Women in Governance’s activities are driven and supported by a dynamic and committed team with the help of its loyal, devoted partners.
Our committees work throughout the year on the different aspects of our mission.
Permanent Team
Women in Governance
Women in Governance’s activities are driven and supported by a dynamic and committed team composed of women and men of diverse ages and ethnic origins, perfectly reflecting the organization’s core values. As all studies have shown, a diversity of perspectives results in better financial performance, more innovation, and a more robust decision-making process throughout the organization. By applying this principle in which we sincerely believe, we ensure Women in Governance’s continued success.
Caroline Codsi
President & Founder
Nicole Piggott
Vice-President, Global Operations
Ady Stefan Calin
Manager, Communications and Marketing
Sergina Guéry
Director, Events
Ilham Heouali
Executive Assistant
Cédric Meyer
Manager, Finance & Treasury
Rafael Moya
Program Manager, Parity Certification
Nathalie Perreault
Account Director, Parity Certification
Salomé Sandler Tally
Coordinator, Parity Certification
Ontario Promotion
Committee
The Ontario Promotion Committee is involved in planning and promoting Women in Governance’s annual recognition Gala in Toronto, thus offering our guests a rewarding and meaningful experience throughout their journey. This committee is also responsible for developing partnerships with organizations that value the advancement of women, and promoting the Parity Certification in the province of Ontario.
Sunita Mahant
CO-PRESIDENTSenior Director, Legal Affairs, Ivanhoé Cambridge
«If we continue to do the same thing, we will get the same results. The time is now for men and women to collectively change the way we do things – it is the only way to achieve better results for our society, the economy and our country as a whole.»
Tim Downing
CO-PRESIDENTDirector, Federal and Provincial Affairs, CPP Investment Board (CPP Investments)
Ruby Paola
Vice President, Leasing, Mills and Outlet, Ivanhoé Cambridge
Andrew Lindsay
Brand Architect and Digital Strategist, Lindsay Strategic
«I am pleased to help build a community and a movement that highlights gender equality and parity as ‘a spectrum; not as two opposing sets of ideals (Emma Watson). Women’s rights are Human rights.»
Sophie Van Houtte
Head, TSX Company Services,
TMX Group
Karen Adams
Chief Commercial and Health Innovation Officer, Snapclarity
Gail Strachan
Strategy & Consulting, Transformation Leader Accenture
Eve Remillard-Larose
Co-Managing Partner, Toronto,
Sid Lee
Mentoring and Governance Training
Committee
Members of the Mentoring and Governance Training Committee draw on best practices in mentoring and apply them to our robust program designed for women in leadership positions looking to move up to senior management. These experienced and passionate professionals support the advancement of women through their concrete actions and their strong presence alongside other mentors and the mentees.
Laure Cohen van Delft CO-PRESIDENT
Entrepreneur and Management Coach, SmartCoaching
«Opening as many doors as possible to women in decision-making roles in order to create a richer, more diverse, and more humane working environment together.»
Guylaine Voghel
CO-PRESIDENTDirector Business development, Logic-6
«To allow women wishing to accesss senior positions of responsability to have the audacity to follow their dream and to achieve their ambitious goals.»
Frank Bernard
Business Development Executive
Carolina Lerena
Senior Specialist, Human Resources, Bell
«Living out my passion through others’ development. Fostering their well-being by guiding them in the emergence and progression of their talents.»
Jonathan Plourde
Managing Partner, Alexander Hughes
«I chose to join the mentorship program strategic committee in order to share my passion for mentorship and my desire to influence the next generation of leaders. It’s not always easy to “infiltrate” the closed circles of Boards, so a program like this makes it possible to acquire the skills needed to get closer!»
Michael Rubenstein
Chief Executive Officer, Biomod inc.
«Diversity and gender parity is not only the right thing to do, it is the thing to do if you’re interested in driving better business performance. When hiring for my teams, I have always said that I would hire the best man for the job… which is often a woman!»
Annie Remillard
COO, The Humans Lab Inc.
