Speaker Information

Cleo is the Managing Partner of Korn Ferry’s Toronto and Montreal offices and is a member of the Firm’s Legal Center of Expertise. Much of Cleo’s time is spent advising leading Canadian and International law firms on succession planning, performance management, expansion and targeted lateral partner recruitment.  She also has deep experience identifying functional leaders in operations, marketing, finance, information technology and professional development for law and other professional services firms.  

Prior to joining Korn Ferry, Cleo spent five years as a director of a leading legal recruitment firm.  She is a lawyer and, before starting her career in search, she practiced commercial litigation.

Cleo holds a bachelor of arts in philosophy and music (with First Class Honours) from Queen’s University and both civil and common law degrees (with Distinction) from McGill University.  She was admitted to the Ontario Bar in 2004. 

Kendra co-leads Korn Ferry’s North American Search Assessment practice. In this role, she assesses executives and consults with clients to identify the most qualified candidates for the key roles that drive the success of their organizations. In addition to selection, Kendra leverages her psychology and assessment expertise to coach executives, offering insight and feedback, and helping them to accelerate into new positions. She is a specialist in understanding the way talent management supports organizations.  She has diverse career experience, working in the public sector as well as the private resource sector in talent management and leadership development. 

Prior to joining Korn Ferry, Kendra worked for a mining organization where she created and managed leadership development initiatives globally.  In addition, she worked for a public sector organization in talent management program development and implementation. Beyond Canada, Kendra has collaborated with colleagues in the United States, Africa, Australia, and South America to produce locally relevant programs.

Kendra holds a Master of Applied Science degree in Industrial/Organizational psychology from the University of Waterloo and an Honours B.A. in Psychology from Wilfrid Laurier University. She is an ICF credentialed coach.  She is fluent in English and Portuguese, and has lived in countries on 3 continents.

Andrea joined Capital One Canada Bank in 2016 and is currently General Counsel and Chief Risk Officer.  In this role, she is responsible for the delivery of legal and compliance services, enterprise risk management, and government and regulatory relations for Capital One’s Canadian business.  At Capital One, Andrea is the executive sponsor of the company’s Women in Tech Network, a group that supports the advancement of women in the workplace by breaking down gender-specific biases and promoting equitable treatment.  Andrea is also a founding member of the company’s Diversity Council, created to foster an inclusive environment where every employee’s voice is heard and matters.  

Prior to joining Capital One, Andrea was General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for the Canadian Bankers Association (CBA). As part of the executive team, Andrea acted as the lead legal advisor for the CBA and was responsible for the Communications function as well as the CBA’s Consumer Affairs Policy team.  Before that, she was General Counsel for Mastercard Canada, responsible for legal affairs and public policy.

Andrea is active on various legal and industry practice groups, sits on many advisory boards, and is a frequent speaker on topics related to banking and technology.  She is a graduate of the University of Ottawa law school.

Kimberley is Senior Vice-President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of CT REIT. With 30 years of legal experience, Ms. Graham specializes in commercial real estate, securities and corporate governance.  Ms. Graham previously served as Assistant General Counsel, Canadian Tire Corporation (CTC) and Chief Counsel, CT REIT. Prior to joining CTC, Ms. Graham held increasingly senior roles within financial services, including General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer and Corporate Secretary of Equitable Bank. She also practiced commercial real estate law at two national law firms. Ms. Graham was admitted to the Ontario Bar in 1990, holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Western Ontario and a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Concordia University and completed the Directors Education Program at the Institute of Corporate Directors at the University of Toronto.

Catherine leads and oversees MEC’s legal, governance, privacy, real estate and sustainability matters. She brings over 13 years of distinguished legal experience to MEC, and prior to joining MEC, Catherine was Senior Counsel at TELUS and associate at Borden Ladner Gervais, LLP. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) in Finance from the University of British Columbia and a Juris Doctor from the University of Toronto. She was also Board Secretary of TELUS Victoria Community Board from 2014 to 2019. She is the co-chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Steering Committee at MEC.  In her free time, Catherine enjoys personal training, biking, golfing and travelling with her family.

