Amélie Desrochers (she/her)

Trained as an Economist, Amelie enjoys destroying old decaying structures (while respecting all things vintage) and she always finds opportunities to perform what she calls ‘creative contamination’. Amelie scaled an AI-related tech Startup, SOCAMI, for 8+ years. The startup was a subsidiary of Google and was sold to the Government of Quebec in 2012. Geeky and macro-minded, her fascination for building dynamic innovation ecosystems brought her to San Francisco, Toronto, Montreal and now Rimouski, a costal mid-size city which is renowned for its worldwide expertise in ocean-related science and technology. Amelie holds a BA in Applied Economics from HEC Montreal and a Masters in International Economics from University of Montreal. She worked as a diplomat for Canada’s Global Affairs and the UK’s Foreign & Commonwealth Office where she led climate-related government relations and designed digital diplomacy campaigns around Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Climate. She is leading NOVARIUM, an innovation campus dedicated to the Blue Economy in Quebec and its marine accelerator, FLOTS. Amelie co-founded several social initiatives such as Hub de l’Est, Focus Hub and Petit Métis.