Our Team

Senior National Director, Corporate Affairs
Microsoft Canada

Marlene Floyd is one of Canada’s leading government affairs professionals with over 20 years working in business, government and the not-for-profit sector. Professionally Marlene leads Microsoft’s corporate affairs, public policy and advocacy efforts in Canada. Prior to joining Microsoft, Marlene has worked as a partner in a national government and public affairs firm and has served as a trusted advisor to Prime Ministers and several federal Ministers on a diverse range of public policy matters. An avid volunteer, Marlene sits on and chairs several national and community boards, including Dress for Success Canada Foundation, Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan), and the Canadian American Business Council. She is the founder of Dress for Success Ottawa, a charity that empowers the economic independence of women by providing the tools to help them thrive in work and in life. For her career and community achievements Marlene has been a recipient of a Forty Under 40 award, Y Women of Distinction award and a Leading Women Building Communities award from the province of Ontario.

Founder and CEO, Hillberg & Berk

Rachel Mielke is the founder and CEO of Hillberg & Berk jewellery, an iconically Canadian company that was founded at her kitchen table in 2007.

Through grit, determination, and vision Rachel grew her one-woman brand to a multi-million dollar enterprise that now has corporately owned stores across Western Canada and adorns customers globally. Rachel’s vision for Hillberg & Berk has always been more than just creating beautiful jewellery, she has used her company as a tool for social good focusing on combating gender-specific issues women face through philanthropy, campaigns, and organizing her business around a social enterprise model.

Hillberg & Berk has proudly supported hundreds of organizations across the globe that uplift women and has contributed over $10 million dollars in cash and product to these organizations.

Rachel is an Honorary Captain of the Royal Canadian Navy, honorary Chair of Women Leading Philanthropy, and sits on various other boards and committees which support the economic development of women. By far her proudest accomplishments are being a mom to 3 beautiful children and having been married to her best friend, Zlatan for over a decade.

Vice President and Market Leader, BMO Private Wealth

As a Vice President, Market Leader and member of Private Wealth’s Senior Leadership team, Roxanne is accountable for day-to-day oversight of Private Bankers, Investment Counsellors, Investment Advisors and Directors of Trust at BMO Private Wealth.

Fully bilingual in French and English, Roxanne employs a holistic approach to collaborating with her colleagues and designing integrated solutions to enable clients and achieve their personal Wealth goals. With more than 20 years of both Domestic and International industry experience, Roxanne knows how to navigate the nuances and complexities of Wealth Management so that clients can have confidence knowing that their goals are within reach.

Prior to joining BMO Private Wealth in 2018, she held progressive Senior Management positions with another financial institution consistently leading a team to qualify and surpass benchmarks and expectations.

Roxanne holds an Honors Bachelor of Commerce degree with a Double Major in Finance and Accounting from Laurentian University. In addition to earning her CFP (Certified Financial Planner) and CIM (Chartered Investment Manager), Roxanne is also a CPA/CGA (Chartered Professional Accountant) through the University of Calgary.

Advisor / Adjudicator / Educator

Bonnie Goldberg is a lawyer by education and currently presides over Coroner’s Inquests for the Coroner’s Office. Bonnie recently completed a one year role as Special Assistant to the then-Minister of National Defence, the Honourable Anita Anand, M.P.

Bonnie has many years of experience as an adjudicator with a variety of provincial tribunals and has taught Administrative Law to first year law students at the Lincoln Alexander School of Law at TMU University, to internationally trained law students in the Osgoode LLM program, and at Seneca in the paralegal program.

Prior to working as an instructor and adjudicator, Bonnie held senior administration positions with the University of Toronto Faculty of Law. In particular, she ran the Career Development Office at the law school from 1997-2005, where her primary focus was on preparing law students for the job market.

Bonnie has served on a number of Boards over the last two decades, most notably on the University of Toronto Academic Board, the National Association for Law Placement and the Leo Baeck Day School.

Executive Director, Dress for Success Central Alberta

Erin Forbes brings a wealth of experience in the non-profit sector in Central Alberta. She is currently the Executive Director of Dress for Success Central Alberta, leading the organization through significant increases in client service and building the operational capacity to successfully manage this growth. Prior to joining Dress for Success Central Alberta, Erin spent the previous ten years in senior roles within non-profit organizations and academic institutions. Her work within the non-profit sector has led to a specialization and passion for strategic planning, fund development and community engagement. Erin holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Marketing (with honours) from the University of Saskatchewan and a postgraduate certificate in change management. She is an active member of the Red Deer & District Chamber Board of Directors.

Prior to her work in the non-profit sector, Erin co-owned and operated a local business until selling it in 2021. Erin currently resides in Red Deer with her husband, two children and their labrador retriever. She is deeply invested in her community and believes in the value of partnerships and engagement.

Principal, Campbell Strategies

Gayle has spent more than 20 years working in public affairs, and brings experience in stakeholder relations, government relations and public policy on a range of issues. Prior to joining Campbell Strategies, Gayle held roles in the private sector, government and not-for-profit organizations including Director, External Affairs at CIJA; Special Advisor to the Assistant Deputy Minister of the Ontario Office of International Relations and Protocol; Director of Lawyer Happiness at Axiom Law/Cognition LLP; and Vice Chair of the Ontario Office for Victims of Crime.

Connecting with people, and connecting people to one another, is Gayle’s passion and a driving force in her professional and personal life.

