‘It feels like girl power’

On the second day, the council got a tour of BMO headquarters before settling down into small groups to discuss diversity and inclusion with William Downe, CEO of BMO Financial Group, and Alex Johnston, executive director of Catalyst Canada.

BMO and Catalyst Canada were primarily interested in discussing how millennials are different from previous generations, specifically regarding diversity, inclusion and the workplace.

“Millennials demand a workplace that shares our values, where we can be ourselves and become better people,” says Carmichael, reporting the groups’ findings.

The event sharpened Carmichael’s awareness of gender, race, inclusion and discrimination.

“As a JMSB student, I never feel any bias or gender discrimination,” she says. “It’s such a diverse environment. But that’s not what many other women in the group experience. We started a Facebook group, we’re sharing articles and networking already. It feels like girl power.”
 

VIA Rail connection

This was far from Carmichael’s first honour. She was among three students from Concordia selected as finalists for executive search firm Odgers Berndtson’s CEO for a Day program. The program pairs third- and fourth-year undergraduate finalists from across the country with local CEOs. Last February, Carmichael spent the day with Yves Desjardins-Siciliano, CEO of Via Rail Canada.

2014 Futures Fund Scholarship winner

Carmichael was also among the 10 recipients of the 2014 Futures Fund Scholarship for Outstanding Leadership. Established by Canada’s Outstanding CEO of the Year program, the grant recognizes the academic and extracurricular efforts of Canadian university business students. Winners received an all-expense-paid trip to Toronto for a lavish awards ceremony and $5,500 to support their education.

At the ceremony in February, Donald Walker, CEO of Magna, doubled the scholarship money, so each winner was awarded $11,000.

There were 400 top-level business executives in attendance and winners met David Johnston, the governor general of Canada, as well as Jim Balsillie, one of the founders of BlackBerry. “It was an incredible evening celebrating business in Canada,” says Carmichael.

Her journey is just beginning. Carmichael graduates in May and starts work in September at the Montreal office of the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). When evaluating several job offers, Carmichael chose the BCG because there are more women in senior roles.

“It’s important to me, in the corporate culture, to see that women are valued.”

Find out more about studying at John Molson School of Business.