Board of directors

Community members

Seven directors are elected by our members from candidates who are identified and assessed through a search process. The search process includes engaging named Community Nominators which include:

  • The Board of Trade of the City of Brampton
  • The Board of Trade of the City of Mississauga
  • The Toronto Board of Trade
  • The Law Society of Ontario
  • Professional Engineers Ontario
  • Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario

Municipal members

Five directors are elected by our members from candidates nominated by Municipalities. The following municipalities served by Pearson nominate directors:

  • York
  • Halton
  • Peel
  • Durham
  • City of Toronto

Prior to the end of the term of a Member nominated by a municipality, the relevant municipality is entitled to provide the names of up to three candidates.

Federal and Provincial Members

The Government of Canada nominates two individuals and the Province of Ontario nominates one individual.

The Board assesses candidates put forward by the relevant nominators to determine whether the candidates possess the desired skills and experience and assess fit with the Board.

Current Members

Our directors oversee and guide management in the pursuit of Pearson Airport’s business goals while representing the interests of the GTAA and all of its stakeholders

Doug Allingham

Chairman of the Board

Mr. Allingham is a civil engineer with 40 years of experience encompassing both the public and private sectors. He is the former Executive Vice-President of AECOM Canada Ltd. and has a background in transportation engineering including transit planning, urban design, traffic engineering environmental assessment, master planning, airport planning and transportation economics. He has served as president of the Canadian Institute of Transportation Engineers, Chair of the Board for the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Trustee and Chair of the Board of Lakeridge Health and has served on the boards of Durham College and the Durham Abilities Centre.  He graduated with a BaSc. in Engineering from the University of Waterloo in 1978. In 2012, he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee medal for service to the community.

Community Member

Nafisah Chowdhury

Ms. Chowdhury is a partner at Miller Thomson LLP, practicing in commercial and employment litigation. She obtained an Honours Bachelor of Environmental Studies degree from the University of Waterloo, a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Toronto, and was called to the Ontario Bar in 2008. In 2018, she received the Lexpert Rising Star award, which recognizes Canada’s leading lawyers under 40. In her spare time, Nafisah sits on the advisory boards of various community organizations.

Nominated by the Federal Government

 

Kim Day

Ms. Day spent the last 25 years of her career in the aviation industry, serving most recently for 13 years as the CEO of Denver International Airport (DEN), where she worked to prepare DEN for the future both fiscally and physically, securing long term commitments of the two largest carriers, overseeing the development of a commuter rail to downtown, an on-airport hotel, 44 additional gates, and the start of the renovation of the Jeppesen Terminal. Prior to her time as CEO of DEN, she served as executive director of Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) and Deputy Executive Director for design and construction at LAWA. Before going to LAWA, she practiced architecture for over 20 years. Ms. Day has served on the board of directors for the American Association of Airport Executives, the FAA’s NextGen Advisory Committee, the Denver Chamber of Commerce, and Visit Denver and is currently on the boards for the Regional Airports Improvement Corporation and the San Diego Humane Society. She is a globally-recognized airport leader and most recently was inducted into the Colorado Tourism Hall of Fame. Ms. Day holds a Bachelor of Architecture from Cornell.

International nomination

 

Lise Fournel

Ms. Fournel is a technology expert with a global perspective in marketing and revenue management and e-commerce. Over her more than 35-year career with Air Canada, Ms. Fournel has held increasingly senior positions in Technology, Strategic Planning and Passenger Commercial. She was also President of Destina.ca. Lise sits on the board of Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and is a former director of Desjardins Financial Security. Ms. Fournel has also served on a number of not-for-profit boards, including l’Université de Montréal, Tourisme Montréal, CIREM, Musée Pointe-à-Callière, and Canadian Muscular Dystrophy Association. Lise earned a B.Sc. in Mathematics from l’Université de Montreal, completed graduate studies in Business Administration at Hautes Études Commerciales (HEC) in Montreal and holds the Institute of Corporate Directors designation (ICD.D). Lise also holds an M.Sc in Mathematics from Université de Montréal.

