Lunch will be served at 12:10 PM with the speech to follow at 12:40 PM.
Live webcast will begin streaming at 12:40 PM.
Promoting diversity is critical to Canadian innovation and competitiveness.
Many agree on the need for change, and the conversation has heated up in the last year, with proposed new disclosure requirements regarding gender diversity on boards and in senior management, requiring companies to “comply or explain” their composition and recruiting practices.
While starting with gender diversity makes sense in policy terms, it’s clear that increased diversity overall in corporate leadership is not coming fast enough. Clearly, barriers remain and there isn’t agreement on the best way forward.
Why is it important to have diversity in leadership? How is diversity linked to corporate values and innovative workplaces? Whose responsibility is it to drive change at the top? And what can and should be done?
RBC Board Chair Kathleen (Katie) Taylor will address these questions drawing on stories and insight from her leadership journey as President and CEO of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, and as Chair of the Board of Canada’s largest bank.
Biography
Kathleen (Katie) Taylor is Chair of the RBC Board of Directors. She has served on the board since 2001, and has been a member of the Human Resources Committee, and member and chair of the Corporate Governance and Public Policy Committee.
Ms. Taylor is the former President and Chief Executive Officer of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, where she held a number of senior leadership roles during her 24-year career with the company. Prior to becoming CEO in 2010, she served as President and Chief Operating Officer and President, Worldwide Business Operations. She was instrumental in establishing the firm’s global portfolio of luxury properties and ensuring the brand’s international success.
Her many accolades for business achievements include the Schulich School of Business Award for Outstanding Executive Leadership and the inaugural Medal for Career Achievement from the Hennick Centre for Business and Law at York University, and she has been inducted into the Canadian Marketing Hall of Legends.
Ms. Taylor has a Master of Business Administration degree from Schulich School of Business, a law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from the University of Toronto.
She is a director of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Chair of the Board of the Hospital for Sick Children Foundation. She is also Chair of the Principal’s International Advisory Board of McGill University and a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council of the Schulich School of Business of York University.
She lives in Toronto with her husband and has three grown children.
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