Hydro wins SFU diversity award
Tony Roy, director of advancement, SFU Business, 778.782.5209; tonyr@sfu.ca
Sue Anne Linde, SFU Business, 778.782.5038; s_linde@sfu.ca
BC Hydro, which has women in six of its 10 senior management team positions, was recognized today with Simon Fraser University’s Nancy McKinstry award for leadership in gender diversity.
McKinstry, now retired, is a former vice-president of Odlum Brown Limited and former chair of the Investment Dealers Association of B.C. She has been recognized for industry and community involvement with numerous honours, including the Order of Canada and an honorary degree from SFU.
McKinstry is also a former member of the SFU board of governors and is a founder of the Minerva Foundation for BC Women, which helps women attain educational and leadership goals.
The SFU award, presented during a sold-out breakfast at the university’s Segal Graduate School of Business in Vancouver, recognizes exemplary initiatives in promoting gender diversity and advancing opportunities for women in business.
BC Hydro has long identified gender diversity as a key element of its strategic plan for developing its workforce. The company has committed to having a workforce fully representative of the B.C. labour market by 2017.
Also during the ceremony, Helia Baradarani was named the first recipient of the $1500 SFU Nancy McKinstry graduate scholarship for leadership in gender diversity.
Baradarani is a graduate student in the Management of Technology MBA program in the university’s Faculty of Business Administration. She is working for the engineering and construction firm SNC-Lavalin while she attends the MBA program part-time at the Segal Graduate School.
-30- (Photos of Nancy McKinstry and Helia Baradarani are available upon request)
Backgrounder:
Nancy McKinstry is a founding member and past-chair of the Minerva Foundation for BC Women, an organization dedicated to supporting women throughout British Columbia to attain their educational and leadership goals. Although now retired, Nancy was the first woman to be appointed a director at Odlum Brown Limited and in 1996 was appointed Vice President; she also represented the investment industry as a board member and chair of the Investment Dealers Association of B.C.
In recent years, Nancy has received recognition for both her industry and community involvement.
These include:
- The Queen's Jubilee Medal 2003
- BCIT's Distinguished Alumni Award 2004
- Business in Vancouver, as one of 5 Influential Women in Business 2004
- Honorary Doctorate from Simon Fraser University 2004
- Order of Canada 2005
- Canada's Most Powerful Women Top 100 2005
- SFU Impact Award 2007
McKinstry is a past chair of the SFU board of governors and continues to support the Minerva Foundation as a mentor and on the foundation’s Aboriginal women's initiative, Combining our Strength Council.