Who's Who Women in Business

Women at Work who's who M a n i t o b a W o M e n i n b u s i n e s s W omen are often do-it-yourselfers. In art, finance, politics, and community service, the women profiled in Who's Who have each followed their own unique path, whether they've navigated corporate ladders or taken an entrepreneurial route to build their personal steps to success. According to Industry Canada, 47% of small and medium- sized enterprises are at least partly owned by women. On the big-business front, the picture is less rosy. Women hold only about 10.3% of board seats in Canada, and they're often the only woman at the table. It's time to pull up a chair, for the greater good. Leaders & Co. partner Brenda LaRose says it's not just women who thrive when they take seats in corporate boardrooms. "Companies do better," she says. "Bottom line, their revenues are better." And the greater the diversity — gender, cultural and socio- economic — the greater the benefits. "The biggest hazard for business is always the old phenomenon of group think," says Economic Development Winnipeg president and CEO Marina James. "For business, it's important to get those different views and different ways of looking at things." Diversity has benefits that extend far beyond the boardroom, says Mary Jane Loustel, IBM Canada national aboriginal program executive. Different points of view and new ideas can reshape workplaces and programs that support family and community — most of which still cling to a traditional Monday to Friday, 9-to-5 mold. "Those models just don't work in our day and age anymore," Loustel says. "A lot of women would prefer to spend a certain amount of time with their children during the day and then put in another couple of hours in the evening, and in fact fathers want to do that too. This isn't just about women, it's about the emerging new economies and the emerging new communities that we have here in our city." During SHEday 2015, held at RBC Convention Centre Winnipeg on Jan. 15, some 600 women joined a conversation about overcoming challenges, seizing opportunities and breaking down barriers. Turn the page to meet more women who make their own rules, blaze their own trails and open doors for the generations that follow them. The conversation continues. • Charting a new course on the job and in the community Special Edition, May 2015 Publisher Bob Cox Vice President sales Laurie Finley Manager of niche Products Barb Borden Barb.Borden@freepress.mb.ca editor Pat St. Germain pstgermain@mail.com Writers Nancy Boomer Andrea Geary Wendy King Jennifer McFee Holli Moncrieff Pat St. Germain Jim Timlick Shel Zolkewich winnipegfreepress.com PhotograPhy Darcy Finley Phil Hossack Cory Aronec Photography design Jane Chartrand From left: Marina James, Brenda LaRose and Mary Jane Loustel started a new conversation about empowerment with SHEday 2015.

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