Concordia alumnae among Canada’s Top 100: Most Powerful Women

Named by the Women’s Executive Network, the professionals are honoured for their achievements across sectors

December 10, 2024

By Kay Pettigrew, BA 22

The 2024 honourees are (from left): Fatoumata Camara, Jennifer Flanagan, Aminka Belvitt, Marie-Chantal Côté, and Catherine Cabot.

WXN — the Women’s Executive Network — has recognized five Concordians with its latest Canada’s Top 100: Most Powerful Women Awards.

Now in its 22nd year, the list celebrates the achievements of women professionals who set an example for their peers across roles, ages and industries. The 2024 Concordia honourees are represented across the Top 100 categories, including women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM); executive leadership; and community impact. One recipient also obtained a spot in the organization’s Hall of Fame — for women named to the list four times.

The recipients were celebrated at the Fairmount Royal York Toronto on November 27, 2024, with a VIP cocktail, champagne brunch and awards gala.

“These awards celebrate the boldest of the bold who redefine what’s possible through their power, passion and purpose,” said Sherri Stevens, owner and chief executive officer of WXN, in a press release. “This year’s winners inspire women who follow in their footsteps and entire communities to dream bigger, aim higher and push beyond boundaries.”

Meet the Concordia women who are making a difference.

Woman with a black jacket and striped shirt standing in front of a window smiling

Marie-Chantal Côté, BA 97 (journalism)

Senior vice-president, Group Benefits, Sun Life
Recipient, Executive Leader award

As a senior executive at Sun Life, Marie-Chantal Côté is responsible for overseeing the nearly 74 million insurance claims paid annually by the insurer. She also administers the Canadian Dental Care Plan, the Government of Canada program that provides dental care for up to nine million Canadians. In addition to her professional duties, Côté prioritizes inclusive and equitable health-care solutions, such as the Family Building program, an innovative strategy that supports adoption and surrogacy benefits for Sun Life clients. She is also a passionate advocate for inclusive mental-health resources and oversees and develops programs that facilitate their access.

Woman with long brown hair wearing a grey jacket and a pink shirt stands in front of a Concordia backdrop

Catherine Cabot, BEng 07 (software engineering)

Senior Aide-de-Camp to the Governor General of Canada
Recipient, AMEX Emerging Leaders Award for women ages 30 to 40

Major Catherine Cabot is an aerospace engineer in the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Senior Aide-de-Camp to the Governor General of Canada. She is recognized for her significant contributions to advancing equity, diversity and inclusion in the military throughout her 16-year career with the Canadian Armed Forces, including co-chairing the local Defence Women Advisory Organization and serving as a gender advisor. Since earning her bachelor’s degree at Concordia, Cabot has earned a Master’s of Public Administration from the Royal Military College of Canada and is pursuing a PhD in business administration at l’Université du Québec en Outaouais. As part of its annual Alumni Recognition Awards, Cabot was recognized by the Concordia University Alumni Association (CUAA) earlier this year with the Benoît Pelland Alumna of the Year Award.

Woman in multi coloured dress and glasses stands in front of a window smiling

Fatoumata Camara, BA 12 (urban planning)

Founder, JAMYAM / Senior HR Manager at IGM Financial
Recipient, Canadian Tire Community Impact Award

Fatoumata Camara is a community organizer and mentor whose projects focus on empowering underrepresented communities through an intersectional lens. She is the founder of the Black-led non-profit JAMYAM, or Young Athletes of Montreal, which promotes inclusion and excellence through sports for Black high-school students in the city. In addition to her non-profit leadership, Camara is a senior human resources manager in the finance industry, developing inclusive resources and training programs for the workplace. In 2022, she received the CUAA’s Alumni Recognition Award for Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. She also established an award at Concordia — the Fatoumata Tewa Camara Bursary — to support Black students raised by single parents or who are single parents themselves.

Woman with long blonde hair, wearing a white suit jacket, with a gold necklace sits on a black chair.

Jennifer Flanagan, DSc 22

President and CEO, Actua
WXN Hall of Fame

At Actua, founder and CEO Jennifer Flanagan leads a national network of 40 universities and colleges to provide STEM learning opportunities to 375,000 youth from underserved communities each year. Flanagan has been committed to advancing equity, inclusion and innovation in education, technology and social entrepreneurship for 25 years, and was recently awarded an honorary doctorate by Concordia for her service to her field and community. She was also named one of the Top 25 Women of Influence in Canada by Women of Influence+ in November. Flanagan additionally serves as a board member for the University of New Brunswick and the Institute for Quantum Computing Canada. She is also a girls’ hockey coach, working to promote gender equity in sports.

A woman with black hair, wearing a white shirt, sits with one arm under her chin and smiles.

Aminka Belvitt, Attendee (communication studies)

Founder and president, ForUsGirls Foundation; founder and CEO, Wofemtech Solutions Inc.
Recipient, BMO STEM Award

Aminka Belvitt began her career in politics as a parliamentary assistant for the Parliament of Canada before transitioning to non-profit organizations such as the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies. Now an entrepreneur in the tech industry, Belvitt has since founded both Wofemtech Solutions Inc., a web- and video-conferencing platform, and the ForUsGirls Foundation, a Black feminist social-purpose organization that empowers young Black women and girls to become “goalkeepers” for the United Nations 17 Global Sustainable Development Goals across Canada, the United States and Jamaica. Belvitt was named a 2016-17 Champion of Change by UN Women and has been a board member at Concordia’s Community University Television since April 2015.

Alumni & friends

Alumni & friends