“Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.”
Sartaj Sarkaria is a transformational executive, board leader, and governance professional whose career has been defined by a commitment to creating meaningful and lasting organizational value. With more than 15 years of professional experience spanning executive leadership, governance, human resources, financial stewardship, organizational transformation, strategy, and diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, she has developed a reputation for helping organizations navigate complexity while remaining focused on people, purpose, and sustainable results. Her leadership philosophy is grounded in continuous learning, thoughtful listening, transparency, and collaboration—principles that have enabled her to guide organizations through periods of growth, transition, financial change, and cultural evolution.
As President and Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion (CCDI), Sartaj leads a national, values-driven organization focused on advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, and systemic change in workplaces across Canada. Her responsibilities encompass the leadership of more than 50 employees and stewardship of an approximately $15 million organizational budget. In this capacity, she has brought together strategic vision and operational discipline, developing and implementing a three-year organizational strategy and corresponding annual playbook while strengthening internal human resources and governance practices. Her early impact also included significant growth in CCDI’s national conference, with noteworthy increases in attendance, participation, and revenue demonstrating her ability to connect mission-driven leadership with measurable organizational outcomes.
Before joining CCDI, Sartaj served as Chief Executive Officer of The Holstein Association of Canada, where she led a national organization of more than 100 employees and was responsible for an approximately $18 million budget. Entering an established agricultural organization with a long history and deeply rooted stakeholder relationships required a leadership approach built around listening, trust, adaptability, and decisive action. Sartaj guided organizational restructuring, strengthened leadership capabilities, advanced diversity and inclusion, cultivated relationships with government and industry stakeholders, and worked closely with the Board of Directors to align governance structures with strategic priorities. Among her most significant achievements was leading a financial turnaround that returned the organization to a six-figure surplus within 18 months following multiple deficit cycles, while also strengthening revenue opportunities and supporting innovation within the organization.
Sartaj’s executive progression was also shaped by more than six years of increasingly senior leadership responsibilities with the Canadian Marketing Association. Rising through governance and corporate services roles into executive leadership, she ultimately served as Chief Operating and Diversity Officer, functioning as Chief Executive Officer. She led more than 30 employees, managed approximately $10 million in operations, partnered extensively with the Board of Directors, and helped guide the association through executive leadership transition and broader organizational change. Her responsibilities extended across governance, human resources, professional development, DEIA, organizational strategy, financial stewardship, professional development, stakeholder engagement, and advocacy on important regulatory and public policy matters affecting the marketing profession.
Her experience at the Canadian Marketing Association illustrates a defining characteristic of Sartaj’s career: the ability to connect people strategy with business strategy. During her progression through roles encompassing governance, human resources, corporate services, professional development, and diversity leadership, she helped strengthen succession planning, performance management, board processes, organizational culture, and regulatory compliance. She also contributed to financial and operational efficiencies, expanded professional development opportunities, supported membership growth and retention, and helped establish initiatives designed to broaden opportunities for BIPOC professionals. Rather than viewing human capital, governance, and strategy as separate disciplines, Sartaj approaches them as interconnected elements of organizational performance and long-term sustainability.
Board governance is equally central to Sartaj’s professional identity. She has held significant leadership positions across national nonprofit, professional, agricultural, and literacy-focused organizations. At the Human Resources Professionals Association, she has served as Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors and Chair of the Human Resources & Compensation Committee, contributing to CEO performance oversight, executive compensation, succession planning, organizational culture, talent strategy, and governance during executive leadership transitions. Her work reflects both her technical understanding of governance and her appreciation for the responsibility boards carry in balancing organizational performance, stakeholder expectations, risk, and long-term institutional health.
Sartaj has further expanded her governance impact through United for Literacy and the Do More Agriculture Foundation. At United for Literacy, she has served as Board Vice-Chair and Chair of the Nominations & Governance Committee, supporting board recruitment, succession planning, governance modernization, strategic planning, organizational sustainability, and the development of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion practices. At the Do More Agriculture Foundation, she served as Board Chair and helped provide strategic oversight during executive leadership transition while supporting transparent communication with staff, funders, and partners. Her board portfolio demonstrates an ability to contribute across organizations with very different missions while applying consistent principles of accountability, thoughtful governance, stakeholder engagement, and mission stewardship.
