To help the discussion on Women in Business and lead up to the Sobey Women in Business Symposium: Women in Entrepreneurship: Leading Change on October 15, 2021, The Network will be hosting a pre-event on October 7, 2021 from 11:30 am - 1:00 pm focusing on creating an impact through mentorship. The Mentor-Mentee relationship is a vital connection that can provide support and resources for new and emerging women leaders, both personally and professionally. Developing and building this relationship can help achieve goals, develop expectations, build skills and obtain opportunities. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has overwhelmed and affected people in many ways. It has also changed the networking game, often making it harder to meet face-to-face. Emerging from the pandemic will require us to re-evaluate how we can prioritize goals and remain productive in difficult times. With these added challenges and stresses, how can we leverage mentoring to help the next generation of women business leaders successfully navigate the future.

This event will be moderated by EnPoint’s Chantal Brine (BA ‘09) and will include a round table discussion from faculty of Kevin Schwenker, Dr. Margaret McKee past and present alumni of Morgan Baker Tucker and Sarah McCarthy, as well as notable alumni and entrepreneur Leah Skerry (BComm ‘09) and community leader Shakara Joseph and Karen Oldfield. More information on the speakers can be found below.

Please register for the event via the link: Register for the Network's Mentorship Event

Chantal Brine

Chantal Brine is a builder of people and businesses. Her interest in the psychology behind human interaction brought her to Saint Mary’s University from Bermuda, where she focused on Psychology, Business, and Human Resources. Following university, she made Nova Scotia her home and began supporting leaders in the private and public sector as a Consultant. This work led to her role with North American technology company, Unique Solutions Design Ltd., where she led the development and execution of their human capital strategy for four years as the company tripled in size. After reconnecting with her own passion of helping others find careers that they love, she partnered with Vii Ventures to start En Point where she focuses on helping young adults do just that.

Chantal is a believer in experiential learning, a proponent for mentorship, and an active advocate for women. As a TedX and sought-after speaker, she often talks about the importance of living an authentic life and on the impact of mentorship in advancing one's career. Chantal Chairs the Mentorship Committee for Women in Communications and Technology, Atlantic, is the past Chair for the Atlantic Regional Advisory Board for the Canadian Association of Career Educators and Employers, serves on the Halifax Chamber of Commerce WorkForce Taskforce, and sits on the Program Advisory Council for Techsploration

Kevin Schwenker

Fellow Certified Management Consultant (FCMC), Registered Organization Excellence Specialist (ROES)

Principal, Schwenker & Associates, Halifax, Canada

Kevin Schwenker has been consulting to management for over thirty-five years as an independent management consultant. He specializes in assisting organizations succeed with strategic planning and change implementation, assessing progress towards and implementing organizational excellence initiatives, managing projects, and creating engaged employees through performance management and talent development. Kevin also facilitates the development of powerful, strategic, and effective mentoring programs and provides coaching and professional training services. He has led a wide range of multi-faceted consulting projects locally, nationally, and internationally, for private, public, and not-for-profit sector clients.

Kevin was invited to join the faculty at the Sobey School of Business, Saint Mary’s University (Halifax, Canada) as an industry expert and has been teaching advanced practical MBA courses since 2001.  He was awarded the distinction of Adjunct Professor in September 2018.

Leah Skerry

Leah is the co-founder of Squiggle Park (Acquired in 2021) - An adaptive reading game with over 2 million kids learning to read. Leah is also a contemporary dancer and aerialist currently co-creating an off-ground sculpture presentation. In addition to being a Saint Mary’s University and Sobey School of Business graduate, she is also the newest Entrepreneur in Residence at Saint Mary's University.

