Executive Officers & Directors
Executive Officers
H. Michael Schwartz
Mr. Schwartz is President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors and has been an officer and director since our initial formation. Mr. Schwartz is also President of our advisor. He was appointed President of our sponsor, Strategic Capital Holdings LLC, in July 2004 and is primarily responsible for overseeing Strategic Capital’s growing portfolio which, as of July 31, consisted of nearly 1.7 million square feet of commercial assets and 7.1 million square feet of self storage assets with a total value of $784 million. Since Strategic Capital’s inception, Mr. Schwartz has transacted more than 9.9 million square feet of real estate valued at $1 billion in the commercial office, retail and self storage programs. He has more than 22 years of real estate, securities and corporate financial management experience. Prior to joining Strategic Capital, Mr. Schwartz was the Managing Director of Private Structured Offerings for Triple Net Properties, LLC (now an indirect subsidiary of Grubb & Ellis Company). In addition, he served on the board of their affiliated broker-dealer, NNN Capital Corp. (now Grubb & Ellis Securities, Inc.). Mr. Schwartz holds a B.S. in Business Administration with an emphasis in Finance from the University of Southern California.
Paula Mathews
Paula Mathews is our Executive Vice President and Assistant Secretary. Ms. Mathews has been our Executive Vice President since our initial formation in August 2007 and previously served as our Secretary from our initial formation until June 2011. She is also Executive Vice President of our advisor. Ms. Mathews joined Strategic Capital Holdings LLC in 2005 as Vice President – Commercial Operations. She is responsible for directing pre-acquisition due diligence and post-acquisition management and leasing of all commercial assets. Prior to joining Strategic Capital Holdings, Ms. Mathews was a private consultant from 2003 to 2005 providing due diligence services on the acquisition and disposition of assets for real estate investment firms. Prior to that, Ms. Mathews held senior level executive positions with several pension investment advisors, including the following: a real estate company specializing in 1031 transactions from 2002 to 2003 where she was the Director of Operations; KBS Realty Advisors from 1995 to 2001 where she was responsible for the management of $600 million in “value added” commercial assets in seven states; TCW Realty Advisors (now CBRE Investors) from 1985 to 1992 as a Senior Vice President where her focus was retail assets within closed end equity funds; and PMRealty Advisors from 1983 to 1985 in a portfolio management role. She began her real estate career in 1977 with The Irvine Company, the largest land holder in Orange County, California, where she held several positions within the Commercial/Industrial Division structuring industrial build-to-suits, ground leases and land sales. Ms. Mathews holds a B.S. degree from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Michael S. McClure
Mr. McClure is our Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer and has held those positions since January 2008. Mr. McClure is also the Chief Financial Officer of our advisor. Mr. McClure is responsible for overseeing our budgeting, forecasting and financial management policies, along with directing all SEC and regulatory reporting. Prior to joining our advisor, from 2004 to June 2007, Mr. McClure held various positions, including Vice President of Finance, at the North Inland Empire Division of Pulte Homes, Inc. At Pulte Homes, he was responsible for all finance, accounting, human resources and office administration functions. From 2002 to 2004, Mr. McClure was a Director in the Audit Business Advisory Services practice for PricewaterhouseCoopers. From 1985 to 2002, Mr. McClure was with Arthur Andersen LLP, holding various positions including Partner. In his 20 years of experience in the public accounting field, Mr. McClure had extensive experience in the real estate industry working with REITs, homebuilders and land development companies and worked on numerous registration statements and public offerings. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the California Society of Certified Public Accountants. Mr. McClure holds a B.S.B.A. degree from California State University, Fullerton.
James L. Berg
Mr. Berg has been Secretary of Strategic Storage Trust, Inc. since June 2011. Mr. Berg became General Counsel of Strategic Storage Holdings, LLC, the sole member of our advisor and our property manager, in April 2011. Mr. Berg has over 25 years of experience in general business, corporate, securities, venture capital and intellectual property law. From November 2004 to April 2011, he was General Counsel of U.S. Advisor, LLC. From March 2004 until November 2004, Mr. Berg was Senior Vice President and General Counsel of LoanCity.com, a wholesale mortgage lender based in San Jose, California. Prior to that, Mr. Berg was a partner in several laws firms in Palo Alto and Oakland, California. Mr. Berg received a J.D. degree (magna cum laude) from the University of Michigan Law School in 1978 and a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration (with high distinction) from the University of Michigan Business School in 1975. He is a member of the State Bar of California, Business Law Section.