Président | Comité des risques opérationnels

Peter Gregg

Mr. Gregg is the President and CEO of Nova Scotia Power Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of diversified energy and services company Emera Inc., providing 95% of the generation, transmission and distribution of electrical power to more than 525,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers across Nova Scotia. He was previously President and CEO of the Independent Electricity System Operator (“IESO”), the corporation responsible for operating the electricity market and directing the operation of the bulk electrical system in the province of Ontario, and President and CEO of Enersource Corporation (now Alectra Utilities) where he led the merger of Enersource with Powerstream and Horizon Utilities, and the purchase of Hydro One Brampton. Mr. Gregg has an MBA from the Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario and holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors.

Municipal Member (Halton Region)

Tracy Li

Ms. Tracy Li is Chief People and Legal Officer of Enercare Inc., responsible for leading the human resources, legal and ESG functions at Enercare. She joined Enercare in 2011 and has played a key role in the transformation of the company and its business divisions, including advising through multiple acquisitions, financings, internal reorganizations, as well as strategic and growth initiatives. Prior to Enercare, Tracy practiced law at Shearman & Sterling LLP in Hong Kong and Borden Ladner Gervais LLP in Vancouver, where she advised international and Canadian clients on equity and debt financings, acquisitions, corporate governance, securities law and other legal matters. Tracy has also been serving as a member of the Board of Directors of Yee Hong Centre for Geriatric Care and a member of its Governance and Human Resources Committees since June 2022. Tracy has a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance) from the University of British Columbia and a Juris Doctor from the University of Toronto Faculty of Law.

Municipal Member (York Region)

 

Donald (Don) P. Kennedy

Mr. Kennedy is a retired business executive having served as the Chief Financial Officer for a number of organizations in aviation, freight and logistics, including Canada 3000, where he grew the organization from the startup of a charter airline into a publicly traded travel group with over 5,000 employees. His professional associations include past Director of the Air Transport Association of Canada, past Director of various airlines fuel consortiums and past member of various aviation and travel industry associations. He also served on the Board of Directors of St. Joseph's Health Centre in Toronto. He has been a Chartered Professional Accountant and Chartered Accountant in Ontario for over forty years, having started his audit career at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) from Queen’s University. 

Community Member

Michele McKenzie

Ms. McKenzie is a corporate director and business advisor with strong tourism expertise. She is a consultant with Chemonics International, an international development consultancy based in Washington, DC. She is formerly Principal of McKenzie Business Strategies, an advisory and leadership practice focused on economic development, strategy, marketing and tourism.  She also spent ten years in the role of President and CEO of the federal Crown corporation ‘Canadian Tourism Commission' ('Destination Canada'), and four years as Deputy Minister of Nova Scotia Tourism, Culture and Heritage. Michele also has experience in international development and has lived and worked in the Middle East. In 2020 she was recognized by the Tourism Industry Association of Canada with a Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2014, she was named by Hotelier Magazine as one of the ‘10 Most Influential Leaders in Canada's Hospitality Industry in the Past 25 Years'. Michele has extensive board governance experience and, in addition to GTAA, currently sits on the boards of Invest in Canada, Fairmont Hot Springs Resort, the Trans Canada Trail, and is a member of the Departmental Audit Committee for Statistics Canada. Michele holds a degree from Dalhousie University and has completed a Fellowship at Harvard University. She also holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors.

Municipal Member (Region of Peel)

Marc Neeb

Mr. Neeb is a retired HR executive, having most recently served as the Chief Human Resources Officer at Magna International Inc. At Magna, Mr. Neeb was responsible for global human resources strategy relating to health & safety, environment, total compensation, culture, Employee’s Charter, labour relations, performance management, talent attraction and retention and people development and training. His past professional experience also includes serving as the Chief Administrative Officer of the Town of Aurora, Commissioner of Community Services of the City of Brampton and various senior positions with the City of Mississauga. He holds degrees and diplomas from the University of Western Ontario, Seneca College and the University of Toronto. He has served on the boards of Southlake Regional Health Centre, Aurora Mayor’s Charity Golf Classic, Community Safety Village of York Region, and was the Governor of the Royal Lifesaving Society of Ontario.

