Lisa Drouillard
Merrickville
Summary
Seasoned executive with a facilitative leadership style and with a proven history of successful operational, policy and
funding program delivery achieved through a commitment to building strong stakeholder relationships.
Overview
22
22
years of professional experience
Work History
Director
Ottawa Academic Health Network
04.2025 - Current
- Led the development of executive working groups of hospital, research institute and university leadership to coordinate on health sciences education and research.
- Convened an expert group of IT executives across the health research ecosystem to address access and interoperability issues across Ottawa's health ecosystem.
- Developed a communications strategy to raise the profile of Ottawa's excellence in health education and health research and to amplify the messaging from member institutions.
- Established a working group structure and action plan to prioritize areas of administrative efficiency that will make collaborative research easier and to treat all health learning sites as an integrated network.
Director, Field Governance and Personnel Readiness
Elections Canada
01.2020 - Current
- Lead a large team (up to 180 FTEs) to support the delivery of federal elections through three major programs: Field Communications and Engagement, Field Recruitment and Evaluation, and Field Support and Incident Management.
- Managed a Field Communications team that maintains a field intranet site, production of all field staff manuals for federal elections, regular communications with Returning Officers and the organization or annual in-person meetings with over 600 election administrators and regional meetings across Canada.
- Led the Recruitment and Evaluation function to maintain a state of election readiness by ensuring that all federal Returning Officer positions are staffed at all times in every riding. Ran up to 150 recruitment processes annually and managed the performance evaluation of these and related positions.
- Led the Field Support and Incident Management team that delivers digital support to answer critical enquiries from Returning Officers to support their delivery of federal elections.
- Managed an operating budget of close to $4 M in non-election years, and over $7 million during election years.
- Key Accomplishment: In 2024, I lead the agency in planning and delivering the first national conference Returning Officers and election administrators in over a decade – a highly successful learning and networking event of over 600 participants for which I led the team in developing facilitation materials for the onboarding of over 150 new election administrators.
Director, Consultation Services and Stakeholder Mobilization
Elections Canada
01.2014 - 01.2020
- Led a national program of stakeholder engagment with a broad range of not-for-profit organizations, post-secondary institutions and student groups and other representatives of organizations representing Indigenous, Youth, New Canadian stakeholders and persons with disabilities on improvements to the electoral system
- Led external communications campaigns to ensure that all Canadians have the information they need to vote, particularly those groups who face barriers to participation
- Routinely briefed the Chief Electoral Officer and Senior Management, and providing strategic advice on how to engage external groups both to enhance the delivery of our mandate and to mitigate risks to EC’s reputation
- Represented the Agency externally in interdepartmental groups and delivering of public presentations across Canada, and in the media as required
- Managed an operating budget of $3.5M operating budget and 14-18 staff with significant external contracts (over $2M)
- Key Accomplishment: In the 2018 renewal of our core stakeholder mobilization program, Inspire Democracy, I led an effective call to action to stakeholder groups among youth, indigenous communities, people with disabilities and other equity seeking groups to and co-create information and civic engagement campaigns for the 2019 General Election.
Executive
Networks of Centres of Excellence Secretariat
01.2011 - 01.2014
- Led the renewal and delivery of the Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research (CECR) and the Industrial R&D Internship (IRDI) grant programs, with a team of 8 staff, annual operating budget of $1M and an annual grant budget of $37M.
- Ensured that all funded networks were well positioned to deliver on their objectives required strong oversight of each network’s performance measurement strategies, their board governance (through sitting on the boards of directors of a portfolio of seven grantees across Canada) and supporting collaboration among grantees.
- Provided strategic advice to the presidents of the three research granting councils and senior management (ADM level) of Industry Canada and Health Canada, regarding competition decisions, program renewal and corporate reporting.
- Led program design and renewal for the grant programs and amendments to their Term and Conditions, through central agency and Ministerial approval (Central Agencies and the Ministers of Health, Industry and Science and Technology.)
- Delivered multiple cycles of funding competitions and prepared related Treasury Board submissions for each round of competitions.
- Led the renewal of the Private Sector Advisory Board, which adjudicated business-facing research programs and grants funding commercialization of academic research.
- Over roughly one year in an acting assignment, I managed the NCE secretariat (staff of 18; operating budget of over $1.5 million and a grant budget of over $60 million) through multiple competition cycles of all programs delivered by the secretariat.
- Reported to the Presidents of the Tri-Council agencies responsible for research funding in Canada on matters related to the NCE's programs, strategic planning and budgeting processes.
Director, NSERC Liaison
Industry Canada
01.2009 - 01.2011
- Led a directorate of ten researchers and analysts responsible for Science and Technology strategy development, and program coordination with the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and National Research Council
- Advanced multiple successful proposals for new funding through the Federal Budget, and worked with Industry Portfolio partners and Central Agencies on Memoranda to Cabinet and Treasury Board Submissions to support investments in NSERC programs and in Major Science Initiatives.
- Led the Major Science Initiative file involved reviewing independent expert research on the impact and sustainability of major investments in collaborative research infrastructure (e.g. Canadian Light Source, SNOLab, Neptune/Venus undersea observatories.) The outcome of this review was to define the overarching funding requirement and to assist in the development a new operating cost program to be delivered by the Canada Foundation for Innovation.
