A Grand Bank native has been named as one of the Women’s Executive Network’s top 100 most powerful women in Canada.
Cmdr. Michele Tessier, commanding officer of HMCS Margaret Brooke, was selected in the PWC public sector leaders category. The winners were announced on Wednesday.
A bio on WXN’s website says Tessier’s career with the Canadian Forces has taken her to Australia, Japan, Singapore and the Middle East.
She has participated in numerous joint and international coastal and mine warfare exercises in Canada and the United States, as well as NATO exercises and courses in Croatia, Germany and Norway.
Tessier was appointed as commander of Coastal Forces Pacific in 2016 and was recently announced as commanding officer of the HMCS Margaret Brooke, an Arctic and offshore patrol vessel currently under construction in Halifax.
On achieving gender parity and diversity, she says: “If we want to encourage young women to join our ranks and make a career of it, we need to engage them face-to-face with someone they can relate to, someone with whom they can form an open, honest mentoring relationship.”
WXN’s top 100 award winners include women from all walks of life, including businesswomen, bureaucrats and lawyers to doctors, journalists, scientists, arts administrators and not-for-profit executives.
Founded in 1997, WXN is the leading organization in the country dedicated to the advancement and recognition of women in management, executive, professional and board roles.
An awards gala is being held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre tonight to celebrate the winners.
