Speak to people who have worked with Michael E. Roach, inaugural Chairperson of the Interac Corp. Board of Directors, and you will hear the same thing: Michael is a strong leader. You will also hear all that he has achieved for all stakeholders.<\/p>\n
Yet even more than what he has done<\/em>, his peers are eager to talk about who Michael is<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cHe has a huge fan club,\u201d says Independent Director and newly appointed Chairperson Paul Vessey, \u201cand I happen to have joined it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe sets the tone with his very being, with the way he addresses issues,\u201d says Kikelomo Lawal, Chief Legal Officer, Ombudsman and Corporate Secretary at Interac. \u201cHe is classy. He is insightful. He is kind.\u201d<\/p>\n Michael\u2019s leadership during his two-year tenure will have a lasting impact on the Interac team, the Board, and now, a future Canadian leader.<\/p>\n To mark Michael\u2019s legacy, Interac established a scholarship in his name at his alma mater, Laurentian University. The university located in Sudbury, Ontario, had previously granted him a prestigious honorary doctorate in business administration.<\/p>\n This $20,000 scholarship endowment will provide financial assistance to a student who excels in a course about community leadership. The recipient will be a full-time undergraduate student who receives the highest final mark in the Foundations of Community Leadership course, which focuses on the ethics, theory and practice of leadership at the community level.<\/p>\n A course in leadership makes a fitting tribute for Michael, who has made his mark across a diverse range of industries throughout his career \u2014 notably as President and CEO of technology services company CGI Group Inc., and as a director of another Canadian company, CAE Inc., which is best known for its aviation simulators. A standard of excellence, insightful perspectives and a wealth of knowledge have spanned his career in the tech industry, earning him the title of \u201cMost Innovative Chief Executive Officer\u201d in 2014.<\/p>\n Interac President & CEO Mark O\u2019Connell recalls how Michael helped inspire the Board\u2019s strategic, forward-looking thinking. \u201cHe set the Board immediately on a path to elevate it to a more strategic level.\u201d<\/p>\n While this may seem like an occasion to reflect on what he and Interac have accomplished together, it\u2019s in Michael\u2019s nature to view things through a strategic lens and stay focused on the future.<\/p>\n \u201cThe good news is we\u2019ve come a long way,\u201d Michael says. \u201cThe better news is there\u2019s huge opportunities ahead. In fact, I would say the best is yet to come for this company.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Speak to people who have worked with Michael E. Roach, inaugural Chairperson of the Interac Corp. Board of Directors, and you will hear the same thing: Michael is a strong leader. You will also hear all that he has achieved for all stakeholders. Yet even more than what he has done, his peers are eager…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":75339,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"content-tags":[952],"content-category":[956],"spokespeople":[],"in_the_know_post_format":[169],"class_list":["post-75338","content","type-content","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","content-tags-enterprise-and-government","content-category-working-at-interac","in_the_know_post_format-article"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n