Board of Directors of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal
Chair of the Board, Mélanie Dunn*
First Vice-Chairman, Richard Speer*
President and CEO and Secretary of the Board, Michel Leblanc*
Retiring Chair of the Board, Sean Finn*
Treasurer, Nathalie Bernier*, FCPA, FCA
* Member of the executive committee
* Member of the executive committee
Isabelle Bettez
Co-founder, 8D Technologies Inc.
Member of the Board, Motivate International Inc.
Ambassador, technopolys
With a strong reputation that goes well beyond Canadian borders, Isabelle Bettez vigorously contributes to the promotion and advancement of Quebec’s information technologies sector.
In July of 2000, Isabelle Bettez and her brother Jean-Sébastien partnered to found and build 8D Technologies, a high-tech firm that develops Machine-to-Machine (M2M), Point-of-Sale (POS) technologies that rank among the world's most advanced for wireless, real-time electronic payment, employed in large-scale commercial parking solutions and bike share systems. This wireless, solar, point-of-sale solution is the foundation of BIXI’s fourth generation cutting-edge bike share system.
Under her leadership, the company has experienced tremendous growth and has deployed its solutions across four continents. 8D’s technology has received numerous international awards, notably the prestigious Duke’s Choice Award from Sun Microsystems. It has also been mentioned on Time Magazine’s list of 50 Best Inventions of the Year, and has received the Gold Edison Award in Energy & Sustainability at the distinguished Edison Best New Products Awards.
In February of 2017, following the merger with Motivate International, a company based in New York City that operates and owns bike share systems in some of the densest urban centers in America, including New York’s Citi Bike, Ms. Bettez joins Motivate’s Board of directors. The merger proved to be an extremely valuable opportunity for Montréal-based talent to stand out internationally, strengthen the city’s leading role as a technological hub, and consolidate 8D’s global reputation as an innovative and visionary organization.
Also known for her profound involvement in the community, Ms. Bettez currently sits on the Board of directors for the Fondation Montréal inc., whose goal is to support entrepreneurs 18 to 35 years old, and for the École d’Entrepreneurship de Beauce. Her profile of an international entrepreneur makes of Isabelle Bettez a valuable, sought-after speaker frequently invited at numerous conferences on technology, commercialization and entrepreneurship in North America and Europe. Recently selected as ambassador for the technopolys movement to promote Quebec’s technology industry, she acts as a facilitator that assembles and organizes the voice of the industry’s numerous stakeholders.
Ms. Bettez is an alumna of the renowned HEC Montréal business school, and has been honoured in multiple occasions for demonstrating the most outstanding technological innovation and corporate leadership, which has so proudly expanded the frontiers of Canada’s advanced technology industry.
Isabelle Bettez is also the mother of sixteen-year-old twins.
Nathalie Bernier, FCPA, FCA*
Senior Vice President, Strategic and Business Planning and Chief Financial Officer
PSP Investments
Nathalie Bernier is Senior Vice President, Strategic and Business Planning and Chief Financial Officer with the Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments). In this role, she provides leadership to PSP Investments’ Finance and Administration, Strategic and Business Planning, Internal Audit and Compliance, Taxation, Treasury, and Communications and Government Relations teams. She is also responsible for PSP Investments’ global expansion.
Ms. Bernier has over 30 years of experience in finance. After more than 15 years with the firm Arthur Andersen, she joined KPMG in 2003 as Partner and Canadian Industry Leader for TMT (Technology, Media and Telecommunications). In 2007, she was appointed Managing Partner of KPMG for the Quebec region by the national Management Committee, becoming the first woman in Canada to hold such a position at a professional services firm. Under her leadership, KMPG carried out the 2012 acquisition of Secor, Canada’s largest independent strategy and management consulting firm at the time.
Ms. Bernier serves on the boards of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal, Centraide of Greater Montreal as well as Finance Montréal, and is a member of the Advisory Board of McGill University’s Desautels Faculty of Management. Her career and her achievements have been recognized with many awards and honours, including the first position in Business Review Canada’s 2015 ranking of Canada’s Top 10 Women in Business, the Talentueuses “Leadership” Award from the Association of Quebec Women in Finance (AFFQ) in 2014, and the 2012 Women of Distinction Award in the Business and Professions category from the Women’s Y Foundation of Montréal. In 2010, the Ordre des comptables professionnels agréés du Québec named her a Fellow in recognition of her outstanding dedication and her achievements, which have helped raise the profile of her profession.
Ms. Bernier graduated from McGill University with a Bachelor of Commerce (Major in Accounting) and completed the Advanced Management Course at that same university. She has been a chartered accountant since 1988.
Marie-Claude Boisvert
Executive Vice-President, Business Services
Desjardins Group
Marie-Claude Boisvert’s main role is to support the business centres by providing a service offer adapted to the needs of companies of all sizes. She is also responsible for overseeing specialized teams, notably capital markets and international commerce.
