Former Deputy Minister Responsible for Francophone Affairs, Senior Vice President, Power Corporation of Canada and Power Financial Corporation.
Mr. Genest was appointed Senior Vice-President of Power Corporation and Power Financial in 2016.His background includes government, academia and business. He served in a number of portfolios as a deputy minister in the Ontario Government, including with Intergovernmental Affairs and Francophone Affairs.
Mr. Genest was deputy minister responsible for oversight of the Pan Am and Parapan Am Games held in Toronto in 2015. He has served in the federal government as Director of Policy and Research in the Office of the Prime Minister of Canada. He held executive positions with the Council of Ontario Universities and Bell Canada and has served as adjunct professor at Glendon College, York University. A Fellow at the Brookfield Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Ryerson University, Mr. Genest is an active volunteer with a number of organizations including Pine River Institute, which provides residential rehabilitation for teenagers, the Nature Conservancy of Canada – Ontario Region, Business for the Arts, and the Alliance Française de Toronto. A champion of diversity, he has been honoured for his advocacy for the rights of the LGBTQ community. He is a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.
Mr. Genest holds a Bachelor of Arts, Honours (graduating cum laude) in English and Philosophy from the University of Guelph, a Masters in Philosophy from the University of Ottawa, and a PhD in Philosophy from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. He is also a graduate of the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School and has completed the Rotman School of Management, Institute of Corporate Directors – Directors Education Program (ICD.D).