Smash the Ceiling: Women in Senior Leadership
DeGroote Women’s Professional Network Event
Sponsored by:
Join the DeGroote Women’s Professional Network for our first event in Toronto as our expert panel shares their insights on smashing the glass ceiling and making transformative impacts in business and society through senior leadership roles. Speakers include Magaret Zanel, Vice President, Commercial Excellence, Xerox Canada; Colleen Shannon, Owner and Principal, Colleen M. Shannon Professional Corporation; Former Partner, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP; Carol Mitchell, CEO, Portfolio Manager; Former Director, Merrill Lynch Canada; and moderator Elizabeth Naumovski, Vice President of Marketing, Caldwell Securities Ltd. Discussion topics will include how to position yourself as a candidate for senior leadership opportunities, attracting and developing top female talent in your organization, and succeeding in industries with low female representation. The panel will also speak to the value of mentorship and sponsorship, addressing unconscious bias in the workplace, and evolving corporate mindsets towards work-life balance.
This event is presented in partnership with the C.D. Howe Institute, McMaster University’s Faculty of Engineering, Women in Capital Markets, and The Directors College, and supported by Raymond James and Burlington Economic Development Corporation.
To register, please click here.
Panel Moderator: Elizabeth Naumovski, Vice President of Marketing, Caldwell Securities Ltd.
Elizabeth Naumovski is Vice President of Marketing at Caldwell Securities Ltd. She has been at the firm since 1997 and is responsible for marketing, corporate communications and public relations.
Elizabeth is also a fully licensed Investment Advisor at Caldwell.
Elizabeth also serves as Investor Relations for Urbana Corporation (TSX and CSE: URB, URB.A), a publicly traded company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Canadian Securities Exchange.
From November 2015 to February 2017, Elizabeth was the host of Toronto Speaks: Personal Finance, an hour live call-in show, every other Monday from 9-10pm, on Rogers Television. The show’s focus was on financial literacy and financial education.
In her spare time, Elizabeth loves volunteering to serve both her professional and personal communities. She sits on the marketing committee of the Investment Industry Association of Canada (IIAC), the Board of the Macedonian Film Festival, a member of the NATO Council of Canada, a member of Women in Capital Markets and is on the Advisory Council of the United Macedonian Diaspora.
Elizabeth Naumovski is a seasoned emcee that has hosted a number of galas and charitable events including past United Macedonian Diaspora Galas in Toronto, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and Skopje, Macedonia.
Elizabeth was also the spokes person for Lazar Couture, a Toronto based fashion house.
On a personal note, Elizabeth is a Tough Mudder Half Finisher, climbed Stromboli, an active volcano, north of Sicily, in theAeolian Islands, has hiked through the Dolomites in Italy, snorkeled thru Silfra Fissure and hiked & climbed a glacier in Iceland.
As a way of giving back to her community she mentors young women and donates blood to Canadian Blood Services every 84 days.
Panelists:
Margaret Zanel, Vice President, Commercial Excellence, Xerox Canada
Margaret Zanel is Vice President, Strategy and Business Transformation, for Xerox Canada. She is responsible for leading strategy design and execution, acquisition transition and business intelligence at Xerox Canada. Additionally, she is responsible for information technology and the business transformation operations group.
Margaret has 23 years of IT sales and marketing experience, both inside and outside of Xerox. She most recently served a successful term as Head of Marketing during which Xerox Canada strengthened its revenue and unit share leadership in technology and Managed Print Services (MPS). She also served as Vice President, Strategic Marketing, for Navantis Inc., responsible for leading the company’s go-to- market initiatives. Previous to this role, she was Vice President, Customer Operations and Channels, at Mobile Computing Corporation —a leading wireless workforce automation application provider.
Margaret holds an Honours Bachelor of Commerce and MBA in International Business from McMaster University. In 2010, she was awarded the Top 100 under 50 designation by Diversity MBA magazine.
Colleen Shannon, Colleen M. Shannon Professional Corporation; Former Partner, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP
Colleen Shannon is the owner and principal of Colleen M. Shannon Professional Corporation, a legal services organization delivering consultation, mediation and arbitration services as well as dispute resolution education. A former senior commercial litigation partner at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, Colleen’s expertise includes commercial, environmental, engineering professional liability, construction and insurance law. Colleen received her Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering from McMaster in 1981. Prior to entering law school, she worked as an engineer for Imperial Oil, and is a registered Professional Engineer in Ontario. Colleen was admitted to the Ontario Bar in 1989. She received her LL.B. from the University of Toronto Law School in 1987 and received her LL.M in Trade Regulation from New York University School of Law in 1994. Colleen held a post-graduate fellowship position in Environmental Law at New York University between 1994 and 1997 and returned to private practice in 1997.
Colleen is actively involved in the community. In addition to being a member of the Dean’s Advisory Board since 2006, she is a member of the Canadian Bar Association, The Advocates’ Society, the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers, Professional Engineers of Ontario, and more recently has become a member of the Engineering Change Lab. Colleen previously served as a Board Member of the North York Women’s Shelter from 2006-2009 and as an external governance committee member for the Humber River Hospital Foundation Board from 2014 to 2016.
Carol Mitchell, CEO, Portfolio Manager; Former Director, Merrill Lynch Canada
Carol R. Mitchell has had a successful career providing high quality investment advice to Wealthy Individuals and Institutional Investors such as Mutual Funds, Pension Funds and Insurance companies for almost three decades. Ms. Mitchell is currently the CEO and Portfolio Manager of iMaGiNe Wealth Management, a small hedge fund company and has been an independent for the past ten years. Prior to that Carol was a Senior Institutional Sales Representative and Director for 18 years with Merrill Lynch Canada and its predecessor company Midland Walwyn Inc.
During Carol’s first half dozen years in the Investment Business, she built an extensive retail brokerage book of business at Wood Gundy Inc. Ms. Mitchell earned an Honours Physical Education undergraduate degree from York University in 1979. She received an MBA from McMaster University co-op program – her work terms at Wood Gundy Inc.- majoring in International Finance in 1982, and was awarded a Japanese scholarship to live and study in Japan for six months thereafter. Ms. Mitchell is involved in many charities but her most recent philanthropic endeavor is her brainchild – ‘The Carol Mitchell Chair in Mature Women’s Health’ celebrating the Research and Mentoring of Dr. Wendy Wolfman at Mt. Sinai Hospital.
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