Her professional perspective is strengthened by exposure to a broad range of sectors and stakeholder environments. Sartaj’s experience encompasses nonprofit leadership, professional associations, marketing, agriculture, human resources, governance, and organizational transformation, while her interests extend to healthcare, sports, financial services, and insurance. Her international exposure includes engagement connected with USA, Japan, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, complementing governance experience that has included service within an international federation structure. This breadth enables her to enter unfamiliar environments with curiosity, understand complex stakeholder ecosystems, and translate lessons across industries rather than relying on a single-sector leadership model.
Education and professional development have remained important components of Sartaj’s leadership journey. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Wilfrid Laurier University and has complemented her academic foundation with executive education in leadership, accounting and finance, human resources law, and inclusion through institutions including eCornell, Queen’s Executive Education, Centennial College, and Osgoode Hall Law School. She also holds the Certified Human Resources Leader (CHRL), Governance Professionals of Canada (GPC.D), and Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD.D) designations. Together, these credentials reinforce the multidisciplinary perspective she brings to the boardroom, combining an understanding of people and organizational behavior with governance, finance, legal considerations, risk, and strategic oversight.
Throughout her career, Sartaj has demonstrated particular strength during moments when organizations are required to change. Whether helping an organization navigate an executive transition, addressing financial pressures, restructuring teams, modernizing governance, strengthening culture, or developing new strategic priorities, she brings a measured approach that combines careful listening with an expectation of action and accountability. She is comfortable working at the intersection of the board and management, understanding both the oversight responsibilities of directors and the operational realities confronting executive teams. This perspective enables her to ask thoughtful questions, identify connections between people, strategy, governance, and financial performance, and help organizations translate ambitious objectives into practical execution.
As Sartaj considers additional board opportunities, she brings the perspective of an experienced executive who has both reported to boards and served as a director and board leader herself. She is particularly interested in opportunities where her experience in governance, HR, transformation, finance, organizational strategy, and executive leadership can contribute to organizations entering their next stage of development. While she has expressed particular interest in healthcare, higher education, professional services, sports, energy and utilities, financial services, public sector / Crown corporations, and insurance, she remains open to opportunities across sectors where strong governance, organizational transformation, and thoughtful human-capital leadership can create meaningful value.
Beyond titles and professional accomplishments, Sartaj’s leadership is rooted in a simple principle: value matters more than recognition. She believes effective leaders listen before acting, remain willing to learn, create space for different perspectives, and accept responsibility for turning ideas into meaningful outcomes. Her passion for hiking reflects an appreciation for challenge, perspective, and forward movement that also resonates with her professional philosophy. As she continues expanding her contribution in executive leadership and the boardroom, Sartaj remains focused on building relationships, strategies, governance systems, and organizational cultures capable of creating value that endures well beyond any individual leader.
Character:
Sartaj leads with humility, integrity, curiosity, and a deeply rooted commitment to creating value for organizations and the communities they serve. Her willingness to listen, learn, adapt, and remain accountable allows her to build trust while guiding people through periods of significant organizational change.
Knowledge:
Her expertise spans governance, human resources, organizational transformation, financial stewardship, strategy, DEIA, stakeholder engagement, executive leadership, and board effectiveness. Her multidisciplinary education and professional designations further enable her to evaluate organizational challenges through governance, human-capital, financial, legal, and strategic perspectives.
Strategic:
Sartaj has repeatedly translated organizational challenges into opportunities for transformation, including guiding financial turnaround, restructuring teams, strengthening governance frameworks, developing strategic plans, and creating new avenues for organizational sustainability. She connects long-term vision with practical execution, ensuring that strategy is supported by the people, systems, accountability, and financial discipline required to produce results.
Communication:
An experienced communicator who has worked extensively with boards, executives, employees, government stakeholders, industry partners, members, funders, and diverse communities. Her communication style emphasizes listening, transparency, collaboration, and the ability to translate complex governance and organizational issues into clear conversations that enable informed decisions.
