Elissa Strome
Executive Director, Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
About
Elissa Strome is the Executive Director of the Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy at CIFAR. She works with leaders at Canada’s three National AI Institutes in Edmonton (Amii), Montreal (Mila), and Toronto (Vector Institute) and across the country to advance Canada’s leadership in AI research, training and innovation. She is a champion of equity, diversity and inclusion in science, and an ambassador for Canada’s position in AI research, innovation, and policy internationally. Elissa is a member of the federal government’s AI Advisory Council, a member of the OECD’s Network of Experts on AI and Expert Group on AI in Health, a member of the Health Canada Expert Advisory Committee for AI in Health, and sits on the Advisory Board of York University’s Centre for AI & Society. Her strong leadership and support of women and gender-diverse people in STEM has been recognized by a Special Jury Recognition at the Women in AI Awards North America (2023) and the Womxn in Data Science Lifetime Achievement Award (2022).
Elissa completed her PhD in Neuroscience at the University of British Columbia. Following a post-doc at Lund University, in Sweden, she decided to pursue a career in research strategy, policy, and leadership. From 2008 – 2017 she held senior leadership positions at University of Toronto’s Office of the Vice-President, Research and Innovation, advancing major institutional strategic research priorities, including establishing and leading the SOSCIP research consortium. She has recently earned her second-degree black belt in taekwondo.