Marc-André Blanchard and Ram Panda join Mila’s Board of Directors

Montreal, December 6, 2023 – Mila is proud to announce the appointment of Ram Panda and Marc-André Blanchard, two prominent figures from the business world, to its Board of Directors. 

Ram Panda is the former Chair of McGill University’s Board of Governors and, since 2022, has held the position of Lead Planned Giving Ambassador for McGill’s Bequests and Planned Gifts unit. Deeply committed to his university over the years, he currently serves as member-at-large of the Board of Governors and as an executive member of Made by McGill: the Campaign for Our Third Century. Originally from India, Ram Panda arrived in Montreal at the age of 21 to pursue graduate studies at McGill University. Mr. Panda received an honorary doctorate from McGill University in the spring of 2023. In 1977, he co-founded Invera, a leading business software company for heavy industry, headquartered in Montreal and mainly operating abroad. 

Mr. Panda supported the recently launched McGill Students and Scholars at Risk Fund, a fund that provides urgent financial support to international students, postdoctoral fellows, scholars, and researchers who have been displaced by conflict or other humanitarian crises.

Marc-André Blanchard has served as Executive Vice-President and Head of CDPQ Global since 2020. He previously served as Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations in New York, from 2016 to 2020, in addition to serving on the Canadian Board of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) during the same period. He also served as Chairman and CEO of McCarthy Tétrault, one of Canada’s leading law firms. A member of the 1992 Bar, he completed his undergraduate studies in law at the Université de Montréal and holds a master’s degree in public international law from the London School of Economics and Political Science. He also holds two master’s degrees from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. In 2016, Canadian Business magazine named him one of Canada’s 50 Most Influential Business Leaders. He also received the title of Advocatus Emeritus (Ad.E) by the Quebec Bar that same year.