The Distinguished Leader Lecture Series honours leaders from the business community and offers students the opportunity to learn from these outstanding individuals.
2024 Distinguished Leader
Julie Dell’Aniello
President, Martin Brower Canada
Julie Dell’Aniello is President of Martin Brower Canada – a global supply chain solutions provider. In this role, she leads a team of more than 1,100 associates, across seven distribution centres, in delivering exceptional service for the company’s customers.
Throughout her career in supply chain and operations, Julie has a proven track record of leading through change and building resilient high-performing teams.
She joined Martin Brower Canada in 2018 where she led the Supply Chain team as Director, Supply Chain. Shortly after, she was promoted to Vice-President, Supply Chain, and her responsibilities were expanded to include all aspects of supply and demand planning, customer experience and North American freight management. In 2021, she moved into her role of president.
Julie has a passion for people and making a meaningful difference in the lives of her team members. For the past four years – with Julie at the helm – Martin Brower has achieved Great Place to Work Certification™ and in 2024 was on the list of Canada’s Best Workplaces™ in Transportation & Logistics. These achievements recognize organizations that create an outstanding employee experience and an amazing workplace culture.
Julie started her career in Montreal after completing an Engineering degree from McGill University. She then moved to New York City to take a position as a Staff Engineer for Joseph E. Seagram & Sons before returning to Toronto. She worked in several progressive roles in manufacturing for Cascades and Canada Bread (Grupo Bimbo) before expanding her expertise in supply chain.
Julie recently completed her Executive Master of Business Administration from University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. She currently serves on the board of directors for Ronald McDonald House Charities South Central Ontario and is the Canadian Chair of McDonald’s Supplier Advisory Council.
Past Recipients
Year | Honoree | Title |
2023 | Michèle Boudria | President & Chief Executive Officer, McDonald’s Restaurants of Canada |
2021 | Margaret Kenequanash | CEO of Wataynikaneyap Power |
2020 | Bonnie Lysyk | 13th Auditor General of Ontario |
2019 | Michael Lee-Chin | Founder and Chairman, Portland Holdings, and Chairman and CEO, Mandeville Private Client Inc. |
2018 | Julia Deans | CEO, Habitat for Humanity |
2017 | Deepak Chopra | Former President and CEO, Canada Post |
2016 | Martine Irman | Vice Chair, TD Securities and Senior Vice President, TD Bank Group |
2015 | Rossana Magnotta | Founder and CEO, Magnotta Winery |
2014 | Len Pennachetti | President and Founding Partner, Cave Spring Cellars |
2013 | Ned Goodman | Founder and CEO, Dundee Corporation and Dundee Wealth, Chancellor, Brock University |
2011 | Donald Ziraldo | Chairman, Ziraldo Estate Winery |
2010 | Galen G. Weston | Executive Chairman, Loblaw Companies Limited |
2009 | Michael McCain | President and CEO, Maple Leaf Foods Inc. |
2008 | John McCall MacBain | Founder and President, McCall MacBain Foundation |
2007 | Paul House | Chairman, CEO and President TDL Group Corp (Tim Hortons) |