Poets and Quants celebrates McGill MBA alumna for IWD
For International Women's Day last week, Poets and Quants spoke with a number of female business school graduates who have successfully started their own enterprises. Aurélie Hélouis (MBA’16), Founder and CEO of infinityQ, a quantum analog computing start-up, shared how her time at Desautels helped her discover how to apply the skills she acquired as a former senior officer and CTO in the French Navy to her entrepreneurial endeavours and develop her own busin
Celebrating accomplishments of women within the Desautels community
On International Women’s Day we highlighted some of the outstanding and accomplished women within the Desautels community, who positively impact our students through their teaching, research, guidance, or mentorship.
Reimagining sustainable production
Jaquelynn Mateluna (MBA'21) is leveraging her background in biology, plant sciences, and business to help her clients develop environmentally, financially, and socially sustainable production practices in the food, agriculture and energy industries. As she builds her career as a strategy consultant at EY Parthenon, she expresses gratitude for the ongoing support she receives from her professors and former classmates at the Desautels Faculty of Management.
The gift of service
Soon after the earthquake that devastated Haiti in 2010, Laura Parny Germain (BEng’15, MBA’21) moved from Port-au-Prince to Montreal with a deep resolve to use her education for the benefit of others. With engineering and MBA degrees from McGill under her belt, she looks forward to working toward socially and environmentally sustainable solutions to the challenges her hometown faces.
Graduate spotlight: Kelly Gonzalez, MBA ’21
Poets&Quants recently featured Kelly Gonzalez (MBA’21) on its “2021 MBAs to Watch” list. In one of the highlights of her Desautels tenure, Gonzalez served as the president of Marketing Club. In this capacity, she teamed up with the Desautels Graduate LBGTQ+ Association to launch the first edition of the Desautels Business Challenge, a case competition focused on improving equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI).
Stand for Something
Inez Jabalpurwala (BA’89, MA’91, MBA’01) credits her years at McGill with inspiring her to take a stand for the causes she supports. As a member of the McGill Debating Union, she learned to express herself clearly and persuasively, a skill that served her well as the Global Director of VineX and former CEO of Brain Canada.
Desautels alumna becomes President & CEO of Knight Therapeutics Inc.
Congratulations to Samira Sakhia (BCom’90, DPA’94, MBA’01), who will take on a new challenge as President and Chief Executive Officer of Knight Therapeutics Inc., a Montreal-based company focused on acquiring or in-licensing and commercializing innovative pharmaceutical products for Canada and Latin America.
Leading the field in food production sustainability
Jaquelynn Mateluna (MBA’21) is featured in Poets and Quants’ 2021 ‘Best and Brightest’ list for her commitment to advancing sustainability in local food production. As Chief of Staff for Lufa Farms, an urban farm-to-table e-commerce platform based in Montreal, the British Columbia native has played an instrumental role in supplying fresh, responsibly-sourced food to more than 20,000 families during the pandemic.
Global banking executive gives back to her alma mater
Alberta Cefis (BA’75, MBA’79) was one of only a dozen women in her MBA class at McGill, but she never felt discriminated against because of her gender. The male-dominated banking industry, on the other hand, was a different story. Fortunately, Cefis was able to land a managerial role at the Royal Bank of Canada through a recommendation from a professor.
MBA alumna shapes agenda at CN
Climbing the ladder from an MBA recruitment program to a top 200 leadership role as director of economics and strategic planning, Janet Drysdale (MBA’96) forged her own path to success at CN. Over the course of 25 years, she successfully navigated heavily male-driven sales, marketing, and revenue planning teams to make an impression among her coworkers, ultimately being named a winner in the WXN CIBC Executive Leaders category.
MBA students emphasize importance of women in business
Current MBA students Vivianne Yao and Emily Gogarty reflect on the importance of women in business, and their motivation for starting an advanced degree while at the top of their respective fields.
MBA alumna credits McGill connections for success
Aliénor Armand-Linot (MBA’17) was building her career in investment banking on Wall Street when she made the decision to join McGill’s MBA program in 2015.
MBA alumna emphasizes human-centered thinking in career
Julie Savaria (MBA’15) credits Desautels with expanding her commitment to pursuing justice, equity, diversion and inclusion (JEDI) throughout her career.
In 2020, she founded Bindia Savaria Consulting to help organizations examine and improve JEDI initiatives worldwide.
EMBA candidate makes list of Canada’s 100 most powerful women
The Desautels Faculty of Management congratulates Kate Arthur, a current EMBA candidate, on being named one of Canada’s top 100 Most Powerful 100 Women in 2020. The annual Top 100 Award Winners list released by the Women’s Executive Network (WXN) recognizes Arthur in its BMO Entrepreneurs category for her inspiring leadership as CEO and founder of Kids Code Jeunesse, a nonprofit organization that empowers communities through digital skills education.
MBA alumna named one of Canada’s most powerful women of 2020
The Desautels Faculty of Management congratulates Sonya Branco (MBA’06) for being named one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women of 2020 in the “C-Suite Executives” category. Released by the Women’s Executive Network (WXN), this year’s Top 100 Award Winners list recognizes 106 Canadian women who advocate for workforce diversity and make an impact in their sphere of influence.
