Heather Maxine Reisman was born on August 28,1948 and is a Canadian businesswoman and philanthropist.
26 Facts About Heather Reisman
2.
Heather Reisman is the co-founder and past Chair of Kobo, and was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2019.
3.
Heather Reisman was born in 1948 to a Jewish family in Montreal, Quebec and educated at McGill University where she received a Bachelor of Social Work degree.
4.
Heather Reisman was first employed in social work as a caseworker.
5.
When Borders was unable to obtain the necessary federal regulatory approval in Canada, Heather Reisman founded a company called Indigo Books and Music.
6.
Heather Reisman raised $25m from a group of investors based on the original concept document for Indigo.
7.
Heather Reisman co-founded Kobo Inc in 2009 and two years later, sold Indigo's majority stake in Kobo to the Japanese company Rakuten for $315 million.
8.
Since 1998, Reisman has chosen more than 262 "Heather's Picks" for Indigo, which are books specifically recommended by her and come with a money-back guarantee.
9.
Heather Reisman began expanding Indigo into the US in 2018, starting with the first store at Short Hills in New Jersey.
10.
Heather Reisman has served as a governor of the Toronto Stock Exchange and of McGill University.
11.
Heather Reisman has been a board member of several companies, including Williams Sonoma and J Crew.
12.
Heather Reisman is currently a Director of Onex Corporation and Mt.
13.
In 2014, Heather Reisman was executive producer of Fed Up along with Katie Couric, who narrated the documentary, and producer Laurie David.
14.
Heather Reisman was executive producer with David on The Social Dilemma in 2020.
15.
Heather Reisman drew praise and criticism in October 2001, after announcing that Indigo would not sell Hitler's Mein Kampf in its bookstores.
16.
On July 5,2010, Heather Reisman launched an online petition to save an Iranian woman, Sakineh Ashtiani, from the death penalty by stoning.
17.
Heather Reisman is a member of the Steering Committee of the Bilderberg Group, and participated in all its conferences between 2002 and 2017.
18.
In 2006, Heather Reisman founded the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation, whose mission is to enrich the libraries in under-resourced public schools.
19.
The Gerald Schwartz and Heather Reisman Foundation donated $5.3 million to St Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia in late 2018 to create scholarships, bursaries and increased recruitment of business students.
20.
In May 2015, Heather Reisman was inducted into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame.
21.
Heather Reisman is the recipient of honorary doctorates from Ryerson University, Wilfrid Laurier University, Mount Allison University, St Francis Xavier University, and University of Manitoba McGill University, Weizmann Institute of Science, and University of Toronto.
22.
Heather Reisman was named Retail Council of Canada's Distinguished Retailer of the Year, and received the International Distinguished Entrepreneur Award from the University of Manitoba, Asper Business School.
23.
Heather Reisman is an Officer of the Order of Canada.
24.
Heather Reisman was included in the Women's Executive Network's Top 100 Most Powerful Women.
25.
Heather Reisman's father, Mark, was a real estate developer; her mother, Rose, owned a clothing store; and her brother, Howard, founded computer company Time Systems.
26.
Heather Reisman was married earlier in her life but divorced her first husband.