Awards

Elena Cherney

Editor, Globe and Mail Report on Business, Toronto

Elena Cherney is the Editor of the Globe and Mail's Report on Business. Before joining the Globe in 2007, Elena spent seven years covering Canadian business news as a Toronto-based correspondent for the Wall Street Journal. She has also worked as a reporter for the Montreal Gazette and the National Post. Educated at Yale University, Elena grew up in Montreal.

Keith Head

Sauder School of Business, Strategy and Economics Division, HSBC Professorship of Asian Commerce, Vancouver

Keith Head is a Professor in the Strategy and Business Economics division at the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia. He holds the HSBC Professorship in Asian Commerce. Professor Head teaches courses on international business management and the international economy. He obtained his B.A. at Swarthmore College in 1986 and his Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1991. Professor Head's research interests include multinational enterprises, international trade, and economic geography. His recent papers include “FDI as an Outcome of the Market for Corporate Control: Theory and Evidence” (Journal of International Economics, January 2008, with John Ries) and “The Puzzling Persistence of the Distance Effect on International Trade” (Review of Economics and Statististics, February 2008, with Anne-Celia Disdier). In September 2007, his book, Elements of Multinational Strategy was published by Springer.

Steve Maich

Steve Maich, Editor and Publisher, Canadian Business, Toronto

Steve Maich is the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Canadian Business magazine, and Executive Editor of Maclean's. He is a bestselling author, public speaker, and three-time National Magazine Award winner for his writing. In 2009, Steve led the most comprehensive re-design and relaunch in the 82-year history of Canadian Business magazine. Last year, he helped lead a small team that brought Maclean's to the iPad, the first major magazine brand in the country to hit Apple's revolutionary device. In addition to serving as publisher of all Rogers business magazines, Steve is now focused on the company's digital strategy and how to bring the country's best magazine brands, from Chatelaine to Moneysense, onto your smartphone, your tablet and your desktop.

Joy Nott

President of the Canadian Importers and Exporters Association (I.E. Canada)

Ms. Nott brings over 20 years of experience in customs compliance to the I.E. Canada team. Prior to joining I.E.Canada, Joy Nott was a Vice President and Managing Consultant for JPMorgan Global Trade Management Services based in the Toronto, Ontario area and specialized in matters of customs and international trade for both Canada and the U.S. based clients. Prior to joining J.P.Morgan, Joy spent a number of years developing her expertise employed as a Senior Manager with public accounting firms of KPMG LLP and Deloitte & Touche LLP as a Customs and International Trade consultant. The accounting firm environment provided her with extensive experience related to advising multinational clients in terms of meeting import and export requirements while minimizing costs. Her experience with professional tax and supply chain advisers has given her a background rich in understanding how customs and trade issues play an important role in developing corporate strategies. Her experience in advising how matters such as income tax transfer pricing and customs valuation fit into complex international restructuring plans have been key to her success as a consultant. She joined the professional accounting firms as a consultant after 10 years of varied experience in senior management roles with well-established customs brokers/freight forwarders. Joy’s credentials include a Bachelor of Arts from Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec in 1987. She later sought and received honours when writing for her qualified customs brokers’ status in 1990. In 1993, Joy gained her professional customs brokerage status.

William Polushin

Director and Founder, Program for International Competitiveness, Desautels Faculty of Management, McGill University, Montreal

William Polushin is Founding Director of the Program for International Competitiveness: Trade and Innovation at McGill University. He is also President of AMAXIS Inc., an international business and operational development services firm headquartered in Montreal, and an Adjunct Professor in international competitiveness and management in the Desautels Faculty of Management. Over the past 17 years of his 22 years in industry, Mr. Polushin has been at the forefront of international business development across the Americas and, more recently, in South Asia and Europe. His experience spans several sectors and industries, including manufacturing, engineering and construction, environment, information technology, and transportation. Prior to establishing AMAXIS, Mr. Polushin worked with SNC-Lavalin International as Vice President Business Development, Mexico and the Caribbean. His professional credentials also include assignments with the Canadian Embassy in Chile and Petro-Canada Products. Mr. Polushin is President of the Canada-Mexico Education Foundation, past Chair of AmCham Canada’s Quebec Chapter, previously President of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Mexico, and, in 2000, Member of the Strategic Infrastructure Committee for Mexican President Vicente Fox’s Transition Team. Mr. Polushin is a graduate of the North Americas Business Fellows Program – a trilateral MBA program offered by McGill University, the University of Texas at Austin, and Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey. He also has a Bachelor of Commerce Degree in Finance and Marketing (with Distinction) from the University of Alberta.

Justine Thody

Editorial Director Americas, Economist Intelligence Unit, New York

Justine Thody is Editorial Director, Americas for the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), the business-to-business arm of The Economist Group. Justine leads a team of expert editors who leverage the EIU’s country and industry expertise, economic modelling, and a proprietary global panel of 130,000 senior executives to develop fresh thinking on the leading strategic challenges facing decision makers across a range of industries and geographies. Having directed the EIU’s team of Latin America editors and economists for six years prior to 2010, Justine is one of the Economist Group’s leading experts on Latin America. She often speaks at high profile events on Latin America, the global economy, and the research conducted by the thought leadership team. Justine joined the EIU in 1998 as a Latin America analyst. Prior to 1998, Justine worked as a business analyst for McKinsey & Company, a management consultancy, and a political and security risk analyst for Control Risks Group, an international business risk consultancy. She is widely travelled, and holds a BA and an M.Phil from the University of Oxford and speaks Spanish and Portuguese.

Jared Mitchell

Managing Editor, Business without Borders and Awards Chairman, HSBC International Business Awards

Jared Mitchell is the managing editor of Business without Borders’ English-Canadian website and chairman of the HSBC International Business Awards. He has been a senior editor, associate foreign editor and features editor for Maclean’s and has served as senior contributing correspondent to Financial Post Magazine and contributing editor to Report on Business Magazine. He has contributed to most Canadian consumer magazines and has had a prolific freelance career in corporate writing. In addition he is a published novelist with two titles in print and the inventor of on-line photonovellas. He has created art videos which have been exhibited around the world including at the legendary Oberhausen International Short Film Festival in Germany.

Stephen Callaghan

Regional Vice President – Ontario Region, Commercial Markets and Small Business, Export Development Canada

Stephen joined EDC in 2000 and is currently the Regional Vice-President for the Ontario Region at Export Development Canada (EDC). Stephen is responsible for the leadership of the Ontario team in the Commercial markets and Small Business segment at EDC. Stephen has held a variety of leadership positions at EDC, including District Manager for the regional office in Mississauga and Manager of the Ontario regional Contract Insurance and Bonding team. Stephen has a Bachelor of Commerce from McMaster University. EDC is Canada’s export credit agency, offering innovative commercial solutions to help Canadian exporters and investors expand their international business. EDC’s knowledge and partnerships are used by more than 8,300 Canadian companies and their global customers in up to 200 markets worldwide each year. EDC is financially self-sustaining and is a recognized leader in financial reporting, economic analysis and has been recognized as one of Canada’s Top 100 Employers for nine consecutive years.