Rhonda Barnet

Background

About Rhonda Barnet

Rhonda Barnet has over three decades of experience as a female trailblazer, achieving great heights in male-dominated industries and institutions. A STEM graduate in mathematics, she is a successful executive, entrepreneur, and director, as well as a key voice in Canada, and around the world, on industrial policy, skills of the future, and diversity. Rhonda frequently shares the stage with Canada’s biggest names in business and politics, and is a nationally renowned, dynamic public speaker. Rhonda has held various positions in her family manufacturing company, AVIT Manufacturing (formerly Steelworks Design Inc.), including VP Finance, President & COO, and Chair of the Advisory Board. She has grown this company into a global automation company offering custom solutions to the largest manufacturers in the world. She has extensive expertise in corporate leadership and strategy, business development, trade, finance, governance, turnarounds, and succession planning. Rhonda was the first woman in history to chair the National Board of Canada’s oldest, largest trade association, Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME). She led the organization through a period of turmoil and financial turnaround, finding and onboarding a new CEO and reducing the size of the board through a modern governance journey. In June 2020, Rhonda was appointed to the Government of Canada’s Industry Strategy Council by the Honourable Navdeep Bains and named Chair of the Advanced Manufacturing Sector Strategy Table. The council’s report – Restart, Recover and Reimagine Prosperity for all Canadians: An Ambitious Growth Plan for Building a Digital, Sustainable and Innovative Economy – was published in December 2020. Barnet volunteered hundreds of hours at the decision table with nine of the country’s most distinguished sectoral leaders. This influential council was chaired by Monique Leroux, Vice-Chair of Fiera Holdings Inc.(and former president and CEO of Desjardins Group). Rhonda is a sought-after Canadian advocate for the advanced manufacturing sector. She has deep knowledge of leading and actively participating in high-impact boards and government roundtables and looks to leverage this experience and influence to make a difference for the economic prosperity of Canada, Canadian businesses, and the diverse people they employ.