Mélinda Bastien and Déborah Cherenfant join the Board of Directors of the McCord Stewart Museum

The board of directors of the McCord Stewart Museum is pleased to announce the nomination of two new members of the Board: Mélinda Bastien, principal asset management and pension plan adviser at Normandin Beaudry; and Déborah Cherenfant, regional director of Women Entrepreneurs for Quebec and the Atlantic at the TD Bank Group and President of the Junior Chamber of Commerce of Montreal.

“With the goal of increasing the diversity on our board of directors, we are pleased to welcome these two professional and dynamic young women. Their knowledge of the business community will be an asset for the Museum. They will also contribute to building intergenerational relations and relations of trust with every community which makes up our society in a spirit of collaboration and reconciliation,” remarked Ghislain Picard, chair of the board of directors of the McCord Stewart Museum and Chief of the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador.

Mélinda Bastien

An associate of the Society of Actuaries, Mélinda Bastien has worked at Normandin Beaudry, a consulting firm in the field of total rewards, since 2007. She is part of the firm’s management and retirement savings teams and is currently head of the sustainable development team. With her experience working with numerous clients of different sizes in various industries, she is able to understand the issues faced by organizations wishing to put in place pragmatic durable investment strategies.

As a member of the Huron-Wendat Nation, but especially by virtue of her involvement in social questions, for example as a member of the board of directors of the First Nations Book Fair and her activity on the board of theHuron-Wendat Nation Council, Mélinda was chosen by Concertation Montréal to be a part of the “Groupe des Trente,” made up of thirty inspiring leaders from Montreal’s ethno-cultural diversity.

Déborah Cherenfant

A strategist in female entrepreneurship, Déborah Cherenfant joined the TD Bank Group in 2020 as Quebec Regional Director of Women Entrepreneurs. Since she arrived in Quebec in 2005, Déborah has been involved in a wide variety of initiatives in economic development and female leadership. Today her main focus is on her work as a member of the boards of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal, Bonjour Startup Montréal, the KANPE Foundation, Humanov-is and now the McCord Stewart Museum. In 2018, she was named by the Conseil des ministres to the Conseil du statut de la femme.

With a degree in international economics and another in entrepreneurship, over the past decade Déborah has made good use of her strategic skills in start-up consulting and business financing, as well as in the development of entrepreneurship programs. A peerless lecturer and presenter, she is also the entrepreneur behind the website Mot d’Elles, the fashion and design studio Atelier Coloré and the pop-up store concept Marché Coloré. In 2017 she co-founded BiAS, a cultural think tank showcasing diversity. Déborah is currently president and spokesperson of the Junior Chamber of Commerce of Montreal. A radio commentator with Tout un Matin on ICI Première and television commentator with Le Fil on Noovo, she also operates a blog on Les Affaires.