Gayle is a lawyer by training and practiced civil litigation at Goodmans LLP in Toronto. She is a graduate of McGill University and Osgoode Hall Law School.

Executive Director, Making Changes Association

With over 30 years of experience empowering teams, supporting clients, and generating results, Lori’s career focus has been on the value of relationship building – both internal and external relationships – and their impact on the bottom line.  

Lori’s career journey has taken her from for-profit work in the business communications and training field, to launching her own personal coaching business, to working in non-profit organizations.  Lori has spent the last 15 years in senior roles within non-profit organizations guiding and supporting strategic planning, program development, human resources, funding initiatives, and stakeholder engagement.  Lori is passionate about empowering women and helping to ensure all individuals are provided equal opportunities regardless of gender, ethnicity, disability, or sexual identification.

In October 2022, Lori joined Making Changes Association as their Executive Director.  Dress for Success Calgary operates as a division of Making Changes Association. The association has over 40 years of empowering women, those who identify as women, and teen girls – helping them reach their full potential.  The alignment of Lori’s passions, and the vision and values of Making Changes, is an exciting chapter in Lori’s life – bringing her experience and life-long focus on people, full circle.

Lawyer, Vice Office Managing Partner, Cozen O’Connor

Lucy is a corporate and securities lawyer and the vice office managing partner of Cozen O’Connor’s Vancouver office. Lucy focuses her legal practice on general corporate and commercial matters, securities and stock exchange requirements, continuous disclosure, corporate governance, and various securities and stock exchange-related issues. She has represented numerous companies in the negotiation, structuring, and completion of a wide variety of transactions, including public and private offerings, plans of arrangement, spinout transactions, stock exchange listings and mergers and acquisitions.

Lucy is a contributing author of the Continuing Legal Education Society British Columbia’s Due Diligence Deskbook and has lectured on topics including corporate governance, securities, and corporate law. She also serves on the board of directors of Dress for Success Vancouver and CFA Society Vancouver.

Senior Reporter, CBC/Radio-Canada

Lyndsay Duncombe is a senior reporter with CBC National News based in Vancouver. She has more than 20 years experience as a reporter, producer and editorial leader both in Canada and internationally.

CBC’s Senior Washington Editor during the Trump administration, Lyndsay has also been posted in Los Angeles, Winnipeg and her home province of Saskatchewan.

Lyndsay is drawn to stories about people, especially women, overcoming obstacles and thriving. She volunteered with the N Street Village in Washington, DC and was an early producer with Journalists for Human Rights in Ghana.

CEO, Dress for Success Worldwide

Michele C. Meyer-Shipp joined Dress for Success® Worldwide as CEO in February 2022. Michele leads the organization’s 140+ affiliates in more than 20 countries as it continues its mission to help women achieve economic independence via a suite of services to include job readiness support, professional development resources, coaching and mentorship, and workplace attire.

Michele joins Dress for Success from Major League Baseball, where she served as Chief People & Culture Officer. While at MLB, Michele led the human resources, diversity and inclusion, and office operations functions for the League Office with an emphasis on launching new programs and policies to recruit and develop talent, advancing diversity and inclusion efforts, and enhancing workplace culture. She also served as a senior advisor to the Commissioner as well as leaders across 30 major league baseball teams and multiple Minor League teams.

Prior to MLB, Michele served as Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer at KPMG LLP, where she led initiatives relating to talent recruitment, development, and retention; supported the efforts of leaders across KPMG’s 85+ national offices; and managed a portfolio of external strategic partnerships. Previously, she served as Global Chief Diversity Officer for both Prudential Financial and the law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP. Michele spent the first twelve years of her professional career practicing employment law in both the private and public sectors, where she advised clients on optimizing talent and implementing equitable workplace initiatives. Meyer-Shipp is a graduate of Rutgers University and Seton Hall University School of Law.

Michele is a sought-after speaker and has served as a Yahoo! Finance News Contributor and been featured in top media outlets including the New York Times, USA Today, The Economist, Forbes, Fortune, Business Insider, CNN, The Wall Street Journal, Savoy Magazine, Black Enterprise, The Tamron Hall Show, CORE Magazine, Working Mother Magazine, Diversity Woman Magazine, Quartz, Inc., and more. Michele is a frequent guest lecturer at Rutgers University School of Business. She is also the recipient of numerous awards, including Business Insider’s “38 Power Players of Consulting” (2020), Black Enterprise’s “Portraits of Power” (2020), The Network Journal’s “25 Influential Black Women in Business” (2021), Core Magazine’s “100 Most Influential Blacks Today” (2021), ACC Foundation’s “Global Women in Law & Leadership” (2022), Dress for Success Phoenix’s “Women of Impact” (2023), and Association of Black Women Attorneys’ “Women of Power” (2023). She is a member of the Boards of the LPGA (Ladies Professional Golf Association) and the chair of the Fritz Pollard Alliance Foundation. In her free time, she loves to travel, play golf, attend sporting events, and spend time with her husband and three young adult sons.

Chief Diversity Officer, Linde

Michelle Loo serves as the Chief Diversity Officer at Linde plc. Linde plc is a leading global industrial gases and engineering company that operates in over 80 countries worldwide.

In her current role, Michelle leads the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives across Linde’s global operations. Before her current role, Michelle served as Head of Human Resources for Linde Canada.

Michelle brings over 20 years of experience in human resources and DEI leadership, working for large multinational organizations. Michelle holds bachelor’s degrees in liberal studies and business economics and a master’s degree in human resources, from York University.