Tina Lee Receives the 2025 Ivey Alumni Achievement Award

WRITTEN BY FÊTE CHINOISE EDITORIAL TEAM
IMAGES: Ikonica Images, George Pimentel Photography

At the helm of Canada’s largest Asian grocery chain, Tina has expanded T&T’s national footprint and redefined what it means to lead a culturally rooted, community-forward business in a complex, competitive, and evolving industry. Today, T&T operates 37 stores across Canada and the United States, with a growing team of over 8,500 employees. Earlier this year, the company opened its second Downtown Toronto location at the heart of the city’s core. Since becoming CEO in 2014, Tina has led the brand into becoming a household name, beloved by both Asian and non-Asian customers alike. An Ivey Business School HBA graduate from the Class of 2003, she also celebrated the opening of T&T’s first store in London, Ontario last summer — a full-circle moment that connected her professional journey back to her student days.

“My Ivey education helped shape the leader that I am today. It gave me the confidence and business acumen that propelled me through all the stages in my career. I am honoured to be recognized, receiving the Ivey Alumni Achievement Award, and I share it with the amazing team at T&T Supermarkets, who together have taken the business through its fastest growth stage. Just last September, I finally opened T&T to London, Ontario, serving the students, faculty, and residents food I wished I had when I was there. Now, in 2025, to be recognized by Ivey for community impact is simply wonderful.” Tina shared.

When we featured Tina in the Fête Chinoise Annual Book of Incredible People Edition No. 7: Perspective 覺•渡, she reflected candidly on what it meant to lead through uncertainty. At the height of the pandemic, she made bold decisions to protect her team, serve communities, and steady the company amid rising demand and logistical strain. Her compassionate, people-first leadership has been a guiding principle throughout her journey.

Balancing leadership with motherhood during this time was no easy feat. As a mother of three, Tina made significant sacrifices to lead her team through the pandemic and global affairs. She even realized at one point that she was missing from nearly all the family photos. With the steady support of her husband Akira Okubo, who shared the weight of both home and work life, Tina’s story reminds us that true leadership begins at home.

Tine Lee and Akira Okubo Fête CHinoise SIgnature Event 2024

Tina Lee and Deborah Lau-YU at Fête CHinoise SIgnature Event 2025

Beyond the boardroom, Tina has consistently used her platform to advocate for women in leadership, cultural representation, and ethical business practices. In 2017, she was appointed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to the Canada-U.S. Council for the Advancement of Women Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders. And through accolades like the Grand Prix Trailblazer Lifetime Achievement Award, Grocery Business Hall of Fame induction, and most recently being named one of Canada’s Most Powerful CEOs by WXN, the broader business community has continued to take notice.

Tina shares the values we hold dear: integrity, resilience, and a deep respect for heritage. Over the years, she and the T&T Supermarkets team have been involved in our Signature Event at Lunar New Year, contributing to a shared spirit of community, tradition, and storytelling. It’s a powerful reminder that success and celebration are sweeter when shared with the village.

As T&T continues to plant roots across Canada and the U.S., we look forward to witnessing the next stage of Tina’s journey. This recognition from Ivey Business School is well-earned — but perhaps even more meaningful for the many of us who’ve watched, learned from, and celebrated with her over the years.

Tina will be honoured on May 8 at the GID Power Lunch at TIFF Lightbox in Toronto. Learn more about the award at Ivey Business School.

Allen Lau, Eva Lau, Tina Lee, Mary Ng, and Akira Okubo at Fête CHinoise SIgnature Event 2023

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Putting Food and Compassion on the Table: Tina Lee 李佩婷：你吃了嗎？

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Tina Lee’s pandemic experience has been all about people. From the thousands who are her work family, to the millions that her twenty-seven stores serve, to her own family at home; every one of these people was the reason Tina persevered and prevailed through the most challenging two years of her career. As CEO of T&T Supermarkets, Tina has faced many hurdles before, but nothing like when COVID-19 entered Canada. Almost overnight, Tina and her grocery staff became frontline workers. And just like all first responders, her employees could not stay at home; instead, they showed up day after day, driven by an overriding sense of civic duty.

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