Michael Brooks is a lawyer and the CEO of the Real Property Association of Canada (“REALPAC”), a national trade association of Canada’s largest institutional, public and private real estate investment and development companies (1997-present). This is a leadership role for the Canadian institutional real estate industry. This manifests itself in many areas, including tax policy, land use planning, economics, international tax and accounting, decarbonization and sustainability, as well as global representation in both public and investment markets. Michael is former partner (1990-2015) and real estate practice group leader (2012-2014) at Aird & Berlis LLP. Michael is also a former Board member of the Toronto Foundation (2013 - 2023), GRESB BV (2018-2020) and a current Board member of the World Green Building Council (2021-2023). Michael is a former Associate Professor, Adjunct Professor and Executive in Residence at the Ted Rogers School of Management at Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, Canada, where he taught full and part time for over a decade. Michael has led the commercial real estate industry in market and regulatory transformation, with effective representation for the REIT vehicle, on cross-border and domestic tax issues, affordable housing policy, capital market, sustainability and decarbonization, DEI initiatives, and regulatory issues, both nationally and internationally.