Kim Peacock (a)
General manager,
edelman Canada West
influenCe: Peacock holds
a big microphone as GM of
Western Canada's largest
Pr firm. The ex-magazine
publisher and hootsuite global
marketer counts global giants
such as starbucks and Micro-
soft, as well as
YVr and the
City of Vancouver, as clients.
faCtOid: edelman West is
the successor to local Pr
firm Karyo Communications
(started by Patti schom-
Moffatt), in which multi-
national edelman bought a
majority interest in 2007.
Kathleen Bartels (b)
director, Vancouver
art Gallery
influenCe: as the director of
the largest public art museum
in Western Canada, Bartels
has clout–and if her new
gallery ever gets built, she'll be
a global name. either way, the
Chicago-born dynamo has the
ear of B.C.'s business commu-
nity (if not yet its chequebook).
faCtOid: over 360,000 people
attended exhibitions and
programs during the gallery's
2013-14 season.
Carole Taylor (c)
former finance minister,
B.C.; former chancellor,
sfU; board director, BCe
influenCe: Taylor, for the
first time in decades, is flying
largely below the radar–
serving on a couple of boards
(most notably, telco giant
BCe's) but holding no promi-
nent position. But don't dis-
count the behind-the-scenes
impact of "the best mayor
Vancouver never had."
the Panel says: "she's been
asked to run for mayor, for
premier–every day she's
asked to do something."
Janice abbott (d)
CeO, atira Property
Management and
resource society
influenCe: atira operates one
of the largest social hous-
ing agencies in Vancouver's
troubled Downtown east-
side–which makes abbott, the
organization's driving force, an
important figure in the neigh-
bourhood's revitalization.
the Panel says: "There's a
woman who's been able to
commercialize–in the most
positive sense of the word–
social enterprise in order to
build more housing. her drive
is to create a very large, func-
tioning not-for-profit entity
focused on ending violence
against women."
■
ates the pressure to constantly
solicit donors. Indeed, 58 per
cent of the
YWCA's annual rev-
enues come from its hotel and
recreation centres; the hotel
alone, which grosses $3 to $4
million, can channel $1 million
in net income back into the pro-
grams it funds every year.
Raised in Calgary, Austin
spent the early years of her career in a
variety of public sector roles in the city,
including as a regional planner and
running public consultation and com-
munications projects for the Alberta
government. Austin eventually moved to
B.C. with her then-partner to
take a position with BC Hous-
ing. It was there—spearhead-
ing new-build social housing
projects—that Austin says she
got the bug for public service
and realized how important
the business community was
in being part of the solution.
"You have to reach out broadly
across society" to effect change, she
observes. "The way to a healthier society
requires an integrated approach, and
change has a social component."
—Jacob Parry
not-for-Profit,
culture
+ media
MOST
INFLUENTIAL
WOMEN IN
B.C.
bcbusiness.ca June 2015 BCBusiness 47
no t- f or - P rof i t, c ult ure+me di a
(a) (b) (c) (d)
