Sonya Donovan

Managing Director, Real Estate

Sonya Donovan is the Managing Director, Real Estate. Prior to her current position, Sonya was the Director of Real Estate at the University of Guelph, where she spearheaded the implementation of the real estate development strategy for the University’s extensive non-academic real estate land holdings. Sonya worked at Oxford Properties for several years holding progressively senior roles in investments, leasing, and development. 

Sonya sits on the board of CRE8, a not-for-profit organization that she co-founded with four other women to help increase the advancement and participation of women in the commercial real estate sector and for several years sat on the board of My Friends House, a women’s and children’s shelter that serves the Georgian Triangle. Sonya is a CPA, CA. She holds an Honours Business Administration degree from the Richard Ivey School of Business at University of Western Ontario. 

Lilian Marins

EA & Special Projects Coordinator

Lilian Marins is a seasoned executive support professional with over a decade of experience in strategic operations, real estate development, project management, and international diplomacy. She holds a bachelor’s degree in international relations, an MBA, and professional certifications in Project Management, SAFe Agile, and Executive Leadership Coaching (Master Coach).

Throughout her career, Lilian has led complex initiatives across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors including large-scale projects, stakeholder engagement strategies, and high-level events involving senior executives and diplomatic representatives. She has worked with some of Brazil’s top commercial real estate firms and facilitated international missions connecting business, education, and government leaders. Prior to joining the University of Toronto, Lilian served as Regional Lead at the American Chamber of Commerce in Brazil.

Known for her clarity, emotional intelligence, and people-first approach, Lilian is passionate about streamlining operations and enabling impactful leadership through thoughtful execution and strategic partnership.

Olivia Stewart

Manager, Developments

Olivia Stewart is a Development Manager, Real Estate at the University of Toronto. Olivia oversees the Four Corners development pipeline, a diverse pipeline that includes residential, retail, office, and commercial lab uses. With expertise in investments, financial modeling, and development management, Olivia plays a crucial role in ensuring that development projects are delivered successfully and align with the University’s strategic goals. 

Prior to her current role, Olivia worked at QuadReal Property Group and Hullmark Development Ltd., where she contributed to a variety of real estate transactions and development initiatives. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Real Estate Management from Toronto Metropolitan University and is involved in professional organizations such as Toronto Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) and the Toronto Wet Labs Coalition, reflecting her commitment to the growth and sustainability of the real estate sector. 

Catherine Chan

Assistant Director, Finance

Catherine Chan is the Assistant Director of Finance for the Real Estate team. She oversees the financial reporting and analysis of Real Estate Partnerships at the University of Toronto. Previously, Catherine was the Director of Finance at Slate Asset Management where she oversaw the financial reporting for private Canadian real estate funds.  

Catherine is a CPA, CA and holds a Master’s of Accounting and a Bachelor’s of Accounting and Financial Management from the School of Accounting and Finance at the University of Waterloo. 

Sally Brunton

Commercial Property Manager, Facilities and Services

Sally is responsible for the property management of the retail portfolio around the St. George Campus. Prior to arriving at the University, she managed mixed use commercial properties, including Salthill Capital and Smart Centres. Her portfolio included open-air shopping centres, mixed-use centres and office buildings. 

Sally is involved in several professional organizations including L3 (Ladies Laughing Loudly) which brings together women leaders in the real estate industry from both the property management and vendor sides of the business. 

Priscilla Aviado

Commercial Leasing Analyst

Priscilla is responsible for lease negotiations, market research, and client relations, driving successful leasing outcomes and building lasting partnerships.  Her career journey has taken her from leasing negotiations to executive support, and orchestrating events that foster team engagement. She has expertise in managing budgets and deadlines and brings a unique and versatile skill set to her work. She has a knack for adapting to new challenges with creativity and enthusiasm. 

John Smegal

Academic Leasing

John has worked at the University of Toronto for over 25 years as a Real Estate Analyst, and is currently in charge of Academic Leasing. He is responsible for the management and administration of all off-campus external leasing and acts as the chief liaison between tenants, landlords, legal, and accounting.  His portfolio includes communicating with faculty and departmental offices, student activity groups, medical laboratories, and administrative offices among others. John is also responsible for managing budgets and overseeing third party licenses, cellular antenna agreements, and other property agreements. 

John previously worked  as a Lease Project Officer for the Province of Ontario where he oversaw lease acquisitions and renewals, liaising between landowners and tenants, and managing property agreements for clients throughout northern and southwestern Ontario.

Scott Mabury

Vice-President, Operations and Real Estate Partnerships

Professor Mabury holds a PhD in Agricultural and Environmental Chemistry from the University of California, Davis. He first joined the University of Toronto in 1995 as the first faculty member in environmental chemistry and later helped lead the creation of undergraduate and graduate programs in this sub-discipline. He served as Chair of the Department of Chemistry from 2003-2009.

Professor Mabury was appointed as VP-University Operations in 2012 and was reappointed in 2016. In 2019, he was appointed to the newly created position of Vice-President, Operations and Real Estate Partnerships. 

He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and his current research interests are in of environmental photochemistry and fluorinated organic chemicals. He and his group have written extensively on environmental fate, disposition and persistence of fluorinated agrochemicals, industrial chemicals and pharmaceuticals publishing over 200 scientific papers in refereed journals. One of the most highly cited scholars in his field and has been awarded an OCUFA Teaching Award and the CIC Environment R&D Award.

Blake Hutcheson

President and Chief Executive Officer, OMERS

Blake Hutcheson is President and CEO of OMERS. He is responsible for the overall leadership and performance of the OMERS enterprise.

