Mechanic industry
SCOTIABANK WOMEN IN AUTO ACCELERATOR WELCOMES SECOND COHORT
The Scotiabank Women Initiative is proud to celebrate the success of the Women in Auto Accelerator, with the arrival of a second cohort of participants for 2023. The six young women in the 2023 cohort of mentees were announced on January 19 during the opening of the Montreal International Auto Show. The Women in Auto Accelerator is a growing community. Participants will have the opportunity to take part in the second year of this unique acceleration program that combines mentoring, coaching and group co-development sessions with a variety of guest experts.
Supporting women and increasing their representation in the industry.
One of the goals of the Women in Auto Accelerator is to attract and retain more women in the automotive industry by helping them access and excel in leadership positions. In Québec, women represent only 18% of the workforce in automotive services and only 6.4% in the skilled trades [1]. According to a Deloitte study, nearly half of the women in the North American automotive sector said they would choose another occupation because of the lack of diversity and inclusion in the industry [2].
“When we launched the Women in Auto Accelerator, we didn’t know what impact it would have,” says Alain Henry, Vice President, National Sales, Automotive Finance, Scotiabank. “Truthfully, the impact has been phenomenal! Given the success of the Québec program, where we are very innovative, the program will be launched in 2023 in the rest of Canada, where it will be led by Scotiabank with the support of various industry partners,” he says.
“The Scotiabank Women Initiative aims to support and empower women leaders and entrepreneurs by facilitating access to capital, with concrete tools, and targeted networking,” said Ana Marinescu, Senior Manager of the Scotiabank Women Initiative and co-initiator of the Women in Auto Accelerator program. “It is a great pride to be able to directly contribute to the creation of this program tailored to women in the automotive industry, but more importantly, it is a great joy to hear their stories of how this experience has profoundly and positively changed their lives,” she adds.
“I have been passionate about this industry for 34 years and am honoured to be part of this program,” says Annie Laliberté, General Manager and Partner, Beauport Hyundai and Genesis of the City of Québec. “My relationship with my mentee has given me new ideas: the new generation is bursting with creativity! Also, Scotiabank gives us a lot of tools related to our industry. The program goes beyond mentoring, since training and speakers are available during our meeting, services that are very much appreciated by the cohort,” she explains.
On January 20th, the free virtual conference Women in Auto was held, presented by the Scotiabank Women Initiative and hosted by Isabelle Maréchal. The conference is accessible for viewing on the CCAQ’s Facebook and LinkedIn pages.
The following is a list of the two-year committed mentors from the inaugural 2022 cohort of mentees and the new 2023 cohort of mentees:
Mentors 2022–2023
Annie Laliberté, General Manager and Associate, Beauport Hyundai and Genesis of Quebec
Emmanuelle Verreault, Vice-President, Groupe Maison de l’Auto
Joëlle Lambert, Co-owner, Brossard Hyundai and General Manager, Honda St-Jean
Julie Fortier, General Manager and owner, Capitale Nissan and Kia Lévis
Nathalie Aumont, President and owner, Joliette Toyota
Valérie Tremblay, President and General Manager, Arnold Chevrolet
Mentees 2022
Andréanne Whittom, General Manager, Sept-Îles Hyundai & Sept-Îles Kia
Camille Riendeau, General Manager, Riendeau Hyundai
Katerine Lamoureux, General Manager, Les Sommets Chevrolet
Steffy Theetge, General Sales Manager, Groupe Theetge
Rosie Dulac-Bouffard, General Manager, Marquis Automobile
Vanessa Poirier, General Manager, Hull Hyundai
Mentored 2023
Annie-Claude Benoit, General Manager, Toyota Mont-Laurier
Cassy Cloutier, Sales Manager, Hyundai Ruby Auto, Thetford Mines
Chloé St-Gelais, Controller, Groupe St-Gelais Honda Charlevoix and Dufour GM
Émy Laflamme, Controller, Chibougamau automobile dealer GM
Laurence Desaulniers, Fixed Operations Manager, Mercedes Benz Trois-Rivières
Lauryanne Taylor, Director of Customer Contact Center, Customer Experience and Renewal, Groupe Park Avenue
Comments are closed