YORK - Key Persons

Alexis Charest-Descomme (Alumnus '13) is a former York School Head Boy, whose passion for technology blossomed during his time at York. Since he graduated McGill University with a focus in Behavioural Economics, he has worked in data engineering, data architecture & technical sales with multiple F500 organizations. Currently, he works in the Measurement & Insights team at Google as an Analytical Lead leveraging behavioural science & technology to tackle social & business problems for Canada's largest institutions. In his spare time you can find him tinkering with his computers at home, watching Formula 1 or providing guidance to NGOs and small businesses in his community. Alexis is a Director on The York School Board and is a member of the Advancement Committee.

Bio Brian Burke is frequently retained on cases involving complex or highly contested parenting (custody and access) matters, cases with sophisticated financial dimensions (including corporate, trust, and other business and investment structures), and cases involving international disputes and negotiations. Brian began his legal career summering, articling, and then briefly practicing corporate law, commercial law, and securities law at Torys LLP in Toronto. He then practiced as a tax lawyer for several years at Thorsteinssons LLP in Toronto, working on both structuring and litigation matters with a significant focus on trusts. A Past President of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC), Ontario Chapter, member of the AFCC (international) Task Force on Model Standards of Practice for Child Custody Evaluations, past member of the joint Ontario Court of Justice-Superior Court of Justice Custody Assessments Task Force, and member of various other justice committees and task forces involving parenting matters, Brian is often retained on complex custody and access cases, including: cases involving mobility/relocation; international abduction and cases involving other jurisdictional elements; the hearing of the child's voice in the proceeding; issues related to intimate partner violence; cases with concurrent children's aid society involvement and/or criminal charges; issues relating to substance abuse; and cases where a party is exhibiting features of a personality disorder (narcissistic; borderline; antisocial; etc.) that has a troublesome effect upon the case and/or its resolution. Brian utilizes whatever mode or modes of dispute resolution best fit the particular case: litigation; mediation; arbitration; negotiation. He is also fully trained, and takes on select cases, in the Collaborative Practice process model. Brian has extensive training in screening for power imbalances including intimate partner violence, as well as training in mediation and parenting coordination. He is also retained to arbitrate disputes between parties privately, outside the court process. Brian is a frequent conference speaker and conference chair/moderator on family law topics in Ontario, delivering lectures, talks, workshops, and webinars on substantive and professionalism topics for the Law Society of Ontario, AFCC, the Canadian Bar Association, the Ontario Bar Association, and other organizations. Brian has one child at The York School and is a member of the Governance Committee.

Job Titles:

• Managing Director in the Mergers & Acquisitions Group at RBC Capital Markets

Corey Fraiberg, is a Managing Director in the Mergers & Acquisitions Group at RBC Capital Markets, based in Toronto. Prior to relocating to Toronto, Corey worked in RBC's M&A Group in New York, Toronto and San Francisco. Prior to joining RBC's M&A Group, Corey worked for Goldman Sachs in its M&A Group based in New York and RBC's Corporate Finance Group, based in Toronto and London. Corey has advised on a broad range of M&A transactions in both Canada and the US and has significant cross-border transaction experience. Corey completed his MBA at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth and his Bachelor of Commerce degree at Queen's University. Corey has one child at The York School and is a member of the Finance Committee.

Bio Dr. Kristin Blakely-Kozman is a public sociologist committed to advancing gender equality through teaching, advocacy, and governance work. She has a PhD in Sociology and Gender & Women's studies from Loyola University Chicago, a Leadership Certificate in Non-profit Education from Kellogg at Northwestern University and she completed the Not-for-Profit Governance Essentials Program at the Institute of Corporate Directors. Kristin teaches courses in sociology at Glendon College of York University and leadership courses focused on gender and diversity at the University of Toronto's School of Continuing Studies. She is also a co-investigator at the Ryerson Diversity Institute. Kristin is co-author of Gendered Worlds (Oxford University Press: 2008) and has published in multiple books and referred journals. Kristin has an extensive service record in the not-for-profit sector including director roles at YWCA Toronto, YWCA Canada, and at the Canadian Women's Foundation as well as service roles with Girls20, New Circles, Mount Sinai Hospital, and the Gender Equality Network (GENC) - a Government of Canada WAGE project. At present, she is a director and the past chair of the Canadian Women's Foundation (CWF) and chair of CWF's Teen Healthy Relationships Advisory Committee. Kristin and her partner David have three children at the York School and Kristin is chair of the Advancement Committee

