A scientist helping unravel the deep mysteries of space and the CEO of popular apparel company Roots are among nine Queen’s University alumnae named to this year’s list of Canada’s 100 Most Powerful Women.
The annual list is produced by the Women’s Executive Network as a way to honour and celebrate women who have made a positive impact on their companies, industries, and communities.
The nine alumnae are:
• Farah Bastien, MMA'16, is the director of research and development with MLSE (Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, the company that owns the NHL’s Maple Leafs and the NBA’s Raptors. She led MLSE's data science practice, developed advanced data systems for hockey and basketball, and introduced crucial roles to the organization such as research scientists and data engineers.
• Lindsay Cook, Artsci’06, is a vice-president at Loblaw Companies Limited in charge of social media, brand, and loyalty marketing. Cook started at Loblaws as a summer student while taking political science at Queen’s. In 2013, she made Marketing magazine's Top 30 Under 30. Today, her passion for customer-focused thinking has driven her to become a leader in the retail-marketing field.
• Victoria Granova, MBA’19, is an industry leader, educator, and passionate advocate for diversity and gender inclusion in the cybersecurity industry. Granova is a security technical program manager at Amazon Web Services (AWS) and founder of CyberToronto, an edtech startup. She also teaches cybersecurity and financial data privacy at Smith School of Business, Toronto Metropolitan University, and York University.
• Morgan Lehtinen, Artsci’16, PhD’23, is a chemist, entrepreneur, and scientific communicator focused on finding creative ways to combat the planet’s most pressing problems. She is the co-founder of RXN HUB, an organization that provides critical resources to support the commercialization of sustainable chemical technologies. While at Queen’s, she helped build a more inclusive campus by co-founding the Queen’s Chemistry Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity, and Awareness Society, and inspired female entrepreneurs as program coordinator for the Dunin-Deshpande Queen’s Innovation Centre’s Konnect program.
• Sona Mehta, MBA’04, is a TD Bank senior vice-president who leads the bank’s Canadian personal-banking deposits, products, and services businesses. Mehta’s parents initially struggled after immigrating to Canada in the 1970s. That experience made Mehta passionate about helping new Canadians. She leads TD’s focus on the newcomer-to-Canada and student segments and contributes to the bank’s Pan-Asian Employee Resource Group.
• Nathalie Nguyen-Quoc Ouellette, MSc’13, PhD’17, is the deputy director at the Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets, whose research focuses on the formation and evolution of galaxies. The public may be more familiar with her as the Canadian outreach scientist for the James Webb Space Telescope. She appears in the media to help the public understand the latest discoveries made by the revolutionary $10-billion telescope.
• Meghan Roach, Com’05, is the president and CEO of the popular Canadian clothing, footwear, and apparel company Roots, which has more than 100 stores across the country and celebrated its 50th anniversary this year. She is also the vice-chair of the Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Foundation.
• Joanne Sallay, Com’04, helps elementary and high school students in Ontario and across Canada achieve academic success as president and CEO of Teachers on Call, an in-person and online tutoring service that provides academic support from certified teachers. Sallay also volunteers as chair of the Corsage Project under the Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada which provides financially deserving high-school students with scholarships and free formal attire for prom and graduation ceremonies.
• Lara Speirs, Artsci’92, is a lawyer and chief legal officer with Randstad Canada (the world's largest human resource services provider). Previously she held several legal counsel positions with Scotiabank, the Canadian Broadcast Corporation, and the Department of Justice Canada. She sits on the organizing committee of Randstad Ride, the annual charity ride for cancer research, as well as several not-for-profit boards with a focus on youth and women, including Women General Counsel Canada.
For Sallay, being named to this year’s list is a full circle moment. Early in her career, she attended the Top 100 Awards Gala after graduating from Queen’s and was in awe of the accomplishments of the women on stage.
“Fast forward to present, I am both humbled and honoured to join this year's inspirational recipients to carry the light forward and ultimately pass the torch to the next generation of women leaders,” Sallay said.
Many Queen’s alumnae have appeared on Canada’s 100 Most Powerful Women’s lists in previous years. Former recipients include Habitat for Humanity Canada CEO Julia Deans, Artsci’85; now-retired Lt. Gen. Christine Whitecross, Sc’84, who was once the Canadian military's highest-ranking woman; CBC TV Dragons’ Den star and tech entrepreneur Michele Romanow, Sc’07, MBA’08; and former National Football League Chief Operating Officer Mary Ann Turcke, Sc’88, MBA’97.
The recipients will be celebrated Nov. 30 during a ceremony in Toronto.
