At Caravel Law, our team of lawyers go beyond delivering exceptional legal services—they’re making a meaningful impact in their communities. As the holidays approach, there is no better time to spotlight some amazing organizations and reflect upon the work our team has engaged in over the year! We connected with some of our team members to showcase the incredible work they’re doing in boardrooms beyond the Caravel ecosystem.
Andrea Freund: Senior Corporate/Commercial Lawyer Practicing in Association with Caravel Law since January 2024.
Andrea is an accomplished lawyer and a trusted strategic advisor. She possesses a proficiency in negotiating complex commercial deals; this coupled with her strong business acumen and balanced approach to risk management has made Andrea a treasured asset to her clients. While her clients come from diverse industry backgrounds, the healthcare industry has been particularly relevant to Andrea’s personal and professional endeavours. She currently provides her services to a major healthcare company as a fractional General Counsel and has previously served as VP of Law for another global healthcare company.
In addition to her legal roles within the healthcare industry, Andrea’s passions led her to the Lakeridge Healthcare Foundation where she recently joined the Board of Directors and sits on the Development Committee.
The Foundation supports the needs of Lakeridge’s Oshawa and Whitby Hospital sites and is committed to partnering with the community and Lakeridge Health to support exceptional health care closer to home for individuals in the community.
In her role, Andrea has had the opportunity to participate in board and committee meetings as well as various information sessions and workshops geared toward developing focused, short- and long-term plans to achieve success in the Foundation’s ongoing initiatives.
Andrea joined the Foundation’s Board in June 2024 and has already witnessed the remarkable devotion and excitement of Board Members in striving to make a difference in healthcare. Recent accomplishments of the Foundation include the Our Cancer Campaign which raised over $21 million for cancer care. The funds were used to invest in multiple areas of cancer care including diagnostics and treatment, and included two incredible acquisitions and advancements: a PET-CT scanner and the establishment of a Centre of Excellence in Robotic Surgery.
Andrea continues to be excited by the future of Lakeridge Health and being a part of a Foundation that can facilitate groundbreaking innovations.
David Masse: Senior Corporate/Commercial Lawyer Practicing in Association with Caravel Law since 2017.
David is a seasoned corporate/commercial lawyer licensed to practice in Quebec and Ontario. He has deep expertise acquired over time in his practice advising clients with respect to commercial transactions involving ongoing business operations, and ranging from services agreements, contracts for the acquisition and sale of assets, merger, acquisition, divestiture, and re-organization transactions, to executive compensation matters, and other commercial transactions, all of which are vital keys to managing the successful growth of businesses, while identifying, managing, and mitigating the associated risks. David also works closely with senior client contacts to ensure they are well-positioned to comply with potentially complex day-to-day corporate and securities law matters. He also provides risk management advice as well as corporate governance guidance related to best practices.
Alongside his endeavours with Caravel, David has served as a director and officer (from VP to Chair) on the Board of Directors of a national professional organization for governance professionals, and he is currently on a working group at Concordia University raising funds for a Diplomacy Accelerator that will lead to a long term advisory board role once the accelerator is launched (likely in mid-2025). Oh, and he is a former Vespa fanatic!
David also serves as a member, director, and officer of the Wilson Foundation, a private charitable foundation based in Oakville, Ontario. The Wilson Foundation’s initiative focuses on supporting charitable projects which strive to strengthen and enrich Canada in the areas of leadership in public and private service, as well as Canadian history and heritage projects. The Foundation’s mission underlines the importance of making an impact. They look to identify charitable pursuits where a gift can truly make a difference and, where appropriate, attract additional (matching) support.
Randy Witten: Senior Corporate/Commercial Lawyer Practicing in Association with Caravel Law since 2019.
Randy maintains a versatile practice, but focuses primarily on general contract matters, including commercial property leasing and technology. He is a trusted advisor to senior management teams, who applies a balanced legal and business approach to his advice. Randy’s wide breadth of expertise has proved to be a critical resource to his clients. Randy has also been a trusted member of the board of directors of Nova Home Care since 2017.
Nova provides at-home palliative care and caregiver support services in Montreal, and has been operating for 125 years. Nova’s mission is to offer compassionate, high-quality, personalized, in-home care to people who are ill or nearing the end of life, as well as support to their caregivers.
Part of what led Randy to Nova was his recognition of how invaluable at-home palliative care was to his father and his primary caregiver, Randy’s mother. In the years that Randy has spent with Nova, he has served as the board’s secretary and vice-president, and is currently in his fourth year as chair of the board.
As an Ontario-qualified lawyer, Randy cannot provide Quebec-specific legal advice to Nova. But he has been able to use his legal skills and knowledge, along with his well-rounded business insights, to provide general guidance to Nova.
Wanda Shreve: Senior Employment and Labour Lawyer Practicing in Association with Caravel Law since June 2024.
Wanda has worked as internal and external counsel with federally and provincially regulated employers and employees in the public and private sectors. She advises on various workplace-related matters in unionized and non-unionized contexts, conducts workplace investigations and mediation, and regularly coaches leaders on promoting productive and fair workplace cultures.
Wanda’s guidance and expertise extends beyond Caravel and her Employment and Labour practice, as she also provides strategic advice to the Young Caregivers Association. Wanda sits on their board as Vice-Chair and the Chair of the Governance Committee.
Wanda’s journey with caregiving was prompted by her firsthand experience acting as her mother’s primary caregiver while in university. However, when Wanda’s son was born, she realized the impact of caregiving on children.
The Young Caregivers Association (YCA) is the leader in serving children and youth who provide care to loved ones. There are 1.25 million young carers in Canada, and on average, these youth provide between 14 and 27 hours of care per week, the equivalent of a part-time job. These responsibilities are likely to impact their academic performance, social life and ability to gain experiences that are typically valued on resumes. As an example, it was difficult for Wanda’s son to participate in organized activities like team sports because of difficulties in finding care and the unpredictability of responding to her mother’s needs. However, young carers develop other skills and aptitudes that are invaluable.
Wanda currently leverages her legal experience to support the organization and ensure they maintain strong governance practices and operate with integrity, transparency and accountability to sustain YCA’s mission of advocacy, support and empowerment.
To learn more about Caravel Law’s amazing team of over 100 lawyers, connect with us today!