Hélène Desmarais

A Life of Engagement: Hélène Desmarais was born in 1955 and is a graduate in finance of the École des hautes études commerciales (HEC Montréal).  For the past twenty years she has committed herself in diverse ways to the economic, educational and cultural development of her province and country.  She has brought vision and resolve to the commercialization of innovation, and uncompromising rigor to economic policy.  Mme Desmarais has made significant contributions in supporting the development of new economy entrepreneurs.  Her endeavours have been driven by passion, distinguished by perseverance, and repeatedly crowned by success.   Her personal missions and public contributions have pursued a common goal – excellence.   All of her abilities have been directed toward achieving the paramount aim: advancement for society in business, the academy and the arts.

A Career of Community Involvement: Mme Desmarais has taken the lead in formulating solutions to many of the major challenges of her time.  With foresight, spirit and sustained determination she has involved herself as an entrepreneur, builder, strategist and key influencer.  Her work has encompassed numerous fields including the high-tech economy, the support of entrepreneurship among youth, university education, healthcare and the life sciences, growth of the biotechnology industry, public policy strategies, and Montreal’s vocation among the great cities of the world.

A Canadian Ambassador:  Hélène’s role has been no less significant in advancing the influence of Canadian institutions abroad.  By applying the same energy and long term commitment to her activities in the international sphere, she has brought many benefits to Canada.  Wherever she has travelled, or whenever she has welcomed visiting foreign delegations, she has made a priority of promoting Canadian institutions.  The Conférence de Montréal, an annual forum on global economic issues, as well as our universities, cultural and economic organizations, have all profited from her tireless advocacy.  She has aimed at attracting brilliant minds to Canada, and retaining them here.  One of her particular goals has been to foster social, economic and humanitarian alliances among international organizations, governments, universities, businessmen and citizens – and to support the projects that result from such partnerships.  Hélène has been instrumental in bringing a number of Canadian institutions to global attention, and in helping them over the years to be recognized among the finest in the world.

Leadership: High-Tech Enterprise
CEIM Fosters the “New Economy”

Recognizing the need for a highly competitive posture in a rapidly evolving global context, Mme Desmarais conceived, founded, built and manages one of Canada’s most successful incubators for technology and “new economy” companies – the Centre d’entreprises et d’innovation de Montréal (CEIM). 

• Since 1996, under her leadership, the CEIM, a non-profit incubator, has supported the start-up of 267 enterprises with strong commercial potential in the fields of information technology, multimedia, manufacturing technologies and the life sciences. 
• Offering customized management and related services, the CEIM has become one of the most successful incubators of entrepreneurs who go on to commercialize innovative research and new technologies in Canada.  Approximately 75% of its sponsored enterprises have flourished, an almost unprecedented level of success.
• The CEIM has contributed enormously to the development of globally recognized expertise and pathbreaking research in Quebec, while offering opportunities and fulfilling the ambitions of countless Quebec entrepreneurs.
• Through a specially targeted program at CEIM, Mme Desmarais has made it possible, every semester, for thirty unemployed high-school dropouts between the age of 18 and 25 to discover digital technologies, learn from striving entrepreneurs, and find their place in life.
• Mme Desmarais’ creation of CEIM has done more than nourish the new economy in Quebec; her accomplishment embodies her strong belief that Quebec can prosper in any domain, that women can lead in any field – and that no challenge can withstand determination, rigor and boldness.

Vision – Entrepreneurship and Youth: Throughout her career Mme Desmarais has sought to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship among Quebecers, and particularly among the young.   HD Asset Management, which she launched in the 1980s; the Société de développement économique Ville-Marie (SDÉVM) which she founded in 1998 and has chaired since inception; and the Société d’Investissement Jeunesse (SIJ), a public body which she privatized and has chaired since 1999 – have all implemented her vision.  They have all played distinct roles in providing expert advice and subsidies to promising start-ups and entrepreneurs.  The non-profit SDÉVM and SIJ, over the last ten years, have extended the expertise of dynamic young industrialists and have guaranteed loans for 132 companies or entrepreneurs.  Approximately 80% of the supported enterprises have grown and flourished while preserving the capital of the two funds.