With Desjardins Group since 1994, Ms. Boisvert has close to 30 years’ experience in business financing. Throughout her career, she has made a name for herself in the venture capital sector and been a strong supporter of entrepreneurship, bolstering community economic development.
She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Université du Québec à Montréal, which named her a special ambassador of the university, and is a member of the Quebec order of chartered professional accountants (CPA). Ms. Boisvert shares her expertise with the boards of a number of organizations, including the Montreal Port Authority, a board she chairs, and the École de technologie supérieure (ETS). She is also involved with several community organizations, a reflection of her social and cooperative values.
Marie-Claude Boisvert has been ranked one of Canada's Top 100 Most Powerful Women in the Corporate Executives category. In 2014, she was named Fellow of the Quebec order of CPAs. The prestigious designation is awarded to CPAs who promote the profession through their outstanding achievements. She also received the Inspiration Andrée Corriveau Award from the Association of Quebec Women in Finance.
Nathalie Bondil
Director General and Chief Curator
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
Nathalie Bondil is the Director and Chief Curator of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. She was appointed Chief Curator in 2000 and Director in January 2007.
When Ms. Bondil took over the helm, she initiated innovative programming with exhibitions designed, produced and circulated by the MMFA that have distinguished the Museum on the international scene. For example, she invited fashion to the Museum with the first retrospectives on Yves Saint Laurent and The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier. The Gaultier exhibition is on a world tour to twelve museums and has generated outstanding media coverage and reviews. She also revamped contemporary art programming with Peter Doig in 2013 and opened the Museum up to world cultures with exhibitions like Peru: Kingdoms of the Sun and the Moon.
Ms. Bondil also introduced music to the Museum with a programme of original multidisciplinary exhibitions like Warhol Live: Music and Dance in Andy Warhol’s Work; Imagine: The Peace Ballad of John & Yoko; “We Want Miles”: Miles Davis vs. Jazz; Lyonel Feininger: From Manhattan to the Bauhaus and Splendore a Venezia: Art and Music from the Renaissance to Baroque in the Serenissima. The Museum undertook the daring conversion of a heritage church decorated with Tiffany stained glass windows into a 462-seat concert hall. Inaugurated in 2011, the Museum’s Bourgie Concert Hall presents some 200 concerts and welcomes 50,000 spectators each year.
With the addition of a fourth pavilion to the Museum complex in 2011, Ms. Bondil and her team undertook the study, restoration and reinstallation of some 4,000 works from the Museum’s encyclopedic collection, from world cultures to Old Masters and Canadian and contemporary art. This “reinvented Museum” includes an impressive Pavilion of Decorative Arts and Design that was recently reinstalled and an expanded sculpture garden. This expansion project was made possible through a major campaign that raised $100 million.
In 2012, Ms. Bondil led the expansion of the Museum’s new educational facilities for school groups and families – the Studios Art & Education Michel de la Chenelière – with the goal of doubling attendance, from 100,000 to 200,000 schoolchildren per year by 2017. This goal was reached after only 18 months of operation! The Museum has seen a sharp increase in membership – it now has approximately 94,000 members – and is the only Canadian museum to have welcomed over 1 million visitors in 2013 and again in 2014.
With the major gift of Michal and Renata Hornstein’s collection of Old Masters, the Museum is expanding once again with the addition of a fifth pavilion, the Pavilion for Peace, devoted to international art and education, which will entail the reinstallation of another 3,000 works. It will be inaugurated November 2016, in time for the launch of the celebrations surrounding Montréal’s 375th anniversary.
Born in 1967, a dual citizen of Canada and France, Ms. Bondil is an art historian by training. She graduated from the École du Louvre and the Institut national du patrimoine in Paris. She has curated many of the exhibitions presented by the Museum, including Hitchcock and Art: Fatal Coincidences; Picasso Érotique; Voyage into Myth: Gauguin to Matisse, the French Avant-Garde from the State Hermitage Museum; Catherine the Great: Art for Empire; Maurice Denis: Earthly Paradise; Van Dongen: Painting the Town Fauve; ¡Cuba! Art and History from 1868 to Today; Once upon a Time… Impressionism: Great French Paintings from the Clark, as well as Marvels and Mirages of Orientalism: From Spain to Morocco, Benjamin-Constant in His Time and Metamorphoses: In Rodin’s Studio.
In 2016, Nathalie Bondil was awarded the Medal of the National Assembly (Québec). In 2015, she was appointed Member of the Order of Canada and was the recipient of the Prix Camille-Laurin (Office québécois de la langue française) and of an honorary doctorate from the Université de Montréal. In 2014, she received the Médaille du Centre Jacques Cartier, in 2013, she was awarded an honorary doctorate from Montréal’s McGill University and in 2012, she received the Samuel de Champlain Prize from the France-Canada Institute. In 2011, she was awarded the Insignia of Merit from the Université de Montréal’s Faculty of Arts and Science and the title of Knight of the Ordre national du Québec. In 2008, she received the insignia of the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of the French Republic (promoted to Officier in 2016).
Ms. Bondil is Vice-Chair of the Canada Council for the Arts and Vice-president of the Society for the Celebrations of Montréal’s 375th Anniversary.
Ann Bouthillier
Chief Communications Officer
VIA Rail
Ann Bouthillier has been active in management and communications for 30 years. Prior to joining VIA Rail Canada as Chief Communications Officer in 2018, she held the position of Chief Executive Officer for Havas Worldwide Canada operations until 2015.
Her leadership skills, business sense and holistic approach to communications greatly contributed to the Havas expansion in Canada, implementing digital and CRM services, and to business growth of its clients.
Ms. Bouthillier sits on the Board of Directors of the CHU Sainte-Justine Foundation.
She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration and Masters of Management Sciences in Marketing from HEC Montréal.
Sophie Brochu*
President and Chief Executive Officer
Énergir
Sophie Brochu has been active in the energy industry for nearly 30 years.
Graduate in economics from Université Laval, she began her career in 1987 at SOQUIP (Société québécoise d’initiatives pétrolières).
In 1997, she joined Énergir, as Vice President, Business Development. After holding various positions in the company, she became President and Chief Executive Officer, position she is holding since 2007.
Ms. Brochu sits on the Board of Directors of Bank of Montreal, Bell Canada and BCE Inc.
Involved with Centraide of Greater Montreal, Ms. Brochu is the Chair of Fondation Forces Avenir, which promotes student involvement in the community. She is cofounder of “ruelle de l’avenir”, an organization aimed at encouraging students in the Centre-Sud and Hochelaga neighbourhoods of Montréal to remain in school.
Ms. Brochu is a member of the Order of Canada.
Mélanie Dunn*
President and CEO
Cossette
Chairman
Vision7 in Quebec
A highly accomplished businesswoman, Mélanie Dunn has over 20 years of experience in business management and marketing communications. She is the President and CEO of Cossette and a member of the executive management team of Vision7 International, a holding company with an extensive portfolio of communications firms in North America, Europe and Asia.
Ms. Dunn is actively involved in several professional and community organizations. She sits on the Board of Directors of the Canada Post Corporation and the Health Standards Organization (HSO). She is also a member of the Board of Directors of the CHU Sainte-Justine Foundation.
Mélanie Dunn has a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and a Marketing Certificate from the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM).
Sean Finn*
Executive Vice-President,
Corporate Services and Chief Legal Officer
CN
Sean Finn was appointed CN’s Executive Vice-President, Corporate Services and Chief Legal Officer in December 2000. He is responsible for CN’s Legal Affairs, Public and Government Affairs, Risk Mitigation and Security matters.
He joined CN in 1994 where he directed the Company’s corporate tax function and was involved extensively in CN’s privatization in November 1995. In 1996, he was appointed CN’s Vice-President, Treasurer and Principal Tax Counsel responsible for the Company’s Treasury and Finance activities as well as tax matters.
In 2000, as Senior Vice-President, Public Affairs, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary, he led the acquisition teams responsible for Legal, Regulatory and Government and Public Affairs matters with respect to the acquisition and integration of Illinois Central Railway (1998), Wisconsin Central Railway (2001), British Columbia Railway Company and the US acquisitions of Great Lakes Transportation (2005) and Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway Company (2009).
As Executive Vice-President, Corporate Services, he is actively involved and responsible for CN’s Corporate Governance Practices and the implementation of the CN Business Code of Conduct. According to recent studies, CN’s corporate governance ranking improved to the third position out of more than 190 companies in 2007 from fifth position out of more than 200 companies in 2004 (Globe and Mail), and to the second position out of more than 300 companies in 2006 from the fifteenth position in 2005 (Canadian Business). CN remains a leader in Corporate Governance practices amongst large Canadian Industrial Public Companies in North America.
He successfully completed the Directors Education Program of the Institute of Corporate Directors in April 2008 (ICD.D) and the Excellence in the Boardroom Program (Spotlight on Effective Leadership) of the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto in 2011.
Prior to joining CN, Sean was the managing tax partner with the Montréal law firm Lavery, de Billy. He was involved in domestic and international tax planning, cross-border financing, and corporate financing and reorganizations. He was seconded by Lavery, de Billy, to the Rulings Directorate at Revenue Canada, Taxation, in Ottawa, from January 1989 to September 1990, where he carried out the duties of a Senior Rulings Officer.
He was a lecturer for 20 years in tax legislation and policy for the masters in taxation at Université de Sherbrooke and for the graduate diploma in taxation at McGill University. He was a frequent speaker at tax conferences and has written extensively on various provincial and federal tax matters.
Sean was named Tax Lawyer of the Year in 2000 by his peers and, in 2008, was awarded the ZSA-Commerce Quebec General Counsel Award for Outstanding Achievements.
He was born in Montréal on August 3, 1958 and is married to Nicole Bélanger. They are the parents of five children: Brian, Richard, Eric, Melanie and Kathleen.
Involvement:
- Chairman of Quebec Chamber of Commerce (2002-2003), Board member (1997-2004)
- Chairman of the Railway Association of Canada (RAC) (2005-2006)
- Chairman of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce (2006-2007), Board member (2002-2008)
- Chairman of the Association de planification fiscale et financière du Québec (1993-1994)
- City Councillor (1994-2005) and Mayor of the City of Saint-Lambert (2005-2009)
- Board member of the Montreal Children's Hospital Foundation (2005-2010) and Chairman of St. Mary’s Hospital Foundation (1994-1995)
- Board member of Swimming Canada (2009-2014)
- Board member of CANAM Group (2011-2017)
- Board member of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal
- Board member of Tree Canada
- Co-chair of the FCM/RAC Proximity Steering Committee
- Board member of the Confederation Centre of the Arts (Charlottetown, PEI)
- Board member of the US Chamber of Commerce (Washington, DC)
Magda Fusaro
Rector
Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)
Magda Fusaro has been Rector of the Université du Québec à Montréal since January 2018. She holds a Ph.D. in Communication and Information Sciences from Université Paris XIII, as well as a Master's in Communication from UQAM and a Master's in Communication Science and Techniques from Université Paris XIII. In 2001, she joined the ranks of her alma mater, launching a career that would lead to several academic and administrative positions.
While an associate researcher at the International Network of UNESCO Chairs in Communications (2001‐2005), she served as assistant to the Vice‐Rector for Academic Services and Technological Development from 2003 to 2005. She became a professor in the Department of Management and Technology in 2006 and assumed the direction of its Academic Programs in Information Technology from 2008 to 2015. Appointed Vice‐Rector of Information Systems in 2016, she established herself as a visionary administrator who employs the uses and development of technologies in the service of teaching, research and creation. She has taken part in and originated a number of significant institutional projects, such as the implementation of digital learning environments, the free‐access movement, and the integration and diffusion of technological pedagogy at the Université du Québec à Montréal.
Her work has involved sitting on a number of institutional committees and working groups, and representing UQAM with various inter‐university and research organizations, including CRÉPUQ, TechnoMontréal and SmartCities. Convinced that the internationalization of universities is crucial to the development of research, she also chaired the Network of UNESCO Chairs in Canada from 2016 to 2018. She has been the holder of the UNESCO Chair in Communication and Technologies for Development since 2006 and has established a variety of research partnerships with socioeconomic and international communities. Her research, funded notably by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and the Bell New Media Fund, focuses on the social uses and appropriation of information and communication technologies. Her work has been the subject of numerous publications and presentations in Canada and abroad.
Magda Fusaro currently sits on the boards of the Quartier des Spectacles Partnership and the Quartier de l'Innovation. Since April 2018, she has been a member of the digital council (Conseil du numérique) established by the Government of Quebec. Ms. Fusaro joined the International Committee of Universities Canada in October 2018, and the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal appointed her to its board of directors for a one‐year term.
Claude Gagnon
President, Operations
BMO Financial Group, Quebec
Claude Gagnon is President, Operations, BMO Financial Group, Quebec. He oversees the integration of the bank’s various partner companies in Quebec, maintaining the many internal and external business relationships and social and community engagements in Quebec.
Mr. Gagnon joined BMO in 1975. Over the course of his career he has held several strategic positions in the personal and private banking sectors, including sales teams, financial services, investment activities and business development, where he was responsible for the implementation of a large team of investment specialists and business development strategies within this vast distribution network.
He has also held leadership positions in human resources and training for Eastern Canada. Prior to his recent appointment as President, Operations, Mr. Gagnon was Managing Director, Operations, and Head, Office of the Chairman of BMO Nesbitt Burns, and President, BMO Financial Group, Quebec.
Mr. Gagnon is retiring chairman of the board of the FCCQ and he is President of Youth Fusion. He also sits on the executive board of Finance Montréal and on the boards of directors of CIRANO, the Breast Cancer Quebec Foundation, Robotique FIRST Quebec, Mobilys Foundation and Montréal International. He serves on the management committee of both the Research Chair in Cultural and Religious Diversity Management and the BMO Chair of Diversity and Governance at the Université de Montréal. In addition, he supports Montréal’s next generation of business people as a sponsor of the Jeune Chambre de commerce de Montréal (JCCM).
Mr. Gagnon is the recipient of the 2004 MS Leadership Award of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada and the JCCM’s 2012 John Molson Award, in recognition of his community involvement.
Claude Gagnon is an MBA graduate of UQAM, holds a certificate from the Institute of Canadian Bankers and is a member of the CVMQ and IQPF. He is also a member of the Association des MBA du Québec.
Benoit Godmaire
Senior Vice-President
Greater Montreal – Financial Services
CGI
As the Senior Vice-President of the Greater Montréal – Financial Services business unit, Benoit Godmaire leads client relationship development and service delivery, which includes consulting, systems integration, outsourcing, business process services and intellectual property solutions for CGI’s banking, insurance and wealth management clients in Montréal.
Since joining CGI in 1998, Mr. Godmaire has been responsible for IT operations such as end user support, ATM support, application maintenance and integration services. He also headed the insurance sector, delivering infrastructure services to clients in the United States and Canada. As Vice-President for the Banking sector, he was responsible for client relationship and delivery covering all aspects of retail banking, corporate transaction banking and wealth management for financial institutions in Montréal.
Prior to CGI, Mr. Godmaire worked in the information technology field for both the manufacturing and retail industries, supporting users throughout North America.
Mr. Godmaire is involved in various charity organizations and has served as the Campaign Leader for United Way/Centraide for CGI for three years. In 2015, he was the co-president of a fundraising event for the OLO Foundation, which helps children get a good start in life through nutritional care.
Benoit Godmaire completed his studies at Université du Québec à Montréal and Ryerson University in Toronto.
Shahir Guindi
Managing Partner, Montréal
Osler
Shahir Guindi is the national Co-Chair of the firm Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt and a member of the firm’s Partnership Board. He was Managing Partner of the Montréal office for seven years prior to becoming national Co-Chair. He has over 25 years of experience. He is a leading M&A, private equity and corporate finance lawyer in the Canadian market. His private equity and venture capital experience includes advising funds on their domestic and cross-border portfolio investments and divestitures and on their fund formations. He acts for a number of the country’s most successful technology and biotechnology companies. He is among the most recognized individuals in the fields in which he practices.
M. Guindi is on the Board of Directors of the Business Development Bank of Canada in addition of sitting on the boards of several other companies. He was also Co-Chair of Réseau Capital (Québec’s private equity and venture capital association) between 2010 and 2013.
M. Guindi has received significant industry recognition and was also recipient of the Advocatus Emeritus distinction for 2017 awarded by the Québec Bar.
Anne-Marie Hubert, FCPA, FCA
Managing Partner, Quebec
EY
January 1, 2016, Anne-Marie Hubert was appointed Québec Managing Partner. She was previously Managing Partner for Advisory Services from 2009 to 2015. She built the EY consulting business and made Advisory Canada the second fastest growing region of the 28 regions in EY world.
Ms. Hubert provides board members and senior management teams with strategic advice on governance, performance and risk management. For over 30 years, her primary objective has been attracting, developing and helping the best people achieve their full potential.
From 2002 to 2006, she led EY Canada's gender equity initiatives and served as the Canadian representative on the Americas Gender Equity Task Force. In 2006, she received the EY Rosemary Meschi award, in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the advancement of women in the Americas. Anne-Marie Hubert believes that helping everyone achieve their full potential is fundamental to the success of economy. Tapping into her gender equity experience at work, at speaking engagements and with not-for-profit organizations, she helps business leaders understand the missed opportunities and the adverse impacts associated with stereotypes and prejudice, and how to address systematic biases by providing development opportunities, performance feedback and by nurturing ambition among women and cultural minorities. In December 2011, she was recognized for the fourth time as one of Canada’s 100 Top Most Powerful Women by the Women’s Executive Network and in June 2012, she was selected as one of three Champions of Women in Business leaders chosen by Catalyst Canada. In June 2015, she received an honorary doctorate from Concordia University in recognition of her exceptional contribution to the advancement of women in business.
A member of the EY Global Advisory Council from 2007 to 2009 and EY Canada’s Executive Committee from 2009 to 2015, Anne-Marie has established a reputation for challenging the status quo to make it easier for all our people to offer quality service and positively impact our economy and our communities. She serves on the boards of the Public Policy Forum, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal, the Institute of Corporate Directors, Quebec Chapter, and the Society for the Celebrations of Montréal’s 375th Anniversary.
Vickie Joseph
Co-founder
Groupe 3737
President
V Kosmetik
Vickie Joseph graduated from the Montréal International Academy of Design and is the owner and creator of Nu.i (pronounced new eye) by Vickie, an exclusive line of women's clothing created in 2006.
Thanks to her strong will and perseverance, Vickie Joseph succeeded in establishing a business in Quebec, that has quickly taken its place in a very restrictive local market, in addition to an online store with thousands of customers around the world.
In March 2012, Vickie Joseph founded with her husband, businessman Frantz Saintellemy, Groupe 3737, the largest private business incubator in Quebec. Located in the heart of St-Michel, in the form of a non-profit organization, the Groupe’s mission is to facilitate the creation of new innovative businesses by entrepreneurs from the cultural diversity of Quebec (Migrantspreneurs) as well as entrepreneurs committed to the development of their community through innovation, knowledge transfer and philanthropy.
A versatile, tireless entrepreneur, Vickie Joseph has also founded two new companies. In collaboration with well-known public figure Varda Étienne, she launched V Kosmetik, a new line of cosmetics that she describes as the master palette for every skin tone.
In collaboration with Frantz Saintellemy and the editor in chief Jean Fils-Aimé, she is also proposing a new media platform, through BisB magazine (Black is Beautiful), to promote black and mixed cultures in Canada.
Recipient of the Philanthropy Award at the Gala Dynasty and newly recipient of the BMO Community and Gift Recognition Award, she has also been named Young Entrepreneur of the Year by JCCH and serves on various boards of directors, including the TNM.
Pierre Laporte, CPA, CA
President, Quebec and Vice-Chair, Canada
Deloitte
Pierre Laporte has been a Senior Partner at Deloitte for eight years and has extensive experience managing complex files and dealing with multi-jurisdictional matters.
In recent years, Mr. Laporte has been entrusted with the leadership role in the Restructuring practice of the Americas and Canada. In this respect, he has essentially focused on advising in the area of restructuring services. Throughout his career, Mr. Laporte has participated in a number of highly publicized cases, including Davie de Lévis, Papiers Gaspésia and ABCP restructuring on a pan-Canadian scale. He recently took on the role of controller when he supervised the turnaround of Homburg Invest Inc. During this mandate, he led a group of experts from several countries as part of the restructuring of a $2.8 billion debt. Over the years, Mr. Laporte has provided consulting services to companies involved in the film and television industry.
At Deloitte, Mr. Laporte has assumed responsibility for developing the Quebec market and has taken on the leadership role for several large corporate accounts. He was recently promoted to President of Quebec and Vice-Chair of Deloitte Canada.
He has been a member of the Board of Directors and the Audit Committee of the Fondation de la Faune du Québec (Quebec Wildlife Foundation) for many years. He is the former Vice President of Finance and Treasurer of the Special Olympics. Since June 2015, he has chaired the Board of Directors of the Société des entreprises culturelles du Québec (SODEC).
Amateur and collector of contemporary art, he is also interested in all forms of art - dance, theatre, cinema, music – and frequently attends shows and performances for business purposes or personal enjoyment.
Alain Lavoie
President
Irosoft
Alain Lavoie, President and co-founder of Irosoft, has followed and occasionally outpaced the evolution of information technology and electronic document management in Quebec. With a Master’s degree in Operations Research (1989) from the Université de Montréal’s Department of Computer Science and Operations Research, he worked on departmental research projects until the founding of his company in 1995.
He founded his company in 1995 with his associate and friend René-Luc Morin to harness the power of SGML (a language that would become XML in 1997) by semantically tagging electronic documents.
Ever since, Irosoft has been a service and technology company specializing in the valorization of structured and unstructured data. It develops tools, algorithms and products based on natural language processing (NLP) and on modern machine-learning and artificial intelligence (AI) techniques that enable its clients to transform simple information into practical, usable data. Irosoft is also recognized at the international level for its legislative systems and expertise in the field of legal information.
Alain Lavoie has also been very active in Quebec’s ICT ecosystem for nearly 20 years. He is particularly known for defending the interests of information technology SMEs while promoting the field of ICT.
Michel Leblanc*
President and Chief Executive Officer
Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal
Michel Leblanc is President and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal, Quebec’s leading private economic development organization. In this position, he is the official spokesperson of the organization, and is responsible for planning, managing, coordinating and monitoring all its operations.
With extensive experience in the public and private sectors, Michel Leblanc has an in-depth knowledge of metropolitan issues. A trained economist, he has a clear understanding of economic questions and the challenges facing the business community.
Recognized expert in strategy and in economic development, Michel Leblanc was an Associate Partner at SECOR. He had previously occupied senior-level positions at Génome Québec, Montréal International, and the Institute for Research on Public Policy. He has also worked as an economist for the Department of Finance Canada.
Michel Leblanc received a Bachelor of science in economics in 1987 and a Master of science in economics in 1992 from Université de Montréal. He has been named the 2009 honorary graduate of the Université de Montréal’s Economics Department. In October 2012, he was honoured by the Université de Montréal’s alumni association for his professional achievements.
Michel Leblanc chairs the advisory committee for the economic development of the territory, created by Mayor Valérie Plante. He also chairs the board of directors of MONTRÉAL EN LUMIÈRE. He also sits on the boards of directors of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal Foundation, C2 Montréal, SCALE.AI (Supply Chains And Logistics Excellence AI) and Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE). He is also a member of the Conseil emploi métropole, of the Comité directeur sur la mobilité des personnes et des biens dans la grande région de Montréal (Mobilité Montréal), and of the Steering Committee of Montréal, Cultural Metropolis. He is also ambassador of the Quartier de l’innovation (QI).
Selena Lu
President
Junior Chamber of Commerce of Montreal (JCCM)
Commercial lawyer
Lapointe Rosenstein Marchand Melançon
Selena Lu is a lawyer specializing in commercial law at Lapointe Rosenstein Marchand Melançon. Her practice consists in advising SMEs on issues relating to business law, including mergers, acquisitions, partnerships, joint ventures and contract models for leases, distribution agreements and financing contracts. In addition, international clients frequently retain her services so that she can provide them with commercial law advice relating to investment and expansion in Canada.
Ms. Lu also has extensive governance experience gained serving on many boards of directors, including the boards of the Young Chinese Professionals Association, the Caisse Desjardins De Lorimier-Villeray and the Montreal Chinese Garden Society. She is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Festival Mode & Design, the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec and the Collège des administrateurs de sociétés. She has been President of the Junior Chamber of Commerce of Montreal since July 2018.
In 2016, Serena Lu was a finalist in the “Female Leadership” category of the Grands Prix de la Relève d’Affaires awards of the Regroupement des jeunes chambres de commerce du Québec. In 2017, she was awarded the Prix du Lys de la Diversité for her social and community involvement.
Domenica Maciocia
Senior Vice President, Client Services and Sales Operations
Bell Business Markets
Bell Canada
Domenica Maciocia is Senior Vice President, Client Services and Sales Operations for Bell Business Markets. She leads a team of service professionals supporting the mission critical services of Canada’s Fortune 500 firms, while simultaneously delivering multiple innovative service transformation programs. Domenica has over 25 years of experience championing a succession of performance enhancing client experience solutions – all at a lower cost of operations.
Domenica is committed to excellence. Her focus on strategic simplification, applied innovation and best-in-class engagement delivers lasting benefits for clients, employees, partners and shareholders. Enabling team members to make customer satisfaction and loyalty their number one priority is an essential ingredient of her success. Equally she is committed to making a difference in employee growth and career development. Domenica believes in the value of team diversity and has been an active member of Bell’s Diversity Leadership council since its inception in 2014.
Domenica is at the forefront of business-to-business (B2B) digital transformation, leading the design and implementation of this program on Bell’s behalf. She is applying her innovation dexterity to developing real-time and end-to-end process automation to improve time-to-market, enabling next generation network services to deliver real-time on-boarding and configuration capabilities for customers, and generating customer business insights to improve decision-making and create new revenue streams.
Domenica holds an undergraduate degree from McGill University and regularly speaks at industry forums and events. Recognized with numerous awards and honours this includes the Leadership Foundation Fellowship of the International Women’s Forum (Harvard / INSEAD). She participated in the Rotman School of Management – Judy Project, a leading executive program for women in Canada.
Outside of her responsibilities at Bell, Domenica serves as a board member for the “La Fondation Jeunes en Tête”, an organization dedicated to the well-being and mental health of young people. She was appointed to the board of The Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal in 2017.
CEO
Competia
Estelle Métayer advises CEOs and boards of directors on their strategic and competitive efforts, to avoid strategic blind spots.
Entrepreneur, trend spotter and speaker (Davos in 2012 on identifying weak signals). Leader of strategic workshops on future trends and industry disruptions. Adjunct professor, McGill University (Canada). Guest lecturer, IMD (Switzerland) and joint programs with MIT (U.S.), the IMB (India) and INSEAD (France). Professor, Institute of Corporate Directors (Canada). Formerly with McKinsey & Company (Canada); CAE (Canada); ING Bank (the Netherlands, Poland); Bouygues (France, U.K.). Board member, audit committee member, BRP Inc. ($DOO-Canada). Board member, compliance, governance and compensation committee member, Zag Bank (Calgary, Canada). Advisory board member, Ricardo Media. Former board member, chair of the compensation committee, Ubisoft Entertainment SA ($UBI-France, 2012 to 2016), board member for the Grands Ballets Canadiens (Canada); Canada World Youth (Canada). MBA and doctorate, Nijenrode University, the Netherlands. Arista Sunlife Award for Entrepreneur of the Year (2000). Speaks French, English, German, Italian and Dutch and is learning Arabic. Commercial pilot and flight instructor. When not flying, she can usually be found on Twitter (www.twitter.com/competia).
