Board of Directors

Jennifer Guerard
Jennifer Guerard is Senior Counsel for GE Capital Americas, located in Toronto overseeing the Corporate Finance and  Workout portfolios for Capital Canada. Jennifer is also the Co-Lead of the GE Capital America’s Legal Diversity Committee. Prior to joining GE, Jennifer was at Torys LLP, practicing in both the Toronto and New York offices of Torys in the Corporate and Insolvency Groups. Jennifer is called to the bars of Ontario and New York and is a member of the Insolvency Institute of Canada. In 2010, Jennifer was recognized by Lexpert Magazine as a Canadian leading lawyer under 40. Jennifer is also the Vice Chair of Fred Victor Centre, a social services organization in Toronto supporting those living in homelessness and poverty.

Désirée McGraw
For the past twenty years, Désirée McGraw has worked as a consultant, researcher, reporter and spokesperson in the field of sustainable development, and has been described by the national media as “one of Canada’s ten most influential people on environmental issues.” She has worked as a senior policy advisor in international cooperation for the federal government in the areas of sustainable development, stakeholder relations and multilateral organizations. Ms. McGraw has lectured on Sustainable Development and Globalization at McGill University since 2000. She has been involved in politics and election campaigns in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. Ms. McGraw is currently the Executive Director of the Sauvé Foundation and its Sauvé Scholars program.

Monique Moreau (mmoreau@cla-ace.ca)
Monique has been a part of CLA since her second year of law school. She was a member of the uOttawa student chapter, and became president of its chapter in 2007. During her articles at the Calgary office of Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, she managed the growing student chapter program (on a pro bono basis). After completing her articles, she became the Director of Student Programs and is now delighted to be a member of CLA’s Board of Directors. Monique is an avid traveler and really enjoyed liaising with law students across Canada and helping them find opportunities to pursue their interests in human rights, social justice, and public international law.  Monique currently works as a Senior Policy Analyst at the Canadian Federation of Independent Business and is called to the bars of Alberta and Ontario. Originally from Calgary, Monique misses the Rocky Mountains but enjoys living in Ottawa immensely. If Monique hadn’t gone to law school, she would have been a professional napper or a pastry chef.

Yasmin Shaker (yshaker@cla-ace.ca)
Yasmin developed an interest in international affairs and Canada’s role in the world while a student at King’s College. The following year she further pursued this passion at the London School of Economics by completing a Master’s degree in International Relations, focusing her thesis on the labour movement’s response to the forces of globalization. After a year of traveling, she returned to Canada to complete an LL.B. at McGill University and took an interest in human rights law, legal philosophy and international trade law. She later worked for the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade on NAFTA Chapter 11 litigation, and a major Toronto law firm in the area of corporate and international trade law. She continues to work in the area of international investment arbitration and free trade agreement negotiations, and is co-founder of Canadian Lawyers Abroad – Avocats canadiens à l’étranger.

Joanne Souaid
After earning a Bachelor of Commerce degree at McGill University, Joanne pursued a career in business where she honed her marketing and accounting skills as Chief Financial Controller of a wholesale business in Montreal. Joanne then moved to Toronto, where she began working for TVOntario in sales and marketing. She also volunteered as an on-air host for the public broadcaster’s fundraising campaigns. Her years of experience led to her advancement in 2000 to Chief Stewardship Officer and on-air spokesperson for TVOntario. With her promotion to Senior Development Officer in 2004 came a portfolio that included all direct mail, online, telemarketing, on-air, and major gift fundraising activities, along with a revenue target of 4.8 million dollars. In 2007, Joanne  shifted her fundraising efforts to the health sector as a Development Officer (Major Gifts) for the Alzheimer Society of Toronto and, later, as the Fundraising Manager for The Kidney Foundation of Canada’s Eastern Ontario Chapter in Ottawa. Joanne began managing the University of Ottawa‘s Prospect Research Department in May 2009.