Values – A Devotion to Education: No one in the business community has done more than Mme Desmarais to attract the attention of the world to the quality of education at HEC Montréal, and few have done more to instill and ensure the perpetuation of that quality.  Her involvement with the institution has been lifelong and wide-ranging.  Among her numerous accomplishments for HEC: 

• Elevating the Stature of HEC Montréal: In 1992 Mme Desmarais founded and has since co-chaired HEC’s International Advisory Board, a body that formulated and participated in the execution of the action plan to achieve global recognition of HEC as one of the world’s best business schools.
• Achieving a Trilingual Business School: It was principally on the initiative of Mme Desmarais that HEC Montréal became the first educational institution in North America to enable students to acquire management training in three languages: French, English, and Spanish.
• Elected to Leadership: In 2003 Mme Desmarais was the first woman in the 97-year history of HEC Montréal to be elected Chair of the school’s Board, and the first woman in the world to chair the Board of an MBA school of international repute.

Vision – Healthcare and the Life Sciences:  Acting on her profound belief that in situ research and home-grown knowledge-based industries are key to the long-term quality of the healthcare system, Mme Desmarais has made significant contributions to the development of Montreal, Quebec and Canada in the domains of healthcare and the life sciences. In 1997 Mme Desmarais chaired a commission formed by the City of Montreal and Province of Quebec to study the healthcare industry.  The commission’s mandate was to coalesce the views and aspirations of all participating sectors and determine means of leveraging existing strengths to make of Montreal a centre for expertise and innovation in the medical domain.  In 1998 the Privy Council of Canada named Mme Desmarais as Administrator of the Medical Research Council (MRC) of Canada.  She then played a role in (i) the reorganization of the MRC into the Institute of Health Research of Canada; (ii) the agreement of the government to increase its financing from $280 million to $600 million; and (iii) the launch of Genome Canada.  Since 2006,  Mme Desmarais has chaired the advisory board of the faculty of Medicine.  In 2008, she assumed the Chair of the advisory board of the Consultative Committee of the Hospital Centre of the Université de Montréal (CHUM).

Sector Developer – Biotechnology: Gestion Bio-Capital, a venture fund specializing in the launch of biotechnology enterprises, was formed in 1997.  Mme Desmarais assumed the Chair of the organization, sat on all its committees, and advised its President until the sale of the Fund four years later (previous to the market crash of the technology sector).  Gestion Bio-Capital played a key role in the start-up of twenty biotech companies and the IPOs of ten of them, and today remains one of the most important and effective biotech venture funds ever created in Canada.

Strategist – Public Policy: Mme Desmarais has served her community by participating in the study and formulation of public policy options with the following organizations:

• Chamber of Commerce: In 2002 she was appointed to the Board of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal, and in 2007 was elected Chair.
• Montreal Economic Institute: In 2002 she became a member of the Board of the Montreal Economic Institute, an increasingly renowned think tank which is dedicated to demonstrating the advantages of an economic approach to solving society’s problems.  In 2007 she was elected Chair of the Institute.
• C.D. Howe Institute: Mme Desmarais has sat on the Board of this think tank – an organization mandated to debate and confront the principal economic, political and social challenges facing Canada – since 2005.  She became Chair of the Quebec Regional Committee in 2005, and Chair of the Canadian Joint Regional Committees in 2006.

Advisor – Forum on Global Economic Issues: Created in 1995, the Conférence de Montréal rapidly developed into one of the pre-eminent economic forums in the Americas.  The event annually convenes high-level decision-makers from throughout the world to address the key issues of our time.  Since its inception, Mme Desmarais has advised the event’s founder in her capacity as Governor and President of its consultative and strategic orientation council.

Trustee – Community Investment: Mme Desmarais has been appointed one of seven Trustees of the Rio Tinto Alcan Foundation, which has been endowed with $200 million and mandated to invest in the economic, environmental and social well-being of the communities that host facilities of Rio Tinto Alcan. 

Championing the MSO

Mme Desmarais has been associated with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra since 1981.  In recent years, she played a critical role in helping to restore both the financial health and general morale of Canada’s premiere symphony orchestra.

Events before and after the resignation in 2002 of music director Charles Dutoit had given rise to an extended period of disruption within the MSO.  Twice in ten years the orchestra’s musicians had gone on strike.  From a peak of celebrated excellence, the organization fell into malaise and deep debt – and its reputation fell in tandem. 

The renaissance of the MSO began as the orchestra anticipated the arrival of Maestro Kent Nagano.   Also, in 2004, the MSO’s board and the board of its endowment fund named Hélène Desmarais Deputy Chair of the MSO and Chair of the endowment fund.  Moreover, they named her Chair of the nomination committees of both boards.  Mme Desmarais has since led the orchestra out of its financial crisis.  She restructured both boards, and her tenure has seen the endowment fund grow from $6 million to $35 million.  

