Marcèle Lamarche

Marcèle Lamarche had a profound impact on the charitable and philanthropic sector. She has a bachelor’s degree in industrial relations. Marcèle’s early career included leading important negotiations and serving on various rights committees within the labour movement.

The disappearance of a 4-year-old Montrealer in 1984 changed her professional trajectory. In 1985, she founded the Missing Children’s Network. By developing new strategies and forging links with the media, police, and governmental authorities in Canada and abroad, she contributed directly to bringing 122 missing children back to their parents.

Later, at the helm of Moisson Montreal – the largest food bank in Canada – she expanded the network of donors and enabled the organization to distribute food and basic products to over 200 community organizations in Montreal. In addition, her leadership at UNICEF Quebec and the regional office of the Red Cross enabled these global organizations to better understand issues in Quebec.

In 2011, Marcèle joined Le Chaînon, the main shelter for women in difficulty in Quebec as its Executive Director. In 2013, she created the Le Chaînon Foundation, where she created major corporate partnerships to help provide stable funding for the shelter. In five years, she doubled the sales of the Chaînon’s thrift store and mobilized hundreds of leaders, artists, and personalities who have become standard-bearers for women at risk, including the many who experience homelessness. Before her departure in 2019, she saw her dream of creating social housing for vulnerable women come true as Le Chaînon opened its doors to provide forty-nine women transitional housing.