Fireside at FemSTEM: Lesley Gouldie
Fireside at FemSTEM:
In Conversation with Lesley Gouldie
Join H2i on March 7, 2023 as we sit down with special guest, Lesley Gouldie!
FemStem 2023 is underway with a lineup of esteemed guest speakers from the health innovation space! Our third Fireside, taking place on March 7th as part of University of Toronto’s Entrepreneurship Week, will feature Lesley Gouldie, President and CEO of Thornhill Medical. Over the course of two years, Gouldie led and rapidly scaled up the medical technology company to one of Canada’s top 10 growing companies and responded to the pandemic needs of Canada’s critical care health system and the growing medical needs in Ukraine after Russia invaded. Register now to join the session and hear about the challenges and life changing moments of growing a healthcare company during one of the world’s most turbulent times while also continuing to innovate to build technologies and a business for the future.
You can attend this event in-person or via livestream. Please note, the livestream audience will not be able to submit questions for the Q&A portion.
LESLEY GOULDIE
President & CEO
Thornhill Medical
A seasoned professional with senior leadership experience across Fortune 500 to start-up companies, Lesley Gouldie brings a proven record of financial and strategic excellence in technology, biotechnology and education to lead Thornhill Medical as President and CEO.
Since joining Thornhill Medical in 2015, she has grown the company’s global leadership in producing ground-breaking life-saving medical technologies, used around the world by emergency health care providers, military medical teams and disaster relief responders. Under her leadership, the company has experienced unparalleled growth, achieving 2500%+ validated three-year growth which has earned it a top 10 ranking among Canada’s Top Growing Companies in 2022. With her signature calm leadership, she continues to guide Thornhill Medical through the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic and in the new environment beyond. Lesley’s strategic business expertise set the stage for innovative manufacturing and supply chain alliances, rapid production ramp up and ongoing sustainment to meet demands, while doubling the company’s workforce. Lesley continues to foster an entrepreneurial approach and agile mindset across the organization, which have enabled the company to deepen customer relationships and thrive during this unprecedented period of change.
Lesley began her career as a C.P.A in South Africa, followed by formative experience at PwC helping companies navigate complex business and financial challenges. Today, she draws on in-depth knowledge and multidisciplined experience cultivated in a series of increasingly senior financial and operational positions, including CFO and SVP/General Manager of the Higher Education Division of Nelson Education (Thomson Reuters) and CEO, StudentAwards Inc. Her proven successes as an entrepreneur and intrapreneur have added new dimensions to her expertise, with practical experience in scaling fast-growth organizations, securing financing and leading successful acquisitions, mergers and exits.
Lesley’s board engagements reflect her interests in education, technology, women executives and the growth of Canadian innovation-based companies. She represents Thornhill Medical on the Council of Canadian Innovators and served on the Canadian Chamber of Commerce Life Sciences Council as well as the boards of global health-care collaboration Excite International, and community-based music-education initiative The Hammer Band. Lesley is frequently called upon to offer insights into entrepreneurship, pandemic-related business strategy, and leadership among women executives.
What is Fireside at FemSTEM?
Fireside at FemSTEM is an interactive conversation series held each winter as part of H2i’s broader FemSTEM programming.
During each Fireside, we sit down and chat with one incredible speaker. Speakers are distinguished women within the health entrepreneurship space and are joined by members of the H2i and UTE community as moderators.
Audience members are able to submit questions via chat to be posed by the moderator. A 15-minute open networking session enabling audience members to mingle with our speaker and moderator will close out each event.
Next Up for FemSTEM 2023:
March 2023 | FemSTEM Pitch Competition – Stay tuned!