Senator Paulette Senior

Senator Paulette Senior has devoted her life to breaking down systemic barriers and building up women and girls of diverse backgrounds. She is currently the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Women’s Foundation and was previously the Chief Executive Officer of YWCA Canada.

Senior is a thought-leader on various women’s issues, including promoting gender equity, addressing gender-based violence, reducing women’s poverty, shrinking the wage gap, and promoting the empowerment of women, girls and gender-diverse people across Canada. She has led, managed and operated Toronto-based shelters, employment programs and housing programs, and she has sat on the Board of Directors of several equity-focused organizations, including the Women’s College Hospital and the G7 Gender Equality Advisory Council. She currently sits on the Board of Directors of Oxfam Canada, the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation and the Women’s Funding Network. In 2022, she was appointed to serve as a member of the Independent Advisory Board for Supreme Court of Canada Judicial Appointments.

In recognition of her community service, Senior has received several awards, including the African Canadian Achievement Award, the AfroGlobal Leadership Award, the Black Business and Professional Association’s Harry Jerome Trailblazer Award, the Top 25 Women of Influence Award and, most recently, the Skills for Change Impact Changemaker Award.

Senior holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Urban Studies from York University, an honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Lethbridge and qualified for the Institute of Corporate Directors’ ICD.D designation.