Job Titles:

• General Counsel
• Vice President and General Counsel of Scholar Properties

As VP and General Counsel, Jessica oversees the day-to-day operations of the business and provides senior management with advice on company strategies and implementation. Jessica supervises and coordinates all aspects of the real estate development cycle, including acquisitions, planning, permitting and construction execution. In her role as General Counsel, Jessica also manages a multi-disciplinary team and is accountable for the quality assurance, compliance, legal and risk management aspects of the business. Prior to joining Scholar Properties, Jessica spent 7 years in private practice at a downtown Toronto law firm, followed by five years at the Law Society of Ontario specializing in regulatory compliance and real estate matters. Jessica has one child at The York School. Jessica is a Director on The York School Board, previously served on Risk Committee and is currently on the Premises Committee.

Job Titles:

• Partner

Bio Jonathan Feldman, is a partner and heads a business law group at Goodmans. His practice focuses on corporate and securities law with an emphasis on mergers and acquisitions. Jon's market leading practice in Canada in the area of shareholder activism is highlighted by his involvement in a number of the most high profile proxy contests representing both dissident shareholders and boards of directors. Jon also provides strategic advice in litigation matters requiring corporate and securities law knowledge. Jon is an active member of the community. He currently sits on the board of directors of the Baycrest Foundation and is a co-founder of the Barrie to Baycrest 100km annual bike ride. He has been instrumental in helping raise over $10 million for the Baycrest hospital in Toronto. Jon has served as an Adjunct Professor and as President of the Alumni Association at the University of Toronto Law School, and was awarded the Arbor Award for outstanding voluntary service by the University of Toronto. Jon is a member of the Advancement Committee. Jon lives in Toronto with his wife and two daughters (one Alumni 2020) their youngest at The York School. Jon is a Director on The York School Board and is Vice Chair of the Advancement Committee.

Job Titles:

• Strategic Executive

Josh Picov is a strategic executive with a proven record for sales growth, risk and governance and a passion for change and people development. Since joining CIBC in 1998, Josh Picov has held progressively more senior roles across the bank. As Executive Vice-President, Strategy & Transformation, Josh's team provides strategic, operational and servicing direction for CIBC's retail banking team of 14,000 employees and 11 million clients. Josh has also held various senior client-facing and governance roles in CIBC's capital markets, wealth management, office of the CEO, risk management and retail banking groups where he was involved in a variety of banking, transactional and advisory roles. In addition to his board role at The York School where he is chair of the finance committee and past member of the risk committee, he is a member of the finance, HR and investment committees for the University Health Network Foundation and a past board member at the Centennial Infant and Child Centre Foundation. Josh has a Bachelor of Arts (Economics) from York University, along with a Master of Business Administration (Finance and Accounting) and a Masters Certificate in Financial Services Leadership from the Schulich School of Business at York University. He resides in Toronto with his wife and children.

Job Titles:

• Executive Assistant to the Head of School & Board Secretary

Job Titles:

• Partner at Torys LLP

Bio Krista Hill, Partner at Torys LLP and the Co-Head of its Infrastructure and Energy Practice. With significant expertise in infrastructure and energy M&A and project development, both in Canada and internationally, Krista has been widely recognized as a leading lawyer in these areas. Krista was also an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law, where she taught on energy and natural resources law for many years. Over Krista's 25-year career, she has advised many Boards, governments, private equity firms and public corporations on their corporate transactions and corporate governance matters. Krista is a member of Torys' Executive Committee and its Diversity and Inclusion Committee, and a director of Rainbow Railroad, an organization dedicated to assisting LGBTQI refugees seeking a safe haven in order to escape violence or persecution. Krista and her spouse, Linda Plumpton, have two children at The York School. Krista is Chair of the Board of Directors and serves as on all Committee of the Board.

