Board
Jason Wubs, Vice Chair
Interested in the family insurance brokerage business from a young age, Jason Wubs has dedicated his career to Westland Insurance, where he started as a broker nearly 30 years ago.
In his 15-year tenure as CEO, Mr. Wubs has led Westland to become the largest independent Canadian-owned brokerage in the country. Through the company’s rapid growth, Mr. Wubs continues to honour the values on which his family first established the business in the early 80s: focusing first and foremost on employees, clients, and the communities we all call home.
Mr. Wubs lives in the Surrey area with his wife, Deb, and their seven children. Passionate about sports, Mr. Wubs coaches youth basketball and has coached with the YMCA Steve Nash league for nearly a decade.
Mr. Wubs earned his Bachelor of Administration from the University of British Columbia and holds an MBA from Simon Fraser University.
Brenda Eaton, Chair
Brenda Eaton is an experienced corporate director, serving on the Boards of a number of private, public, not-for-profit and crown corporation Boards.
In addition to being Chair of Westland Insurance, Ms. Eaton is Chair of BC Ferries and the Max Bell Foundation, and sits on the Boards of LifeLabs and RBC’s Global Asset Management Independent Review Committee. She is also a Trustee for the Killam Trusts. In prior years, she chaired Chile’s longest electricity transmission company, Transelec, and served on the Board of BC Hydro.
Before becoming a corporate director, Ms. Eaton was a senior leader in the BC Government, and served as Deputy Minister to the Premier and Deputy Minister of Finance and Treasury Board; Energy and Mines; and Social Services. For several years she was Chief Financial Officer and Head of Operations for a regional Health Authority.
Certified by the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD.D), Ms. Eaton has been recognized with several awards, including the Queen’s Jubilee Award for community contribution, University of Victoria’s Distinguished Alumni and WXN’s 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada.
Ms. Eaton is based in Victoria and is passionate in her support for non-profit organizations, currently serving as a juror for the Donner prize and on the Boards of the Canadian Red Cross, the Vancouver Foundation and the BC Alzheimer’s Society.
Ms. Eaton holds a master’s degree in Economics.
Michael Carruthers, Director
Mike Carruthers, Senior Managing Director of Blackstone Credit, brings a wealth of expertise in sourcing, diligence, structuring and managing investments to the Westland board.
Now based in Toronto, Mr. Carruthers leads Blackstone’s efforts in Canada and the US Midwest. Mr. Carruthers worked in the London office of Blackstone Credit, then known as GSO Capital Partners, from 2006 – 2019, and previously worked in investment banking at Credit Suisse.
Mr. Carruthers is a member of the Toronto Public Library’s Literary Circle Committee and a Sick Kids Innovator.
Mr. Carruthers graduated with Honors in Business Administration from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario.
Alice Schroeder, Director
Alice Schroeder is an accomplished director who lends her expertise in audit, governance, and compliance to several boards in addition to Westland Insurance, including Natus Medical Incorporated, RefleXion Medical and Prudential plc.
A former CPA, portfolio director, and Wall Street analyst and banker, Ms. Schroeder served as CEO and chair of WebTuner Corp., a Seattle-area hardware and software designer, from 2014-2017, and was previously a Managing Director and Senior Advisor in the equities division of Morgan Stanley, leading the global insurance research team.
Ranked #1 on the Institutional Investor All-America Research Team, Ms. Schroeder appeared on the team for eight years, and was named one of WomenInc’s “Most Influential Directors” in 2019 and one of Directors & Boards magazine’s “Directors to Watch” in 2018.
Ms. Schroeder holds an MBA and BBA from the Red McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin and was honoured as an exemplary alumna for the centennial of its post-graduate education program.
Don Morrison, Director
Don Morrison is a seasoned corporate director with decades of experience in private equity and board governance. In addition to Westland, Mr. Morrison serves on the boards of Canadian Business Growth Fund, Mount Pleasant Group and BCR Environmental Corp and the Advisory Board of CBRE Caledon Capital Management.
From 2003 to 2015, Mr. Morrison served as Senior Managing Director and, eventually, Executive Vice President, at OMERS Private Equity through a period of tremendous growth. Previously, Mr. Morrison worked at Working Ventures Canadian Fund Inc. and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Mr. Morrison is based in Ontario and is passionate about building strong teams and positive corporate cultures.
Mr. Morrison earned his B.Comm from the University of Toronto is a Fellow of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario (FCPA) and a graduate of the Rotman ICD Directors program and has his ICD.D designation.
Matthew Wubs, Director
In his 24 years at Westland Insurance, his family’s brokerage business, Matthew Wubs has served as Controller, Chief Financial Officer and Co-CEO, where he oversaw insurance, reinsurance, risk management, finance, and mergers and acquisitions. Now, Mr. Wubs applies his decades of organizational knowledge and deep passion for the business as a director on the board. Mr. Wubs also serves as Chairman of Ero Copper’s Audit Committee.
Before joining Westland, Mr. Wubs held a consulting role in Management Information Systems at International Forest Products Ltd. and obtained his Chartered Professional Accountant designation while working at Deloitte LLP.
Mr. Wubs is a CPA and holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of British Columbia.
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