«Be the change you wish to see in the world. – Gandhi»
Ruby Merymo
HR Manager, Gorilla Group
Communications and Media Relations
Committee
The Communications and Media Relations Committee is composed of experienced communicators who are well versed in media relations and use their creativity to make all our communications as interesting, catchy and informative as possible.
Annick Robinson
CO-PRESIDENTHead of Communications and Public Relations, Bombardier Transportation
«We know that businesses who achieve gender equity perform better; therefore our work in support of parity is not only helping women thrive, but helping Canadian businesses do so as well.»
Delphine Poux
CO-PRESIDENTVice-President, Strategy and Business Development, Mishmash Media
«I believe that a truly inclusive culture in the workplace is essential for women and men to be successful and ultimately be fulfilled. Women in Governance’s approach captures that on all aspects and I am proud to contribute to this powerful movement.»
Carolyne Van Der Meer
Director, Corporate Communications, CASACOM
«Women in Governance needs the support and expertise of professionals who can help grow its reach. My belief in leadership development for women has led to my offering my personal and professional support to this inspiring organization.»
Peggy Tabet
Vice-President, Regulatory Affairs, Broadcasting, Québecor
«Women in Governance represents advancement, recognition and collaboration. Companies that have adopted these virtues are leaders in their field and will remain so for a very long time.»
Evelyne Côté
Creative Director, Associate, Lacosta Communication
«Women in Governance, for me, proudly symbolizes the new found freedom acquired by our sisters who have advocated before us for this identity quest which is women rights in our societies.
It wishes to demonstrate, not only the progress made, but also the continuation of these joint actions for parity within companies and organizations. It is precisely to help advance this cause that I have bound myself to its deep values.»
Anaïs Tamboise
Alternate translator at the Security Directorate, SNCF
«I always wanted to get involved in a cause that was dear to me such as gender equality, and particularly in the professional world. Women in Governance thus allows me to combine this passion and the translation one.»
Laurie Defoy
Multilingual Translation and Communications Professional TransPerfect, Toronto
«Balance within a team is vital at all levels. Women in Parity’s mission is highly positive and is pioneering in the field.»
Marie-Christine Masseteau
Founder, Mille et une pages
«Parity. Parity as a whole. A value transmitted in my home, in my child’s education. Now on a professional level, nothing is more natural than for me to be involved and to concretely support Women in Governance’s remarkable actions.»
Joanne Pitkin
Director, Corporate and Public Affairs, Argyle Public Relationships
«Inclusive leadership helps organizations to become more collaborative, dynamic and competitive in today’s social and economic environment. Elevating women to corporate leadership and board positions is essential to achieving success.»
Erwan Picard
Consultant, Brand, Marketing and Business Development
«I am proud to contribute to the mission of Women in Governance. Way beyond better economic performance, equity and diversity are essential morally and socially. We can and must do better.»
Ladanna James
Global Brand, Marketing and Communications Executive
Marc Desmarais
Vice-president, Government Relations, NATIONAL
Veronica Redgrave
President, Communications Redgrave de Miguel Inc.
«During the past 35 years, I have worked with many talented women on my firm’s exciting branding campaigns. When I met Caroline Codsi to write a profile on her – my other ‘hat’ is that of journalist – I was greatly impressed by her mission. Supporting Caroline and her team will be a pleasure.»
Parity Certification
Committee
The Parity Certification Committee launched with great success the Parity Certification in Quebec in 2017, and it is now available nationwide. The focus of this innovative standard is not solely on parity in decision-making bodies, but it also takes into consideration succession planning.
Louise Champoux-Paillé
CO-PRESIDENTCertified company administrator
«My commitment to Women in Governance began with my participation in the Certification Committee when it was in its early days. I later shared my diverse research on gender parity and collaborated with the Government Relations and Mentoring Committees. This commitment allows me to meet women looking to break the glass ceiling while maintaining a balance between work, family, and personal life, which is so essential to living a good life.»
