Vanessa Lewerentz

Vanessa Lewerentz is Chief Inclusion Officer for BMO Financial Group and leads a team responsible for inclusion, equity & diversity. She holds enterprise-wide accountability to drive strategies, education, practices and programs across the company and grow a culture of inclusion & belonging. She is also co-sponsor of the Canadian Black Professionals Network enterprise resource group.

Vanessa has a deep passion for inclusion and diversity through personal experience and a commitment to making a difference within BMO and across our community; she is a champion for long-term strategic change.

In 2019, Vanessa rejoined BMO as Head of Executive Compensation accountable for the enterprise executive compensation program. Vanessa previously held roles in BMO in the areas of compensation, pensions and benefits, then further enhanced her human resources competency in executive compensation, strategic workforce management and people analytics while working with two other financial services organizations. Her experience in global human resources spans both financial services and the music entertainment industry .

Vanessa serves as President of the Greater Toronto Area Rewards Association and previously a Board member of Durham Mental Health Services (DMHS) for the last three years. Vanessa volunteers throughout her local community supporting mental health, youth-based programs and cancer support agencies .

Vanessa attended Wilfrid Laurier University with a concentration in Psychology and has completed the Certificate in Human Resources Management from Seneca College. She is a Certified Human Resources Leader (CHRL) with the Human Resources Professionals Association and is a Certified Compensation Professional (CCP) and Certified Benefits Professional (CBP) with World at Work and has a certificate in Human Capital Management.