Job Titles:

• Corporate Executive

Bio Len Diplock is a corporate executive with more than twenty years of experience in strategy, M&A and executive leadership roles. Len is the Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and Strategy at CLEAResult, the largest provider of energy efficiency and decarbonization services in North America, where he leads strategy and mergers & acquisitions. Len is also non-executive director of Vista Services, a provider of consumer financing solutions. Previously, Len was Senior Vice President, Strategy & Corporate Marketing at Canada Post leading strategy, brand, enterprise risk management and data and analytics for the corporation. Len has also held a number of senior executive positions at Direct Energy, was a corporate strategist with Centrica plc and was a management consultant with Bain & Company. He holds a Master of Science from the University of Oxford and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Toronto. Len was a Commonwealth and World Championship medalist as a member of the Canadian Rowing Team and was awarded a Half Blue for ice hockey at the University of Oxford. Len and his partner, Irene, have two children at The York School. Len is a Director on The York School Board and Chair of the Governance Committee.

Lili Shalev-Shawn is an accomplished strategic communications expert, entrepreneur and executive coach. She has held senior leadership roles at major public and private sector organizations where she managed multi-functional teams and developed strategic plans and integrated campaigns for some of the world's biggest brands. She now brings that experience and her pragmatic, creative approach to help her coaching clients achieve their professional goals and excel in their own careers. Prior to launching her professional coaching practice - www.ShalevShawn.com - she was the Chief Communications and Marketing Officer at Women's College Hospital (WCH) where she was responsible for leading the planning and implementation of all communications and marketing initiatives. Previously Lili held various leadership positions at some of the largest global communications agencies, including JWT, BBDO, Ogilvy, Leo Burnett and FCB. Her roles encompassed strategic planning, new business development, mentoring and leading marketing campaigns for clients like Cadbury, Kellogg's, Unilever, KFC, Nestle, IBM and GlaxoSmithKline. Lili and her husband Morris have a son - Zack - who graduated from The York School in 2022. Lili has served on The York School Board for 4 years and is Chair of the Risk Committee.

Lou D'Souza is an experienced regulatory and compliance professional and lawyer focussing on growth and risk management. Most recently he was the Chief Compliance Officer for Dominion Securities Inc., the securities dealer at the Royal Bank of Canada. He was responsible for the Capital Markets (Canada) Compliance programmes and along with his team supported a number business lines including Investment Banking, Corporate Finance, Debt/Equity Capital Markets, Institutional Sales/Trading, Fixed Income, Currencies and Commodities. He has worked in the securities dealer regulatory space for the past 15 years and was a commercial lawyer/litigator for 7 years prior to his move to financial services. He has been a member of a number of Self-Regulatory Organization Committees and Working Groups on both sides of the border and is an Industry hearing panelist in regulatory enforcement matters. Lou and his spouse Annette have one son at The York School. Lou is a Director on The York School Board and is Vice Chair of the Governance Committee.

Job Titles:

• Managing Director of Clairvest Group Inc

Bio Mitch Green is a Managing Director of Clairvest Group Inc, a Toronto based merchant bank. Mitch joined Clairvest in 2002 and is involved in sourcing and managing investments. He has been personally involved in investments in the behavioral health, information technology, equipment rental, digital media, and home services industries. He currently leads the technology and rental services domains for Clairvest. Mitch is currently a board member of Meriplex Communications and Durante Rentals. He earned an undergraduate degree from Cornell University and an MBA from the University of Michigan. He has two children attending the York School and is past Chair of the Finance Committee and currently sits on the Risk Committee.

Job Titles:

• Financial Services Leader

Bio Raman is a Financial Services Leader. Raman leads one of Deloitte's largest client relationships as the Global Lead Partner and co-leads the Global Commercial Banking network, leveraging Deloitte's global capabilities to meet the needs of the leading Commercial Banks around the world. Prior to joining Deloitte in 2017, Raman spent 17 years with the HSBC Group as a Senior Commercial Banking Executive, based out of the UK, working in over 20+ countries. Her deepest passions drive her both personally and professionally - a relentless champion for creating inclusive environments, driving entrepreneurship and leading organizations globally. Raman has two children at The York School. Raman is a Director on The York School Board and is a member of the Finance Committee.

