The Judy Project

The Judy Project is inspired by the late Judy Elder, a Microsoft Canada executive who was a dynamic visionary and a respected Canadian business leader. She urged women to be proud of their ambition, to reject barriers, and to simply "make stuff happen".

Whatever challenges she faced – either in business or in her equally important roles of wife and of mother to two sons – Judy met them head on while inspiring others to do the same. Through her intelligence, tenacity and ambition, Judy reached the top ranks in several organizations, including IBM Canada, Ogilvy One, the Canadian Marketing Association and Microsoft Canada.

In her own words:

"If you acknowledge the importance and power of your ambition, recognize that it is there to drive you to greater achievements and sustain you through the challenges. And if you couple it with competence, hard work and the morality you learned at your mother’s knee, you can defeat the insidious erosion of feeling inadequate, the fear of being in charge, the doubts that we all have about our capacity to lead."

- Judy Elder, as delivered at the WTN Gift of Wisdom Series, Toronto Board of Trade, March 7, 2002

Tiziana Casciaro >>

Academic Director, The Judy Project
Professor of Organizational Behavior and HR Management

Bill McEvily >>

Professor of Strategic Management

Colleen Moorehead >>

Business Director, The Judy Project
Chief Client Officer, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP

Geeta Sheker >>

Director, Initiative for Women in Business

Jia Lin Xie >>

Magna Professor in Management
Professor of Organizational Behaviour & HR Management

Mia Pearson >>

Co-Founder, North Strategic

Distinguished CEO and Executive guest speakers

2023 CEO and Executive Discussion Leaders:

Laurie R. Weingart, PhD, Keynote Speaker, Author
Denise Pickett, President, Global Services Group, American Express 
Kathleen Taylor, Chairwoman, Royal Bank of Canada
Beth Wilson, Corporate Director and past Chief Executive Officer, Dentons Canada
Annette Verschuren, Chair and CEO, NRStor Inc.

Past Executive Discussion Leaders:

Elyse Allan, President and CEO, GE Canada
Lorna Borenstein,CEO, Grokker
Elaine Campbell, President, AstraZeneca Canada Inc.
Frank Clegg, CEO, Canadians for Safe Technology (C4ST)
Isabelle Courville, President, Hydro-Québec TransÉnergie
Alison Coville, President, Hudson's Bay Company
Victor Dodig, President and CEO, CIBC Group of Companies
Margot Franssen, Founder and Former President, The Body Shop Canada
Moya Greene, Former President and CEO, Canada Post Corporation, current CEO, Royal Mail Plc.
Janet Holder, President, Enbridge Gas Distribution
Janet Kennedy, President, Microsoft Canada
Shelly Lazarus, Chairman and CEO, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide
Rebecca MacDonald, Former CEO, Energy Savings Income Fund, current Executive Chairman, Just Energy Group Inc.
Loretta Marcoccia, COO, Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Stacey Maubray, Former CEO and President, Second Cup Coffee Ltd.
Marcia Moffat, Managing Director – Head of Canada | BlackRock
Dale Ponder, Managing Partner and Chief Executive, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP
Satish Rai, Chief Investment Officer, OMERS
Heather Reisman, Founder and CEO, Indigo Books & Music
Gillian Riley, President and CEO, Tangerine Bank
Michael Sabia, Former President and Chairman, BCE Inc., current President and CEO, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec
Mandy Shapansky, President and CEO, Xerox Canada
Barbara Stymiest, Former Group Head of Strategy, Treasury & Corporate Services of Royal Bank of Canada, current Chairwoman, BlackBerry Ltd.
Bill Thomas,CEO and Senior Partner, Canada Chair, KPMG’s Americas Region
John Thompson, Chairman of the Board, The Toronto-Dominion Bank
Sherron Watkins, Former Vice President of Corporate Development, Enron Corporation and Time Magazine's 2002 Person of the Year

Candidates for The Judy Project are executive women typically at the Vice President, C-suite level (for non-profits), or Associate Deputy Minister level (for government), who have 10 or more years of senior leadership experience, a proven track record of accomplishments, and possess the following attributes: 

· aspire to lead a large organization in five to eight years;

· have clear ambition for themselves, their colleagues and their organization;

· be passionate about leadership and about the business they are in; and,

· be equally passionate in their commitment to their family, friends and community.

Note: Applicants from sponsor organizations will be given first priority for seats in the program. Thereafter, applications from non-sponsor organizations will be reviewed.

PROGRAM FEE

Included:

• Tuition
• All program materials and supplies

*Please note that program participants will be responsible for their own travel costs, Kingbridge Centre accommodation, meals and incidentals.

To book, contact The Kingbridge Centre toll-free at 1-800-827-7221, or locally at 905-833-3086. Participants of The Judy Project may obtain a special nightly room rate, including meals, of $405.00 plus applicable taxes. Reservations must be made by February 1, 2023. Reservations received after this date will only be granted the special room rate if availability allows.

PAYMENT

Payment in full is required upon acceptance to the Program. Payments can be made online. Applicants will be redirected to a secure online payment website after completion of the application form.

CANCELLATION POLICY

Please review the full version of our PROGRAM POLICIES » for cancellation information.

TAX INFORMATION – EMPLOYMENT-RELATED TRAINING

If the Program is employment-related training, Rotman must receive a letter from the employer confirming that the Program constitutes such training within the meaning of Canada Revenue Agency Interpretation Bulletin IT-470R. Generally, the Bulletin states that where the training is taken for the benefit of the employer, there is no taxable benefit to the employee.

If the tuition fee is paid for by the employer, it is the employer’s responsibility to determine whether or not the fees paid on behalf of the individual is a taxable benefit and should be included on his/her T4 slip.

TAX INFORMATION – NON-EMPLOYMENT-RELATED TRAINING

If an employer has not sanctioned that the Program is being taken for employment reasons, any discounts are taxable benefits to the individual participant and should be included on the individual’s tax return.

To apply to The Judy Project please complete the on-line application (step 1) and have your CEO or CEO designate submit the online nomination form (step 2).

Application Opens: October 10, 2023

The members of the Judy Project Steering Committee, the Rotman School of Management and the University of Toronto are grateful to the donors and sponsors who have contributed generously to this exceptional program, and for their commitment to the leadership development of program participants.

FOUNDING SPONSOR: Microsoft Canada

SPONSORS:
AMEX Canada Inc.
Bell Canada
Bentall Capital
Best Buy Canada Ltd.
Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP
CAE Inc.
Canada Post Corporation
CIBC
Canadian Marketing Association
CBC Television
Chubb Insurance Company of Canada
CIBC
Corus Entertainment Inc.
Cossette Communication Group
Deloitte & Touche
eBay Canada Limited
E*TRADE Canada
GE Canada
Glencore (Noranda/Falconbridge/Xstrata)
Hewlett Packard (Canada) Co.
Hudson's Bay Company
IBM
Inco Limited
Institute of Communications and Advertising
KPMG LLP
Loblaw Companies Limited
Maple Leaf Foods
McCarthy Tétrault
Medtronic of Canada Limited
Microsoft Canada
Molson Inc.
Ontario Power Generation
Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP
RBC Financial Group
Rogers
S.C. Johnson and Son Limited
Tangerine (ING Direct)
TAXI Advertising & Design
TD Bank Financial Group
TELUS Communications Inc.
Women in Capital Markets

FRIENDS:
ALTANA Pharma
Bentall Capital
Cisco Systems Canada Co.
London Drugs Limited
Maclean's Magazine
Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd.
National Leasing
The Kingbridge Centre