Corporate News
Report on Business announces winners of Best Executive Awards 2020
July 15, 2020
Report on Business is pleased to announce the winners of its inaugural Best Executive Awards—a new annual program to celebrate excellence among non-CEO leaders at the SVP, EVP and C-suite (or equivalent) levels.
The 2020 winners represent the best of Canadian leadership in five functional areas: Finance; Human Resources; Operations; Sales and Marketing; and Technology.
“Canadian business thrives under the guidance of its executive leaders, who are responsible for executing and monitoring organizational strategy,” says James Cowan, editor, Report on Business magazine. “This has been particularly true as businesses have dealt with the COVID-19 crisis and what it means for their staff, customers and sometimes their entire sector.”
Winning executives were chosen after a call for nominations for leaders at Canadian public and private businesses, and the competition was later opened to include executives at not-for-profits, government institutions and/or academic institutions. Nominations were assessed by the Report on Business editorial team based on career background, leadership style, achievements, and impact.
Winners of the Best Executive Awards will receive their awards on October 30—the same day their stories will be featured editorially in the November issue of Report on Business magazine. Winners will also share their experiences and advice at a virtual event on November 3.
The 50 winners of the of the 2020 Best Executive Awards are:
Finance
Pauline Alimchandani, Chief Financial Officer – Northland Power Inc.
Erin Crowe, Chief Financial Officer – Martello Technologies Group Inc.
Elliot Kazarnovsky, Chief Financial Officer – Marlin Spring
Erfan Kazemi, Chief Financial Officer – Sandstorm Gold Royalties
Leen Li, Chief Financial Officer – Wealthsimple
Jimmy Mui, Chief Operating Officer & Chief Financial Officer – Canadian Medical Association
Hratch Panossian, Senior Executive Vice-President & Chief Financial Officer – CIBC
Ghazala Parvez, Chief Financial Officer – Nulogy
Nadeem Velani, Executive Vice-President & Chief Financial Officer – Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd.
Alexandra Voyevodina, Chief Financial Officer – Endy
Human Resources
Geneviève Bich, Vice-President, Human Resources – Metro Inc.
Kelly Blackett, Executive Vice-President, Human Resources & Corporate Communications – CWB Financial Group
Jane Fedoretz, Chief Talent & Transformation Officer – TransAlta Corp.
Ken Johnston, Senior Vice-President and Chief Human Resources Officer – Purolator Inc.
Lynn Langrock, Vice-President, Human Relations & Corporate Affairs – Bimbo Canada (formerly Canada Bread Company Ltd.)
Megan Paterson, Chief Human Resources Officer – Kinaxis Inc.
Roxanne Rose, Vice-President Global Human Resources – Linamar Corporation
Nicki Sabapathy, Head of Human Resources – Cisco Canada
Jody Sperling, Senior Vice-President, Human Resources – Equitable Bank
Beth Tyndall, Chief People Officer – Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan
Operations
Sam Bendavid, Vice-President of Corporate Development & Chief Integration Officer – TC Transcontinental Inc.
Nicole Frew, Senior Vice-President, Anti-Money Laundering & Internal Control, International Banking – Bank of Nova Scotia
Louis Gagnon, President, Canadian Operations – Intact Financial Corp.
Melissa Hanesworth, Vice-President of North American Manufacturing Operations – Corby Spirit and Wine/Pernod-Ricard
Zainul Mawji, President, Home Solutions – Telus Corp.
Carmele Peter (Q.C.), President – Exchange Income Corp.
Pierre St-Laurent, Executive Vice-President & Chief Operating Officer, Full Service – Sobeys Inc.
Larry Tomei, Executive Vice-President & Head of Wealth and Personal Banking Canada – HSBC Bank Canada
Kim Veenstra, Chief Operations Officer – Bonfire Interactive Ltd.
Jennifer Wong, President & Chief Operating Officer – Aritzia Inc.
Sales and Marketing
Carrie Baker, President, North America – Canada Goose Holdings Inc.
Robert C. Campbell, Partner and National Director of Indigenous Services – MNP
Betsey Chung, Senior Vice-President & Chief Marketing Officer, Canadian Banking – TD Bank Group
Jason Fitzsimmons, Chief Corporate Affairs & Customer Care Officer – Hydro One Ltd.
Duncan Fulton, Chief Corporate Officer – Tim Hortons (Restaurant Brands International Inc.)
Michelle Kisil, Vice-President, Canada Key Accounts – Baker Hughes
Tania L. Little, Chief Development and Partnerships Officer – Food Banks Canada
Andy Prochazka, Co-founder and CMO – Article
Roy Ratnavel, Executive Vice-President & Head of Distribution – CI Financial Corp.
Eva Salem, Vice-President of Marketing – Canadian Tire Corp.
Technology
Joel Abramson, Chief Strategy Officer – Fully Managed
Mike Chmura, Chief Technology Officer – BlueDot
Debbie Gamble, Chief Officer, Innovation Labs and New Ventures – Interac Corp.
Ozzie Goldschmied, Chief Technology Officer – Ceridian HCM Holdings Inc.
Seema Lakhani, Chief Product Officer at Wattpad and General Manager, Wattpad Labs – Wattpad
Christopher Phillips, Senior Vice-President, Corporate Systems Technology – Royal Bank of Canada
Brett Pitts, Chief Digital Officer – Bank of Montreal
Bhavin Shah, Chief Technology Officer – Top Hat
Solmaz Shahalizadeh, Senior Vice-President of Data Science & Engineering – Shopify
Leena Thampan, Chief Product Officer – Wagepoint