Community Member

Eric Plesman

Eric is the Head of Global Real Estate at Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP) and is responsible for their real estate investment activities. Prior to HOOPP, Eric held a number of senior positions at Oxford Properties and was most recently the Executive Vice President, North America, where he was responsible for North American Investments (equity and debt) and Development activity across all asset classes (office, industrial, retail, multi-family and hotel), as well as Oxford’s North American Retail and Industrial businesses. Eric’s past experience also includes roles in Investment Banking and Real Estate Private Equity at Morgan Stanley (London, U.K., New York and Toronto) and as a consultant at Arthur Andersen (Amsterdam). Eric holds a BA from King’s University College at Western University and an Honours Business Administration (HBA) from the Ivey Business School at Western University. 

Community Member

Mark F. Schwab

Mr. Schwab is an experienced airline industry executive, having served as Chief Executive Officer of Star Alliance, the world's first and most comprehensive global airline alliance of 26 members. He has a deep background in the airline industry, having served in international and corporate leadership roles with major carriers such as United Airlines, US Airways, American Airlines and Pan Am. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia. He serves on the boards of not-for-profit organizations, Greater Naples Leadership and Naples Council on World Affairs.

Community Member

 

Johan van ‘t Hof

Mr. van 't Hof is President of Tonbridge Corp., a Toronto-based merchant bank and advisory firm, and has been a lecturer at the University of Toronto, the University of Waterloo, and the School of Accountancy for the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario. Prior to his current role, he was CEO of Tonbridge Power Inc., a publicly-traded entity, and Chief Operating Officer and Director of Carter Group Inc., a North American automotive parts manufacturer. Prior to these roles, he was Partner and Managing Director at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (project finance and privatization) and was seconded to the Ontario Securities Commission by his firm. In such a role, he acted for eleven airport authorities in Canada in transferring operations from Transport Canada and for twenty-five governments in project finance and privatization transactions globally in energy corrections, airports and roads. He has testified to the U.S. Senate and the Canadian Parliament on infrastructure policy. Mr. van 't Hof is a Chartered Professional Accountant and Chartered Accountant in Ontario and holds an MBA from the University of Toronto. He has served as Chair of the Audit Committees of two international public companies and two private companies.

Nominated by the Region of Durham

Rajeev Viswanathan

Mr. Viswanathan is the CFO and Managing Partner at Forum Asset Management, an alternative asset manager, investor, and developer. At Forum, he is responsible for the overall financial management of the firm, including financial strategy, planning, controls, risk management, tax, information technology and reporting. He is also responsible for the ongoing investment and asset management oversight of the firm’s investments and sits on Forum’s investment committee. Prior to joining Forum, he was the CFO of Dream Global REIT, a Western European, $6 billion, dual-listed (TSX and Frankfurt) commercial office and industrial platform that was acquired in 2019 by Blackstone. Prior to his appointment at Dream Global, Mr. Viswanathan was CFO for Dream Office REIT (TSX-listed). Before Dream, he spend almost a decade at Brookfield holding various senior finance roles, including corporate treasury and helping to establish Brookfield’s Private Funds group. During his tenure with Brookfield, he also worked at General Growth Properties, a US$40 billion shopping mall REIT, where he rebuilt and upgraded various finance capabilities following GGP’s bankruptcy emergence. He is a CPA, CA and CFA charterholder, with a Master of Accounting and Bachelor of Mathematics from the University of Waterloo.

Nominated by the City of Toronto

Andrew Wallace

Andrew is Managing Director and Group Head of Real Estate Investment Banking at National Bank Financial.  Andrew is responsible for overseeing National Bank’s public markets and institutional real estate business, focusing on capital markets, real estate lending, mergers & acquisitions, and other financial market products. He has been with National Bank Financial since 2006, taking progressively senior roles along the way.

In 2009 Andrew took secondment to work in the Prime Minister’s Office in Ottawa.  For two years he served as Senior Economic and Financial Policy Advisory to the Prime Minister.

Andrew holds a BAH from Queen’s University and an MBA from the Rotman School of Business at the University of Toronto.  He serves on the Board of the Real Property Association of Canada (REALPAC).