Whether progressing sustainability; championing Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion; or driving the digital transformation in banking, three Ivey alumni have been recognized for their exceptional impact as recipients of the Canada's Top 40 Under 40® award.
Derrick Emsley, HBA ’12; Seema Lakhani, HBA ’07; and Mathew Mehrotra, HBA ’09, were among 40 recipients chosen from approximately 1,200 nominations for the annual award, which is Canada’s most coveted for young business and community leaders. The recipients will be profiled in the March 2022 edition of FP Magazine and honoured at a series of events in the coming months.
Founded in 1995 by Caldwell, the Top 40 award honours CEOs, executives, and entrepreneurs in the private, public, and social economy sectors for their remarkable track record of continuing achievement.
Here’s a look at the Ivey recipients on the list:
Derrick Emsley, HBA ’12
Derrick Emsley is Co-Founder & CEO of tentree and veritree
To say Derrick Emsley has an extensive track record of environmental stewardship is an understatement. At age 16, he and his brother, Kalen Emsley, HBA ’11, founded the tree-planting company tentree that sold carbon offsetting credits to businesses. After graduating from Ivey, Emsley became tentree's CEO, where he has grown the organization into a global leading sustainable business that plants more than 60 million trees globally. Emsley was also recognized on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for 2020.
Seema Lakhani, HBA ’07
Seema Lakhani is Chief Product Officer of Wattpad
In addition to leading Wattpad’s product strategy and team, Lakhani founded and chairs Wattpad’s Diversity and Inclusion committee, which works on important equity initiatives across the company. As General Manager of Wattpad Labs, Lakhani also leads the company’s R&D innovations around the future of storytelling. In 2020, she received the Report on Business Best Executive Award.
Mathew Mehrotra, HBA ’09
Mathew Mehrotra is Chief Digital Officer of BMO Financial Group
As BMO’s Chief Digital Officer, Mehrotra is responsible for driving the digital transformation of the bank’s customer-facing businesses. Prior to this role, he held progressively senior roles in BMO’s Digital and Strategy teams and worked as a Consultant at Monitor Group. He is also on the Board of Good Shepherd Ministries in Toronto.
