Board of Directors
Board of Directors
Board of Directors
Chair of the Board
He is a seasoned business leader with extensive general management experience, strategic mergers and acquisitions capability, and a brand-building track record. The Alberta native spent many successful years building the Molson company, operating in Canada, the US, and international markets and leading large mature businesses, turnaround situations, entrepreneurial operations, and gaining extensive experience with joint ventures.
Harj Shoan is based in Toronto and is responsible for leading Ontario Teachers’ private equity fund investing practice globally, representing +40 GP relationships and ~$15Bn in AUM.
Prior to leading the Global Funds team, Harj was responsible for leading Private Capital’s Portfolio Management practice, with a focus on value creation planning, talent management, and board effectiveness across the global direct investment portfolio. Prior to leading the Portfolio Management team, Harj was a core member of the Consumer & Retail direct investing team in Private Capital, and was responsible for leading the team’s largest investments.
Harj joined Ontario Teachers’ in 2014 and has over two decades of private equity, investment banking and corporate finance experience. He previously worked at Imperial Capital, Morgan Stanley Private Equity (U.K.), Shoppers Drug Mart, and BMO Nesbitt Burns.
Harj currently sits on the boards of Arterra Wines, Traeger Grills, and Koru. He holds an MBA from the University of Oxford and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Wilfrid Laurier University, and is also a CFA charterholder.
Chair of the Audit Committee
With over 10+ years of external independent governance experience and relevant sector knowledge from her tenure at Corby Spirit and Wine, Krystyna has meaningful audit chair experience. She also has a broad-based understanding and appreciation for how to operate consumer-focused companies within regulated environments (financial services, pharmacy, elder care, alcoholic beverages).
Lee Sienna was formerly responsible for Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan’s long term equities investments within Private Capital. Prior to his retirement, he had held multiple leadership roles at Ontario Teachers’, starting in 2002 as Vice-President, Teachers’ Private Capital and has more than 20 years’ experience in management and corporate development for companies in the beverage, food and entertainment industries. He played a pivotal role in Teachers’ Private Capital’s acquisitions of numerous investments including PODS, Yellow Pages Group, Samsonite Corp., Alliance Laundry Systems, AOT Bedding (Serta), Easton-Bell Sports and GNC Corporation.
President
Our very own John Boynton sits on the board as well, helping to inform their decisions by offering his in-depth perspective into our business.
Maxim Tcherner is a Director on the Private Equity team at Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP).
At OTPP, he has participated in a number of investments across the industrial, business services and consumer sectors. Maxim’s responsibilities include sourcing, executing and monitoring direct private equity investments focused on consumer services. Maxim currently serves on the board of Arterra Wines Canada and CSC ServiceWorks and previously served on the board of TricorBraun.
Prior to joining OTPP, Maxim worked in investment banking at Credit Suisse providing M&A advisory and financing services across a number of industries. Maxim holds an Honours Business Administration degree (with Distinction) from the Richard Ivey School of Business at Western University.
Tricia Witty joined Ontario Teachers’ in 2016. She supports OTPP’s portfolio companies across the Consumer and Healthcare sectors in defining their strategy and capturing value creation opportunities. She currently sits on the board of Shearer’s Foods, Orgain, NVISION and Arterra Wines.
Prior to joining Ontario Teachers’, Tricia was part of the Operations Practice at McKinsey & Company where she worked with leading organizations to improve their businesses by driving change in areas such as Procurement, Supply Chain and Manufacturing. Prior to that, Tricia spent 10 years with Celestica in various operations, strategy and account management roles.
Tricia earned her B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from Queen’s University and an MBA from the Ivey School of Business at Western University.
The Honourable James Moore is a business advisor at the multinational law firm Dentons and a policy advisor at the global communications firm Edelman. He also has extensive board experience in the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors.
During his fifteen years as a Member of Parliament (2000 to 2015), James served as Canada’s Minister of Industry, Minister of Canadian Heritage & Official Languages, Secretary of State for the Asia Pacific Gateway and Minister responsible for the successful 2010 Olympics.
James has deep roots in western Canada and was the regional minister for the province of British Columbia as well as the 6th Chancellor of the University of Northern British Columbia. James resides in Vancouver with his wife Courtney and 10-year-old son Spencer.
