Kathleen Taylor (business executive)

{{short description|Canadian business executive (born 1957)}}

{{Other uses|Kathleen Taylor (disambiguation){{!}}Kathleen Taylor}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Kathleen Taylor

| image =

| caption =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1957|08|25|mf=y}}

| birth_place = Toronto, Ontario, Canada

| death_date =

| death_place =

| education = University of Toronto
Osgoode Hall Law School
Schulich School of Business

| occupation = Business executive

| spouse = Neil Harris

| children = 3

| awards = Order of Canada

}}

Kathleen "Katie" Patricia Taylor {{postnominals|country=CAN|CM}} (born August 25, 1957) is a Canadian business executive who is the chancellor of York University. She was the chair of the board of the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) from 2014 to 2023, and is the first woman to chair the board of a major Canadian bank.{{cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/management/at-rbc-taylor-breaks-through-bay-streets-boardroom-glass-ceiling/article14031274/|title=At RBC, Kathleen Taylor breaks through Bay Street's boardroom glass ceiling|publisher=|newspaper=The Globe and Mail|date=29 August 2013 |last1=Nelson |first1=Jacqueline }} Taylor became chair of the board in January 2014, having served on the board since 2001; she previously chaired the human resources and corporate governance committees, and served on the audit and risk committees.{{cite web|url=http://www.rbc.com/governance/committee.html|title=Committee Memberships - RBC|website=www.rbc.com}}

Taylor serves as Chair of Altas Partners,{{cite web |title=Altas - Our People |url=http://www.atlas.com/people |website=Altas Partners |access-date=31 August 2022}} a private equity investment firm. She is Vice-Chair of Adecco Group,{{cite web |title=Leadership - About Us - Our Group - Adecco Group |url=https://www.adeccogroup.com/our-group/about-us/leadership/ |website=The Adecco Group}} and a director of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board,{{cite web |title=Board of Directors - Governance Overview - About Us - CPP Investments |url=https://www.cppinvestments.com/about-us/governance/board-of-directors}} and Air Canada.{{cite web |title=Kathleen Taylor - Investor Room - Air Canada |url=https://aircanada.investorroom.com/Kathleen-Taylor}} She is also Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Hospital for Sick Children, the immediate past Chair and a member of the Board of the SickKids Foundation, and a Co-Chair of the SickKids Capital Campaign.{{cite web |title=Kathleen Taylor - Staff - SickKids Foundation |url=https://www.sickkids.ca/en/staff/t/kathleen-taylor/}}

Taylor has been a strong proponent for increasing diversity on boards and in business{{Cite web |last=Bloomberg |first=B. N. N. |date=2019-06-06 |title='We can't afford to have half the team sitting on the bench': Execs stress board diversity - BNN Bloomberg |url=https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/we-can-t-afford-to-have-half-the-team-sitting-on-the-bench-execs-stress-board-diversity-1.1269669 |access-date=2022-09-14 |website=BNN}} to help companies improve their competitiveness. Taylor is a member of the C.D. Howe Institute’s National Council,{{cite web |title=National Council - Council - C.D. Howe Institute |url=https://www.cdhowe.org/council/national-council |website=C.D. Howe Institute}} Chair of their Human Capital Policy Council and a member of the Task Force on the Digital Economy. She serves on the Dean’s Advisory Council of the Schulich School of Business{{cite web |title=Dean's Advisory Council - Our Dean - About - Shulich School of Business |url=https://schulich.yorku.ca/about/our-dean/deans-advisory-council/ |website=Shulich School of Business}} and on the Principal’s International Advisory Board at McGill University. She is also a founding member{{Cite web |title=Who We Are - The Prosperity Project |url=https://canadianprosperityproject.ca/about |access-date=2022-09-14 |website=canadianprosperityproject.ca}} of [https://canadianprosperityproject.ca/ The Prosperity Project], which is taking action to explicitly link women and prosperity, underscoring the economic importance of gender equality during the COVID-19 recovery.

In 2023, Taylor was appointed the fourteenth chancellor of York University.{{Cite web |title=Kathleen Taylor, Chancellor |url=https://www.yorku.ca/secretariat/bog-membership/kathleen-taylor-chancellor/#:~:text=Kathleen%20Taylor%2C%20Chancellor%20%7C%20York%20University |website=York University}}