2024 40 Under 40 Winners

Edith has been instrumental in driving transformative campaigns and securing major gifts that advance healthcare in Montreal and Quebec. Under her leadership, the Foundation's annual revenue soared from $2.5-$3 million to $13.4 million by 2023, a testament to her strategic prowess and commitment to community impact. Edith's leadership is exemplified by her role in initiatives like the DOVEEgene campaign, surpassing its $3 million goal to fund ovarian cancer detection, and the Dream Big: Lachine Hospital campaign, which has raised over $3 million towards its $5 million goal. Her ability to cultivate partnerships, such as securing a $1.7 million gift from National Bank for microbiome research, underscores her influence and dedication to advancing medical innovation. Beyond her fundraising achievements, Edith's involvement in community organizations like Benedict Labre House and AFP Quebec Committees reflects her broader commitment to social change and philanthropic leadership in Quebec.

I was raised in a hospital. Both my parents are healthcare professionals, and I even went to daycare at my dad's hospital. Family dinner discussions were a mix of our school days and our parents’ hard cases. I know how passionate healthcare professionals are about their patients’ health and how limited their resources are. It's an honour to be doing my small part to help medical research and support healthcare professionals, patients and their families.

My work at the MUHC Foundation has been gratifying. I am so grateful for this career, and I would choose it over and over again. Every day, I get to connect amazing donors to extraordinary healthcare leaders. I meet donors who want to improve healthcare for our community and for the world. I get to bring donors to exclusive places like research labs and operating rooms. I also get sneak peeks into the future of healthcare, hearing from researchers about their groundbreaking projects and outmost dreams.

When I asked my president to be entrusted with my first campaign, she agreed and supported me right away. It was a $6 million campaign for DOvEE: potentially the world's first early diagnosis test for ovarian and endometrial cancers. However, the doctor in charge of DOvEE asked to interview me. I had never been so scared in my life, but after a few minutes of questioning, she agreed to give me a chance and trust me with the campaign. Together, working with my first campaign committee (all amazing supportive volunteers), we exceeded our fundraising goal. And I still get to work with this amazing doctor. To this date, I am conscious of the fact that, as fundraisers, we are entrusted to represent projects that are lifelong works for researchers, projects led by doctors who are incredibly passionate. We have to be deeply respectful and grateful for their trust. We have to work as hard as they do to improve healthcare.

I love explaining complicated scientific projects in layman's terms. Every step of the process is exciting: from reading publications, to meeting researchers and asking them questions, all the way to seeing the twinkle in a donor's eyes when they love the project you're describing. I often try describing a very basic version of new projects to my daughter (my utmost passion). Her curiosity at nine years old is immense, and her questions are really clever and helpful.

Philanthropy is all about relationships, but healthcare philanthropy brings it all to another level. You have to be ready. If you are so lucky, your donors will share their beautiful moments of miracle recoveries, but also ask you to share their angst as they await diagnosis or their grief as they say final goodbyes. Healthcare philanthropy makes you privy to the most vulnerable and raw moments of a person's life. Be there, genuinely there, not because they are donors, but because you are part of their journey (and they are part of yours). The donation will come. The donation is often part of the healing or the celebrating.