McMichael
Canadian Art
Foundation Board

After twenty-five years as CEO, Geoff now serves as Executive Chair of EllisDon, a $7-billion-a-year construction services and technology company.

Geoff remains focused on the digital future of the construction industry, serving as Chair of EllisDon’s Digital Advisory Committee, and on eliminating carbon from that sector by 2050. On that front, Geoff is Chair of the Climate Smart Buildings Alliance.

Geoff has a deep record of community service, and is currently Chancellor of George Brown College.

Andrew W. Dunn is the Founder and Managing Partner of Canadian Shield Capital, a private equity investment and advisory firm focused on building great Canadian businesses with strong management teams.

Andrew began his career at Deloitte, where he spent 27 years, ultimately serving as Vice Chair of Deloitte Canada and Chair of its Client Cabinet, responsible for the firm’s largest client and government relationships. He played numerous roles on the firm’s Canadian and global executive teams, including Managing Partner of Tax in Canada. Andrew co-authored The Future of Productivity, research aimed at improving business productivity. Andrew has delivered expert testimony before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance and the Senate Standing Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce. His love for business and entrepreneurial spirit lead him to co-found Altas Partners in 2012, serving initially as Chief Operating Officer and Co-Managing Partner.

Andrew serves on the boards of the Children’s Aid Foundation, the Upper Canada College Foundation, and a number of public and private companies, including Hatch, Canada’s largest private engineering company.   He is a Chartered Accountant (FCPA, FCA) and holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Masters of Accounting from the University of Waterloo. Andrew and his wife, Christine, live in Toronto with their two sons, Charlie and Liam.

Chris Bredt is a senior litigation partner practising in the Toronto office of Borden Ladner Gervais LLP. Chris practises civil litigation, with an emphasis on commercial disputes, corporate governance and other corporate disputes, class actions, constitutional, Indigenous, and administrative law issues. He is the Chair of BLG’s National Public Law Group, and was selected by peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in Canada and recognized in Lexpert®/American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada. He has appeared as counsel before all levels of the courts in Ontario, and before the Federal Court of Appeal, British Columbia Court of Appeal, and on numerous cases before the Supreme Court of Canada.

Chris has a B.A. and LL.B. from the University of Western Ontario, an LL.M. from Yale, and a D.S.U. (Droit Administratif) from the Université de Paris II.  Chris joined BLG in 1984, and became a partner 1988; he was seconded to the Government of Ontario from 1989-93, where he served as Assistant Deputy Minister, Office of Federal Provincial Relations and as Assistant Deputy Minister, Constitutional Policy and Special Counsel. Prior to joining BLG, Chris was law clerk to Mr. Justice McIntyre of the Supreme Court of Canada from 1979-80, and was a stagiaire with the Conseil d’État (Council of State) in Paris, France, in 1983. Since 2008, Chris has served as an elected Bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada, where he Chairs the Audit and Finance Committee and is Vice-Chair of the Law Society Tribunal. He has served as a member of the Ontario Judicial Council since 2016.

As Vice President & Senior Portfolio Manager, Laura provides discretionary investment management to high net worth individuals, families, corporations, trusts, and charitable foundations. She has over 20 years of investment management experience. She holds TD Bank’s award of Distinction Vision in Action award.

Active in her professional and personal communities, Laura has earned two professional designations: Chartered Accountant (CPA, CA) and Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA). Laura spent several years serving on the Board of Directors for BALANCE for Blind Adults as well as the Estate Planning Counsel of Toronto (EPCT) Executive Board.

John is chair and CEO of Hatch, the fourth in the company’s 70-year history. In 40 years of leadership, he has grown and diversified Hatch’s professional services, providing innovative and practical solutions to its global clientele in the metals, energy, and infrastructure sectors. Currently, John leads 12,000 talented employees in more than 100 offices on six continents who importantly advise, design, manage, and build more than $100 billion of our clients’ assets.

