Cara Salci (she/her)

As Vice President, Strategy & Government Relations for Thales Canada, Cara is a member of CEO Chris Pogue’s leadership team.

Cara leads the strategic business planning, government relations and ESG activities in Canada. She supports Thales North America executives in assessing business and competitive environments, with a special focus
on strategic priorities in Canada including industrial participation and R&D
funding.

Motivated by Thales Canada’s growth, Cara steers opportunities to engage with industry partners, Canadian SMBs and government
stakeholders to identify new opportunities. This, after having joined Thales in 2016 as its National Director of Communications and Public Affairs.

Before Thales, Cara worked in healthcare administration and has more than a decade of experience working in government, both federally and provincially. Cara served in the Minister’s office at the Treasury Board
Secretariat and as the Deputy Chief of Staff to the Minister at Environment Canada and Transport & Infrastructure Canada.

Cara has an Honours BSc in Bio-Medical Science from the University of Guelph and a MBA from the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University.

In 2020, Cara was recognized by Women in Defence & Security (WiDS) as an Emerging Leader and a Top 40 under 40 Aerospace & Defence professional. She serves to mentor young women as part of WiDS’ mentoring program. Cara is a current Board Member of Canada’s Ocean Supercluster, the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada and chair
of CADSI’s Policy Committee. She is also a Founding Member of the Queensway Carleton Hospital’s Women in Philanthropy committee.