- Negotiated of a five-year $222M funding agreement for TRIUMF, Canada’s largest particle physics laboratory, which involved Federal Budget request, and the development and a major Treasury Board Submission.
Manager, Human Genetics and Innovation Policy
Health Canada
01.2008 - 01.2009
- Managed team of analysts to develop research, consultations, and policy initiatives on intellectual property management in genetics; quality assurance in genetic testing; open science and knowledge markets; and personalized medicine.
- Convened national and international policy and research workshops and symposia, some in partnerships with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Public Health Agency of Canada, the BC Cancer Agency and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
- Represented Canada for two years as a delegate to the OECD Working Party on Biotechnology and as co-chair of the Task Force on Biomedicine and Health Innovation. This involved commissioning academic research, engaging with regulators, lab directors and other experts to develop policies and strategies to encourage uptake of OECD guidelines.
Chief, Strategic/Economic Policy
Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO)
01.2007 - 01.2008
- Managed a unit responsible for analysis of economic, technological and governance issues affecting the intellectual property system
- Provided strategic advice to the Chairman of CIPO and senior management on key policy issues related to the economic impact of changes in the intellectual property regime and benchmarking performance internationally against other intellectual property offices (particularly in the UK and Australia, which have similar systems).
- Delivered a comprehensive review of all legislation, regulations, policy and forms administered by CIPO to reduce administrative burden on industry.
Senior Policy Analyst, Human Genetics and Innovation Policy
Health Canada
01.2004 - 01.2007
- Conducted and commissioned policy research and briefed Senior Management on biotechnology, human genetics and health innovation issues, and developed Health Canada’s innovation policy positions in international forums.
- Led consultations with university technology transfer offices and genetics research and clinical laboratories across Canada on the impacts of intellectual property policies on genetics research, commercialization and health system access to new genetic tests.
- Established an interdepartmental policy working group on human genetics and engaged academics, health systems in policy development on human genetics issues, which provided a sounding board for our research priorities and policy positions.
- Coordinated national and international symposia and workshops on ethical, legal and regulatory issues related to access to new health technologies.
- Represented Health Canada at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Working Group on Licensing of Genetic Inventions, to ensure access to new genetic tests and technologies by researchers and healthcare systems.
Education
Master of Arts - Political Economy
Carleton University
01.1997
Bachelor of Arts - History
Carleton University
01.1995
Bachelor of Arts - International Development Studies
Dalhousie University
01.1994
Skills
- Relationship building and building strategic partnerships
- Verbal and written communications in English and French for internal, external and leadership audiences
- Decision-making and facilitating executive priority setting
LANGUAGES AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
I speak, read and write fluently in English and French (ECE) and am proficient in Spanish.
English
Full Professional
Spanish
Limited Working
French
Full Professional
Timeline
Director
Ottawa Academic Health Network
04.2025 - Current
Director, Field Governance and Personnel Readiness
Elections Canada
01.2020 - Current
Director, Consultation Services and Stakeholder Mobilization
Elections Canada
01.2014 - 01.2020
Executive
Networks of Centres of Excellence Secretariat
01.2011 - 01.2014
Director, NSERC Liaison
Industry Canada
01.2009 - 01.2011
Manager, Human Genetics and Innovation Policy
Health Canada
01.2008 - 01.2009
Chief, Strategic/Economic Policy
Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO)
01.2007 - 01.2008
Senior Policy Analyst, Human Genetics and Innovation Policy
Health Canada
01.2004 - 01.2007
Bachelor of Arts - History
Carleton University
Bachelor of Arts - International Development Studies
Dalhousie University
Master of Arts - Political Economy
Carleton University
PEER REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS
Drouillard, L. and E. Richard Gold (2008) The OECD’s Guidelines for the Licensing of Genetic Inventions: Policy Learning in Response to the Gene Patenting Controversy. In Mahon and McBride (Eds.), The OECD and Transnational Governance, Vancouver: UBC Press.
SELECTED EVENTS CONVENED
- Co-organizer: OECD Workshop on Collaborative Mechanisms for Intellectual Property Management in the Life Sciences, 2009 Paris
- Lead - Quality Assurance in Molecular Genetic Testing, Toronto 2009, International symposium led by Health Canada and co-sponsored by the Public Health Agency of Canada, the CIHR Institute of Genetics and Quality Management Program - Laboratory Services.
- Co-organizer: OECD Workshop on Knowledge Networks and Markets in the Life Sciences, 2008, Washington
- Lead - Human Genetics Licensing Symposium, Vancouver 2007, International symposium co-sponsored by Health Canada and the BC Cancer Agency (HC Report, ISBN 978-0-662-49723)
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
- Extensive training and experienced as a professional facilitator, Facilitative Leadership Program, ICA Associates, Toronto
- Queens School of Business Executive program on Governance;
- Ivey School of Business Leadership Program for Industry Canada Executives;
- Intellectual property management (Intellectual Property Institute of Canada and Canadian Intellectual Property Office professional development)
- Extensive training and experience in project management.