[IWD 2013] Cynthia Roney - Recovering CEO

Introducing our third panelist, Cynthia Roney! Cynthia is the founder and CEO of Executive Passage, an executive coaching and business consulting company. She is a certified executive coach with over 25 years of experience and a history of mentorship and dedication to women's advancement. Cynthia is experienced working in large corporations as well as early stage start-ups.  Her industry experience focused on medical devices and life sciences working for Baxter, Physio-Control (acquired by Medtronic), Xillix Technologies Corp., PneuVation Medical and Neovasc.  At Xillix, Cynthia joined as Marketing Director advancing to VP Business Development, then President, CEO and Board Director, raising $55M venture capital and leading her company through full medical device commercialization--from concept drawing, engineering development, international clinical trials to FDA PMA approval and launch into the global market.

As a recovering CEO with a desire to pay it forward and help others succeed especially women, Cynthia graduated from Royal Roads University as a Certified Executive Coach (CEC) and became certified as a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) through the International Coach Federation.  In addition to working with her business and executive clients, Cynthia is Chair of the YWCA Metro Vancouver Women of Distinction Awards, a member of the International Coach Federation (ICF), a CEO mentor for BC Excels (LifeSciences BC), and she is a mentor/coach/facilitator for the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs (FWE), Women’s Enterprise Centre (WEC), Women's Executive Network (WXN), Minerva Foundation, Professional Women’s Network (PWN) and Canadian Board Diversity Council (CBDC) ‘Get on Board’ program aimed at helping women advance to leadership and Board of Director responsibilities.  Cynthia has written articles for Business in Vancouver, and she is a member of the Vancouver Board of Trade, Women's Leadership Circle, Chamber of Commerce and Southlands Riding Club.

In her personal life, Cynthia leads an active family life.  Married for 25 years to her remarkable husband Michael and their 3 grown children (Connor, Brandon, Taylor), Cynthia is a passionate equestrian and former owner of an international showjumper/ dressage horse, Piko's Executive Passage.  She is also an accomplished long distance runner with 4 marathons completed (Vancouver x2 and Portland x2) with more to come.

Hear Cynthia's story at our third annual International Women's Day conference on Sunday, March 10th. Tickets can be purchased here.