Board of Directors of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal
Chair of the Board, Shahir Guindi**
Vice-Chairman, Richard Speer*
President and CEO and Secretary of the Board, Michel Leblanc*
Retiring Chair of the Board, Mélanie Dunn*
Treasurer, Pierre Laporte*
* Member of the executive committee
* Member of the executive committee
Isabelle Bettez
Co-founder, 8D Technologies Inc. (acquired by Lyft in 2018)
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 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 Montreal-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. Lyft, a renowned transportation network company based in San Francisco, has acquired 8D and Motivate in 2018.
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, for the École d’entrepreneurship de Beauce and the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal. Her profile of an international entrepreneur makes of Isabelle 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, Isabelle 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.
She is also the mother of seventeen-year-old twins.
Geneviève Biron
President and CEO
Biron Health Group
Geneviève Biron has been active in the healthcare sector for nearly thirty years. Committed to the province’s economic development, she is passionate about innovation and digital transformation and nurturing a positive business culture, aiming to improve the quality of life in the community. Mrs. Biron joined the company in 1989 and held various positions within the company including Head of Human Resources and Vice-president of Operations, prior to founding the Imagix radiology network in 2005. She became President and CEO of Biron Health Group in September 2014. A seasoned entrepreneur, her strategic vision and leadership style have been recognized on several occasions at the Business Transfer Awards by PwC, the Mercuriades by Federation of Chambers of Commerce of Quebec, and by Canada’s Best Managed Companies.
Founded in 1952 by her father, Denis Biron, Biron Health Group has become a market leader in Quebec’s healthcare services, with more than 800 employees and 120 service centres. The company focuses on four lines of business, including laboratory analysis and genetic testing, sleep disorder clinics, corporate healthcare, as well as medical imaging under the Imagix and Medvue banners.
Geneviève Biron is a board member of the Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec and the École d’Entrepreneurship de Beauce. She’s an HEC Montréal graduate (B.Sc.) and holds the title of Corporate Director (ICD.D).
Déborah Cherenfant
President
Junior Chamber of Commerce of Montreal (JCCM)
Regional Director, Women Entrepreneurs, Quebec Region.
TD Bank Group
Déborah Cherenfant joined TD Bank Group in 2020 as Regional Director, Women Entrepreneurs, Quebec Region.
Since she arrived in Quebec in 2005, Déborah has volunteered with many organizations, as a result she is active today as Chair of Compagnie F, and as a board member of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal, the KANPE Foundation active in Haiti, and social innovation organization Humanov·is. She was appointed to the Council on the status of women by Quebec’s Members of Cabinet in 2018.
With a degree in international economics as well as entrepreneurship, Déborah has applied her strategic skills over the last 10 years as a business counselor for startups, in addition to managing and developing entrepreneurship programs. She also launched her own initiatives such as Mots d’Elles, the first of its kind in Quebec, promoting women in business; Atelier Coloré, a fashion and design studio; and Marché Coloré, a pop-up concept store bringing together designers with a passion for prints. She also co-founded BiAS, a cultural and artistic think tank that showcases talents from diverse communities.
A TEDx Fellow, Déborah is an outstanding speaker, trainer and facilitator, and the business community often calls on her to share her expertise and speak about entrepreneurship, women’s leadership and diversity representation in business. She is also one of the official speakers of Plurielles, the first agency for women speakers.
In addition to representing Canada at the 2015 G20 Young Entrepreneurs Alliance Summit, Déborah has received many honours, including YWCA Montreal’s Woman of Distinction Award in the Entrepreneurship category (2016), and was one of 12 winners chosen to illustrate Black History Month in 2019 for their contribution to the advancement of our society.
Déborah is the 2020-2021 Chair and Spokesperson of the Junior Chamber of Commerce of Montreal, the largest junior chamber in the world.
