Keynote #1: TD Securities

Jennifer Young

Global Head Human Resources, TD Securities
Senior Vice President, TD Bank Group

As Global Head Human Resources, Jennifer Young is responsible for overseeing the global strategy and day-to-day operations for Human Resources in TD Securities. She leads the teams responsible for recruitment, talent management, compensation, and learning and development. These teams are located across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. As a member of the TD Securities Supervisory Committee, Jennifer also plays a key role on the firm’s senior leadership team.

Jennifer joined TD in 1987 as an Account Manager in Commercial Banking and held roles in Small Business, Mid-Market Lending and Corporate Accounts prior to moving to Human Resources in 1997. Jennifer has an extensive human resources background, gained through a variety of corporate and business line relationship management roles across TDBG. She is well respected in the HR professional community and is a valued member of TD’s Senior Human Resources Leadership Team.

Jennifer holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Wilfrid Laurier University, values community involvement, and is on the Board of Directors for the Oakville & Milton Humane Society.

Lee Bennett

Senior Vice President, Financial Planning,
Wealth Management, TD Bank Group

With over 25 years of experience in the financial services industry, Lee has held a wide variety of positions at various firms, most recently Fidelity, where as the Vice President of National Accounts she developed their National Accounts team and was responsible for maintaining institutional client relationships. Prior to her time at Fidelity, she served as the Vice President of Sales at Dynamic Mutual Funds and Spectrum United.

Lee joined TD Mutual Funds in 2010 and was responsible for sales and support within TD Canada Trust and was instrumental in partnering with Retail to foster and implement the holistic TD Canada Trust Money-In Strategy.

In 2011 Lee was appointed the Senior Vice President, Financial Planning, Wealth Management, TD Bank Group. In this new role, Lee oversees the Financial Planning business. She is responsible for developing and implementing an effective sales strategy, and continuing to build upon the strong partnership with Retail to meet our clients’ evolving needs.

Lee holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Western, Ontario and has actively participated on a number of committees and charity boards, including Big Sisters of Greater Toronto and Covenant House. She is currently the committee chair for the children’s social program at Craigleith Ski Club.

Linda Lavin

Managing Director and Group Head of Syndicated & Leveraged Finance Group, TD Securities

Linda Lavin is a Managing Director and Group Head of the Syndicated & Leveraged Finance Group at TD Securities, with responsibility for all U.S. loan syndication activities and high yield origination. Lavin has been with TD Securities for 22 years and has advanced through a series of increasingly Senior positions.

Prior to managing Syndications & Leveraged Finance, Linda was a senior syndicator with responsibility for structuring, originating and distributing financings for clients across a number of industries. Linda began her career with TD Securities in the Energy Group, rising to a Managing Director responsible for originating business within the utilities, project
finance and oil & gas sectors, and briefly worked in the Credit Restructuring Group.
Prior to joining TD she worked at Kidder, Peabody & Co.

Lavin holds an M.B.A. from New York University and a B.A. from Fairfield University.
Linda and her husband reside in Westchester, New York with their three children.

 

Keynote #2: CBC Canada

Kirstine Stewart

Executive Vice-President, CBC English Services

Kirstine Stewart is the Executive Vice-President for CBC English Services. She oversees CBC’s English radio and audio, television and digital operations, covering multiple media platforms across the country.

Kirstine was appointed General Manager of CBC Television in 2006, and since arriving has re-established the CBC as the leader in Canadian-made television programming. She commissioned the greatest number of Canadian content hours the CBC has ever had in prime time and under her leadership, CBC has experienced some of its greatest hits and highest ratings–all while maintaining and strengthening its public broadcasting mandate.

Under Kirstine’s direction, CBC has achieved continual ratings successes, launching breakout hits like Being Erica, Battle of the Blades, Little Mosque on the Prairie, Dragons’ Den, George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight, Republic of Doyle, Mr. D and Heartland. From its premiere to the season finale, an average audience of 965,000 tuned in to Arctic Air, making this the largest audience to follow the first season of a CBC Television drama series in 15 years.  In 2011, CBC Radio One achieved its highest share for the network since PPM measurement began. And, this past January, the 2012 Winter season broke multiple viewing records in its premiere week, making it CBC Television’s most successful launch in history.

In her role, Kirstine is responsible for leading the development and implementation of Strategy 2015: Everyone Every Way for English services. Under her leadership, CBC has developed broadband and mobile content strategies, and increased CBC’s presence with local service expansion announcements to better serve and
connect Canadians across the country.

