Breaking Down Barriers for Women in Business

Three women in business share how The Scotiabank Women Initiative helped them overcome barriers and succeed

Sarah Joyce knows how to deliver under pressure. While the global covid-19 pandemic raged, she launched Voilà, a first-of-its-kind online grocery home delivery service powered by robotic automated warehouses. A seasoned professional, she also regularly presents to the board of directors as the senior vice-president of e-commerce for Sobey's Inc. Joyce sought insights about how to best position herself to be a board director in the future. "What does it mean to be on a board? What should you look for when you're looking to join a board?" she wondered. "How do you show up in the boardroom?" Joyce found the answers in The Scotiabank Women Initiative and its Good Corporate Governance Program. She is one of 70 participants who have gone through the program.

As part of the first cohort, she participated in a bespoke series of sessions for senior professional women exploring best practices and emerging trends while enhancing participant skills and potential to serve as board directors. "It wasn't just theoretical," says Joyce. "Scotiabank showed real commitment to helping place us in positions afterward."