Deborah Rosati, an award-winning entrepreneur and corporate director, has been described in three interconnected ways over her 35-year career: as a champion of corporate governance, a catalyst for change, and a builder of community.
As the founder and CEO of Women Get On Board Inc. (WGOB), a national movement with Ten Years of Trailblazing: Amplifying Women’s Voices, Transforming Boardrooms and Beyond, our mission is to connect, promote, and empower women to serve on corporate boards with confidence and courage.
WGOB TSX Market Close, September 25, 2025
Deborah is proud to amplify the voices of women leaders, board members, and professionals across Canada through education, mentorship, and allyship. She believes in the power of three: one woman in the boardroom is a token, two are a presence, and three are a voice.
Deborah is a respected leader in the boardroom, having chaired boards and audit committees, as well as nominating and corporate governance committees, and having served as lead director of public companies. Additionally, Deborah has led and served on numerous special committees with mandates that include initial public offerings and private placements, mergers and acquisitions, restructuring, and special investigations.
Deborah’s dedication to inclusive governance and board diversity stems from her experiences as often the only woman in the boardroom. These firsthand encounters have reinforced her belief that increasing women’s presence on boards leads to better business outcomes.
Constantly seeking improvement, Deborah aims to challenge expectations and foster positive change. She brings an environmental, social, and governance (ESG) perspective to every board she joins, believing in the power and responsibility of businesses to make the world a better place.
As innovative leaders, Deborah and her co-founders, Dr. Sherry Shannon Vanstone and Lara Zink, founded Women Funding Women Inc. (WFW) to address the funding gap facing women entrepreneurs.
Deborah’s commitment to sustainable change and empowerment, along with her broad governance and financial expertise and engaging demeanour, have made her a sought-after thought leader and speaker. Her perspectives on corporate governance, sustainability, inclusion, and social impact are clearly presented on her website, deborahrosati.ca.
“As leaders, we have a civic duty to elevate the next generation of women leaders by advocating for their economic empowerment and financial freedom so they can make independent decisions.
We can achieve this empowerment through education, mentorship, and allyship.”
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Deborah, as Founder and CEO of Women Get on Board was instrumental in facilitating my board career by providing advice on criteria’s to be given an opportunity to sit on a board. Deborah has grown WGOB from a Toronto based organization to one that is national. She willingly shares her 20+ years experience of sitting on boards for the benefit of others. She is a mentor, sponsor and promoter of numerous women in their board journey. She provides thought leadership and gives back to her community with the invaluable work on CPA Canada’s advisory committees. I know that my board journey would look a lot different without the support and insight of Deborah and WGOB.
Deborah Rosati is Canada’s Connector. She focuses her time, energy, passion, insights and wisdom towards connecting, promoting and empowering women to corporate boards. Deborah unites women and men across the country in an effort to drive diversity and women’s equality in boardrooms. Deborah founded Women Get On Board in 2015, and has since established a community of over 650 women and men who are on their board journey. Through Women Get On Board, panels discussions, podcasts and more, Deborah has elevated the bar for good governance, boardroom diversity, equity and inclusion. Furthermore, through Women Get On Board’s Mentorship program, Deborah is grooming the next generation of corporate directors. Deborah leads with passion and inspires everyone she meets with her relentless energy and commitment to helping people and companies flourish.Deborah’s authenticity and approach to relationship building is unrivaled in the realm of board diversity and corporate board building.
Deborah has a unique ability to see a need, but then to invest the effort to create a vision and an ecosystem to address the need. We came together with a shared vision of helping accelerate gender parity on corporate Boards. From that shared vision, we co-created and co-deliver the Getting Board Ready program, targeted at women looking to land their first corporate Board seat. I have had an inside view to her passion, her collaborative nature, her willingness to pay it forward, her expertise, and her acute business savvy. A well of ideas, she seems to have a sixth sense on how to brand and market, and is a force to be reckoned with.
Deborah is an outstanding change advocate and continually connects, promotes and empowers women for board service. She is an exceptional entrepreneur who is able to apply her training as a financial expert and operational knowledge of the ‘nuts and bolts’ of running a business, to educate and empower her young team. I believe unequivocally that Deborah is a deserving recipient of an RBC Canadian Entrepreneur Award and I am honoured to support her nomination.
Deborah, as Founder and CEO of Women Get on Board was instrumental in facilitating my board career by providing advice on criteria’s to be given an opportunity to sit on a board. Deborah has grown WGOB from a Toronto based organization to one that is national. She willingly shares her 20+ years experience of sitting on boards for the benefit of others. She is a mentor, sponsor and promoter of numerous women in their board journey. She provides thought leadership and gives back to her community with the invaluable work on CPA Canada’s advisory committees. I know that my board journey would look a lot different without the support and insight of Deborah and WGOB.”
Deborah Rosati is Canada’s Connector. She focuses her time, energy, passion, insights and wisdom towards connecting, promoting and empowering women to corporate boards. Deborah unites women and men across the country in an effort to drive diversity and women’s equality in boardrooms. Deborah founded Women Get On Board in 2015, and has since established a community of over 650 women and men who are on their board journey. Through Women Get On Board, panels discussions, podcasts and more, Deborah has elevated the bar for good governance, boardroom diversity, equity and inclusion. Furthermore, through Women Get On Board’s Mentorship program, Deborah is grooming the next generation of corporate directors. Deborah leads with passion and inspires everyone she meets with her relentless energy and commitment to helping people and companies flourish.
Deborah’s authenticity and approach to relationship building is unrivaled in the realm of board diversity and corporate board building.
Deborah has a unique ability to see a need, but then to invest the effort to create a vision and an ecosystem to address the need. We came together with a shared vision of helping accelerate gender parity on corporate Boards. From that shared vision, we co-created and co-deliver the Getting Board Ready program, targeted at women looking to land their first corporate Board seat. I have had an inside view to her passion, her collaborative nature, her willingness to pay it forward, her expertise, and her acute business savvy. A well of ideas, she seems to have a sixth sense on how to brand and market, and is a force to be reckoned with.
Deborah is an outstanding change advocate and continually connects, promotes and empowers women for board service. She is an exceptional entrepreneur who is able to apply her training as a financial expert and operational knowledge of the ‘nuts and bolts’ of running a business, to educate and empower her young team. I believe unequivocally that Deborah is a deserving recipient of an RBC Canadian Entrepreneur Award and I am honoured to support her nomination.