Egypt’s Nile River Valley has some of the most fertile land in the world. But most of the country is a barren desert where few plants can grow. Hassan Elrakhawy (BCom’24) wants to change that. The Egyptian-born entrepreneur founded Leedana, a startup that uses a technique called sandponics, which can reduce the amount of water needed to cultivate crops by up to 90%. The company already has farms in Egypt that grow cherry tomatoes, peppers, kale, lettuce and more. And other farms are under construction elsewhere.
This year, ten valedictorians from across the university shared their reflections and insights with McGill’s Class of 2025--with an eye cast toward the future. Desautels Grace Singer will be among them. The graduating Bachelor of Commerce student hopes to make a difference by advocating for decarbonization from within the business world. “In the long-term I hope to work directly with the adoption and acceleration of sustainable solutions, such as what I did within the cleantech company I interned at during my degree,” Singer says.
After four years studying in Montreal, Sam Greene (BCOM’20, MMA’21) moved on to Toronto, where he caught on with Major League Baseball’s Toronto Blue Jays. Greene started in a role in an analytics role, but has since been named assistant pitching coach. As a junior member of the coashing staff, Greene is observing senior coaches like pitching coach Pete Walker and bullpen coach Graeme Johnson. “I’m specialized in using the advanced statistics we receive each match,” says Greene. “I contribute by guiding pitch choice and suggesting ways of approaching individual hitters.

McGill to award honorary degree to Don Lewtas for contributions to global finance & student learning
McGill University will award an honorary degree to Donald William Lewtas (BCom’75), a McGill alumnus, at the McGill Desautels Faculty of Management convocation this spring.
Lewtas will receive a Doctor of Laws, honoris causa (LL.D.), in recognition of his leadership in global finance and his support for hands-on education at the faculty.
A Montreal native with a background in finance and data science, Xanthoudakis honed his skills in market analysis and risk management as a strategist for Desautels Capital Management (DCM)’s SRI Fund. He credits the London networking trip and MMF’s collaborative learning environment as key to his growth.
There’s a lot that AI can do—and quite a bit that it can’t. And the mix of numbers and letters on a spreadsheet is one thing that AI has struggled to make sense of. Prior Labs wants to change that by developing machine learning models optimized to understand spreadsheets, which host an enormous amount of critical information in many firms.
Jonathan Victor (BCom’99) has been appointed COO of Insurity, a leading provider of cloud-based software solutions for insurance carriers, brokers, and managing general agents. He undertakes this new role with extensive experience at Insurity, where he has previously held roles such as CIO and EVP of Customer Success. In his expanded capacity, Victor will oversee cloud operations, customer success, enterprise security, system integrator operations, and professional services, ensuring streamlined processes and integration across the company.
Susan Margles (BA’88, MBA’91) has been appointed President and CEO of the Ottawa International Airport Authority. Like other airports, Ottawa’s suffered during the pandemic, but it’s bouncing back with major infrastructure projects, like a new hotel and a connection to the city’s light rail transit system. Margles joins the Airport Authority after nearly two decades at Canada Post, where she—amongst other roles—served as chief people and safety officer and was responsible for human resources, labour relations and government affairs.
Cynthia Price Verreault (BCom’82) has been appointed McGill’s first Deputy Chancellor. In this new role, she will support the Chancellor, President, and Board of Governors. Throughout her two-year term, Price Verreault will offer counsel and play a key role in representing the University at events and high-level meetings.“We are delighted that someone with as deep a knowledge of the institution as Ms. Price Verreault has will be working alongside our new Chancellor, Pierre Boivin,” says Maryse Bertrand, Chair of the McGill Board of Governors.
For Ashley Farrington (BCom’21), short-term sacrifices are worth it if they pay out as long-term gains. The 24-year-old auditor with KPMG in Bermuda has earned some early career returns for her efforts and was recently named a Rising Star by The Bermudian. She aims to become an empathetic leader who is both approachable and decisive. “I want to be someone who has wedged her foot in the door to bring other women up with her,” says Farrington.
When working for a Big Four accounting firm early in her career, Sheila Vokey (BCom’84)—now President and CEO of the responsible investing firm Central 1—saw senior managers struggle to balance work and family life and decided on a different approach. After stints at the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, the Bank of Canada, and Payments Canada, Vokey headed west to Vancouver to become CFO at Central 1, where she has been an advocate of remote work and work-life balance ever since.
Each year the McGill Alumni Association (MAA) recognizes alumni, friends, students, faculty, and staff whose commitment has had a significant impact on alumni life, the University and/or the community. This year, three McGill Desautels alumni were among those honoured for their contributions to the McGill community.
Lesly Yao (BCom’18) isn’t your stereotypical small-town Quebec firefighter. Born in Tahiti, the Bachelor of Commerce grad was growing disillusioned with her work at a marketing firm when a Canadian Forces recruitment advertisement caught her eye—and her imagination. But because Yao was not a citizen at the time and a job with the Forces was not in the cards. “I’d always had it in the back of my mind to become a firefighter,” she says. “I watched shows about firefighting, and it appealed to me, but it also seemed unattainable.
In Canada, ice time is at a premium and the nearest rink might not be able to accommodate your beer league team. But in large cities, there’s often ice available somewhere, and Jonathan Azouri (BCom’16) spotted an opportunity. The co-founder and CEO of CatchCorner by Sports Illustrated, an app that allows users to book sports facilities, launched it in Toronto in 2019 and is now making it available in markets like New York, Los Angeles, and Boston.
Swimmer Clément Secchi (BCom’22) has become the first McGill University graduate to reach the podium at the Summer Olympics since 2008. The 24-year-old management graduate from Aix-en-Provence, France, earned bronze for his native country on Sunday as part of the men's 4x100 medley relay. A four-time All-Canadian at McGill, the 5-foot-11, 157-pound butterfly specialist was a three-time recipient of the Forbes Trophy as the University's male athlete of the year.