Melanie obtained her LL.B. in 1997.  After articling at the New Brunswick Court of Appeal, she joined the law firm of Clark Drummie in Saint John where she practiced mainly litigation.  In 2003, Melanie joined The City of Saint John where she has held different leadership positions, including Legal and Commercial Manager for the largest municipal infrastructure project in New Brunswick's history, Legal Counsel to Saint John Water, and more recently, General Counsel for The City of Saint John.  She obtained her LL M. from Osgoode Hall Law School in 2016.  She is Chair of the Law Society of New Brunswick’s Task Force, charged with the development and implementation of a new, leading edge defensible assessment program in the high stakes credentialing environment that is the granting of licenses to practice law in NB.  She is also Chair of the NB Law Society’s Examination Committee, and is a member of the NB Law Society’s Truth and Reconciliation Committee and Bar Admission Course Committee.  She is a Mentor and Facilitator for the NB Bar 200 and has led the Negotiation Chapter of the NB Bar Admission Course for some time.   She was Co-Chair of the CBA-NB Women Lawyers Forum 2018 Conference titled “Practicing Courage”, which raised funds for New Brunswick’s Indigenous Women and Girls, through a partnership with the Fergusson Foundation.  She is French Canadian, and the proud mother of two strong, exquisite children.

Patricia joined Moderna at the end of 2020 as General Manager to set up and lead Moderna’s Canadian organization. This included leading the delivery of Moderna’s COVID-19 pandemic response and building a strong pipeline of mRNA therapeutics and vaccines to create a solid footprint for the innovative biotechnology company in Canada.

Before joining Moderna, Patricia spent 12 years at GSK holding progressively senior roles including Head of Vaccines Business and Head of Government Affairs and Market Access. With a drive to produce results and turn challenges into opportunities, Patricia successfully managed the creation of a public/private partnership between NEOMED and GSK, managed P&L, and led a corporate transformation initiative to embed a good governance mindset and a drive for performance. Her commitment to outside-the-box solutions resulted in her team driving significant sales and profitability growth with a down-sized sales team by increasing omni-channel outreach and innovative approaches.

Patricia’s strength in building large and successful teams from the ground up has helped her build an agile, diverse, and highly skilled team do drive Moderna’s expansion in Canada. Her drive for strategic and innovative leadership allows her to mobilize the resources, the teams and the stakeholders who make change happen, achieve results, and push back on the impossible. 

Patricia’s professional path has taken her around the world, having lived in the US, Singapore and France, as well as London while she was a lawyer at McCarthy Tetrault. In addition to her legal studies, Patricia holds an MBA from Montreal HEC and certifications in Strategic Negotiation from Harvard Business School and Leadership in Context from IMD. Living in Toronto for over a decade with her family, Patricia is actively involved in organizations that are committed to rethinking innovation and inspiring leadership for the benefits of current and future leaders in all sectors and in biotech/pharma in particular.

Throughout her 27-year career with Canadian Tire, Jane Nakamachi has held a number of progressive roles in Merchandising, Store Operations, Marketing and Talent, and has a proven track record of building collaborative teams and delivering results.  As Senior Vice President, Talent, Jane led the Human Resources function and was responsible for bringing the organization’s people strategy to life.

In her current role as Senior Vice President, Business Architecture, Jane is developing new ways for Canadian Tire to deliver and manage performance of its strategic plan across its multiple business units.

Jane is a proud mom of three children.  She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Wilfrid Laurier University in and an MBA from the Schulich School of Business at York University.

Dorothy Quann is the former Vice-President & General Counsel of Xerox Canada. Prior to joining Xerox, she practised insolvency and restructuring law at Smith Lyons.  

Dorothy is Chair of the Law & Business Advisory Council TRSM at Ryerson University. She is a member of Ontario Trillium Foundation Grant Review team, and past President of Legal Leaders for Diversity.   Dorothy is a recipient of the General Counsel Award from Women's Law Association of Ontario, and the Lexpert Zenith Award for her leadership in the legal industry, and the World of Difference Award by the International Alliance for Women for her contribution to the advancement of women in business. 

Dorothy holds a B.A. Honours and LLB from the University of Ottawa, and qualified as a solicitor in the UK. She also holds a certificate in Adjudication for Administrative Agencies, Boards & Tribunals from Osgoode Hall Law School.