John and his family are avid supporters and philanthropic contributors to the arts community, supporting institutions, galleries, and individual artists in Canada and beyond. Through John’s personal and corporate donations, he enables galleries to feature and support emerging artists. John has served on the Board of Governors for the Royal Ontario Museum, and the Art Canada Institute, and has been a supporter and advisor to the National Gallery of Canada, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto, the Toronto Biennial of Art, and the McMichael Canadian Art Collection.

Mira Goldfarb Blum is an experienced arts consultant and former museum curator specializing in collections development, exhibitions and multidisciplinary programming. She established C3 Arts Advisory in 2016 to broaden her practice in connecting art and artists with individuals, organizations and communities.

Mira began her curatorial career at The Jewish Museum in New York and moved on to The Whitney Museum of American Art. She then returned to Toronto and joined the international consultancy Lord Cultural Resources, specializing in master planning and strategic planning for art museums. Mira has also served on the Board of the Council of American Jewish Museums and its Strategic Planning Committee.

Working with major artists, collectors and institutions throughout her career, Mira brings a sensitive eye, a thoughtful approach and a seasoned perspective to her arts consulting practice. She holds an MA in Art History and Museum Studies from City University of New York and a BA in Art History from University of Toronto.

Mike Downs is a seasoned investment counselling professional with a distinguished career at Connor, Clark and Lunn Private Capital Ltd. With a tenure spanning over two decades, Mike has been instrumental in driving the company’s growth and success both through the success of his individual practice and support and contributions to the leadership team over 26 years. His practice is focused on wealthy families, foundations, and Indigenous Communities across Canada.

Mike began his career at Scotiabank in 1990 holding multiple management positions in credit and investment areas across Southwestern Ontario, ultimately ending his banking career in the asset management division with Scotia Cassels Investment Management before joining CC&L in 1999.

Mike has volunteered for multiple organizations throughout his career, including most recently 18 years on the board of Southlake Regional Health Centre (9 years) and Foundation (9 years). At the same time, he volunteered and was instrumental to the national investment committee for The Nature Conservancy of Canada. Mike has a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and CIM designation. He completed his undergraduate degree at Western University. He lives with his wife, Kim, in Aurora, Ontario where they raised their sons, Chris and Connor.

Carolyn is a graduate of the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law where she later developed and taught courses in Competition Law and Policy as an Adjunct Professor while practicing law.

In the community, Carolyn served on the Board of Directors of an elementary/middle school and a high school. Carolyn also served as a member of an educational oversight Committee supporting over 70 schools and programs.

More recently, Carolyn completed a Master of Education in Adult Education and Community Development at the University of Toronto.

Carolyn is excited to combine a longstanding interest in education with her passion for the Art of Canada.

Jacoline Loewen is an expert in wealth management and family enterprise with international business experience in Canada, Great Britain, and Southern Africa.

As Director of UHNW relationships at Burgundy Asset Management, she is a respected leader and growth strategist. She has authored three books for entrepreneurs, including Money Magnet, published by Wiley, recommended by Ivey Business School and TMU, where she has also lectured and judged business competitions. Ms. Loewen has published over 50 articles on risk management, governance and entrepreneurship in the Globe and Mail and other publications.

Ms. Loewen has served on over 15 boards, including the Toronto Symphany Orchestra (TSO), McMichael Canadian Art Foundation, The Fraser Institute, and The Atmospheric Fund (AUM $100M). She has a deep interest in governance and serves on the Institute of Corporate Directors SWO (ICD SWO). She was on the board of OCAD Catalyst and the Private Capital Market Association.

Ms. Loewen was elected President of The Ticker Club, the oldest finance club in Canada, (2023-2024) and named Forecaster of the Year (2018), she actively supports entrepreneurship.

Ms. Loewen holds a Bachelor of Arts in Industrial Relations from McGill University, Masters in Business Administration from the University of Witwatersrand and ICD. D from Rotman University.

