Linda Hasenfratz
Linda Hasenfratz is the Chief Executive Officer of Linamar Corporation, a diversified global manufacturing company of highly engineered products powering vehicles, motion, work, and lives. Linda joined her father’s company in 1990 and worked her way up from the ground floor, experiencing all aspects of the business including running a machine, engineering, and operations management. Since her tenure as CEO started, Linda has grown the company from an $800 million enterprise to a $6 billion company.
Linda’s enthusiasm for the arts prompted her to join the Board of Governors of the Royal Ontario Museum in 2002. In 2012 she became the inaugural Chair of the Philanthropy Leadership Cabinet of the Guelph General Hospital. Involvement in charitable organizations continues to be an important focus for her.
Linda has also sat on the Board of Advisors for Catalyst Canada since 2003. In February 2017, she was announced as the Canadian Chair of the Canada-United States Council for Advancement of Women Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders. Her desire to see women progress in business to the top level of industry prompted her to participate in these two key initiatives.
Strengthening her position as a Canadian and global leader, Linda was appointed to the CIBC Board of Directors in 2004 and appointed Chair of their Management Resources Compensation Committee in the fall of 2015. She was Canadian Chair of the North American Competitiveness Council in 2008, a trilateral group of executives from Canada, the US, and Mexico convened by the countries’ leaders to debate and advise on key recommendations regarding enhancement of the NAFTA region. She became a member of the Board of the Business Council of Canada (formerly the Canadian Council of Chief Executives) in 2010 and was appointed Chair in early 2016. Her contribution to this important policy and advisory group has assisted her in developing relationships and advancing ideas to key business and government leaders.
In recognition of her and Linamar’s support and focus on international growth, Linda has received two international honours. The French Government honoured her in June 2015 with the Chevalier dans l’Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur, one of the highest honours bestowed upon a non-civilian in France. In October 2016, the Hungarian government awarded her with the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Merit of Hungary.
Linda supports one of Linamar’s key industries, the automotive industry, through her appointment as the first female director to the Faurecia Board of Directors, a French automotive supplier, in 2011. She also has been named one of the Automotive News 100 Leading Women in each year of its publication in 2000, 2005, 2010, and 2015.