WBE Canada Adds Four New Members to Board of Directors

For Immediate Release

WBE Canada Board of Directors is pleased to announce that Pauline Macdonald, Babcock Canada; Jennifer Cooke, Export Development Canada (EDC); Alison Campbell, OSME; and Maryse Benhoff, BG Communications have all joined the Board as its newest members.

“As Board Chair I am thrilled to welcome our new Board Members. We are excited to see the diversity of industry representation and insights which are going to be available at the strategic level at WBE Canada. I look forward to working closely with the new members as we help grow Canadian Women Business Enterprises (WBEs),” said Dora Silva-Bolanos, WBE Canada Board Chair.

Pauline Macdonald is Head of Procurement and Supply Chain Management at Babcock Canada. Pauline has 30+ years of International experience in private and public sector environments. She is driven to succeed with a proven track record in Business Winning, Transformation Programs, Strategic Procurement, Supplier Relationship Management, Stakeholder satisfaction and managing teams whilst consistently delivering to industry best practice. Babcock Canada recently joined WBE Canada as a corporate member bringing new opportunities for our certified community.

“I am delighted to be joining the WBE Canada board and look forward to growing women owned businesses in the defence industry,” said Pauline Macdonald.

Jennifer Cooke is Corporate Lead, Women in Trade at EDC. In her role as Corporate Lead for EDC’s Women in Trade Strategy, Jennifer is focused on helping more women entrepreneurs export to grow their business. EDC, working directly and through key partners, offers specialized trade knowledge, facilitating trade with financing and insurance, and providing connections to enable companies to go, grow and succeed globally

“I am inspired by Canadian entrepreneurs and believe strongly in supporting more diverse women-owned businesses to realize their full potential inside and outside of Canada’s borders,” said Jennifer Cooke. “With dedication to removing barriers, helping entrepreneurs to manage risk and enabling success, I’m very excited to join the Board to actively contribute my experience and knowledge to further the objectives of WBE Canada.”

Alison Campbell is Senior Director, Supplier Engagement and Regional Coordination for OSME-SE (Office of Small and Medium Enterprises), Public Service and Procurement Canada. As Senior Director, Alison advocates on behalf of small and suppliers in an effort to reduce barriers to entry in their pursuit to Do Business with the Government of Canada and to meet the government’s commitment to increase diversity in federal procurement. Uniquely positioned within PSPC between federal buyers and suppliers, she helps create connections and increase awareness on both sides. She provides strategic direction and oversees the national outreach program delivered through OSME’s six regional offices and carries out the role of secretariat for the PSPC’s Supplier Advisory Committee, a consultative body that aims to bring potential improvements to federal procurement.

“I am pleased to build on OSME’s past collaboration with WBE Canada by becoming a member of the Board,” said Alison Campbell. “I look forward to working with other board members on strategies to help women entrepreneurs find and pursue opportunities to sell to the Government of Canada.”

Maryse Benhoff is Chair of WBE Canada’s Supplier Advisory Committee (SAC) and a certified WBE since 2009. She is President and Founder of BG Communications International Inc. a renowned Montreal-based translation firm that has been providing professional linguistic services for 25 years. BG Communications’ services include translation, interpreting, revision, proofreading, linguistic adaptation, transcreation, multilingual websites, content creation, social media management, language courses and overall linguistic support.

“I look forward to leveraging my expertise as a business owner to create and support exciting new programs for WBEs and corporations alike,” said Maryse Benhoff, President and Founder of BG Communications International Inc. “I am dedicated to acting as a facilitator by helping our member corporations access an extraordinary and ever-growing community of women and by helping our WBEs scale their services to meet an ever-growing demand. Together, we can do amazing things.”

WBE Canada Board Members are instrumental in charting the strategic direction of WBE Canada. You can access the list of WBE Canada’s Board Members here.

About WBE Canada

WBE Canada is a Canadian non-profit organization that is opening doors for women-owned businesses to supply chains across North America. It certifies Canadian firms that are at least 51% owned, managed and controlled by women and introduces them to opportunities with corporations. To learn more about how we support women-owned businesses, click here. If you are a mid-size or large company looking to support women-owned businesses through procurement opportunities, we want to hear from you. Click here to learn more how you can get involved. Full list of WBE Canada Board members can be found here.

Media contact:
Sharon Ferdinands, Communications & Marketing Coordinator, WBE Canada, marketing@wbecanada.ca