Board of Trustees

HSC's Board of Trustees is a knowledgeable team of professionals responsible for monitoring College fundraising and investments initiatives.

HSC’S BOARD OF TRUSTEES

The Board of Trustees is responsible for monitoring the investment of the HSC Endowment and, along with the Board of Governors, providing advice and direction on fundraising initiatives from the Advancement Office.

Members of the board are highly accomplished individuals widely representative of key school constituencies and are committed to the mission, vision and values of the College.

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ANDREW HAMMOND '98 - CHAIR, BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Andrew Hammond ’98 is the Senior Vice President and Global Head of Market and Counterparty Credit Risk for The Royal Bank of Canada. He is responsible for the enterprise-wide oversight and governance of market, counterparty credit, and liquidity risk, as well as global model risk management and validation. As a member of RBC’s Group Risk Management Operating Committee, he contributes to the development of the overall strategy and direction of the group.

Andrew joined RBC in 2005 and has held progressively senior roles across the bank over his 17-year tenure. Most recently, as Senior Vice President, Enterprise Risk, he was responsible for leading the strategic management of risk, including defining and quantifying RBC’s risk appetite, leading our enterprise-wide stress testing efforts to ensure financial resiliency, identification and management of emerging risk and acted as COO for the GRM function. Before that, Andrew led Global Credit and Cash Management for RBC’s Wealth Management business.

Andrew has an MBA from the Schulich School of Business at York University with a specialization in Finance and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Ryerson University.

Andrew attended HSC from 1982 to 1998, where he met his wife Nora; their twin sons are currently enrolled in the Middle School.

Andrew serves on the Executive and Nominating Committees.
MARK BENTHAM

Mark has spent more than 20 years as a manufacturing and operations executive, primarily in the energy and industrial sectors. He specialized in running multi-site manufacturing organizations and global supply chains. His career included considerable time abroad with almost 10 years living in China, where he met his wife and where their first daughter was born.

Mark is a native of Hamilton and has a Bachelor of Engineering from McGill University in Montreal. He enjoys time with family, travel, gardening and golf.

Mark has been an HSC parent for over four years, with his oldest daughter currently enrolled in the Montessori program.
CHRISTINE MILLS '94

Christine Mills '94 is an Assurance and Advisory Partner with SB Partners, a leading regional accounting and business advisory firm in Burlington. With over 20 years of experience serving clients in the public and private sectors, Christine’s client experience covers a wide range of industries, including manufacturing and distribution, utilities, life sciences, health care and not-for-profit organizations. Much of her career has focused on corporate reporting, business structure, family succession and tax planning.

Before joining SB Partners, Christine worked with Ernst & Young in Hamilton and Toronto where she led audit teams for many not-for-profit organizations in the Hamilton area and multi-national public corporations reporting on the TSX and the NASDAQ.

Christine graduated from Wilfrid Laurier University in 1998 with a degree in Honours Business Administration and obtained her Chartered Accountant designation in 2000.

Christine and her husband Warren (’94) are both proud alumni of HSC, and their sons currently attend the Middle and Senior schools. She and her family enjoy participating in local sports leagues and travelling as a family in the off-season.

Active in her community, Christine is a volunteer with the audit committee for the Bay Area Health Trust.

Christine serves on the Executive and Finance Committees and is a member of the Board of Governors.
ERIK NANAYAKKARA '99

Eric Nanayakkara '99 is the Managing Partner of Regency Law Group, a full-service firm with its head office proudly located in downtown Hamilton. In addition to managing the firm, he operates a bespoke litigation practice. He is frequently engaged as a private mediator, assisting lawyers and litigants through complex issues to arrive at efficient resolutions. After completing his undergraduate work, he earned a Juris Doctor in Australia and completed Masters studies in Advanced Commercial Negotiations.

He has served as President and Director on numerous boards and takes pride in contributing to the advancement of arts, culture and his deeply focused meditation practice. Concurrent with his role as Trustee, he is a Director of the Hamilton Club, a Trustee of the Hamilton Law Association and an Executive Member of the Hamilton Lawyers’ Club. He is the former Regional Director for the Ontario Bar Association’s Central South Region and maintains active positions on several of the association's sub-committees and its Governing Council.

Eric is an alumnus of Hillfield Strathallan College (‘99). He lives in Hamilton with his wife, Puja Nanayakkara (’01), and their two children.

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MAXIM TCHERNER '07

Maxim Tcherner ‘07 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.

Maxim and his wife, Sheena, live in Toronto with their two young boys, Jack and Charles, who take up most of their free time!
ALEXANDRA WEAVER

Alexandra (‘Alex’) Weaver is an Investment Advisor with Weaver Wealth Advisory Group, BMO Nesbitt Burns. Together with her team, Alex demonstrates to business owners and professionals how to keep more of their income and successfully grow and protect their wealth. As a trained lawyer, Alex is uniquely qualified to work with her team’s wealth planning consultants and experts and coordinate with the trusted advisors of her clients to develop wealth plans that focus on estate, philanthropic, cash management and other specialized needs.

Alex obtained her Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) from the University of Windsor, where she was awarded the Windsor Law Prize in Access to Justice. She practiced in Hamilton before joining Weaver Wealth Advisory Group as an Investment Advisor and Chartered Investment Manager.

Alex is a graduate of Hillfield Strathallan College (’02). She lives in Hamilton with her husband and fellow alumnus Charlie Sherman (’03), their son and their bulldog ‘Levi'.
KATHRYN YATES

Kathryn Yates is a second-generation owner of The Yates Family Office, a privately owned family business. The Yates Family Office is comprised of the Queenston Automotive Group, which operates automotive dealerships, and Landlink, a commercial real estate company. Kathryn is an active director on the Board of The Yates Family Office and Chair of the finance and audit committee.

Kathryn lives in Ancaster with her partner Rob and children, Graham is a recent graduate from HSC and Holly is in Middle School.

She is involved in the community at the local non-profit organization, Neighbour 2 Neighbour. She volunteers in the food bank warehouse and is a reading tutor helping children in Grades 1-4 improve their literacy skills. Kathryn enjoys travelling and participating in outdoor activities with her family such as hiking the Hamilton Conservation trails, skiing and spending time in cottage country.
CONAN ZHANG

Conan Zhang has more than 20 years of experience in various senior management roles with different multi-national companies, across various industry platforms and holds an MBA in Business Management from the University of Strathclyde. His experience extends to fast-moving consumer goods, premium consumer goods, consumer health products, and medical devices, in multi-disciplined management areas, including business unit management and human resources management.

Conan is passionate about collaborating with people and co-creating on value generation. He is now an advisor to the Board of e-Leap Power Canada and a mentor of Duke University, China to facilitate graduates’ career planning and development.

In Conan’s leisure time, he loves to travel, swim, and skate. His only son has been studying at HSC for four years and is in Grade 11.