Pamela Jeffery, HBA , MBA
Founder, The Jeffery Group Limited, Women’s Executive Network and Canadian Board Diversity Council

Pamela Jeffery began her career as a government relations and communications strategist. She has over 20 years of experience providing strategic communications counsel to private sector and government clients.

Prior to founding The Jeffery Group in 1994, Pamela served as a Political Advisor in the Ontario government of David Peterson and a Senior Consultant at a Toronto-based lobbying firm. In 2000, Pamela was appointed by Ontario Conservative Finance Minister Ernie Eves to the Ontario Business Tax Review Panel to develop recommendations on future corporate, property and personal income tax policy. In 2004, Pamela was appointed by Ontario Attorney-General Michael Bryant to the Democracy Renewal Advisory Committee. Recognized by the National Post as a “communications wizard,” she served as Ontario Communications Advisor to Prime Minister Martin in the 2004 federal election. She taught government relations strategy in the MBA and Executive MBA Programs at the Rotman School of Management from 1992-2001.

Pamela is the Founder of the Women’s Executive Network™, Canada’s national network for women in management, executive, professional and board roles. Since its founding in 1997, WXN has grown to 16,000 select women. In 2003, she founded Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100™, now Canada’s preeminent awards program for women. Initially based in Toronto, WXN has expanded to Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Mississauga, Ottawa and Montréal. In 2008, WXN launched in Ireland – its first step towards creating an international community of female leaders.

In 2009, she founded the Canadian Board Diversity Council with a mandate from the federal government and private sector diversity leaders to increase the board representation of women, members of visible minority groups, Aboriginal peoples including First Nations, Inuit and Métis, persons with disabilities and members of the LGBT community over the next five years.

Pamela's commitment to community service is extensive. She is well-versed in corporate governance in the broader public and not-for-profit sectors having served on 12 boards and three governance committees. She currently serves as a Director of The Canadian Opera Company, the Ivey Entrepreneurship Council, and is a Governor of Trent University.

She is a past Director and President of the National Club, and a past Director of Casey House Foundation, The Donwood (now the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health), Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital Foundation, Richard Ivey School of Business Alumni Association, Sick Kids Connection, TELUS Toronto Community Advisory Board, and the University of Western Ontario Alumni Association. She is a past member of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce Finance and Taxation Committee and the Governance Committees of the Institute of Corporate Directors and the Toronto Board of Trade.

Pamela holds an MBA and an HBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario. She lives in Toronto with her husband Norman Inkster and is the mother of two teenage sons Stephen and Samuel.