Benoit Dubé
Executive Vice-President, Legal and Economic Affairs, and Corporate Secretary
CGI
CGI
Benoit Dubé joined CGI in 2003 and now holds the position of Executive Vice President, Legal and Economic Affairs, and Corporate Secretary. He leads CGI’s legal team located in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific, and is a member of CGI’s Executive Committee.
Mr. Dubé is responsible for areas such as contractual risk management, regulatory compliance, corporate governance, litigation, economic affairs, as well as the company’s data privacy program.
Previously, he led the legal department of Cognicase Inc., a publicly traded company that was acquired by CGI in 2003. He was also an associate at one of Canada’s leading law firms and acted as legal counsel for a major telecommunications company and the Canadian Bankers Association.
In 2012, Mr. Dubé was awarded the ZSA Quebec General Counsel Award in the “Chief Legal Officer of the Year” category.
Benoit Dubé holds a Bachelor of Civil Law and a Bachelor of Laws from McGill University, a Master of Business Administration from The University of Western Ontario (Richard Ivey School of Business) and a Certificate in International Business from the Stockholm School of Economics.
Mélanie Dunn*
President and CEO, Cossette
President, 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 Boards of Directors of the Canada Post Corporation, the Health Standards Organization (HSO) and the CHU Sainte-Justine Foundation. Since 2015, she has been an active member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal. She has been named one of the 2018 Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada by Women’s Executive Network (WXN).
Mélanie Dunn has a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and a Marketing certificate from the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM).
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.
Martin Gagnon
Co-President and Co-Chief Executive Officer, National Bank Financial
Executive Vice-President – Wealth Management
Member of the Office of the President
National Bank
Martin Gagnon was appointed Co-President and Co-Chief Executive Officer, National Bank Financial, and Executive Vice-President – Wealth Management in July 2016. He is responsible for all wealth management-related activities at National Bank, including full-service securities brokerage, services for high-net-worth individuals, trust services, third-party clearing services, as well as investment product manufacturing and distribution and self-directed brokerage solutions. He is also a member of National Bank’s Office of the President.
Mr. Gagnon began his career in 1987 in National Bank’s Treasury department. He subsequently occupied various management roles in financial markets, financial engineering and asset/liability management. From 1993 to 2003 he held positions at Goldman Sachs Canada in Toronto, at Laurentian Bank, and then again at Goldman Sachs, this time in New York as Vice-President – International Equities. Mr. Gagnon rejoined National Bank in 2003 at its subsidiary responsible for hedge fund operations, Innocap Investment Management Inc., where he went on to become the Co-Chief Executive Officer. At the time of his appointment, Mr. Gagnon was Senior Vice-President – Intermediary Business Solutions, Wealth Management.
Mr. Gagnon is Chairman of the boards of directors of National Bank Trust lnc., Natcan Trust Company and National Bank Investments Inc., and Co-Chair of the board of National Bank Financial Inc. He is the Chairman of the Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Montréal Foundation and also serves on the board of the Association of Quebec Women in Finance.
Mr. Gagnon holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the Université du Québec à Montréal and a Master’s degree in Finance from the University of British Columbia. He is also a CFA® charterholder.
Shahir Guindi *
National Co-Chair
Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP
Shahir Guindi is the national Co-Chair of the firm Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP 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.
Mr. Guindi sits on the boards of directors of the Business Development Bank of Canada, of GFL Environmental Inc., 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.
Mr. Guindi has received significant industry recognition and was also recipient of the Advocatus Emeritus distinction for 2017 awarded by the Québec Bar.
Cherif Habib
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Dialogue Technologies
Cherif Habib is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Dialogue Technologies, Canada’s leading virtual care company. Launched in 2016 and having raised over $50M in venture funding, Dialogue offers its services to several hundreds of thousands of individuals, and provides care to more patients every day than the largest emergency rooms in the country. Dialogue has received several industry accolades, including Deloitte’s Top 50 Companies-to-Watch award. Before launching Dialogue, Cherif led EMcision and spent three years at McKinsey as a senior management consultant. He has an undergrad in Computer Science, a Master of Law and an MBA from Wharton with majors in Marketing and Operations.
