Sonya Kunkel joined Environics in 2009 to lead the analysis and reporting for Environics Institute’s Urban Aboriginal Peoples Study. She subsequently joined Environics Research Group in October 2009 as Vice President of Public Affairs. She is an accomplished researcher, consultant and project manager who has led extensive research efforts on a range of topics pertaining to social inclusion, workplace diversity and corporate-community relations. In 2007, she conducted a large scale study of the workplace experiences of first and second generation visible minority managers, professionals and executives in corporate Canada, co-authored with Ryerson University’s Diversity Institute in Management and Technology.
She has also led numerous consulting engagements with FP500 companies and firms, providing assessment and strategy on employee retention, building inclusive work environments for women and visible minority groups, and organizational change efforts to a range of clients including Alcan, IBM, McCarthy Tétrault, Scotiabank, Rogers Communications, and KPMG.
After completing her M.B.A. in Strategic Management and Organizational Behaviour from the Schulich School of Business, York University, she worked with (former President) Susan Black to establish and build Catalyst Canada, serving as Senior Director in her last two years with the organization and Acting President of Catalyst Canada for a six-month period during a leadership transition. In 2007 she established her own practice, working with clients as varied as ING Canada, The Canadian Centre for Diversity, Deloitte and the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business (CCAB). Prior to joining Catalyst in 2001, she supervised major cross-country research surveys and projects for a North American research firm. Sonya also holds an M.A. from York University and a B.A. from the University of Toronto.
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