Penny Wise was appointed President of 3M Canada in January 2020. She brings over 20 years of global brand and marketing experience to the role, most recently as the Global Marketing Director of the Safety and Industrial Business Group (3M’s largest business), based out of the 3M global headquarters in St. Paul, Minnesota.   

Originally from Canada, Penny began her 3M career at the Canadian head office based in London, Ontario. She has held a variety of progressive senior leadership roles in business, commercialization, brand and corporate marketing including the former Executive Director of the Canadian Consumer business group.  

In 2010, after relocating to 3M global headquarters as the 3M International Marketing Director and Chief Branding Officer, Penny led the team to successfully launch a new global tagline for the company known as “3M Science. Applied to Life™.”  

Before joining 3M in 2000, Penny was a marketing leader in the Canadian Hardware industry.  She holds an MBA from York University, with a specialization in Marketing. She has experience as a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and has been responsible for several successful, award-winning marketing transformation projects at 3M.    

In 2021, Penny established a cadence of 3M STEMtalk workshops – bringing together a multidisciplinary cohort of Canadian industry leaders to explore barriers to equitable access to STEM education for underrepresented communities and ideate actionable solutions to remove those barriers. As a result, 3M is working with partners to look at the way STEM is taught and accessed in Canada and help influence the move from STEM role models to champions and rally partners to join us in our efforts.  

Penny is Co-Chair, Canadian Chamber’s Council for Women’s Advocacy which helps bring the perspectives of women to national policies and drive meaningful action to address the identified issues and barriers facing women.  

She is a board member for the Business Council of Canada and for the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. 

Penny was recognized as one of the WXN’s Top 100 Powerful Women in Canada in 2022.