Cara Clairman
C.Dir. '24
C.Dir. '24
The Directors College
2024
By: Izabela Shubair
When Cara Clairman (C.Dir. ‘24) was first invited to speak to students in the Chartered Director Program (C.Dir.) about building and leading a board, she stepped into familiar territory. As president and CEO of Plug’n Drive, a national non-profit focused on accelerating electric vehicle (EV) adoption through education, outreach and consumer engagement, she was accustomed to sharing her perspective in front of an audience.
But after returning several times as a guest speaker, she realized the conversations weren’t just landing with participants — they were resonating with her, too.
“I started to realize that maybe the program would help me to be a better board member and reinforce the principles I knew intuitively,” says Clairman. “It did just that. There’s a lot to be gained.”
For nearly three decades, Clairman has worked at the intersection of energy and sustainability in Ontario, from environmental law to a leadership role at Ontario Power Generation (OPG).
It was there that her path into EVs took shape.
Clairman saw that the province’s surplus and low-emitting baseload power — especially overnight — naturally aligned with how EVs are charged. By 2011, she turned that insight into action, founding Plug’n Drive to help Canadians better understand and adopt EVs.
“Adoption is happening, slowly,” Clairman says. “When people come visit us, I hope they’ll learn two things: EVs reduce emissions and save money. What we’ve seen is that test drives are super important because it’s hard to address people’s concerns unless you show them.”
By the time she entered The Directors College, Clairman had years of governance experience. The program, she says, reinforced the value of staying curious and engaging fully at the board table, particularly in new environments.
“The program teaches you the nuts and bolts, but also the importance of asking questions and being a board member who really takes governance seriously,” she says. “I felt more sure of myself after the program.”
For Clairman, that more engaged approach to governance is directly tied to impact. Strong governance, she says, underpins meaningful progress on sustainability.
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