bcbusiness.ca June 2015 BCBusiness 35
I
f you're a reader of the business
press—or any story featuring the
power brokers in our midst—you'll
be struck by one thing above all
else: the paucity of women. While
some may argue that "them's the
numbers"—and yes, women are
poorly represented in the boardrooms
and backrooms of B.C.—the fact is that
we in the media bear some responsi-
bility. The evidence of powerful and
dynamic women leaders abounds. It's
just not being reported as frequently.
That, in part, is why BCBusiness
decided to do this survey of B.C.'s Most
In€uential Women: to put a distinctly
female face on power and in€uence in
B.C. And how exactly did we do it? First,
our editorial team consulted with a vari-
ety of authorities and created a long list
of names. Then we took those names to
an esteemed panel of experts. The panel
both contributed new names for consid-
eration and also helped us evaluate and
explain the in€uence of the women on
our list. From there we came up with
the †nal 50 names, in six categories, you
see in the pages that follow.
This is not a ranking—nor is it an
exhaustive list of those women wield-
ing in€uence in the province. Indeed,
our panellists were adamant that we
consider the complexity of what it
means to wield in€uence—and among
the panel itself, the complexity of
opinion was evident. Jennifer Ber-
dahl of
UBC argued against a "super-
woman" model, saying that we don't
hold men to the same standard (ask-
ing whether they are a good father,
or a charitable citizen, when discuss-
ing their power or in€uence). Meriko
Kubota of Telus, meanwhile, said that
evidence a woman has a family life—
and has managed that tough work-life
balance—is critical: "That's something
that I'd want to read about." One thing
everybody agreed on, however, was
that women de†ne success di"erently
than men.
"If you listen to every single speech
given by women—whether it's Anne
Giardini or Christine Day or Carole
Taylor—I think they don't talk about
success the same way," says Deloitte's
Jennifer Podmore Russell. "In€uence—
when you think about what it means
to success as a woman—it's in€uence
over your community, in€uence over
your corporate life, inf luence over
your career, in€uence over your family.
Equal doesn't mean the same as men."
The Most Inuential
WOMEN
in B.C.
From politicians to bankers, charity mavens
to retail entrepreneurs, these are the leaders who
are having a big impact behind the scenes and
at centre stage in British Columbia
stories by Jessica Barrett, Alexandra Gill,
Trevor Melanson, Matt O'Grady, Jacob Parry and Felicity Stone
research by Alison Ensworth
The Panel
of exPerTs
• Jennifer Berdahl is the
Montalbano Professor
of leadership studies:
Gender and Diversity
at UBC's sauder
school of Business
• Brittney Kerr is
account director at
earnscliffe strategy
Group
• Meriko Kubota is
director of strategic
partnerships and
community investment
at Telus
• sarah McCullough is
director of external
affairs and commu-
nications for spectra
energy
• Matt O'Grady is editor-
in-chief of BCBusiness
• Jennifer Podmore
Russell is director of
Deloitte real estate