Margaret McKee, BPR, MBA, PhD, ICD.D

Associate Dean of Undergraduate and Professional Graduate Programs Sobey School of Business at Saint Mary’s University 

Margaret is a faculty member in the Department of Management of the Sobey School of Business, joining in 2008. She teaches business ethics and corporate social responsibility to BComm students, and responsible leadership and governance to MBA and EMBA students. She also does research on these same topics with an increasing focus on the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals around well-being and gender diversity. Margaret is also the Halifax academic lead for the internationally recognized Directors Education Program offered in partnership with the Institute of Corporate Directors and the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. Margaret transitioned to academia after a 20-year career working as a professional communicator with publicly-traded companies, federal and provincial government departments, and public relations consulting agencies in Halifax and Toronto. While working in her various roles, Margaret has benefited from informal mentoring, and also participated in a formal mentorship program for young women.   

Karen Oldfield QC, ICD.D

Karen has served for more than 17 years as President and CEO of the Halifax Port Authority. During her tenure, Port Authority revenues more than tripled, enabling the organization to make significant financial investments in strategic port and transportation infrastructure to improve port competitiveness and the livability of the City of Halifax. Oldfield has global experience in trade development, particularly in the establishment of new markets combined as well as deep expertise in supply chain management and logistics.

Ms. Oldfield is immediate Past Chair of the Board of Governors of Saint Mary’s University. She has served as President of the Canadian Chapter of the International Women’s Forum, a global organization comprised of female leaders with a stated mission to further develop female executive and board talent. Ms. Oldfield currently serves as a Director of the Conference Board of Canada, as a member of the Human Resources Committee. Ms. Oldfield serves as Lead Director of Acadian Timber (ADN.TO), serving as Chair of Nomination and Governance and Executive Compensation as well as member of the Audit Committee. Karen remains active in the transportation and supply chain sector advising regional and national companies seeking to develop and grow.

Shakara Joseph 

Chief Executive Officer, JA Nova Scotia

Shakara Joseph is a passionate business builder with deep experience driving strategic organizational growth, partnership development and aligning culture and talent. As the CEO, Shakara led the organization to become the fastest-growing charter in Canada with increased program delivery, student reach, and impact. Before joining JA, Shakara was the Director of Client Development and Youth Entrepreneurship at the Black Business Initiative. She worked closely with young leaders and key stakeholders to develop innovative programs focused on entrepreneurial and workplace skill development. 

Shakara is engaged with various community organizations and currently serves on the Board of Directors of Invest Nova Scotia, Lake City Works, and the Patoria Legacy Project. Beyond Shakara's professional work, she is an avid traveller and lover of the outdoors.

Sarah M. McCarthy

Sarah is a Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN) alumna who is presently working as a Program Manager with major defence contractor L3Harris Technologies in Nova Scotia, Canada. She has completed a Master’s Certificate in Project Management (MCPM) through York University's Schulich School of Business, earned her Project Management Professional (PMP) ® certification through the Project Management Institute, completed her ScrumMaster ® training and certification at Scrum Inc. in Boston, Massachusetts, and is currently a candidate of the Sobey School of Business MBA program at Saint Mary's University. 

 Sarah has seven years of industry experience and as someone who has been actively involved in her organizations’ Young Professionals Networks and Employee Engagement Committees, Sarah is passionate about new approaches to mentoring relationships, the learning opportunities they provide, and how they contribute to long term career development.

She has also been a volunteer with Junior Achievement since 2013. 

Morgan Baker-Tucker

Morgan is a fourth year Commerce student at Saint Mary's Univeristy, majoring in Entrepreneurship with a minor in Psychology. Morgan is the Co-president of the Commerce Society at the Sobey School of Business, and was recently awarded the 2020-21 Frank H. Sobey Award. Morgan is from Mount Pearl, Newfoundland, and independetly moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia at age 16 in order to work towards a better education and future. She has experience working in the baking industry for TD, and has also worked as a waitress at a local diner, The Armview Restaurant and Lounge for the majority of her undergraduate degree. Along with working in customer-focused roles, Morgan recently started working for Dr. Ellen Farrell, on a project called Investoready. Investoready aims to help increase women's ability to obtain Venture Capital funding. In the future, Morgan hopes to work in the non-profit sector here on the east coast, and she is currently completing an independent directed study under Dr. Patricia Bradshaw called “Nonprofit and Social Enterprise Management” with a particular focus on organizations with a mandate of poverty reduction.