Paul is the Managing Director for OMERS Platform investments, responsible for energy and special situations (PointNorth Capital). He held senior roles previously with Borealis Infrastructure and Torys LLP. Paul has extensive experience in the field of corporate governance and has advised business ventures of all sizes on governance matters. He currently servies on the board of a number of our portfolio companies, including as Chair of Gain Energy Ltd., a private oil & gas company located in Calgary. The McMichael has been a part of his life since his early childhood. He grew up in Woodbridge (Vaughan) and had many visits to the McMichael over the years—both the gallery itself as well as the grounds where he often rode the trails by bicycle with his Kleinburg friends.

Nathalie Mercure is currently general counsel at CBGF with over 20 years’ experience as a business lawyer with extensive expertise in private equity and mergers and acquisitions.

Formerly, Nathalie was a partner at Stikeman Elliott LLP where she practiced corporate law for over 18 years. Nathalie led and completed a variety of corporate, commercial and regulated transactions, acting for buyers and sellers, issuers and dealers. She was principal senior counsel to significant private equity firms, leading many acquisitions, restructurings and divestitures. Over the last few years, Nathalie acted as Executive Director of the McMichael Canadian Art Collection and as Chair of the board of directors of the Toronto French School, Canada’s largest independent school.

Nathalie holds a law degree from McGill University, where she completed her BCL and LL.B and holds an MBA from the Ivey Business School at Western University and has completed her directors course with the Institute of Corporate Directors at the Rotman School of Management.

Nathalie has dedicated time to several not-for-profit organizations as a volunteer and board member. She has served on the Foundation Board and School Board of the Toronto French School for more than 6 years and is currently on the Board of Trustees of the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, where she is Chair of the Governance and Nominating Committee.

Laura Mirabella, FCPA, FCA, is the Commissioner of Finance and Regional Treasurer for the Regional Municipality of York.  She was previously the Chief Financial Officer and City Treasurer for the City of Vaughan, spent 11 years in progressively senior positions with the Ontario Public Service, and another 10 years in the private sector providing professional services to organizations in a variety of industries.

Laura’s 25 year career has covered organizational and program governance, integrated performance measurement and reporting, strategic and fiscal planning, and program and risk management.  She has a passion for public service, for making sure that strategic and fiscal planning issues are considered together by governments, and that financial information is communicated to decision-makers and the public in ways that can be easily understood and contributes to democratic discourse.

Patrick Pelliccione is a key player in shaping Canada’s food landscape with a persevering career spanning over three decades.

A graduate of the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario, Patrick is now the president of Jan K Overweel Ltd., a dynamic, vertically integrated company that manages production and distribution of foods from all over the world and supplying them to food retailers and food service establishments.

Patrick is an engaged member of his industry and community, where he heads up the International Cheese Council of Canada and is the Co-President of the Italian Chamber of Commerce of Ontario, respectively. He is also on the boards of various charities including the Humber River Hospital Foundation. In his spare time, Patrick is an avid reader, golfer and traveler. He lives in Vaughan, Ontario with his loving wife and two sons.

Carl Spiess is a retired wealth advisor. He spent 30 years at ScotiaMcLeod advising clients on their wealth management needs. He was featured in Scotiabank’s 2002 annual report for his charity work protecting Georgian Bay. Carl ran and continues to support the Georgian Bay Land Trust annual art auctions. He has been a long-time supporter and fundraiser for the Toronto United Way. He continues to be active as the treasurer of the ScotiaMcLeod Charitable Foundation which created the Carl Spiess Community Award in his honour and funds the annual “Share the Wealth” employee giving program.

Carl married his wife Jennifer at the McMichael gallery on a warm summer day in 1994. In his spare time Carl is an art collector, rock climber, hiker, snowboarder and obsessive windsurfer. Read more about his passion for the McMichael on his patron profile.