Dr. Ann Marie Vaughan had two challenges as she progressed through student leadership at Memorial University in her home province of Newfoundland. Not only was she female, but Ann Marie was always the youngest. She started university at 16 and ran for student government in her third year. By the age of 21, Ann Marie had advanced through to president of the largest student union in Atlantic Canada, the third woman to hold that role.
Ann Marie is now the president of Loyalist College in Belleville, Ontario following a 5-year stint as the president and CEO of Newfoundland’s College of the North Atlantic. Her advice to young people: take opportunities, don’t be afraid of failure, and seek out mentors.