Hélène Desmarais

Chair of the Board, CDL-Montreal

Hélène Desmarais is Founder, CEO, and Chair of the Board of Administration of the Centre d’entreprises et d’innovation de Montréal (CEIM) since 1996; was appointed first female President of HEC’s Board of Administration in 2003, of which she has been a member since 1999; is Co-Founder and Co-Chair of the International Advisory Board of HEC Montréal; is Chair of the University of Montreal’s Faculty of Medicine Advisory Committee; is President of the Steering Committee and member of the Board of Governors of the International Economic Forum of the Americas; is Chair of the Board of Administration of The Montreal Economic Institute; is Founder and Chair of the Board of Administration and of the Entrepreneurial Development Committee of the Société de développement économique Ville-Marie (SDEVM), which became PME-Mtl centre-ville in 2015; is Chair of the Société d’Investissement Jeunesse (SIJ); and, is Deputy Chair of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and Chair and Founder of its Foundation.

Ms. Desmarais also sits on many other boards of administration such as Christian Dior SE, Garda World Security Corporation, C.D. Howe Institute, the Institute for Governance of Private and Public Organizations, the IRCM – The Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal, and Génome Québec.