CEO MaRS
This extraordinary CEO and Rhodes Scholar leads an organization dedicated to developing the next generation of Canadian growth companies
1 min
The new U.S.-Canada council on women in business, unveiled at Justin Trudeau’s first meeting with Donald Trump last month, has been dismissed by some as little more than a symbolic photo op. But that’s a mistake. Symbols matter. Source:
The Task Force on Social Finance (TFSF) has been assembled by Social Innovation Generation, a national project partnered with the MaRS Discovery District in Toronto, seeking to fundamentally alter the way we think about investing and philanthropy in Canada. The TFSF’s mandate is to deliver recommendations that will ignite the development of an investment marketplace dedicated to addressing Canada’s social and environmental challenges.
MaRS is where science, technology and social entrepreneurs get the help they need. Where all kinds of people meet to spark new ideas. And where a global reputation for innovation is being earned, one success story at a time. MaRS provides resources — people, programs, physical facilities, funding and networks — to ensure that critical innovation happens. We stimulate, identify and harness great ideas, nurture their development and guide the transformation of those ideas into reality.
The MaRS Centre for Impact Investing (CII) is a national hub designed to increase the awareness and effectiveness of social finance to catalyze new capital, talent and initiatives dedicated to tackling social and environmental problems in Canada. The CII is a social finance hub and incubator that acts as a neutral collaboration space for all sectors—government, community and private—enabling collective participation, talent and product development.
The Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael’s Hospital is home to leading researchers, educators, and clinicians — dedicated professionals making new scientific discoveries, generating novel therapies, developing innovative training programs, and helping translate knowledge into practice. The Institute fosters an environment in which inter-professional teams collaborate to bring established best practices and research discoveries to patient bedsides faster than ever before.
The goal of The Next 36 is to help launch the careers of Canada’s most promising and innovative undergraduates. The program will identify these students through a rigorous selection process, and give them the academic foundation, practical skills, role models and networks to become Canada’s next generation of entrepreneurial leaders. Students learn from high-profile business leaders, entrepreneurs and academics while wrestling with the challenge of building a new venture from idea to market.
Cogniciti is a joint venture formed in 2009 through a partnership between Baycrest, one of the world’s leading cognitive science institutes, and MaRS, Canada’s premier innovation centre.
Dr. Treurnicht was the recipient of The Toronto Awards in the Science category.
The Toronto Awards recognized 10 people who rose above the fray. They turned heads, ignored convention and made us proud to call ourselves Torontonians.
Dr. Treurnicht was nominated as being one of 25 Transformational Canadians by The Globe and Mail.
The Globe and Mail partnered with CTV and Cyberpresse to celebrate Canadians who have sought to make a difference – not just by doing what they do, but through the demonstrable impact they've made on the world around them, whether in Canada or beyond.
Through their vision, leadership and actions, each of these people has immeasurably improved the lives of others.
Dr. Treurnicht has twice been honoured with the prestigious Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100™Award—the first time in 2009 and again in 2011.
The Canada’s Most Powerful Woman: Top 100™ Awards is Canada’s most recognizable Award for the country’s highest achieving female leaders in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors.
DPhil
Chemistry
Dr. Treurnicht attended Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar
MaRS Innovation Summit 2010 Toronto
Build, Buy or Ally: Partnership Models for Enterprise Growth Toronto, Ontario
2010-11-02
Innovators in Action Speaker Series University of Waterloo
2010-06-16
Creative Places and Spaces Conference: The Collaborative City Toronto, Ontario
2012-10-29
The Canadian Club of Toronto Event Series Toronto, Ontario
2011-10-12
Ontario Innovation Summit - The Business of Aging Conference Toronto
2009-12-01
61st Canadian Chemical Engineering Conference London, Ontario
2011-10-26
Canadian Women in Technology Event Series Toronto
2011-06-09
Canadian Innovation Exchange Toronto, Ontario
2011-12-01
Cosmopolitan 2011 Toronto, Ontario
2011-09-23
2012 THINK Conference Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
2012-04-16
Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship University of Oxford
2010-04-16
The Innovation City Conference MaRS Discovery District, Toronto
2012-07-18
The Innovation City Conference MaRS Discovery District, Toronto
2012-07-18
Privacy by Design: Time to Take Control Toronto, Ontario
2011-01-28
The Economic Club of Canada Speaker Series Toronto, Ontario
2011-03-02
Business of Aging Summit MaRS Discovery District, Toronto
2012-04-30
Creative Places + Spaces: The Collaborative City Conference MaRS Discovery District, Toronto
2009-10-30
International Commercialization Forum Toronto, Ontario
2012-03-21
CityAge – The Innovation City MaRS Discovery District, Toronto
2012-07-18
CityAge – The Innovation City MaRS Discovery District, Toronto
2012-07-18
CIO Peer Forum Toronto, Ontario
2012-04-20
The Big Society: The Current Ethos of Social engagement in Britain and its implications for the Role of Government University of Toronto
2011-03-28
Social Innovation Generation Social Impact Series MaRS Discovery District, Toronto
2012-02-13
2009 Brick Works Forum on Leadership, Innovation and Sustainability Toronto, Ontario
2009-11-06
Catalyst cities are centers of business and innovation — establishing new models of partnership that align public & private objectives, promote new ideas, and foster great culture to create the economies and living standards we desire. Catalyst cities are leading the attraction of human and financial capital as they re-emphasize the role of urban strengths through major events, exports, entrepreneurship and globally connected talent. This presentation will explore catalyst cities in more depth.
A discussion highlighting best practices by top thought leaders in the areas of health, education and technology. The session will aim to extract new insights by drawing on the expertise and experience of the CEO of MaRS Discovery District. More specifically, the discussion will be focused on how innovation can be realized within organizations despite having fewer resources available to them.
Innovation represents a challenge and an important opportunity for Canada’s economic future: strengthening our competitive advantages where we are already well positioned, and making a new generation of knowledge based businesses possible.
Today, women are modest participants in Canada’s innovation economy, and its leadership. For Canada to succeed, we need to mobilize our best ideas and our skilled resources. Women engineers have a very important contribution to make, now and in the future.
Dr. Ilse Treurnicht, CEO MaRS Discovery District, presents on the importance of innovation for national productivity, and the crucial role women play in building and supporting innovation.
Canadians already understand that innovation of all kinds is critical to our country’s future prosperity. Our response will require much more than the contributions of individual innovators and companies, and must include communities, institutions and government.
Dr. Treurnicht will explore models for collaboration - between silos of specialization, and the cultures of academe, business, and the public sector - as we embark on a shared journey towards a resilient innovation nation.
