Executive search firm Caldwell partners and business consulting firm MNP have released its list of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40, which is made up predominantly people in the tech sector.
The shortlist was determined by an independent advisory board of 24 business leaders — including OMERS CEO John Ruffolo and LifeLabs CEO Sue Paish — who evaluated over 900 nominations.
“We are honoured and proud to have this group of esteemed leaders come together to support this important initiative for business in Canada,” said Elan Pratzer, managing partner for Canada at Caldwell and Top 40’s founding partner. “The credibility of the program very much depends on the selection process, and integral to that is having a respected and independent Advisory Board. Each of these individuals brings a unique perspective, and Top 40 will benefit greatly from their insight, knowledge and sound judgement.”
The winners will receive their awards at a gala dinner in Toronto on November 2.
Some familar names in the tech community — including three #BetaKit150 speakers — include:
- Shahrzad Rafati, founder and CEO of BroadbandTV
- Bilal Khan, managing director of OneEleven
- Melody Adhami, COO of Plastic Mobile
- Sachin Aggarwal, CEO of Think Research Corporation
- Tariq Fancy, The Rumie Initiative
- Hossein Rahnama, founder of Flybits
- Joshua Simair, CEO SkipTheDishes
- Matt Switzer, SVP of strategy at Hootsuite
- Michael Katchen, CEO Wealthsimple
- Foteini Agrafioti, chief science officer and head of RBC Research
- Ian Crosby, co-founder and CEO of Bench
- Paul Desmarais III, SVP of Power Corporation of Canada
- Harley Finkelstein, COO of Shopify
The advisory board was assembled with the goal of reflecting the “diversity and leadership excellence in Canadian business,” and included 11 women in its 24-person board. For that reason, it’s somewhat surprising that the selections themselves would show such an obvious gender disparity: less than ten of the 40 executives selected were women.
Lots of great names on the Top 40 under 40 list, but honestly?! Gender: Male (31), Female (9) https://t.co/d0xW2SidhO
— Siri Agrell (@SiriAgrell) June 28, 2017