For the first time in more than a decade, a woman has cracked the executive ranks of Algoma Steel Group Inc.
In a news release issued on International Women's Day, the Sault steelmaker announced it has appointed North Bay's Danielle Baker as chief human resources officer.
Baker is only the second woman in Algoma Steel's history to reach the company's C-suite, a term used to describe senior executives whose titles often begin with 'chief.'
The only other woman to accomplish that in the steelmaker's 121-year history was Victoria Chiappetta, who served as general counsel and vice president, legal before she was appointed as an Ontario Superior Court judge in November 2012.
As recently as 2021, Algoma Steel was preparing to launch as a publicly traded company without a single woman among its director nominees and executive officers.
"Upon closing of the merger, Algoma will have no women on its board of directors and no women as executive officer," the company said in a preliminary proxy statement filed with the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission.
As SooToday pointed out at the time, the last company on Standard and Poor's 500 with an all-male board had just added a woman director two months earlier.
Algoma Steel quickly changed its tune and the firm's board now includes three woman directors.
Danielle Baker was most recently chief human resources officer at Ontario Northland.
Before that, she worked in health care. serving as director of human resources, director of risk management, and director of occupational health, safety, security and emergency response at North Bay Regional Health Centre.
"Danielle joins Algoma at a critical stage in our transformation," said Michael Garcia, Algoma's chief executive officer.
"Equipped with extensive training and expertise in the area of change management, with a demonstrated propensity to prioritize safety, risk mitigation, and equity and inclusion in her approach to organizational development, Danielle is well positioned to build the Algoma team for its next chapter as a sustainable producer of green steel.”
Baker said she will move to Sault Ste. Marie with her family:
"I am excited for this opportunity to join the Algoma team and lead Algoma’s people through the transition from integrated to electric-arc steelmaking."
"As a long-time resident of northern Ontario, I look forward to relocating to Sault Ste. Marie with my family and building better lives together through the power of steel," Baker said.