Gina Cody

Gina Cody brings a rare blend of technical mastery and strategic insight forged over three decades in engineering leadership. As Canada’s first woman to earn a PhD in building engineering and later head an award-winning national consulting firm, she understands how to translate engineering precision into organizational agility.

Having guided her firm to national recognition as one of Canada’s Best Managed Companies, Gina Cody brings real-world examples of building resilient, high-performance organizations. Now as chancellor of Concordia University and an honoured leader in academia and business, she speaks with clarity on navigating structural change with purpose, integrity, and vision. Across sectors, her leadership story inspires organizations to reframe culture, foster innovation and align strategy with deeply held values.

Gina Cody stands as a living example of what’s possible when determination meets opportunity. As the first woman in Canada to earn a PhD in building engineering and later lead a national consulting firm to award-winning success, she has spent her career breaking barriers and redefining what leadership in STEM looks like. Her story—one of courage, excellence, and advocacy—continues to inspire women and underrepresented groups to pursue and thrive in science, technology, engineering and math.

Through her keynotes, Gina Cody shares practical strategies for increasing representation and retention of women in technical fields. She discusses how institutions, corporations and leaders can intentionally design pathways that foster belonging, mentorship and advancement. Drawing on her experience as a business leader, philanthropist and university chancellor, she connects systemic change with personal empowerment—showing that progress in STEM is both a structural and human journey.

Gina Cody also explores the cultural dimensions of inclusion: how visibility, sponsorship and equitable design can dismantle long-standing barriers. Her insights illuminate what it takes to go beyond inviting women into the room, by ensuring they are heard, valued and positioned to lead. Audiences leave inspired to take action—equipped with ideas to strengthen mentorship pipelines, challenge bias and cultivate workplaces where women can innovate, lead and belong. Gina Cody’s message resonates across sectors; when we engineer inclusion, we engineer a stronger future for all.

Gina Cody understands that a meaningful AI strategy must weave human-centred, ethical design into technological ambition. By championing collaborations, such as those between the Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science and the Milieux Institute for Arts, Culture and Technology, she promotes AI that cares. Her perspective urges leaders to build AI strategies that are not only visionary; they must be also be equitable and socially resonant.

As chancellor of Concordia University, a leading research institute, and as chair of the Gina Cody School’s advisory board, she stands at the intersection of technological innovation and inclusive leadership. Her landmark $15-million donation to Concordia has catalyzed pioneering research in AI, smart cities, the Internet of Things and industry 4.0, demonstrating how strategic investment can drive interdisciplinary breakthroughs.

Gina Cody’s journey—from immigrant student to university chancellor—was marked by the strength of connection, empathy and the power of effective mentorship. She often reflects on how Concordia’s inclusive embrace propelled her success and, in turn, how authentic leadership fosters belonging and trust.

Gina Cody speaks compellingly on leading with presence under pressure, cultivating emotional intelligence in teams, and how vulnerability can become a driver of relational credibility and innovation. Through accessible storytelling and personal insight, she shows how empathy is not softness—but a strategic asset in high-stakes leadership.

Gina Cody’s generosity and leadership have shaped not just institutions, but also cultures, from boardrooms across Canada’s corporate landscape to her transformative philanthropy at Concordia University. Her $15-million donation reshaped the engineering faculty, embedding equity and belonging into its DNA, and proving that culture can be designed with intent.

Gina Cody champions trust-first leadership, inclusion by design and culture metrics that measure emotional safety as much as performance. Her insights are grounded in both academic excellence and lived leadership, offering organizations a pathway to human-centered, high-trust cultures.

Having led a national engineering firm and served on numerous boards, including chairing a TSX 60 company, Gina Cody intimately understands the dynamics of building collaborative, high-performing teams.

Gina Cody speaks passionately on creating emotionally intelligent teams, fostering cross-functional alignment, and building resilience through relational trust and collective engagement. She models how inclusive collaboration can drive innovation and elevate performance, making connection a strategic advantage.

While her core expertise lies in engineering and leadership, Gina Cody embodies sustainable high performance through grit, endurance and purpose. Her life story, encompassing immigration, academic rigour, entrepreneurship, philanthropy and public service, illustrates the connection between mental energy, resilience and long-term impact.

Gina Cody speaks authentically about stress regulation, performance mindset and maintaining clarity under pressure. She invites audiences to see wellness as foundational to leadership, not merely a luxury.

From arriving in Canada with modest means to becoming a transformative donor and advocate in STEM, Gina Cody’s lived experience underscores her commitment to diversity, equity and belonging. Her story has inspired students from underrepresented backgrounds to envision themselves as engineers, entrepreneurs and leaders.

Gina Cody speaks with authenticity on designing inclusion into institutions, celebrating identity and repairing trust through systemic equity. Audiences leave with a renewed conviction that inclusion is a strategic imperative, as well as some helpful tools to begin building it.

As both a trailblazer in her field and a major philanthropist, Gina Cody understands that inclusion must be engineered—through intentional systems, metrics and leadership. Her academic support in AI and smart cities is paired with advocacy for intersectional equity and Indigenous justice within STEM.

Gina Cody speaks powerfully on anti‑racism strategy, inclusive hiring, equity-first leadership and how structures can enable or disable inclusion. Her strategic and heartfelt approach encourages organizations to engineer justice into their core operations.

As a leader recognized by the Order of Canada, Order of Montreal, and recently appointed Honorary Colonel and recipient of the King Charles III Coronation Medal, Gina Cody embodies service and societal trust at multiple levels.

Gina Cody speaks on the importance of inclusive civic engagement, public trust and social resilience—relating how institutions and communities can rebuild discourse through shared narratives, empathy and leadership grounded in integrity. Her story underscores that civic trust is both earned and cultivated with courage.