Sponsorship/Mentoring

Sponsors are advocates in positions of authority who use their influence intentionally to help others advance, while mentors provide advice, feedback, and coaching. Both are important to advancement as employees navigate the workplace and earn opportunities for growth.

  • 2011 Business Leader Champion

    As Regional President of the Greater Toronto Region at RBC for the past five years, Jennifer Tory has worked tirelessly to advance women and visible minorities both in the bank and her community. As a committed mentor and advocate, Ms. Tory actively sponsors women into executive roles at the...

  • 2011 Company/Firm Leader Champion

    As the first woman elected Chair of the Board, President and CEO of Desjardins Group and the first woman to lead a Top 10 financial institution in Canada, Monique F. Leroux has taken giant steps to increase diversity at Canada’s largest financial cooperative group. Throughout her accomplished...

  • 2012 Human Resources/Diversity Leader

    In 2008, Deloitte Canada appointed Jane Allen as its first Chief Diversity Officer, becoming one of the first organizations in the country to put the spotlight on diversity and inclusion. Working in collaboration with the firm’s National Diversity Council and senior leadership, Ms. Allen is...

  • 2012 Company/Firm Leader Champion

    Shortly after  Gordon M. Nixon’s  appointment as  President and Chief Executive Officer of RBC 11 years ago, he established the Diversity Leadership Council (DLC), which is responsible for overseeing the bank’s diversity and inclusion strategy, key goals and results, and he has chaired the...

  • 2012 Business Leader Champion


    For over 20 years, Anne-Marie Hubert’s primary objective has been attracting, developing, and helping people achieve their full potential, which she believes  is fundamental to the success of a business and the economy. As Managing Partner, Advisory Services at Ernst & Young, she is well-known...

  • Catalyzing
    Take Five: Sponsorship

    When asked the reason for their success, most business leaders point to someone in their past who took more than a passive interest in their career and offered advice and championship at critical times. We know that having a sponsor who can provide access to the informal networks within an...

    September 14, 2012 by Deborah Gillis

  • Catalyzing
    Sponsorship: What’s in a Name?

    What does the word “sponsorship” mean to you? For Catalyst’s Sarah Dinolfo, Director, Research, at first it meant very little. But this changed as she uncovered the power influential sponsors had on her own career. In this post—the third in series by co- authors of Sponsoring Women to...

    November 30, 2011 by Sarah Dinolfo

  • Catalyzing
    Take 5: Mentorship and Sponsorship

    January is National Mentoring Month in the United States, an initiative geared for individuals, schools, and businesses to foster relationships between mentors and mentees and increase the number of mentors nationwide. When young people are mentored, they are less likely to drop out of school,...

    January 12, 2012 by Ilene H. Lang

  • Catalyst Canada Honours Champions
  • Nominate a Champion

    Nomination forms for 2014 Champions will be posted in November.  

    Nominees for the Catalyst Canada Honours Champions must:

    Company/Firm Leader: This Chief Executive Officer, President (in Canadian-incorporated companies or subsidiaries in which there is no CEO), or Managing Partner leads a for...