently sits on the board of directors of Dream, and Dream Office REIT,  and is on the Patron’s Council for Community Living Toronto.

Mr. Duncan Jackman is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of E-L Financial Corporation Limited, an investment and insurance holding company. Mr. Jackman oversees the company’s investments by sitting on the boards of directors of the company’s subsidiaries and select other companies in which the company has significant shareholdings, including by serving as Chairman of Algoma Central Corporation and Chairman and President of Economic Investment Trust Limited and United Corporations Limited, two closed-end investment companies. Mr. Jackman earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from McGill University.

Ms. Jennifer Lee Koss is the Co-Founder and Builder of Business of BRIKA – the pre-eminent retail platform for contemporary, elevated craft online and offline representing a community of over 400 of the most talented artisans and designers. Prior to launching her business, she spent nearly five years at Ontario Teachers’ Private Capital investing in consumer/retail companies and in large private equity global funds. Her work experience also includes management consulting at The Bridgespan Group and The Parthenon Group, focusing on private equity due diligence, and in investment banking at JPMorgan. Ms. Koss is also a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Art Gallery of Ontario and a Director of the Board of The National Ballet of Canada. Ms. Koss is a Juilliard-trained cellist and holds an AB degree magna cum laude from Harvard College, an MPhil from Oxford University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Ms. Vincenza Sera is an active corporate director who currently sits on the board of Investment Management Corporation of Ontario (IMCO) which manages over $60 billion in assets for various Ontario stakeholders. Prior to this appointment, she was Chair of the Ontario Pension Board for nine years. In addition to the public companies listed below, Ms. Sera currently sits on the Board of Directors of the Ontario Financing Authority. Ms. Sera was an investment banker with more than 25 years of experience in capital markets, corporate finance and corporate governance. She has held senior positions with National Bank Financial, First Marathon Securities and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. Ms. Sera holds an MBA from the University of Toronto and is a graduate of the Directors Education Program (ICD.D). Ms. Sera is also the Chair of the board of trustees of Dream Industrial REIT.

Read more about our Board of Directors

Dream’s Committees assist in the effective fun­c­tioning of the Board and help ensure that the views of Independent ­Directors* are effectively represented.

Read more about our Committees

Dream is committed to sound and effective corporate governance. Our goal is to not only meet the requirements established by securities laws and regulators but to also uphold the spirit of ‘good corporate governance’.

Read more about our Charters, Policies & Articles

We believe sustainability isn’t an option, it’s a necessity. Therefore, it is our responsibility to work in a way that is sustainable for the environment, our employees, and our company.

When it comes to sustainability, we are focused on three areas:

	Environment We integrate waste management policies to our office buildings, and invest in renewable energy production.
	Social We encourage employee engagement and well-being, and invest in the communities in which we live and work.
	Governance We conduct our business in an ethical manner and have a board committee that oversees the company’s good corporate governance.

We are pleased to present the latest sustainability information from our 2019 annual report here, 2018 annual report here and our 2017 annual report here

• Initiatives that are saving energy, water and reducing landfill waste at Dream properties across the country
• Collaborative endeavors aimed at moving our entire industry forward through partnerships with organizations such as Women’s College Hospital, Right to Play and the Shoebox Project, just to name a few.
• Investments into sustainable projects that will strengthen and enhance the communities that we operate in and serve

We view our Corporate Sustainability Report as an opportunity to highlight our commitment to our key stakeholder groups. For investors, it means greater transparency. For tenants, it means working together to help them succeed. For employees, it means strengthening our concept of the “Dream family.” And for communities, it means building better spaces that serve the communities’ needs.