Empowering female leaders: Q&A with Alena Thouin

You spoke at Canadian Lawyer’s Women In Law Summit in a panel discussion about breaking through the glass ceiling. Why do you feel passionate about helping women to advance their careers? 
Coming here as an immigrant, I had to work very hard and I never had enough support until I got to a certain point in my life. Once I started working in a professional environment, I was very lucky to find supporters and mentors to support my career, so I think it’s important to give that back. I feel strongly about creating a workplace that is truly inclusive in terms of gender and diversity, because it creates better outcomes. It’s important for younger women to see someone like myself and other female colleagues in senior roles, because it makes it seem possible. 

What are the unique challenges you have faced as a female in-house lawyer? 
As an in-house lawyer, you represent your organization, so one positive point is that you have the ability to sit at the table and influence your work environment. A challenge is ensuring that there are enough opportunities for women to grow and move up the ranks. It’s important to have the right policies and to apply the right lens to ensure that women can continue developing their careers if they choose to have a family. We need to have active discussions around issues such as flexible work arrangements. 

Do you think that corporations are doing enough to address unconscious bias? 
At the executive level, the dial is moving, albeit slowly. Corporate in-house must create a pipeline to ensure that when senior management jobs come up, the right person is ready to fill the role. We need to create that pool. Organizations need to have policies in place to create that pipeline to help women rise to the executive level. At FSRA, we apply the lens of diversity to all types of recruitment and development programs because that’s the cornerstone for creating an organization that’s truly diverse.