Heather Reisman

Early life

Reisman was born in 1948 in Montreal, Quebec and educated at McGill University. Her father, Mark, was a real estate developer; her mother, Rose, owned a clothing store; and her brother, Howard, founded computer company Time Systems. She is the niece of Simon Reisman, who headed the Canadian delegation that negotiated the 1988 Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement.

Career

After Reisman’s first marriage ended in divorce, she switched careers joining her brother Howard’s company. In 1979, she co-founded Paradigm Consulting, a strategic change consultancy, serving as its managing director for seventeen years.

In 1995, she was invited to become a "front-line investor" for Borders, the American book retailer, which was planning to enter the Canadian market. When Borders was unable to obtain the necessary federal regulatory approval in Canada, Reisman entered big box book retailing on her own founding a company called Indigo Books and Music. She successfully raised $25mm from a group of investors based on the original concept document for Indigo. In 2001, Indigo Books and Music acquired its main rival Chapters to form the largest book retailer in Canada obtaining a clear leadership position in the book retailing industry. Since 1998, Reisman has also chosen more than 262 "Heather's Picks" for Indigo, which are books specifically recommended by her and come with a money-back guarantee

In 2009, she Co-Founded Kobo to participate in the exploding ereading market. In 2012 Kobo was successfully sold to Rakuten and it remains a leader in the field.

During her career Reisman has also served as a governor of the Toronto Stock Exchange and of McGill University. as well as Board member of several companies including Williams Sonoma and J. Crew. She is currently a Director of Onex Corporation; and Mt. Sinai Hospital.

Advocacy and politics

In August 2006, as a result of differing reactions by the two main Canadian political parties to the 2006 Lebanon War, Reisman withdrew her longtime support for the Liberal Party of Canada and chose to support the Conservative Party of Canada under Stephen Harper.

Mein Kampf

She drew praise and criticism in October 2001, after announcing that Indigo would not sell Hitler's Mein Kampf in its bookstores.

Death penalty for Sakineh Ashtiani

On July 5, 2010, Reisman launched an online petition to save an Iranian woman, Sakineh Ashtiani, from the death penalty by stoning. Her initiative found support around the world. Sakineh was not subjected to the stoning.

Bilderberg Group

Reisman is a member of the Steering Committee of the Bilderberg Group, and participated in all its conferences since 2002.

Charitable giving

In 2006, she founded the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation whose mission is to enrich the libraries in under-resourced public schools. Since its inception the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation has provided over $20 mm to high needs schools in Canada.

In 1996 Reisman endowed the Heather Reisman Chair in Perinatal Research at the University of Toronto. She and her husband established the Gerald Schwartz/Heather Reisman Centre for Jewish Learning at Holy Blossom Temple. They have also given major gifts to Mt. Sinai Hospital in Toronto, the Legacy Fund of the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, and to Harvard University.

In 2005, she and her husband, Gerald Schwartz founded the HESEG Foundation, which provides scholarships to "lone soldiers" - individuals who have served their time in the military and who have no family support to enable their education.

Awards

In May 2015, Ms. Reisman was inducted into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame.

Ms. Reisman is the recipient of: Honorary Doctorates from Ryerson University (2006), Wilfrid Laurier University (2009), Mount Allison University (2010), St. Francis Xavier University (2013), and University of Manitoba (2016); Retail Council of Canada's Distinguished Retailer of the Year (2011); and the International Distinguished Entrepreneur Award (2003), from the University of Manitoba, Asper Business School.

She is a Member of the Order of Canada.

In 2009, the Financial Times listed Reisman as one of the top 50 businesswomen in the world.

Personal life

In 1982, Reisman married Gerald Schwartz, the founder and CEO of Onex Corporation. Reisman has two children from her first marriage and two step-children from her marriage to Gerry Schwartz. The couple are members of the Reform synagogue, Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto.