Women in Leadership: What’s Changed?
The 7th annual forum is making a change this year. With the goal of providing attendees with the maximum mileage, they, as well as our panel, will have the opportunity to speak and ask questions about their situation and observations. We want YOU to be a part of the conversation with the panel, outside of the traditional Q&A period.
This event aims to address the hard questions and brainstorm solutions to the challenges we still face. We are digging deeper than biases and policies - we are addressing the core of what drives – and what inhibits – change. It will be a forum for a candid discourse.
This interactive 1.5 hours with our panel of thought leaders, will discuss the progress that has been made for Women in Business and Leadership in the last decade, and the work that remains to be done.
In keeping with the theme, we are changing things up a bit to what we are calling an all interactive session. The session will be about the attendees getting maximum mileage out of the speakers' insights and experiences. Attendees as well as our panel will have the opportunity to ask questions about their situation and observations.
Our Speakers:
Pauline Alimchandani
Ms. Pauline Alimchandani is Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer of Dream and is responsible for the strategic development and ongoing financial management of the business. Ms. Alimchandani currently leads all aspects of corporate finance, corporate strategy, financial planning & analysis, development finance, financial reporting, debt, treasury and taxation for all of Dream's divisions. In addition, she has a general oversight responsibility across all investing and operating decisions of the company. Prior to her current role, Ms. Alimchandani was the Vice President, Corporate Strategy where she worked closely with the CEO on capital allocation decisions, capital markets strategy and corporate transactions. Prior to joining Dream in 2013, Ms. Alimchandani covered the Canadian real estate sector as a Vice President in equity research at BMO Capital Markets. Ms. Alimchandani commenced her career at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and worked in both the Audit and Assurance and Consulting & Deals practices. Ms. Alimchandani holds both the CA and CFA designations and currently serves on the board of directors of the general partner of Dream Alternatives Master LP (a Dream managed company) and the Michael Garron (formerly Toronto East General) Hospital Foundation.
Mitzie Hunter
Mitzie Hunter is the Minister of Education, and the MPP for Scarborough-Guildwood. Prior to this post, she served as the Associate Minister of Finance, responsible for pension reform. As the former CEO of the Greater Toronto CivicAction Alliance, Mitzie worked to solve some of our toughest social, economic and environmental challenges. She was also previously the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of the Toronto Community Housing Corporation, Vice-President with Goodwill Industries and a Regional Director at Bell Canada. Mitzie and her family immigrated to Canada from Jamaica in 1975. She grew up in Scarborough, graduated from U of T (Scarborough Campus) with a BA, and recently completed her MBA from the Rotman School of Management.
Carrie Kirkman
Carrie Kirkman is President of Global Brands Group Canada, one of the worlds leading branded fashion accessories, footwear and apparel companies. Passionate about empowering women in business, she is Chair of the Board of Directors for G(irls)20, a social -profit that aims to mobilize girls and young women for economic advancement locally and worldwide. Ms. Kirkman also serves as an Independent Director of the board for Whitehouse Design, a Burnaby- based apparel design and manufacturing company and is on the board of directors for the Canadian Club of Toronto- Canada’s preeminent public affairs podium since 1897. She is a member of the Humber College (Toronto) Program Advisory for the Bachelor of Commerce Fashion Management Program. Ms Kirkman has been profiled in top Canadian publications and Women of Influence for her career. She has been a judge for the Canadian Arts and Fashion Awards, featured on the Exchange, CBC On the Money, BNN and Sirius radio, and spoken globally about the role of women in leadership. With almost three decades of experience in the business of fashion, Carrie Kirkman has established herself as a leader in the fashion industry in Canada. Follow Carrie Kirkman on Twitter @carriekirkman
Mark Whitmore, MBA '91
Mark is a Vice Chair and the global leader for Deloitte Private. Deloitte Private is Canada’s leading provider of professional services to privately held clients, with 4,000 professionals serving 35,000 private clients of all sizes across Canada, providing advisory, audit and tax services. Mark serves clients in the consumer business and agriculture sectors, helping them to develop and implement their sales, marketplace and service strategies. He is the LCSP for Broadgrain Commodities, Upper Canada Forest Products, Woodbridge Companies Group and Spin Master Entertainment. Mark has worked for clients in Canada, the United States, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Belgium, France and Iran. During his 30 years with Deloitte, Mark has had a number of firm leadership roles, including Toronto Managing Partner, Toronto Consulting Director of Operations, and CRM practice leader for Canada and the Eastern Americas. Mark holds a Bachelor of Mathematics from the University of Waterloo and an MBA from the University of Western Ontario. He is a director on Richard Ivey School of Business Advisory Board, and the board of Crohn’s & Colitis Canada. Mark also coaches boys and girls rep hockey.
Moderator:
Sylvia Apostolidis
Sylvia Apostolidis is President & Chief Consultant at The Jasmar Group, a full-service Diversity + Inclusion consultancy. The Jasmar Group helps companies with ambitious diversity targets quickly scale their pipeline of women and diverse leaders with an innovative, new methodology. Sylvia is a respected expert on diversity, inclusion and women’s leadership. She has over twenty years of business experience, in various industries and functional areas, including entrepreneurship. Twelve of these have been working to build diverse and inclusive workplaces with FP500 companies across Canada, the majority as an advisor and consultant with Catalyst Inc. Sylvia is an engaging speaker, influencer and thought leader with a deep expertise in gender equality in the workplace. Sylvia launched The Jasmar Group in response to organizations frustrated with the glacial rate of change. She brings a new, scientific approach to better enable companies to benefit from diverse perspectives, create innovative products and services and move towards a better world. Sylvia holds an MBA from the Ivey Business School, a Master of Science (Sociology) from the London School of Economics and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of British Columbia.
Agenda:
- 5:30 to 6 p.m. Registration/Networking (drinks and hors d’oeuvres will be served)
- 6 to 7:30 p.m. Opening Remarks by Dan Daviau, President & CEO, Canaccord Genuity Group Inc.; Interactive panel discussion
- 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Networking (drinks and hors d’oeuvres will be served)
Registration: THIS EVENT IS NOW SOLD OUT.
REGISTRATION CLOSED