Reena Sagoo named the 2012 winner of the Gil Bennett Award

TORONTO, March 6, 2012 /CNW/ - Reena Sagoo, Chief Financial Officer, Borealis Infrastructure, is the 2012 recipient of the Gil Bennett Gold Standard Award, presented by The Directors College to a Chartered Director who demonstrates dedication to raising the bar for professional standards in corporate governance.

The award was presented Monday at the graduation ceremony for newly certified Chartered Directors (C. Dir.) of The Directors College. The Hon. John Manley, President and CEO of the Canadian Council for Chief Executives and a Chartered Director himself, was the featured speaker at the graduation.

Founded in 2003, The Directors College is a joint venture of McMaster University and The Conference Board of Canada, and is Canada's first university-accredited corporate director development program.

Borealis is the infrastructure investment arm of OMERS, the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System. Ms. Sagoo has worked at Borealis since 2003. Before that, she worked in both the assurance and advisory practices at KPMG.

"In her role as CFO, Reena exemplifies Borealis Infrastructure's commitment to practicing strong corporate governance to encourage accountability, transparency and collaboration, and to promote good decision-making that supports our businesses.  Reena is a forward thinking role model who inspires and empowers others with her professional integrity, openness, strong work ethic and desire to help others develop their talents. She is an effective leader who recognizes the value each team member brings to the table," said Michael Rolland, the President and CEO of Borealis.

"To win the Gil Bennett Award, our Chartered Directors have to demonstrate that they possess more than just the technical and legal knowledge to be a director in the 21st century. They also need to show how to achieve excellence in the boardroom through a great boardroom culture," said Chris Bart, Principal & Lead Professor, The Directors College.

Named in honour of former Canadian Tire chairman Gil Bennett, the Gold Standard Award has been presented annually since 2006 to a graduate of The Directors College. Previous winners include Don McCreesh, Michael MacBean, Andy Poprawa, John Ryan, and Jim Adamson.

The criteria for the award include scoring in the top 10 per cent on the final exam for Chartered Directors; providing a positive contribution to the class discussion; and displaying constructive behavior as a director during the unique Board Simulation exercise of the Chartered Director program.

For more information on The Directors College and its Chartered Director Program, visit: www.thedirectorscollege.com.

Brent Dowdall, Media Relations, Tel.: [phone] ext. 448
E-mail: [email protected]