Catalyst Canada is a vibrant and strong organization of more than 50 corporate members across the country. That number continues to grow. With offices in New York, San Jose, California and Toronto, Catalyst works to advance women in business. The organization’s research and consulting services on all aspects of women’s career advancement has earned the confidence of business leaders worldwide.
Sonya Kunkel is currently leading the Canadian office for the organization. She is Catalyst’s recognized expert on mentoring issues and has spoken widely on this topic in Canada, the United States and Europe.
Sonya’s strong commitment to increasing the number of senior women in the business serves blue-chip Canadian companies from all major industries. As the leading source of information on women in business in this country, Catalyst Canada research explores a wide range of issues including diversity, work life balance and career advancement.
Over the past year, Sonya has headed up Catalyst’s extensive research efforts on work life balance in Canadian law firms. The first research report on this subject: Beyond a Reasonable Doubt: Building the Business Case for Flexibility -- presents a strong business case for flexibility in law firms by demonstrating that losing legal talent because of work life balance issues can cost law firms millions of dollars a year The second report: Creating Opportunities for Better Balance reveals that nearly two-thirds of all lawyers in law firms report difficulty managing the demands of work and personal/family life. The study also details how changes can be made within law firms to address work-life balance issues but not at the expense of a firm's business goals and market realities.
Prior to joining Catalyst in 2001, Ms. Kunkel supervised major cross country research surveys and projects for a North American research firm. She has also served as an analyst for a university-based research group, reporting on two G7 summits under the auspices of the Financial Post. Ms. Kunkel earned an M.B.A. in Strategic Management from the Schulich School of Business, York University. She also holds an M.A. in Political Science and a B.A. in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of Toronto.