Wayne Johnson
Mr. Johnson is our Senior Vice President – Acquisitions and has held that position since our initial formation. Mr. Johnson is also Senior Vice President – Acquisitions for our advisor. He joined Strategic Capital Holdings LLC in June 2006 to focus on self storage acquisitions. Prior to joining Strategic Capital, from 2002 to 2006, Mr. Johnson developed and managed LaPlaza Self Storage in McAllen, Texas, and three American Home Self Storage facilities in Dallas, Texas and Carrollton, Texas. Mr. Johnson entered the commercial real estate business in 1979 after graduating from Southern Methodist University with a BBA in Finance and Real Estate. He has been involved in all aspects of commercial development and leasing, including office, office warehouse, retail and self storage facilities. Mr. Johnson has developed, managed and operated 14 self storage facilities and other commercial properties over the past 23 years. His experience includes the development and management of various facilities representing in excess of one million square feet. Currently, Mr. Johnson serves on the board and is the past President of the Texas Self Storage Association (TSSA), which is the trade organization for self storage development, ownership and management in Texas which has approximately 3,100 members consisting of storage owners, developers, operators and vendors throughout Texas.
Ken Morrison
Ken Morrison is the President of our property manager, Strategic Storage Property Management, LLC. Mr. Morrison has been President of our property manager since December 2011.
Mr. Morrison is responsible for overseeing our property manager’s self storage property and asset management functions, managing the day-to-day activities at our self storage facilities, maintaining and upgrading our growing self storage portfolio, and participating in developing our long-term strategic plan. Prior to joining our property manager, from 1998 until November 2011, Mr. Morrison held various positions, including Senior Vice President and Division Manager, for Public Storage, Inc. At Public Storage, he was most recently responsible for overseeing 300 self storage facilities located in 11 states, which generated over $335 million in annual revenue, and supervising a staff of 37 district managers. Prior to joining Public Storage, Mr. Morrison spent over 13 years in retail management and distribution. Mr. Morrison has completed coursework at both West Valley College in Saratoga, California and the Center for Creative Leadership in San Diego, California.
Directors
Harold “Skip” Perry
Mr. Perry is one of our independent directors and is the Chairman of our audit committee of our board of directors and a member of the nominating and corporate governance committee and the compensation committee of our board of directors. Mr. Perry has over 35 years of financial accounting, management and consulting experience for domestic and international organizations in the real estate industry. He is currently the Executive Managing Director of Real Globe Advisors, LLC, a commercial real estate advisory firm which he founded. Mr. Perry also held the same position with Real Globe Advisors, LLC from July 2007 to June 2009 as well. From June 2009 to March 2011, he was the Managing Director of Alvarez & Marsal Real Estate Advisory Services. From 1995 to 2007, Mr. Perry was a national partner in Ernst & Young LLP’s Transactional Real Estate Advisory Services Group and held a number of leadership positions within Ernst & Young. While at Ernst & Young, he handled complex acquisition and disposition due diligence matters for private equity funds and corporate clients, complex real estate portfolio optimization studies, and monetization strategies within the capital markets arena, including valuation of self storage facilities. Prior to 1995, Mr. Perry headed the Real Estate Consulting Practice of the Chicago office of Kenneth Leventhal & Co. Prior to his time with Kenneth Leventhal & Co., Mr. Perry was a senior principal with Pannell Kerr Forester, a national accounting and consulting firm specializing in the hospitality industry. Mr. Perry is a CPA and holds an MAI designation with the Appraisal Institute and a CRE designation with the Counselors of Real Estate. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Russian and Economics from the University of Illinois, and has a Masters of Business Administration with a concentration in finance from Loyola University in Illinois.
Timothy S. Morris
Mr. Morris is one of our independent directors and is the Chairman of the nominating and corporate governance committee of our board of directors and a member of our audit committee and the compensation committee of our board of directors. Mr. Morris has more than 28 years of financial and management experience with several international organizations. In May 2008, Mr. Morris founded AMDG Worldwide Ltd., a consultancy business for the philanthropic sector. From June 2007 to April 2008, Mr. Morris was the Chief Financial Officer for Geneva Global, Inc., a philanthropic advisor and broker which invests funds into developing countries. Prior to joining Geneva Global, Inc., from 2002 to 2007, Mr. Morris was the Director of Corporate Services for Care International UK Ltd. where he was responsible for the finance, internal audit, risk management, human resources, legal insurance and information technology functions during the financial turnaround period of that organization. From 2000 to 2002, Mr. Morris was the Controller for Royal Society Mencap, a learning disability charity. From 1996 to 1999, Mr. Morris was the head of global management reporting for Adidas Group AG in Germany and then the International Controller for Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc., a subsidiary of Adidas Group AG. Prior to 1996, Mr. Morris held various management and senior finance roles within organizations such as the International Leisure Group, Halliburton/KBR and the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland. Mr. Morris has his Bachelor of Science in Economics from Bristol University in the United Kingdom, his MBA from the Cranfield School of Management in the United Kingdom, and he is a Chartered Management Accountant (ACMA).