Victor Dodig, president and CEO of Toronto-based Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) has been recognized as the 2017 Catalyst Canada Honours Company/Firm Leader Champion thanks to his commitment toward diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

In particular, Dodig’s dedication toward championing women in executive roles and on corporate roles, in addition to creating inclusive workplaces, will be acknowledged at the 2017 Catalyst Canada Honours Dinner on Nov. 6 in Toronto, CIBC announced.

“Victor exemplifies what it means to be an inclusive leader who sees the value in diversity not only at CIBC but in Canadian business,” says John Manley, chairman of the board at CIBC, in a statement. “He’s motivated by the fact that diversity is an economic imperative because it leads to better decision making, stronger financial performance, and increased innovation.

In 2014, the same year Dodig was named CIBC’s new president and CEO, he created a global gender diversity and inclusion strategy, increasing the bank’s commitment to developing gender balanced leadership teams. He also developed the CIBC gender action committee and publicly announced a goal of achieving 30%-35% of women in executive positions by the end of 2018, which CIBC achieved in 2016.

“Gender diversity is not a women’s issue, it’s a human issue,” says Dodig, in a statement. “Creating opportunities and empowering not just women, but persons with disabilities and underrepresented groups in the workplace, is extremely important to me personally, and to the health and future of our economy.”

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