Vickie Joseph*
Co-founder, Groupe 3737 and Femmepreneur
Co-founder and President, V Kosmetik
Vickie Joseph is a businesswoman, creator and tireless entrepreneur. She is co-founder and president of V Kosmetik, a complete line of cosmetics, and founder and creator of Nu.i [pronounced new eye] by Vickie, an exclusive line of clothing for women, created in 2006.
In March 2012, Vickie Joseph and her husband, businessman Frantz Saintellemy, founded Groupe 3737, the largest private enterprise incubator in Quebec. A non-profit organization located in the heart of Saint-Michel, Groupe 3737’s mission is to facilitate the creation of new, innovative businesses by culturally diverse entrepreneurs in Quebec (Migrantspreneurs) as well as entrepreneurs who care about community development through innovation, knowledge transfer and philanthropy. Ms. Joseph recently founded the Femmepreneur 3737 movement, a lever and mutual assistance community to provide more and distinct support for women entrepreneurs.
L’actualité named her one of the rising entrepreneurs in the next Québec Inc. She received the Philanthropy Tribute Award at the Gala Dynastie and recently received the Community and Charitable Giving Award from BMO. She was also the recipient of the Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award from the JCCH and is a member of the 2016 cohort of Excellence Québec. She sits on the boards of directors of the TNM and the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal and on the advisory committee for the Plan commerce de la Ville de Montréal. The 2017 laureate for Black History Month, Ms. Joseph was the patron of the 34th Vues d’Afrique Festival in 2018 and finalist in the Women’s Leadership category at the RJCCQ’s 2018 Grands Prix de la Relève d'Affaires. She also received the 2018 Entrepreneur of the Year award from the Gala de la Nuit de l’excellence and the 2019 Entrepreneur of the Year Award from Startup Canada.
Vincent Kou
Vice President, Corporate Development & Growth
Brivia Group
Vincent Kou is responsible for corporate development and growth of Brivia Group, including real estate investments, acquisitions and partnerships.
Prior to joining the Brivia Group, he held numerous senior positions over 15 years period with Rio Tinto, a global mining company. Most recently, he was based in Singapore for four years with the Commercial Group of Rio Tinto. Prior to his recent posting in Singapore, he was successively Chief Counsel & Director of Mergers & Acquisitions (Asia) and Chief Representative of Alcan Group in China, and Chief Counsel, Business Development & Growth for Rio Tinto Alcan for more than 10 years, based in Montréal, Beijing, Shanghai & Singapore respectively, where he had responsibility for the company’s legal function in Asia, focusing primarily in commercial, acquisitions, joint ventures and divestments. He was also General Counsel & Corporate Secretary, based in Hong Kong, for a mining company with operating assets in Mongolia which, prior to its divestment, was a Rio Tinto Group company listed on both the TSX and HKSE.
Lawyer and member of Barreau du Québec since 1997, Mr. Kou has a vast experience in Asia, notably in China, including doing business with Chinese private and state-owned enterprises. He is very active and engaged with the Asian communities and various non-profit organizations in Montréal and internationally.
Mr. Kou holds a Bachelor’s degree in law from Université de Sherbrooke, a Graduate Certificate in Marketing Advanced Program from INSEAD and a Graduate Certificate in Real Estate Finance from the National University of Singapore.
Pierre Laporte, FCPA, FCA*
President, Deloitte Quebec
Vice-Chair, Deloitte Canada
Pierre Laporte, an innovative and experienced professional, has been a partner at Deloitte for ten years and has a wealth of experience managing complex and multi-jurisdictional files. In the firm, he is currently President of Deloitte Quebec and Vice-Chair of Deloitte Canada. For over 25 years, Mr. Laporte has been specialized in financial restructuring and has spent much of his career consulting on business recovery. He is a good motivator and facilitator and has achieved his objectives by exercising a positive, action-oriented style of leadership. His expertise is required at the top levels and he has participated in several highly publicized cases, such as Davie Shipbuilding in Lévis (Quebec), Papiers Gaspésia and the restructuring of the ABCP program across Canada. Finally, Mr. Laporte has met and advised many senior executives and business leaders over the years, both in Canada and abroad.
