Dr. Isabelle Francois is the President of Women in International Security (WIIS) Brussels

Dr. Isabelle Francois is an expert in international security with a 30-year professional experience in international organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), as well as academia and think tanks. She started her career in the Canadian government at the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), and subsequently the Department of National Defence (DND). Isabelle is currently Adviser for the Science for Peace and Security at NATO. She has also worked as a consultant providing policy advice to the private and public sectors, and volunteered in several nonprofit organizations. She has served in a number of capitals: Ottawa, Brussels, Moscow, and Washington. She led many international teams, developing and implementing various projects bringing people from different cultures together, and fundraising for causes she felt strongly about. Isabelle has authored over fifty publications on international security issues, spoken at many conferences, and given various interviews to the press. She received her Law degree from Sorbonne, Paris, her Ph.D in Political Science from Université de Montréal, Canada, a Certificate in Essentials of Leadership from London School of Economics (LSE), and her Life Coach Certificate from the United States (QSCA).

Sylvia Bashevkin talks about her award-winning book Women as Foreign Policy Leaders.

Sylvia Bashevkin is a professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto. Her primary research focus is gender and politics, notably women’s impact as public leaders. She is the author most recently of Women as Foreign Policy Leaders, a comparative study of four American decision-makers since the Reagan years. Her edited volume on women premiers in the Canadian provinces and territories is forthcoming in spring 2019 from UBC Press. Sylvia Bashevkin has served as president of the Canadian Political Science Association, president of the women and politics research section of the American Political Science Association and principal of University College, the founding college of the University of Toronto. Her scholarly distinctions include fellowship in the Royal Society of Canada, the Jill Vickers Prize from the Canadian Political Science Association, the Mildred Schwartz Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Political Science Association, and the Ursula Franklin Gender Studies Award from the Royal Society.

Brig.-Gen. Jennie Carignan talks about leadership and affecting change in the military.

Brigadier-General Jennie Carignan is currently the Commander 2nd Canadian Division and Joint Task Force (East) and was recently promoted to Major-Gen. and will take over the command of the NATO training mission in Iraq this fall. Commissioned into the Canadian Military Engineers in 1990, hercommand appointments include Commanding Officer of 5 Combat Engineer Regiment, Commandant of the Task Force Kandahar Engineer Regiment and Commandant of the Royal Military College Saint-Jean. Overseas, she served in deployments to Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Golan Heights, and Kandahar (Afghanistan). BGen Carignan earned a Master's degree from the United States Army Command and General Staff College and the School of Advanced Military Studies. She is a graduate of the National Security Studies Programme and earned a Master’s degree in business administration from Université Laval. BGen Carignan is the recipient of the Order of Military Merit and the Meritorious Service Medal. She received the prestigious Gloire de l'Escolle medal which recognizes graduates from Université Laval who have distinguished themselves professionally and in service to their communities. She was recently awarded an honorary doctorate in Business Administration from Université Laval.