Job Titles:

• Managing Director at Future Design School

Bio Sandra Nagy is the Managing Director at Future Design School where she builds partnerships with education leaders across North America - engaging in strategic consulting, professional development and student programs that build future readiness. Sandra began her career as a change management consultant at Accenture, designing and delivering learning experiences. She then moved into a leadership role at The Learning Partnership, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing public education, where she led research in e-Learning for educators in the STEM fields. Following this experience, she spent a decade as a senior strategist at Pearson Education. She received her Master's in Technology Education from Harvard and her Bachelor of Commerce from McGill in Organizational Behaviour and Entrepreneurship. Sandra and her husband Michael have two children - their eldest, Ashley, at The York School. Sandra is a Director on The York School Board and is a member of the Governance Committee.

Bio Stacey Weisberg graduated with an HBA from The Richard Ivey School of Business. He was hired by Canadian Tire, to procure the gardening tool category for all 500 stores across the country, which included all things non-power such as; shovels, rakes, hoses, nozzles, and watering equipment. Following his passion for fashion, he became National Sales Manager at Hugo Boss' Corporate Office for Canada. There he worked with retailers across the country bringing fashion from Europe to the Canadian consumer. Returning to school he obtained his MBA from Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management and worked for Deloitte as a Corporate Strategy Managerial Consultant. Now he has joined his family in the meat business at The Butcher Shoppe, a local meat processor providing meat to hotels and restaurants in the province. Founded almost 40 years ago by his father, they process 100,000lbs of meat daily delivering over 800 custom orders six days a week. Stacey and his wife Sonya have two children at the York School. Stacey is Chair of the Premises Committee .

Job Titles:

• Head of School

Job Titles:

• Partner at the International Law Firm of Gowling WLG ( Canada ) LLP

Bio Partner at the international law firm of Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP, and the Head of the Infrastructure & Construction Sector Group. Ted is a Certified Specialist in Construction Law (certified by the Law Society of Upper Canada) and has extensive experience in large-scale infrastructure, power, construction, mining and development projects. In particular, he regularly acts as quarterback on large-scale Canadian and international construction and development projects in the energy/renewable energy, P3/infrastructure and social/community development projects, co-ordinating and supervising the timely and cost effective delivery of project documents, regulatory and government approvals, tax structuring, OHS planning, insurance and risk advice and strategic advice from other legal specialists. Ted has 20 years of experience in construction law and infrastructure project experience in all aspects of tendering, negotiating and drafting of contracts, structuring, project management, financing and sales. He has developed specialized expertise in negotiating and drafting construction contracts on large-scale construction, P3/infrastructure and development projects. He works in all sectors that involve construction projects, including commercial construction, real estate development, power and energy (nuclear, hydro-electric and solar power generating stations), mining and transportation. Ted also has a great deal of governance experience through his decades as a corporate lawyer, and sitting on the board and as Chair of several charitable and not-for-profit organizations in Toronto, including Family Service Toronto and the Ontario Bar Association. . Ted is a Director on The York School Board, past Chair of the Risk Committee and now sits on the Premises Committee has one Alumni and two other children at The York School.

Job Titles:

• Director
• Lawyer and Historian

Trish McMahon is a lawyer and historian. She is a professor at Osgoode Hall Law School, having joined the faculty in July 2022 after more than 15 years in private practice at two leading Bay Street law firms where she focused on complex civil litigation, including class actions, tax disputes, and constitutional law. She has appeared before all levels of court. Trish researches and teaches in the areas of civil procedure, equity, and legal history. Her research focuses broadly on how individuals promote legal and political reform, and has published book and articles on these subjects. Trish earned a BA in History from Huron College at Western University before earning an MA and PhD in History at the University of Toronto, where she also earned an LLB. At the Faculty of Law, Trish served as co-Editor in Chief of the University of Toronto Faculty of Law Review and was awarded the Dean's Key. She also holds an LLM and JSD from Yale Law School and clerked for Mr. Justice Ian Binnie at the Supreme Court of Canada. Trish is also the Director and lead interviewer of the Oral History Program at the Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History, an organization dedicated to the promotion and preservation of Canada's legal history that has published more than 100 books and conducted more than 700 oral history interviews of leading members of the legal profession. She has interviewed current and former members of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal for Ontario, and various provincial courts, as well as lawyers of varying seniority to create a record of their experiences in the law. Trish has two sons at The York School and has been an active member of The York School Parents' Association, serving as class parent, co-chair of the Middle School, and co-president of the YPA. Before joining the Board at York, Trish served for a number of years on the Board of another independent school in Toronto. Trish is Vice Chair of the Board and a member of the Risk Management Committee.