Our Team

National Director, Corporate Affairs, Microsoft

Marlene leads Microsoft’s corporate affairs, public policy and advocacy efforts in Canada. Prior to joining Microsoft, Marlene was responsible for the execution of national stakeholder engagement and outreach campaigns while serving as the Director of Operations and Outreach to the Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau in the lead up to the 2015 federal election. Marlene has previously worked as a partner in a government and public affairs firm and has served as an advisor to Prime Ministers and several federal Ministers on a diverse range of public policy matters. An avid volunteer, Marlene sits on several national and community boards and is the founder of Dress for Success Ottawa. 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.

CEO, Dress for Success Halifax

Brenda Saunders/Todd is founder and CEO of The Social Boutique (a non-profit, social enterprise that financially supports Dress for Success Halifax) and continues to move women forward by serving as CEO of Dress for Success Halifax. Brenda currently serves on Dress for Success Worldwide’s Board of Directors, as well as, founding board member of the Dress for Success Canada Foundation. Additionally, Brenda serves on the Board of Directors for Big Brothers Big Sisters Halifax – the largest on the Atlantic coast. Brenda graduated with distinction from the Canadian Women’s Foundation Leadership Institute at St. Francis Xavier University and is an International Award-Winning Speaker.

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.

Head of Operations, Newfoundout Family Office and Danbe Foundation

Mary leads the operations for a private family foundation and family office of renowned philanthropists in Ottawa, ON.

A lawyer by trade and practice, Mary was eventually drawn to non-profit work for the positive impact that it has on individuals and communities. After almost a decade working in charities in various capacities including executive leadership roles, Mary now helps to facilitate philanthropic giving through the Danbe Foundation. Until March 2022, Mary was the Executive Director of Dress for Success Ottawa and was closely involved in the life-changing work that is done by this organization.

As a life-long volunteer and strong believer in the importance of gender equality, Mary is pleased to continue to sit on the Board of Directors for the Dress for Success Canada Foundation to help empower women on their journey to economic independence. When she is not working, Mary is busy trying to keep up with the boundless energy of her two small children.

CEO, Dress for Success Worldwide

Michele C. Meyer-Shipp began her new role as CEO, Dress for Success Worldwide on February 16, 2022. Previously, Michele served as Chief People & Culture Officer with Major League Baseball. 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 decade of her 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.