UNIVERSITY CANADA WEST
UCW vice-president and student make top 50 women leaders list

A University Canada West senior executive and an MBA student were among the women recognized in Women We Admire's The Top 50 Women Leaders of Vancouver for 2024.

Herneet Dhillon, UCW's Vice-President, People & Culture (HR), and Arshpreet Kaur Saran, MBA student, made the annual list compiled by the membership organization, which is comprised of accomplished women executives and leaders across North America.

Dhillon joined UCW in 2010 and has been instrumental in driving the growth and success of employee development at the University. Under her guidance, UCW has seen remarkable growth, particularly in areas such as employee benefits, recruitment and diversity initiatives.

The number of staff and faculty increased from 299 in 2021 to 1,063 currently. UCW's expanding workforce is a result of evolving staffing strategies with the workforce becoming more diverse. Under Dhillon's leadership, the HR team successfully implemented key initiatives that significantly enhanced employee engagement, including HR process automation rewards and recognition programs.

Dhillon proactively adjusted vacation policies and other employee benefits so that UCW now offers tailored benefits that align with various roles and promote a better work-life balance. Moreover, employee engagement has flourished under her leadership with annual events and celebrations fostering a sense of community and inclusivity.

While Saran is working towards her MBA at UCW, she is a practicing lawyer with many accomplishments. She acts as the Group General Counsel of GrowthOps, a multinational digital media, human experience and technology consulting group with local bases in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, Auckland, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Hong Kong and the Middle East. Saran leads and manages the in-house legal department for the group of companies, overseeing the legal and compliance matters for the group, and acting as a key negotiator for strategic transactions and strategist for dispute resolution. She brings with her significant expertise in handling a variety of corporate transactions across different industries, delivering commercial solutions and advising on cross-border mergers and acquisitions.

Saran was previously in practice in top legal firms in Malaysia, where she has had multidisciplinary exposure to a broad range of legal matters in the corporate and dispute resolution departments. Before joining GrowthOps, Saran was leading the corporate and commercial practice of her own legal practice, M&A Law, a full-service law firm with offices in Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bharu in Malaysia.

Saran holds an LLB from Aberystwyth University in Wales and she was admitted as an advocate and solicitor of the High Court of Malaya in Malaysia. Following the considerable amount of work done in the tech and fintech industry, Saran obtained accreditation as a Certified Fintech Professional and is currently a Fellow of the Global Academy of Finance and Management.