Breaking the Glass Ceiling:
Diversity and Corporate Governance 

According to Statistics Canada, women make up slightly less than half of Canada’s active labour force.  Yet according to the Canadian Board Diversity Council’s 2017 Annual Report Card, only 22.6 percent of all Financial Post 500 board seats were held by women. While this number is substantially higher compared to what it was two decades ago, it represents a meagre increase over more recent years. Even worse, corporate boards have consistently seen little to no increase in the representation of other groups, including visible minorities, Indigenous peoples, and the LGBTQ community. Has diversity and inclusion stalled in the corporate world?

Join the Association for New Canadians, the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, and leading corporate director, lawyer, and professor Poonam Puri for a discussion on what comes next in corporate governance – and what you and your organization can do to break through the glass ceiling in Newfoundland and Labrador.

This event is open to the public with no cost to attend. Light refreshments will be served.

About the Speaker

Professor Poonam Puri is one of Canada’s most respected scholars and commentators on corporate governance, corporate law, and financial markets. She is also an experienced corporate director, practicing lawyer, and member of the Faculty of Law at Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto. With extensive board experience in infrastructure, transportation, mining, and financial services, Professor Puri has a wide range of expertise in strategic planning, financial oversight, risk management, executive compensation, and many other thorny and complex governance challenges facing public and private companies.

Professor Puri has served on a number of audit, risk, compensation, and governance committees; she currently serves on the board of the Canada Infrastructure Bank in addition to several other public and private organizations. Twice recognized as one of Canada’s Top 25 Most Influential Lawyers by Canadian Lawyer Magazine, she is also a past recipient of Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Award and Canada’s Top 40 under 40.

This event is proudly sponsored by