Deborah Rosati, an award-winning corporate director and entrepreneur, has been defined in three interconnected ways throughout her 35-year career – as a corporate governance champion, catalyst for change and community builder.

As the founder and CEO of Women Get On Board Inc. (WGOB), an 850-member social-purpose company, Deborah is building a community of the next generation of women corporate directors, advancing equity, diversity & inclusion (EDI), collaboration, courage, and confidence in the boardroom. Fueled by women holding only 26% of TSX-listed companies’ board seats,* WGOB amplifies the voices of women leaders, board members and professionals across Canada through education, mentorship and allyship. It’s been called The Power of Three – one woman in the boardroom is a token, two is a presence, and three is a voice.

Deborah is a leading and serving corporate director and has chaired many public company audit committees and nominating & corporate governance committees. In addition, Deborah has led and served on numerous special committees with various mandates (including going public, going private, M&A, restructuring and special investigations). Deborah’s passion for good governance and board diversity is rooted in her board journey when she was often the only woman in the boardroom. These first-hand experiences cemented Deborah’s conviction that having more women on boards makes better business sense.

Never satisfied with the status quo, Deborah always seeks ways to challenge expectations and drive change. She brings an environmental, social and governance (ESG) lens to every board she serves on, as she believes in the power and responsibility of business to change our world for the better.

Deborah’s commitment to sustainable change and empowerment, deep governance and financial expertise and dynamic personality has made Deborah a sought-after thought leader and speaker —her thought leadership on corporate governance, sustainability, EDI and social impact is profiled on her website, deborahrosati.ca.

Deborah’s recent awards include:

- SustainabilityX Magazine’s inaugural Global 50 Women in Sustainability Award, 2022
- WXN’s Top 100 Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Entrepreneur (2021) and Corporate Director (2012)
- 2020 “Director to Watch”

Deborah’s social purpose is to get more women on boards—one woman and one board at a time.

*Osler’s 2022 Diversity Disclosure Practices report