Since 2015, he is Chair of the Board of Directors of Quebec’s society of cultural businesses (Société de développement des entreprises culturelles du Québec or SODEC). In November 2017, he has been elected on the Board of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal and was recently named to the Human Resources Committee of the organization. He is also Vice-Chair of the Quebec wildlife foundation (Fondation de la faune du Québec) and acts since May 2019 as Treasurer and Chair of Audit and Finance Committee of the National Gallery of Canada Foundation. Finally, he is a member of the Board of the Centre Philou in Montréal.
A lover and collector of contemporary art, Mr. Laporte 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 CEO
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.
Michel Leblanc is a recognized expert in economic strategy and development and 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 on the Economic Development of the Territory of Montréal, 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 the 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 an ambassador of the Quartier de l’innovation (QI).
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. She has over 25 years of experience championing a succession of performance enhancing client experience solutions – all at a lower cost of operations.
Ms. Maciocia 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. She believes in the value of team diversity and has been an active member of Bell’s Diversity Leadership council since its inception in 2014.
Ms. Maciocia 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.
Ms. Maciocia 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 Maciocia serves as a board member for the “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.
Élise Proulx*
Executive Vice President, Public Affairs and Communications and Chief of Staff
Ivanhoé Cambridge
As Executive Vice President, Public Affairs and Communications and Chief of Staff, Élise Proulx is in charge of internal and external communications, including public and government affairs, media relations, donation and sponsorship, reputation management and corporate branding.
A seasoned manager with more than 20 years of experience, Ms. Proulx joined Ivanhoé Cambridge in March 2020. She was previously Vice President, Communications, Government Affairs and Indigenous Relations, at Hydro-Québec. Before holding that position, she founded her own public relations firm, where she quickly acquired an enviable reputation for leadership, team spirit and intellectual rigour. 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 Quebec municipalities and a regional county municipality. Before starting her own business, she served as Manager, Communications and Public Affairs, at Hydro Ottawa and as Strategic Advisor and Corporate Spokesperson at Hydro‑Québec.
In the 2018 edition of the prestigious Mercuriades contest held by the Quebec Federation of Chambers of Commerce, she was named an Exceptional Young Businesswoman in the large companies category, in recognition of her leadership. She sits on several boards of directors, including that of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal and Montréal International.
Ms. Proulx holds a bachelor’s degree in communications with a major in public relations from the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) and an Executive MBA from UQAM’s École des sciences de la gestion. She also holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors and is an accredited sommelier for her own enjoyment.
Paul Raymond
President and Chief Executive Officer
Alithya
Computer Engineering graduate from the Royal Military College of Canada, member of the Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec and of the Institute of Corporate Directors, Paul Raymond has thirty years of experience in the business world. Before becoming President and CEO in 2012, this visionary leader held several key senior management positions in a major IT firm and officer roles in the Canadian Armed Forces. In addition to overseeing Alithya’s organizational development and managing its accelerated growth, he promotes the company in Canada and internationally. He holds director roles on the boards of a public company and non-profit organizations.
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 Arista contest sponsored by the Jeune Chambre de commerce de Montréal and was named EY Entrepreneur of the Year in 2014.
John Stokes
Co-Managing Partner
Real Ventures
Adopted by Montréal in 2007, John Stokes is the co-founder and co-Managing Partner of early-stage venture capital firm Real Ventures, a lead actor and major catalyzer of Canada’s startup ecosystem. In his role, he has led investments into companies such as Frank and Oak, Breather, Transit App, Ossiaco and Unsplash and, in 2018, L’actualité named him as one of the “100 most influential people in Quebec.”
