A Queen’s alumna has been named one of the most powerful international businesswomen by Fortune magazine.
Sarah Davis, Com’89 – the president of Loblaw Companies (which includes nearly 2,400 grocery stores and pharmacies across Canada) – is ranked 25th on the magazine’s Most Powerful Women International for 2020, which lists businesswomen based outside the United States.
The magazine praised Davis’s foresight to expand Loblaw’s e-commerce business (a decision made long before the pandemic swept across the world which resulted in major increases in online sales), and for focusing on the safety of its customers and employees when the COVID-19 fist hit Canada.
Davis isn’t the only Queen’s alumna to be recognized by Fortune for their business leadership.
Michele Romanow, Sc’07, MBA’08, recently made the magazine’s Top 40 Under 40 list in the finance category for her work as co-founder of Clearbanc. Romanow, a tech entrepreneur and star of the CBC TV show Dragons’ Den, has seen great success by taking a founder-friendly approach to financing start-ups. Romanow’s company has invested more than $1 billion in over 3,300 companies by focusing on revenue-based financing. Instead of taking an ownership stake, Clearbanc give companies flat-fee loans which are paid back when the company starts earning revenue.
“Honoured to be alongside incredible world leaders in this list, including Beyoncé!” Romanow posted on her Twitter account about the list, which included the music megastar in the media and entertainment category.
Another list focusing on the achievements of talented up-and-coming business executives and community leaders, Canada’s Top 40 Under 40, honoured three Queen’s alumni: Dr. Nir Lipsman, Meds’07, Colin Lynch, Artsci’07, Com’07, and Dr. Juveria Zaheer, Meds’07.
Dr. Lipsman, a neurosurgeon with Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, is among the leading researchers looking at how to use deep brain stimulation and focused ultrasound to treat neurological conditions. The treatment may one day be used to help people with obsessive-compulsive disorder, major depression, and Alzheimer’s disease.
Lynch, the Head of Global Real Estate Investments for TD Asset Management, is being recognized for his leadership in the community. He serves on the boards and volunteers with numerous organizations such as the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and Toronto Symphony Orchestra. He is also a co-founder of the Black Opportunity Fund, a recently launched organization of businesses, philanthropists, foundations, and Black community members who are fighting anti-Black racism in Canada.
Dr. Zaheer is being honoured for her career dedicated to suicide prevention. She is a clinician scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health who focuses on the data of suicide, which varies across different groups — such as those with schizophrenia, young people, and people from different cultures – to better understand which societal groups are at risk and how to best treat them.
Former Queen’s Native Student Association President Sarah Hanson, Artsci'19, is the recipient of the Corporate Knights 30 under 30 sustainability leadership award. Hanson, who works with several organizations including Experiences Canada and Youth4Nature, is being honoured for her efforts to bring an Indigenous voice to some of Canada’s sustainability and youth networks.