The leadership of Mme Desmarais has also been instrumental in raising a further $12 million to cover the operating deficit for five years.  Most recently, she created the foundation of the MSO to oversee the endowment fund and its aggressive effort to reach $60 million.  She also created the Maestro Fund in the Foundation, for which sufficient extra funds have been raised to allow the orchestra to tour internationally for the first time since 1998.  The MSO’s years of turmoil are in the past.  Mme Desmarais deserves no small share of the credit, as the orchestra reclaims its mantle of greatness.

Commentator – Informing the Public: Mme Desmarais is regularly published in a variety of newspapers and journals.  Her articles treat the economic challenges facing her society and consistently advocate investment in education, in the tools that enable wealth creation, and in the means of increasing productivity.

Citizen of Distinction – Honours: The impact of Hélène Desmarais upon the wellbeing and progress of society has most conspicuously been honoured in the following instances:

• Order of Merit of the Université de Montréal (2007): A distinction conferred annually upon an individual in recognition of an exceptional contribution to the progress of the community, as well as the national and worldwide reputation of the university.  Mme Desmarais was the third woman in the forty year history of the Order to receive this award.
• Jubilee Medal (2002): Cited for her outstanding contribution to the development of new technology companies, as well as for her devotion to the economic development of Quebec and Canada, Mme Desmarais received this award on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of Elizabeth II’s accession to the throne. This Medal was awarded to Canadians who have made outstanding and exemplary contributions to Canada as a whole.  The award focuses on the achievements of those people who, over the past 50 years, have helped create the Canada of today.
• Honoris Causa Doctorate (2009): Université Lumière Lyon  2 (France).
• Order of Canada (2010): Awarded for her efforts and contribution to socio-economic and cultural developement of Quebec.

Education, Titles and Affiliations

Hélène Desmarais has founded, led, or participated on the Boards of upwards of two dozen institutions, companies, commissions of public inquiry, and cultural organizations. 

Education
Bachelor of Commerce, Finance and Economics (with major in Finance and minor in Economy), 1983
École des hautes études commerciales, Université de Montréal

President
HEC International Consultative Council (Co-Founder) (1992  - )
Consultative and Strategic Orientation Council of the Conference of Montreal (1995 - )
Entrepreneurship Committee at the Quebec Youth Summit (1998)
Commission of the City of Montreal and govt. of Quebec to study healthcare (1997 – 1998)
C.D. Howe Institute Quebec Regional Committee (2005 - )
C.D. Howe Institute Joint Regional Committees (2006 - )
Advisory Board of the Faculty of Medicine of the Université de Montréal (2006 - )
Advisory Board of the Hospital Centre of the Université de Montréal (CHUM) (2008 - )

Chair
HD Asset Management (1985 - ) (Chair and CEO)
Centre d’Entreprise jeunesse de Montréal (Chair) (1990 – 1996)
Centre d’entreprises et d’innovation de Montréal (CEIM) (1996 - ) (Founder, Chair and CEO)
Fondation CEIM (1996 - ) (Founder, Chair and CEO)
Gestion Bio-Capital (1997 - 2001)
Société de développement économique Ville-Marie (1998 – ) (Founder)
Société d’Investissement Jeunesse (1999 - )
HEC Montréal (2003 - )
Montreal Symphony Orchestra (Deputy Chair) (2004 - )
Montreal Symphony Orchestra Foundation (Founder) (2008-) /Endowment Fund (2004- )
Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal (2007 - )
Montreal Economic Institute (2007 - )

Board Member
Montreal Symphony Orchestra (1981-) [Executive Committee (1993-)] [Governance Committee (2004-)]
Bio-Capital [three committees] (1997 – 2001)
Medical Research Council of Canada (1998 – 1999)
HEC – Polytechnique – Université de Montréal - Entrepreneurship Centre (1998 – 2005)
HEC Montréal (1999 - )
World Trade Centre (1999 - 2002)
Hospital Centre of the Université de Sherbrooke (2000 to 2004)
Hydro-Quebec Investment Fund Committee (2001 – 2004) 
Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal (2002 - ) [Executive Committee (2005-)] [Audit Committee (2004-2007)]
Génome Québec (2002 - )
Société de valorisation des recherches du CHUM (2004 - )
C.D. Howe Institute (2005 - )
Clinical Research Institute of Montreal (2005 - )
Consultative Commission of the Biotechnology Research Institute (2002 – 2006)
Institute for Governance of Private and Public Organizations HEC Montréal/Concordia (2005 - )
City of Montreal Economic Orientation Committee (2005 - )
Société de développement Technopôle Angus (2005 - )
Garda World Security (2006 - ) [Governance committee 2006 - ]
Quebec Council of Innovation Partnership (2006 – )