Meet our Board

Ross Cantwell

Ross Cantwell

Director and President

President, HRM Apartments

Ross Cantwell brings over 30 years’ experience as a real estate advisor, developer, and property manager to the Housing Trust.  That experience includes the role that sparked his interest in affordable housing—working as a project manager for a San Francisco-based non-profit housing developer.

In 2004, now living in Nova Scotia, Cantwell co-authored the affordable housing report that the Halifax Regional Municipality used as the basis of its regional plan.  That report identified what became the genesis of the Housing Trust: the idea that a local non-profit housing group could build and manage a portfolio of affordable apartment units.

Five years later, Cantwell helped establish the Housing Trust of Nova Scotia and has been President ever since.

Cantwell is a former certified public accountant with a master’s degree in real estate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Dan Goodspeed

Dan Goodspeed

Director

Founding Partner, Kassner/Goodspeed Architects

In his four decades’ experience as an architect, Dan Goodspeed has designed and overseen projects ranging from high-rise residential projects to single-family homes.

Goodspeed’s firm has received numerous awards and citations for their work in Atlantic Canada, repeatedly demonstrating their ability to develop strong design solutions that integrate green principles.

Like Cantwell, Goodspeed has also helped shape HRM’s policy landscape by contributing to bylaw design in the municipality.

Goodspeed has represented his profession on many committees, including the Halifax Heritage Advisory Committee, and has been active with Dalhousie Architecture and Planning.

Isaac Hashem

Isaac Hashem

Director and Treasurer

Portfolio Manager, Infrastructure at Nova Scotia Pension Services Corporation

As treasurer, Isaac Hashem uses his 35 years’ experience as a chartered professional accountant to ensure the Housing Trust is financially stable and flexible today and in the future.

His background includes a wide variety of industries, ranging from embedded systems and consumer packaged goods to technology and healthcare.  Along with experience in commercial real estate, he was also the previous vice-president and chief financial officer at Southwest Properties Ltd, one of Halifax’s premier owners/operators of multifamily real estate.

Audrey Moritz

Audrey Moritz

Director

Housing finance professional

As a former vice-president, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Audrey Moritz’s work focused on housing finance, market research and analytics, sustainability, social inclusion and diversity.  Her experiences include leading national teams, talent management, policy and program development, intergovernmental relations, program operations and delivery.

Moritz brings a breadth of experience working with housing providers across the housing continuum, from private developers to cooperative and non-profit housing providers in Canada and is pleased to now contribute directly to the Housing Trust.

Louie Lawen

Louie Lawen

Director

President & CEO Dexel Development, co-found Paramount Management

Louie Lawen has 25 years’ experience developing, designing, constructing, and managing some of Halifax’s signature buildings.  His work, which focuses on urban multi-unit mixed-use projects, has been recognized with many awards, including the multi-unit development of the year award from the Investment Property Owners Association of Nova Scotia.

A committed community volunteer, Lawen is an active member of Saint Antonios Orthodox Church and has served on several boards, including the Young Presidents’ Organization.

Lawen believes that good planning and design are pillars of a healthy society, which is why he founded the George Lawen / Dexel Scholarship to provide an award to a student entering the final year of the Master of Planning program who intends to pursue a career in the Maritimes.

Brian Tabor

Brian Tabor

Director and Secretary

Partner, Stewart McKelvey

As a commercial lawyer with extensive experience in real estate, Brian Tabor expertly navigates increasingly complex acquisitions and financing arrangements.  He has been included in the Real Estate Law’s Best Lawyers Listing every year since 2008 and the Lexpert® rating: Property Development each year since 2010.

Glenn Umlah

Glenn Umlah

Director

Senior vice-president, CBRE

Glenn Umlah uses his 30 years of financial experience to arrange large loan financing for real estate owners and developers on new and existing multi-residential land development, commercial, and industrial properties.

Before joining CBRE, after several years in senior positions with many nationally focused lenders, Umlah formed Equity Mortgage Corporation Limited, a commercial mortgage brokerage firm operating throughout Atlantic Canada between 1990 and 2017.

Umlah is a regular panellist for the debt session at the Atlantic Real Estate Forum and is well known across the Canadian capital markets.

 

Advisors to the Board

Matthew Newell

Partner, Stewart McKelvey

Matt Pendlebury

Vice President, CBRE

Doug Raphael

President & Cofounder. Raphael & Steinberg Construction Inc.

Lara Ryan

President, Lara Ryan Consulting

Austin McLennan, Nominations Committee

Senior Consultant, Meridia Recruitment Solutions

Jody Sampson, Nominations Committee

Vice President, Talent & Customer Experience, Southwest Properties Ltd. 

 

Become a Member

The HTNS is seeking new members to join our organization. For more information, click on the links below. We are accepting applications until January 31, 2024.