Class champions
Each EMBA cohort will be assigned a champion, a well-respected business leader who will remain in contact with the group throughout the two-year program.
2023-2025 EMBA Class Champion
Guy Cormier
President and CEO of Desjardins Group
Guy Cormier has been president and CEO of Desjardins Group since 2016. He has worked for the cooperative for 30 years, becoming a caisse general manager in 2002, vice-president of finance in 2009, and joining Desjardins Group's senior management team in 2012.
Since being elected president, Mr. Cormier has worked hard to instill a
strong member-and client-focused culture that resonates with all of Desjardins's employees and directors. On top of creating the $250 million GoodSpark Fund, he's also helped the organization grow and become a household name across the country.
As a champion of the cooperative model, shared prosperity, youth and a greener, more inclusive economy, Guy Cormier makes decisions that are based on the common good.
Mr. Cormier is a graduate of HEC Montréal, where he earned both an undergraduate degree in business administration and an MBA. He also taught finance there for close to a decade. He currently sits on a number of boards, has been named a Chevalier of France’s Légion d'honneur, and in 2022 he was awarded an honorary doctorate of law from the John Molson School of Business.
2021-23 EMBA Class Champion
Martin Spalding
Senior Business Advisor, Inno-Centre
Martin Spalding has held senior leadership roles at the Formula One Grand Prix of Canada – Champ Car – NASCAR, at Astral and Bell Media, principally in radio and television. He is currently working as a senior business advisor at Inno-centre, and as a mentor-coach in his own practice.
He has held many board positions including Montreal Inc., the Montreal Chamber of Commerce, and he is currently a Governor of “Les amis de la montagne”, and co-chair of “Fight Cancer Now” at the Montreal Jewish General Hospital.
Martin has an MBA from Concordia University (Executive MBA Option) – John Molson School of Business, a Post-MBA in Strategy, and a certificate in digital content and community management from McGill University. He is also a certified personal and professional life coach having studied at Concordia University’s John Molson School of Business, Executive Centre.
His fields of expertise are strategic planning, sales & marketing, operations, media and event management.
In his spare time, he likes to compete in Ironman triathlons having completed 5, and ascending mountains having summited the Kilimanjaro, Mount-Rainier, Mont-Blanc and the Matterhorn.
2022-24 EMBA Class Champion
Jacqueline Khayat
VP of Business Development & Marketing for Innovaderm
Jacqueline Khayat brings more than 22 years of combined experience in sales, management, marketing, corporate strategy execution, and M&A strategy and implementation in the life science industry. She has helped various organizations define and execute growth strategies, identify strategic partnerships and opportunities to diversify revenue streams and grow in new markets globally. She has also in-depth experience negotiating complex deals including in and out licencing, strategic alliances, joint ventures and supply agreements with brokers, distributors, clients, and suppliers.
Ms. Khayat is currently the VP of Business Development & Marketing for Innovaderm research, a privately owned company specialized in dermatology clinical research. She has also held various strategic roles within public biotech companies in the last few years namely as VP of Business Development for XXII Century Group and VP of Business Development and Global Sales at Neptune Wellness Solutions. Additionally, she has also held various sales and account management positions with global life science companies such as Nobel Biocare, 3M Canada and Baylis Medical Pain Management (now a Kimberly Clark company).
Furthermore, Ms. Khayat is an active business coach with various accelerators in the Quebec start up ecosystem. She is also a board member of Caisse Populaire St-Martin de Laval, a board member of Lumiera Health Inc. and an angel investor with Anges Québec.
Ms. Khayat holds a bachelor’s degree in science from the Faculty of Medicine of Montreal University. She also holds a Graduate Degree in Management from HEC Montreal and an Executive MBA from the John Molson School of Business.
Past champions
2015-2017 EMBA Class Champion
France Chrétien Desmarais
President of the Board of Directors of the Society for the Celebration of Montreal’s 375th Anniversary, and Vice-President and founding member of both the Guy Laliberté Foundation and ONE DROP
2014-2016 EMBA Class Champion
Andrew Molson
Partner and chairman of RES PUBLICA Consulting Group and vice-chairman of the board of Molson Coors
