ESG investing helped prepare Gillian Stein to become CEO of Henry’s

Gillian Stein (BCom’00)’s great-grandfather founded the Toronto-headquartered electronics business Henry’s in 1909, but she never envisioned becoming the company’s CEO. Growing up, she had seen how stressful running the company could be for her father Andrew, who had a heart attack at the age of 47. “I always had a ton of respect and passion and admiration for the business but it wasn’t something I wanted for myself,” says Stein. “I changed and the business changed. I think it was important that I forged my own path and so I built my own career, particularly spending time, the last role I had before I joined the company I worked in ESG investing long before anybody knew what ESG meant,” With experience in ESG investing and in project management, Stein felt she could add value. “I wanted to make sure I was adding value and I wasn’t there just because of my last name,” she tells Retail Insider.