Simon Olivier
Senior Vice President, Strategy and Innovation
Agropur
Simon Olivier is responsible for Agropur’s innovation and strategic positioning in the North American market to accelerate the cooperative’s growth. With almost 20 years of experience at General Electric, Mr. Olivier has held a number of management positions, including his most recent as Senior Vice President, Strategy, Innovation and Mergers & Acquisitions.
He was previously President and CEO – Renewable Energy for Canada and the Northeastern U.S., building a multi-billion dollar company. Before joining GE Canada, he spent five years working for Air Canada as an engineer.
Simon Olivier holds an engineering degree from École Polytechnique and an MBA in finance from McGill University. He was recently a board member for the Canadian Wind Energy Association and is a member of a McGill University group of experts on leadership and global strategy. In 2009, he received the Jeune leader d'affaires du Québec award. Simon Olivier is a sports enthusiast, who takes part in triathlons and marathons.
Élise Proulx
Vice President – Communications and Government Affairs
Hydro-Québec
Élise Proulx was appointed Vice President – Communications and Government Affairs at Hydro-Québec in January 2017. In this capacity, she is in charge of internal and external communications, public and government affairs, marketing and community relations.
A seasoned manager with more than 20 years of experience, Ms. Proulx joined Hydro-Québec in 2013 as Director – Communications. Prior to that, she ran her own public relations firm, where she soon built an enviable reputation for her leadership, team spirit and intellectual rigor. She advised numerous decision-makers in various areas of the public and private sectors, including culture, luxury goods and customer service, as well as several Québec municipalities and regional county municipalities. Before setting up her own business, she managed the communications department at Hydro Ottawa and served as spokesperson and strategic advisor at Hydro-Québec.
Élise Proulx holds a Bachelor’s degree in communications (public relations) from the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) and an Executive MBA from UQAM’s School of Management. She is also an accredited sommelier, for her own enjoyment. She sits on the boards of the Canadian Electricity Association, Montréal International and the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal.
Alan Shepard
Rector
Concordia University
Pr Alan Shepard is president of Concordia University in Montréal. Concordia’s founding institutions, Loyola College (1896) and Sir George Williams University (1926), gave rise in 1974 to the modern Concordia, now home to 48,000 students.
Alan joined Concordia in 2012 from Toronto, where he had served as provost of Ryerson. He has held leadership roles in Virginia and Texas and at Guelph.
His past and present public service includes the Canadian Research Knowledge Network, Universities Canada, the Bureau de coopération interuniversitaire, the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal, the Stratford Festival of Canada, Montréal’s Quartier de l’innovation, the Fondation Montréal Inc., the Montréal Science Centre Foundation, Aéro Montréal, and the Conseil de l’attractivité du Grand Montréal.
At Concordia, Alan and his team are focused on building a “next-generation” university.
Richard Speer
President
Attraction
With a B.A.A. in finance from the Université Laval and a law degree (LL.B) from the Université de Montréal, Richard Speer founded Attraction in 2002. Today the head of a leading company with recognized expertise in television and film – advertising production, distribution, content delivery and radio broadcasting – Richard Speer undeniably possesses the qualities of inspirational leaders who surround themselves with others who share their vision and their passion for their profession.
Since its creation in 2002, Attraction and its divisions have some 3,000 advertising campaigns for such major companies as the National Bank, Coca-Cola, Hyundai and Rogers; 5,000 hours of television productions; 13 feature films; and 50 digital projects to their credit.
In addition to his responsibilities at Attraction, Richard Speer has been the President of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television in Quebec from 2012 to 2015. A member of the Cercle des présidents du Québec, the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) (he was President of the Quebec chapter from 2011-2012), Richard Speer won the Young Entrepreneur of Quebec 2013 Artista contest sponsored by the Jeune Chambre de commerce de Montréal and was named EY Entrepreneur of the Year in 2014.
Anik Trudel
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Lavery Avocats
Anik Trudel is Chief Executive Officer at Lavery and has more than 25 years of experience working in professional law firms. Her desire to help transform the legal industry led her to take the helm of the largest independent law firm in Quebec in April 2017.
A lawyer by training, she began her career in a prominent national firm where she practised commercial litigation for twenty years as a partner. She represented several large national and international public and private companies before courts of original general jurisdiction, courts of appeal and arbitration boards.
Ms. Trudel then spent more than ten years in public relations, where she successively held the positions of General Manager of Edelman Montréal and Senior Vice-President and General Manager of Citoyen Optimum, part of the Vision7 group. Both firms are renowned internationally as leaders in the communications industry. She has advised and coached senior executives at Canadian and international companies regarding multiple business challenges, organizational transformation, corporate identity management, public relations and issues management.
Throughout her career, she has been a board member for various business, cultural and charitable organizations, including the Port of Montréal, the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation, the Space for Life Foundation and Compagnie Marie Chouinard. Anik Trudel is also a certified neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) practitioner. She gives lectures in various forums, particularly about women and leadership.