The Power of Women

Vancouver, BC, November 6, 2008
Vancouver Convention Centre
8:30AM to 5:30PM

The Power of Women - The Ultimate Gathering For Achieving Women.

Sponsored in part by Additional Sponsors

Motivation

Joy Behar

Co-host of the ABC Television Network’s “The View”

Joy Behar, co-host of ABC’s “The View,” is among today’s leading comic talents. Whether performing standup comedy or interviewing politicians and artists, she is a leading woman both on stage and screen. “The View” has received 22 Daytime Emmy Awards. Her film appearances include “Cookie,” with Peter Falk” “This Is My Life,” directed by Nora Ephron, and Woody Allen’s “Manhattan Murder Mystery.” In theater she earned rave reviews for her starring role in the off-Broadway hit “The Food Chain,” and also in the critically-acclaimed “The Vagina Monologues.” Ms. Behar is involved with numerous philanthropic organizations and is a frequent contributor to a number of charitable foundations.

Teamwork

Cassie Campbell

Olympic Gold Medalist

At age five, Cassie Campbell laced up her first pair of skates. Now, as the Captain of Canada’s National Women’s Hockey Team and a heroine of Canadian sport, she has taken part in three Winter Olympic Games, seven International Ice Hockey Federation World Women’s Championships, nine Four Nations Cups and the Torino Ice Tournament. Her teams have won 21 medals in total, including 17 gold medals and four silver medals. Bold, dynamic, and passionate, Cassie draws on her accomplishments to explore the themes of leadership, teamwork, motivation, and determination. A lively, passionate, and engaging speaker, she knows firsthand about the key roles that teamwork, determination, and great leadership play at the most challenging times. The result is a keynote speech that inspires, informs, and entertains.

The Power Of The Human Spirit

Jill Bolte Taylor

Trained and published neuroanatomist

Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor is a trained and published neuroanatomist, who specializes in the postmortem investigation of the human brain. She served for 3 years on the board of directors of the national NAMI organization (National Alliance on Mental Illness) between 1994-1997. She travels extensively as the National Spokesperson for the Mentally Ill for the Harvard Brain Tissue Resource Center (Harvard Brain Bank), bringing awareness to the severe shortage of brain tissue donations for postmortem research of individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. In an unfortunate ironic twist, on December 10, 1996, Dr. Taylor woke up to discover that she was experiencing a rare form of stroke, an arterio-venous malformation (AVM). Three weeks later, she underwent major brain surgery to remove a golf ball size hemorrhage that was placing pressure on the language centers in the left hemisphere of her brain. For the past ten years, Dr. Taylor has been successfully rebuilding her brain - from the inside out. As the “Singin' Scientist”, Dr. Taylor delivers this very popular keynote address titled: The Beauty and Resiliency of the Human Brain. Additionally, she published a book “My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey.” which recounts her challenges for recovery and the insights she gained. Dr. Taylor currently serves as President of the Greater Bloomington Affiliate of NAMI.

Ambition

Sue Paish

CEO of Pharmasave Drugs

As the CEO of Pharmasave Drugs (National) Ltd., Sue is responsible for the strategic leadership of Pharmasave’s over 400 community-based retail pharmacies and health centers coast to coast. Sue is a respected leader with a track record of success in a variety of roles. As Managing Partner of Fasken Martineau Dumoulin, Sue spearheaded the expansion of the law firm from one office in Vancouver, to its international status with nine offices on three continents. Sue has also played a key leadership role as Senior Vice Chair of The Vancouver Board of Trade and Director of various public and private companies. She is also Founding Chair of the Women’s Leadership Circle®. Sue has been recognized for her leadership and accomplishments in various contexts, and was named in 2005 to the list of “Canada’s Most Powerful Women – Top 100”.

Connecting

Gayle Hallgren-Rezac

Co-author of "WORK THE POND!"

Writer, speaker, entrepreneur (Founder, Cookies by George) and a YWCA Woman of Distinction. Gayle is a graduate of the University of British Columbia and has spent over two decades observing and writing on networking around the world. She is also an expert on the ‘art of conversation’, a subject she writes and speaks on frequently. Gayle is chief engagement officer of Shepa Learning Company, their training and development company.

Connecting

Judy Thomson

Co-author of "WORK THE POND!"

Judy Thomson is a chartered accountant, trainer and team builder who has held executive positions in human resources and administration with global companies in Canada and Asia. She was also part of the start-up management team of the world-famous Rocky Mountaineer Railtours. In addition to her role as chief operating officer of Shepa Learning Company, Judy is a business consultant, vice-chair of The Vancouver Board of Trade’s Women’s Leadership Circle® advisory board, and sits on the board of directors of a publicly traded mining exploration company.

Oxygen Not Included

Alison Levine

Founder of Climb High Foundation

Alison Levine is no stranger to risk-taking. She has survived sub-zero temperatures, hurricane-force winds, sudden avalanches, and a career on Wall Street – all without the use of supplemental oxygen. Levine was born with a life-threatening heart condition that precluded most demanding physical activities. As a teenager, her health was so unstable that she was not even allowed to drive a car or walk up stairs. But 13 years after her diagnosis she had surgery that changed her life - and climbing stairs soon gave way to climbing mountains. In between starting school and starting a job on Wall Street, Levine “accidentally” scaled the world’s highest mountains. Over the next several years, Levine pushed her limits on the world’s highest peaks and soon became one of the most experienced female mountaineers in the United States.She has made appearances on The Today Show, CNN, CNBC, Fox, ABC News and other national programs. In 2005, Levine founded the Climb High Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of jobless women in third-world countries by training them to be trekking guides and porters in their local mountains. Over the past few years she has conducted numerous speaking tours to raise awareness and money for girls' scholarships in third-world countries.