A Black-Tie Event
Join us on the 5th of March 2025 to honour four female trailblazers to inspire today’s girls and women for an equitable treatment, better opportunity and brighter future at a black-tie event. We not only empower women, but we also act proactively. Action Education will be benefiting this evening of fine dining and live entertainment, thus, proceeds will go to the French charity, based in Paris, that operates training and construction sites especially in the remote areas across the globe.
Action Education: Who We Are
For more than 40 years, Action Education has been implementing advocacy actions and field projects to ensure that the right to education for everyone, everywhere in the world, is respected. We believe that lifelong education is the key to a fairer world. Our mission is to enable all the people we work with to acquire the necessary skills. We focus our actions on those populations most at risk of inequality, including children, girls and women, to remove all the barriers that currently prevent their access to education.
90 Projects in Three Continents: Asia, Africa & Europe. Next: South America.
Improve Infrastructures: Construction of schools, wells, sanitation systems, etc.
Train: Teachers, Administrative Staff & Communities
Honourary Guest
Dr Gina Cody, CM
Gina Parvaneh Cody immigrated to Montreal from Iran in 1979. She holds a master’s and a doctorate in building engineering from Concordia University, making her Canada’s first woman PhD in the discipline.
Cody spent more than 30 years in the private sector as an engineer, corporate executive and principal shareholder of an engineering firm. She received the Canadian Standards Association’s Award of Merit and was inducted as a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering. She has also been named one of Canada’s Top 25 Women of Influence, a Woman of Distinction by the Women’s Y Foundation of Montreal, and to the Orders of Montreal and of Canada.
At her alma mater, Cody serves as deputy chancellor and as co-chair of the Campaign for Concordia, the most ambitious fundraising initiative in the university’s history. In 2018, she made an historic $15-million gift to the faculty she had twice graduated from, which was renamed the Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science. It is the first engineering and computer science faculty in the world named after a woman. She chairs the Gina Cody School Advisory Board.
Cody lives in Toronto with her husband, a retired banker. The couple have two daughters: one completed her law degree and the other a PhD in engineering.
Women in Leadership
Three exceptional women of different backgrounds trailblazing their way to inspire the new generation.
The Honourable Melissa Lantsman of Thornhill
Melissa Lantsman is the Member of Parliament for Thornhill and Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. Melissa believes in breaking the mold and in bringing new ideas and energy to Ottawa. She represents the next generation in Canadian politics.
Born and raised in the community she now serves, Melissa was taught by her immigrant parents to work hard and to stand up for what’s right. Those are values that have guided her in all points of her life and career.
Melissa is an award-winning communicator and was amongst Canada’s most sought-after public affairs executives. She has served on various boards of directors, was a regular TV commentator and hosted her own radio show. Her writing has been featured in Canada’s largest circulation publications.
Melissa is not afraid to speak out for the things that matter and she doesn’t back down from holding the government to account.
Dean Catherine Chandler-Crichlow of University of Toronto
Prior to joining University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies, Catherine was the Executive Director of Career Management and Corporate Recruiting at Ivey Business School – Western University. She is a transformational leader and passionate advocate for an inclusive approach to addressing the supply and demand of talent for the Ontario workforce ecosystem. While at Western, she was an active member of Ivey’s EDI Executive Council. Prior to her leadership positions within universities, Catherine headed 3C Workforce Solutions that conducted human capital research in partnership with organizations such as Mercer International to determine talent needs across major sectors such as transportation, telecommunications and hospitality in Ontario. Such research she deems key to understanding the changing nature of work and tackling under- and unemployment of racialized youth, immigrants, newcomers, and marginalize Francophonie.
With 25+ years as a human capital professional, her career focus has been in the financial services sector with executive roles at TD Bank Financial Group, the Centre of Excellence in Financial Services and the Toronto International Leadership Centre for Financial Sector Supervision. She has consulted to the World Bank and has advised clients in Canada, Europe, Latin America, South-East Asia and the Caribbean. Catherine has been a human capital advisor to different levels of government such as her membership on the federal Advisory Panel on Canada’s International Education Strategy and as a member of the External Advisory Committee on Inclusion and Diversity of the Ontario Public Service. She was Board Chair of the largest immigrant mentorship network in Canada and in celebration of Canada’s 150th anniversary, she was selected by The Philanthropist as one of Canada’s leaders in the non-profit sector.
Catherine holds a doctorate in adult education from the University of Toronto, a Master of Education degree from Harvard University, and both a Diploma in Education and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of the West Indies.
Dr Eileen de Villa, Medical Officer of Health of Toronto
Dr. Eileen de Villa serves as Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health, where she leads Toronto Public Health, the largest local public health agency in Canada, offering programs and services to address the population health of the city’s more than 3 million residents.
Dr. de Villa earned her Doctor of Medicine and Master of Health Science (MHSc) degrees from the University of Toronto. She also holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Schulich School of Business at York University and is an Adjunct Professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto.
In her capacity as the Medical Officer of Health, Dr. de Villa has been at the forefront of public health efforts and evidence-based interventions in Toronto, including guiding the largest vaccination campaign in Toronto’s history during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the response to the ongoing drug toxicity crisis.
Dr. de Villa has authored, published and presented research on issues including public health considerations for city planning and emergency preparedness, communicable and infectious disease control, and public health policy development.
Dr. de Villa has been recognized for her contributions to health equity, health communication and community engagement, receiving accolades from IABC/Toronto as Communicator of the Year in 2021, “Most Influential Filipina Woman in the World” Award in 2022, Faculty Educator awards from the University of Toronto – Public Health and Preventative Medicine Residency Program and the Naimark Award, presented by the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement.
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