Recently, CBC was awarded the Canadian broadcast rights for the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games and the Rio 2016 Olympic Summer Games, after successfully winning the bid under Kirstine’s leadership, marking a return of the Games to CBC after an eight year absence. Even more recently, it was announced that CBC has been awarded the host and domestic broadcast rights for the Toronto 2015 Pan/Parapan American Games.

Kirstine has revolutionized the modern public broadcaster by announcing CBC’s digitally-based music distribution and curation service CBC Music, a ground-breaking initiative formed through successful negotiation of rights agreements with the music industry. This, in addition to the multiple program apps for sports, news and entertainment, as well as new digital and mobile initiatives marked a new era for CBC.

Known as a leader in the industry, Kirstine was named Canadian Women in Communications (CWC) 2010 Woman of the Year, has been recognized by the Women’s Executive Network as one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women,is a member of the Forum of Young Global Leaders, selected to advise the World Economic Forum, in 2006 was named one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 and Playbacks 2011 Person of the Year. Marketing Magazine has also recognized Kirstine’s role in naming CBCMedia Player of the Year in 2009 and Strategy Magazine has acknowledge CBC as a Brand of the Year for 2011 and 2012 under her leadership.  For two consecutive years, Kirstine was ranked as one of Women of Influence’s Top 25 influencers of the year and a Diversity Champion for 2012. Recently, Toronto Life magazine ranked Kirstine #13 of the 50 Toronto’s Top 50 Most Influential people in the city.

She is a founding board member of Culture Days, sits on the Banff Television and Film Festivalboard, Canadian Film Centre, Business for the Arts, Journalists for Human Rights and on the Amfar committee. She is a graduate of the University of Toronto and the Global Leadership in the 21st Century program at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

 

Keynote #3: Women of Influence

Carolyn Lawrence
President & CEO, WOMEN OF INFLUENCE INC.

Carolyn Lawrence is the President & CEO of Women of Influence Inc., Canada’s preeminent organization dedicated to advancing, connecting and celebrating the professional accomplishments of high powered Senior Executive Women and providing both a forum and the programs to support the development of professional women throughout North America.

Since 1994, Women of Influence has produced a nationwide Luncheon Series profiling the most accomplished women who share their success story to inspire and connect likeminded professionals. The program consists of 20 events, in 8 Canadian cities, inspiring over 7500 attendees each year. This flagship series is well established in the business community having profiled over 300 of the highest-powered and most recognized women in Canada including Kim Campbell; former Prime Minister of Canada, Pamela Wallin; Journalist and former Counsel General to New York State, and Heather Reisman; CEO of Indigo. These programs are sponsored by leading organizations with objectives to reach influential and affluent women as employees and consumers including Deloitte, Jones New York, BMO Nesbitt Burns, RBC Royal Bank, Shoppers Drug Mart and Chubb Insurance. The firm has proudly grown to include the Canadian Woman Entrepreneur Awards, Young Women of Influence Evening Series, Senior Executive Dinner Series, Future Women of Influence, and the Women of Influence Magazine.

Carolyn joined Women of Influence in 2005 as Event Director and has served as the President since 2007. Carolyn brings to her role senior corporate experience in Strategic Development, Marketing, Communications and nation-wide Event Management in the financial services industry; proving her proficiency in handling high value client relations and senior executive management. Prior to joining Women of Influence, Carolyn worked at TD Waterhouse managing AGM’s, writing client facing presentations, marketing brochures and producing 25 Economic Outlook events for high value clients each year. This training combined with Carolyn’s passion and determination to improve women’s professional advancement, results in a powerful entrepreneurial force and a perfect pairing with this important and influential Canadian firm.

Carolyn’s mandate as President is to increase the impact Women of Influence has on women’s professional success globally, providing leading forums specifically to find solutions to the challenges facing women’s corporate advancement and women-led businesses. The market of women as consumers and employees is larger than China and India combined, and the fact is that this market is vastly underused, undervalued and underestimated. Carolyn and the Women of Influence form a powerful resource and are shaping the information and best practices for women’s advancement to the media, for corporations and government.

Carolyn holds an Honors Bachelor of Arts, from the University of Western Ontario and a Certificate of Achievement from Queen’s Finance Program. Outside of the office Carolyn holds volunteer based leadership roles with the AGO and Women’s College Hospital and is on the Executive Committee of the International Women’s Forum. She has completed Ironman USA and has competed in the Triathlon World Championships for Team Canada. Carolyn holds herself to the standards of a woman of influence every day, determined to reach her own potential and believing in the power of leading by example to inspire women around her.