DH Corporation announced that Ellen Costello, former Chief Executive Officer of BMO Financial Corp. and U.S. Country Head, and Cara Heiden, former Co-President of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, have been appointed to its Board of Directors.
"We are very pleased to welcome Ellen and Cara to our Board of Directors," said Paul D. Damp, Chairman of D+H. "Their deep industry experience, broad range of expertise and first-hand knowledge of the U.S. regulatory environment will translate into valuable contributions to our Board as D+H continues to grow as a financial technology company."
Ms. Costello has more than 30 years of banking experience. She began her career in community banking, and joined BMO Financial Group in 1983. While at Bank of Montreal, she held a wide range of senior leadership positions across corporate banking and capital markets in the U.S., Canada and Asia. She has extensive experience in managing complex, client-focused businesses and leading change initiatives. In her last executive role, Ms. Costello served as Chief Executive Officer of BMO Financial Corp. and U.S. Country Head at Bank of Montreal, where she was responsible for providing governance and regulatory oversight for all of BMO's U.S. businesses. Prior to that she was Chief Executive Officer of BMO Harris Bank for five years where she was responsible for BMO's U.S. personal and commercial business. Ms. Costello was named one of "The 25 Most Powerful Women in Banking" by American Banker five years running.
Ms. Heiden began her career with Wells Fargo & Company (formerly Norwest Corporation) in 1981. During her tenure at Wells Fargo, she held a wide range of senior leadership positions in personal and commercial banking, including Chief Financial Officer of Norwest Bank Iowa and Norwest Mortgage, respectively. In her last executive role, Ms. Heiden served as Co-President of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, where she was jointly responsible for the overall business strategy of the mortgage division. During that time, she became a national advocate for the fair treatment of consumers and worked to establish a set of uniform guidelines for the mortgage industry. She has also testified before the U.S. House of Representatives and addressed several other forums on the topic of responsible lending and servicing. Ms. Heiden is a multi-year honoree of "The 25 Most Powerful Women in Banking" by American Banker, ranking seventh in 2010.
"Now that D+H's business is evenly distributed between Canada and the United States, we have a rich complement of Directors whose combined experience in financial services in these markets will serve as an asset as we continue to broaden our footprint in both geographies," added Gerrard Schmid, Chief Executive Officer of D+H.
The additions of Ms. Costello and Ms. Heiden bring the total number of Directors to nine, with women now representing 50 per cent of D+H's independent Directors. "We are proud to be at the forefront of achieving gender parity at the board level in Canada, continuing our tradition of leadership in corporate governance," concluded Mr. Damp.
