Gillian Lansdowne

Gillian Lansdowne is a Partner with Odgers Berndtson Executive Search. She is the Practice Leader for the Financial Services and Real Estate sectors, and a member of the Professional Services Practice, and the Board & CEO Practice.

Prior to joining the Odgers Berndtson team, Gillian was the Founder and Managing Partner of Stanton Chase International’s Toronto office.

Gillian brings extensive experience in Financial Services, Real Estate, and Professional Services. Her Financial Services search experience includes retail and commercial banking, corporate and investment banking, capital markets, investment management, and insurance. Real Estate search experience includes acquisitions and dispositions, asset management, development, property management, leasing, and real estate advisory. Gillian’s Professional Services search experience includes senior level assignments within business consulting, financial advisory services, taxation and assurance. Within these sectors, Gillian has also conducted many Corporate Services assignments such as corporate development, taxation, treasury, financial planning, risk management, accounting and control, internal audit, and human resources.

International experience includes living and working in the UK and South Africa, and leading cross-border recruitment teams on many global assignments.

Gillian leads the firm’s diversity initiative. She is the author of several articles and white papers - “Corporate board diversity - A global perspective”, “IF diversity is good for business; why is no progress being made?” and “Understanding the demographic shifts; its impact on attracting and retaining the multi-generational work force”. Gillian has been a guest speaker at REALpac, and Women & Leadership summit.

Gillian is a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD), the Entrepreneur Organization (EO), Women in Capital Markets (WCM), Women’s Executive Network (WXN), and Human Resources Professionals Association (HRPA). She served on the Board of the Paul Penna Downtown Jewish Day School as Chair of the Board Development & Governance Committee, and is active in other charitable activities.