 IT’S ALL ABOUT ENGAGEMENT FOR NEW CHAIR
On June 18, Sue Paish, the WLC’s founding chair will be become the new Chair of The Vancouver Board of Trade (see more below).
Sue will remain as chair of the WLC and she recently shared her thoughts on the coming year. “I’d like to see the WLC continue on the path that it started on in 2007—providing a vehicle for women to feel engaged in public policy, addressing areas of interest and exploring topics of relevance. It is important that The Board continues to hear the voices of women in developing public policies.” Sue would also like the WLC to “take a lead role in coordinating with other organizations in the country that are similarly focused and aspire to similar goals…to be the group that facilitates collaborative discussion and leverages the human capital, the experience and energy that exists in all of these organizations.”
This should be an exciting year for The Board and the WLC.
Here’s how the Vancouver Sun described The Vancouver Board of Trade’s beginnings 122 years ago:
“Mutton chop whiskers nodded, beards wagged and moustaches bristled. Thirty-one stately gentlemen, most of them in frock coats and chin-chucking high collars, with stern and concentrated mien, banded together to promote the civic, industrial and general welfare of their home.”
How times have changed. The Board is now home to the Leaders of Tomorrow, a program for university students with a long waiting list; the Company of Young Professionals®, which develops engaged young leaders; the Spirit of Vancouver® ready to keep the Olympic dream alive; the Rix Center for Corporate Citizenship and Engaged Leadership and of course, the Women’s Leadership Circle. On June 18, funny guy Rick Mercer, will be the keynote speaker when we welcome Sue Paish, QC, president and CEO, Pharmasave Drugs (National) Ltd. as The Board’s new chair. It’s a sisterhood, so come support her and bring another woman.
If you are coming alone, or with a friend, why not join a WLC table? Invitations to join WLC tables are sent out to many events from Advisory Board members who will be attending that specific event. It’s a great way to meet new people.
 DAD KNOWS A THING OR TWO
Last month we shared some wise motherly advice. In honour of Father’s Day, we thought we’d give the dads equal air time. Here’s the best advice some of our WLC Advisory Board members received from their fathers:
Wendy Lisogar-Cocchia, President, Absolute Spa:
- While my father is no longer with us, he taught me my daily mantra of persistence: “Never give up, work really hard, for a really long time and you will make your dream happen.” I feel blessed to be raised with this driven quality. My hubby used to call it stubborn but soon realized: Give this woman a challenge and watch out! My favourite application of my “stubbornness” is raising awareness and money for autism.
Elise Rees, FCA, Partner, Ernst & Young:
- “Value your education, it can never be lost.”
Judy Thomson, CA, COO, Shepa Learning Company, Vice Chair, Women’s Leadership Circle:
- “Never let your gas tank get to empty.” Wise advice for your car and your body!
Yvonne De Valone, President, Downtown U-Lok Storage Ltd.:
- My father taught me the importance of being prepared in order to be successful in life: “When the ship of opportunity approaches, you’d better be prepared and standing on the dock with your bags packed, or it will pass you by!” I’m taking advantage of the challenging business economy by changing the way I do things, finding more innovative and creative ways to put myself in my customer’s shoes so that when they need my service, I will be ready for them!
 OUR SPONSOR’S NEW CEO
How great is this? Coast Capital Savings, one of WLC’s founding gold sponsors, has appointed Tracy Redies as its new president and CEO. Coast Capital already had a pretty impressive number of women on its senior executive team, but with Tracy now taking on this key role, five of their nine leaders will be women.
Tracy is one of WXN’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada, a director of The Vancouver Board of Trade and sits on The Board’s Education and Skills Task Force. Prior to joining Coast Capital, Tracy spent 20 years with HSBC Bank Canada in a variety of areas including commercial banking, training, internet and e-business and IT and most recently as executive vice-president for personal financial services and wealth management. And, she does all this with four children ranging in age from 8 to 16.
 YOUTH IS NOT WASTED ON THE YOUNG
Dr. Don Rix, CM, OBC is one of Canada’s most impressive and most community-minded business leaders. Last month his new RIX CENTER for Corporate Citizenship and Engaged Leadership awarded the inaugural Engaged Citizenship Award to 26-year-old Craig and 31-year-old Marc Kielburger.
We know we talked about the Kielburgers in the last newsletter, but if you didn’t attend this event, entitled Saving the World, One Goat at a Time, we want to share just how amazing it was! Marc and Craig visited tables, talking to the 300+ guests, stayed for photos and signed books. That’s Craig with Tracy Redies’ daughter, Lauren, who participated in a Free the Children experience in Africa earlier this year.
 ANOTHER FEMALE & YOUTH FIRST
The master of ceremonies of the Kielburger event was Chanelle Segal, the first teenager to ever chair a Board of Trade event in 122 years! Chanelle is a grade 12 student and she was an extremely poised and professional emcee. Members of LOT, CYP, Me to We student organizers, and many other volunteers sold goats—yes goats—to attendees. The goal was to sell 100 goats, and they sold 908 goats! It was that kind of inspired event.
Don Rix wants The RIX CENTER to be more than your typical “corporate” learning center and think tank. For Dr. Rix, it is all about doing things differently, to shake up how we think about corporate citizenship, and for us to recognize, for example, that our engaged leaders can be a mere 26-years-old.
 YOU SAY YOU WANT A REVOLUTION…
When Craig Kielburger gave his passionate speech on the goals of the students who embrace Free the Children and Me to We, you felt like you were witness to a revolution. Their goals are very simple, very clear: to eradicate extreme poverty and to give every kid the opportunity to succeed. News flash: they aren’t waiting for the adults to do it. They are doing it, and they are inspiring others.
A perfect example: two nine-year old girls, Sofia Stern from St. Helen’s School in Burnaby and Kelsie Tham from St. Francis Xavier School in Vancouver, came to the event to sell goats. And, talk about being proactive, these girls had already sold 29 goats before the event. They are both nine! The person who said, “Youth is wasted on the young” was wrong.
Later in the day, Craig and his brother Marc spoke to 700 students at the Vogue Theatre. The audience welcomed them like rock stars! They told their stories, singers and television personalities shared their life-changing experiences while in India or Africa and Michel Chikwanine told his chilling story of his life as a boy soldier in Africa. You knew the kids in the audience were being taken to a place beyond The Hills and 90210 (yes, it’s back). When Craig told them, “You are the generation we have been waiting for,” you can’t help but get inspired, no matter what your age.
YOUR FEEDBACK
We would love to hear from you. Send your comments, ideas for this newsletter, for speakers, for content to: info@wlcircle.com
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June 19, 2009 