He was appointed OMERS President and Chief Pension Officer in 2018. His mandate included leading OMERS Pension Services, Strategy, Communications & Public Affairs, Legal, Technology and Operations, in addition to Asset Liability Management.

Blake previously served as President and CEO of Oxford Properties Group since 2010, and in 2014 he also became Chief Investment Officer, Real Estate and Strategic Investments and added the OMERS Platform Investments portfolio, an integral part of the OMERS innovative agenda.

Prior to OMERS, Blake was the Head of Global Real Estate with Mount Kellett Capital Management, a New York-based private equity firm with offices in key locations around the globe. Previously, he was Chairman and President of the Canadian, Latin American, and Mexican operations for CB Richard Ellis, the world’s largest real estate services company.

An appointee to the Order of Ontario and a former recipient of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40, Blake is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario. He also completed a Graduate Diploma in International and Comparative Politics at the London School of Economics (with Distinction) and a Master’s Degree in Real Estate Development at Columbia University (where he received the Distinguished Alumnus Award for 2017).

Blake continues to play Masters Lacrosse every summer for his home town of Huntsville, Ontario. He is married and has two children.

Andrew Joyner

Managing Director, Head of Multi-Family, Tricon Residential

Andrew Joyner leads Tricon Residential’s Canadian multi-family rental business. In this role, he designs and implements strategy, sources investment opportunities, and oversees teams responsible for business plan execution including development, construction and ongoing asset management. In addition, Andrew manages key relationships with joint venture partners and government stakeholders.

Prior to joining Tricon in 2016, Andrew held senior roles at CPP Investments in Toronto, where he focused on real estate investments throughout North America, and at Hines in London, UK, where he was responsible for property acquisitions throughout Western Europe. In addition, Andrew previously worked at Goldman Sachs in New York in the investment banking division.

A former recipient of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40, Andrew has a Master of Business Administration degree from Columbia University, an undergraduate degree in Economics from Queen’s University, and is a CFA Charterholder.

Andrew serves on the MaRS Discovery District Board of Directors, the University of Toronto Real Estate Advisory Committee, and is a member of Urban Land Institute’s Multi-Family Product Council.

Paul Brundage

Head of Real Estate, North America, Columbia Threadneedle Investments

Paul Brundage is a Global Senior Commercial Real Estate Executive with 35 years experience in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific regions. Recently Paul has joined Columbia Threadneedle Investments, US as their Head of Real Estate, North America.

Paul previously led the European and Asia Pacific teams with Oxford Properties, overseeing all aspects of their strategy, execution and continued expansion into global gateway cities within these two regions.

Prior to opening the Oxford’s London office in 2008, he led asset management and operations of Oxford’s 50-million sq ft Canadian portfolio, and held leadership positions with Borealis Real Estate Management Inc. and OMERS Realty Corporation, Prudential of England and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

As of January 2022, Paul has been a Senior Advisor with FORE Partnership and an Executive in Residence at R-LABS Canada Inc. Paul has a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Economics and Geography from the University of Toronto and a Masters of Arts in Urban and Regional Analysis from State University of New York.

Paul is a fellow of RICS, a former President and current board member of the British Property Federation and a board member of the Bank of England’s Property Advisory Committee, Henley Business School Strategy Board.

Travis McCready

Head of Industries, Markets Advisory and Chair, Global Life Sciences Advisory Board, JLL

Travis McCready is the head of industries markets in the Americas for JLL, one of the largest commercial real estate advisories in the world. In this capacity, he oversees brokerage and advisory for JLL’s key global industry verticals, including life sciences, healthcare, data centers, energy, security & defense, technology, and higher education. He is also a member of the firms Innovation Districts Practice, providing strategic advisory services to innovation districts across the world.

Travis has over 25 years of experience leading public, private, and non-profit ventures with a focus on science and technology-based real estate and innovation infrastructure. Outside of JLL, he remains active in the innovation community serving as board director of the global business accelerator MassChallenge, the global life sciences business enabler Nucleate, the Canadian life sciences ecosystem builder adMare BioInnovations, and Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston. He also serves in advisory capacities at Johns Hopkins University, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, University of Massachusetts, and the University of Toronto.

Travis received his B.A. in Philosophy from Yale University, and J.D. from the University of Iowa. He is the recipient of the Chancellor’s Medal from the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, and an honorary doctorate in engineering from Wentworth Institute of Technology.

Janice Lin

Managing Director, Head of Canada, Blackstone Real Estate Group

Before joining Blackstone, Ms. Lin was the Chief Investment Officer for Revera, Inc., a global owner of differentiated retirement living operators with residences throughout Canada, the U.S. and U.K. Prior to Revera, Ms. Lin held senior investment roles with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s Real Estate and Private Equity groups.

Ms. Lin received an MBA from Harvard Business School and Bachelor of Science in Economics from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, graduating Cum Laude. Ms. Lin is on the board of HLMS Developments, the development arm for Houselink & Mainstay Community Housing, Toronto’s largest non-profit supportive housing provider.

Jack Winberg

Chief Executive Officer, Rockport Group

Jack Winberg, the Group’s CEO, trained in business at Boston University and law at Osgoode Hall in Toronto, joined Rockport in 1988 following an active law practice as a specialist in land use and development. Jack is a founding director, of ClubLink Corporation, and continues as a director of TWC Enterprises. He has extensive experience as a director of both public and private companies including as the Chair of Revenue Properties Company Limited before it was taken private by Morguard Corp. Jack is a member of the board of the Mount Sinai Hospital Foundation and in July 2023, Jack was appointed as Chair of the Board of Directors of Waterfront Toronto. Jack is a past President of the Urban Development Institute of Canada and a past Chair of the Urban Development Institute (Ontario) now BILD.