Irrefutable figure of Quebec entrepreneurship, Danièle Henkel is endowed with an incomparable determination and perseverance. As a citizen of the world, she is, as illustrated by Anne Hildalgo who in 2017 bestowed her with the medal of the knight of the National Order of merit of France, “the uniqueness in the universal.”
Born in Morocco, to a Moroccan Jewish mother and a German Catholic father, Danièle Henkel grows up in North Africa. After studying international relations, she served ten years as the political and economic advisor to the U.S. Embassy in Algeria. The rise of extremism led her to settle in Quebec in 1990 with her mother, husband and four children. Six years later, while trying to make ends, Danièle Henkel decides to become an entrepreneur. Daniele Henkel Enterprises started with a simple exfoliation product: the Renaissance™ Glove. Today, it is the best-selling product of its category in Canada and around the world.
Her sense of duty, her humanity, her creativity, and her love for education are driving forces in everything she does. These values have led her to the success of her Academy™, whose mission is to upgrade the skills of professionals in the medical-aesthetic world. In addition, in 2015, Daniele Henkel conceived a unique partnership between high-end skincare franchises and the Uniprix chain of pharmacies.
The businesswoman charmed the audience through Dans l’oeil du Dragon aired on ICI Radio-Canada Télé. She also lends her voice to various causes in commitment to organizations such as Leucan, la Société canadienne de sclérose en plaques, la Fondation Émergence, la Maison Bleue and the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation, among the most notable.
From 2015 to 2018, one of her proudest accomplishments has been her presidency at the board of directors of the Société du parc Jean-Drapeau. She brilliantly fulfilled her mandates, including bringing together partners, improving governance, reinventing parc Jean-Drapeau, as well as carrying out important work while balancing the financial health of the organization.
In 2018, she is named the Government of Canada’s Champion of the We-Fi initiative, a World Bank program that aims to promote the financial independence of women entrepreneurs in developing countries. She was also named a member of the advisory board of FinDev Canada. In 2019, the honorable Mary Ng entrusts her with the co-chair of a committee of national experts to find ideas to increase the number of women entrepreneurs in Canada. Additionally, since 2018 Danièle Henkel has also been a member of the Advisory Board of Investissement Quebec. Also in 2018, she founded Henkel Media, a digital media platform whose mission is the empowerment of entrepreneurs, especially those under-represented.
As an integral part of diversity, Daniele Henkel has made inequalities her spearhead. In 2020, she co-creates the “Programme de certification en leadership inclusif et participatif" in partnership with Infopresse. It is because Danièle Henkel has dealt successfully with sensitive subjects touching upon freedom and inclusion that Mélanie Paul, an Aboriginal entrepreneur, wished to make Danièle her mentor. In 2021, the two women joined forces to set up the “Cercle Mocassins et Talons Hauts”, an incubator that creates alliances between non-indigenous and indigenous businesses. This initiative is committed to the growth of communities that are too often underestimated, marginalized or simply forgotten.