Mr. Stokes was also recognized by the Montreal Gazette as one of the “24 Quebecers we love” for his contributions to Montréal’s entrepreneurship renaissance. In addition to co-founding Real Ventures, he is co-founder of the OSMO Foundation, the entrepreneurship focused not-for-profit that acquired Notman House and St Margaret’s Hospital and turned them into a vibrant startup campus.
Mr. Stokes sits on the board of the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association and obtained his Institute of Corporate Directors designation (ICD.d) in 2019.
He began his career in sales and marketing at organizations such as Fuji Xerox and BellSouth New Zealand, while also playing semi-professional soccer. He received his BSc. (Hons) in Sports Science from MMU (Manchester, UK).
John Stokes is a citizen of the UK, New Zealand and Canada and resides in Montréal with his wife and young daughter.
Macky Tall
Head of Liquid Markets and
President and Chief Executive Officer
CDPQ Infra
Macky Tall is Head of Liquid Markets since March 2018. In this role, he leads the Equity Markets and Fixed Income teams. He is also the President and Chief Executive Officer of CDPQ Infra, a CDPQ subsidiary whose mandate is to plan, execute and operate public infrastructure projects. CDPQ Infra is currently implementing the largest public transit project – the Réseau express métropolitain (REM) – in the Greater Montréal in the last 50 years. Mr. Tall sits on CDPQ’s Executive Committee and Investment-Risk Committee.
He previously held the position of Executive Vice-President, Infrastructure, overseeing infrastructure strategy and investments. Mr. Tall joined CDPQ in 2004 as Director, Investment, Infrastructure, and accelerated the implementation of a business model focused on strategic partnerships with the largest infrastructure operators in the world, mainly in the sectors of power generation – particularly renewable energy – airports and ports, energy transportation and distribution, highways and passenger transport, and social infrastructure. With this approach, a portfolio valued at more than CAD16 billion was built. The team’s expertise also facilitated the implementation of a unique public infrastructure model, with the launch of CDPQ Infra.
Before joining CDPQ, he held several senior management positions with companies in the energy and finance sectors, namely Hydro-Québec, MEG International, Novergaz and Probyn & Company.
He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration (Finance) from HEC Montréal and an MBA (Finance) from the University of Ottawa. He also completed an undergraduate degree in Economics at Université de Montréal.
CONNECTIONS
Mr. Tall is a member of the infrastructure advisory board of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada (DFATD). He was recently co-chair of the Advisory Committee of the Global Infrastructure Facility of the World Bank.
Jonathan Tétrault
President and Chief Operating Officer
Cirque du Soleil
Jonathan Tétrault is the President and Chief Operating Officer of Cirque du Soleil. He oversees the operations and corporate development activities of all Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group businesses, including Cirque du Soleil, Blue Man Group, VStar Entertainment Group and The Works Entertainment. Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group currently presents more than 40 shows in over 25 countries around the world. It is the largest creator, producer and distributor of live entertainment content in the world and sells more than 15 million tickets every year.
Prior to this role, he spent 14 years at McKinsey & Company as Senior Partner and Managing Partner of the Montréal office, where he advised institutional investors, private equity firms, asset management firms and banks on a broad range of strategic and investment matters. As a trained lawyer, he also practiced M&A law at Borden Ladner Gervais in Canada and Andersen in France.
Mr. Tétrault holds an MBA from Oxford University, an LL.B. from the Université de Montréal, and a CEP from the Institut d’études politiques de Paris. He is also a member of the Barreau du Québec and serves on several boards, including the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, One Drop International Foundation and C.D. Howe Institute.
Anik Trudel
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Lavery Lawyers
Anik Trudel is Chief Executive Officer at Lavery and has more than 30 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 firm (Canadian and international), where she worked as a partner and practiced commercial litigation for twenty years. 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.