Jocelyn Mackie is Co-CEO of Grand Challenges Canada, giving leadership and oversight to all aspects of the organization’s innovation platform, together with Co-CEO Karlee Silver.
Prior to being appointed co-CEO, Ms. Mackie was Vice President Operations & General Counsel at GCC where she led the Finance, Operations, Legal, and Communications teams, providing leadership and oversight on the organization’s operations, funder relations, deal structuring and negotiations (on grant and non-grant financing deals), financial accountability and risk mitigation management, as well as providing legal and compliance oversight.
Prior to joining GCC, Ms. Mackie provided legal and strategic advice to pharmaceutical and technology companies at a boutique law firm with offices in Toronto, Washington and New York. She specialized in intellectual property law and litigation, as well as lobbying for legislative change in Washington and Ottawa. Ms. Mackie started her academic pursuits studying languages and international development, and spent time digging latrines and helping to set up a self-sustaining micro-enterprise for rural women in Honduras.
Ms. Mackie has a MSc from the University of Toronto, where she jointly authored a book on ethical decision-making and corporate social responsibility in the bioscience industry. She has a JD from the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto, and an honours business degree (HBA) from the Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario. She is called to the Ontario Bar and the New York State Bar.
When not focused on saving and improving the lives of the most vulnerable, Ms. Mackie spends time with her entrepreneurial husband, three children and two step daughters (aged newborn to 18) at their home in Toronto, family cottage and cattle farm. In her spare time, she stays grounded by taking dance classes, and is active in her community church and children’s school.