Louise Dufour
CO-PRESIDENTConsultant, Strategic HR Management
Robert Bonneau
Senior Partner and co-founder, Décarie Executive Search
«However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.» – Winston Churchill
Priscila Gomes
Innovation Lead, RT 4.0 Pioneering Lab, Rio Tinto
«My grandmother taught me at a very young age the importance of getting involved and being part of change. I am part of Women in Governance because I feel it is a small gesture to thank all of the people that have empowered me to follow my dreams and for my role-models that have been courageous to question the status quo and paved the path before me. Globally we still have a long way to go to achieve gender parity and I want to be part of that change.»
Rosemarie N. Pedro
Managing Director, StrategiqHR Inc.
«My commitment to gender parity is rooted in eliminating the biases and obstacles that still exist in the business world today, and empower women to live their potential. The women whom I admire for their strength, resilience and elegance got there because they worked hard, have edge, and persevered many times over despite the challenges! These women are my role-models and the Women in Governance movement epitomizes the values that drive performance and success.»
Joanie Coutu-Bellerose
Manager, Total Rewards and Performance Richter
«It is by actively contributing and persevering that we will make a real difference.»
Giovanna Buscemi
Vice President People and Culture, Fuel Transport Inc.
In order for women to achieve corporate leadership and Board positions, we must first create the conditions for success. I’m proud to contribute to this important mission in association with Women in Governance.
Mariama S. Keita
Chief of staff to the CEO, Rio Tinto Aluminium
Suzanne Daneau
Vice President Human Resources, EXFO
Sophie Méthot
HR Business Partner, Remuneration and Benefits Expert, Omnitrans
Carine Lacroix
Founder and CEO, Reneshone Corp.
Jean-Francois Thibault
Associate, CGC Consultants
Membership
Committee
The Membership Committee is dedicated to growing the influence of our organization, the development of its membership, as well as strengthening and optimizing the links with our members.
Stephanie Doyle CO-PRESIDENT
President, S. Doyle Inc. & Co-Founder, Play Snow
« All united, we will rise! »
Marie Claire Uwanyirigira CO-PRESIDENT
Entrepreneur & Founder, E-MC Property Management inc.
« Let’s work to leave our children a world where we cannot count the number of women who are successful. »
Zoë Alexandra Fortin
Lawyer, Legal Logik inc.
« New volunteer on the memberhsip committee for the creation and development of a new and more accessible membership. »
Guerlaine Guerrier
Director/Co-Founder, LaSalle des petits daycare
« Being able to join a team that gives an important voice to women is magical! »
Zahida Intwala
HR Technology Project Manager
« Organizations need both women and men working together to achieve better results to the economic benefits of all parties involved by systematically addressing the issues that are hurting the advancement of women in their organization. Time alone will not solve the problems; we need to act by breaking the inertia and accelerating the progress. »
Mabel González
Head of Canadian market,Vigeo Eiris & Founder, Mujeres con todas las letras
« As leaders in the public and private sectors work to shape a better future, Women in Governance works to make sure that we, women, have our say and play our part in the effort. I’m thrilled to help the organisation achieve this goal, and I believe this will allow to foster the transformation to a more sustainable, fair and solidary society. »
Stéphane Dumont
Co-Founder & Chief Story-Doing Officer, Impak Finance Inc.
« A strong succession in governance inevitably involves diversity and inclusion, where only collective intelligence will propel social innovation. »
Special counselors
André Dorais
Lawyer, André R. Dorais Avocats
« The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.»
Karina Kesserwan
Lawyer, Aboriginal Law specialist, Kesserwan Arteau
Michèle Meier
Vice President, Communications, Corporate Marketing and CSR, and International Affairs, Ivanhoé Cambridge
«Women in Governance’s work is important, because teams will enhance their performance through diversity and a multidisciplinary approach.»
Élodie Meyer
Lawyer, André Dorais et associés
«Accessing senior management and board positions is a concern that young women must also share in order to prepare for their future but also to participate in the social movement that will contribute to achieving gender equality in all spheres of society.»
