President
Shirley Dawe (2009-2011)

Shirley Dawe has been a leader in business for more than 35 years as a senior executive, consultant and corporate director. The first female senior officer of The Hudson's Bay Company, she was at the forefront of the Canadian department store scene where she led the merchandising and buying teams for all the company's fashion divisions.

After a distinguished 15-year career, she left the corporate world to join the entrepreneurial ranks with her own management consulting firm, serving retail clients throughout North America. Since 2005 the firm has served a broader constituency with executive coaching and mentoring services for senior women. Through regular workshops on leadership, Shirley shares her expertise with women across Canada.

With 20 years of governance experience on twelve corporate and seven non-profit boards, she currently serves on the corporate boards of the National Bank of Canada, Birks & Mayors, Canada and Florida and Bon-Ton Department Stores, Pennsylvania. Shirley has been active in the IWF Canada Forum since 2002, formerly serving as Chair of the Toronto Chapter and as founding Chair of the Board's Governance Task Force.

With an MBA and a law degree, Michèle Stanners is a strategist, nation builder and social architect. She has led the Western Regional Office for the Canadian Unity Council, where she founded innovative programs to engage youth and build bridges between cultures and communities.

In two years at Alberta Ballet, where she was recruited to turn the company around in 2005, her accomplishments ranged from a complete restructuring of the organization to a successful 40th anniversary campaign and the raising of more than $650,000 to secure an equity position in a CBC TV movie featuring the Ballet.

She is currently consulting in culture strategy and implementation. An accomplished pianist and active volunteer in her community, she has received numerous awards, including a Woman of Vision Award and the Rotary's Integrity Award. She has twice been named one of Alberta's 50 Most Influential People by Alberta Venture Magazine.

Sheila Brown is a Halifax-based consultant specializing in higher education talent development and a Professional Associate of the Centre for Higher Education Research and Development (CHERD) at the University of Manitoba, through which she will offer professional development program for women administrators beginning in 2008. After an extensive career in higher education and administration, she served from 1996 until her retirement in 2006 as President and Vice-Chancellor of Mount Saint Vincent University, Canada's only university with the education of women as its formal mission.

Her many honours include the Queen's Jubilee Medal and the Distinguished Member Award of the Canadian Society for the Study of Higher Education. An active volunteer, she currently serves as Chair of the SEASTAR Society, a Nova Scotia non-profit organisation committed to the advancement of young people through the development of life skills and experience aboard tall ships, and is a Board member of the CEC (Canadian Education Centre) Network.

Co-chair Communications
Leslie Quinton (2009-20011)

Information to follow

Irene Pfeiffer is President of Moorgate Holdings, and was a Partner and Co-founder of PWR Search (formerly Russell Reynolds Associates), which she joined after six years as Vice President, Executive Search for PricewaterhouseCoopers.

A past President of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce and The Alberta Chamber, Irene is also a Vice Chair of the Council of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta and a Board Member of the Rural Physicians Action Plan. She serves on the Social Sciences Advisory Committee of The University of Calgary and on the board of The Ranchmen's Club. She is co-founder of the Pearls of Wisdom Scholarship Fund for Mount Royal College and is on the Advisory Council for Teen Challenge and The Banff Centre.

Irene's many honours include the Order of Canada, the YWCA Women of Distinction Award for Business and the Professions and the Alberta Centennial Medal for Community Service. She is a licensed lay minister with the Anglican Church and is active with the Mustard Street Ministry.

Treasurer
Valerie Steele (2008-2010)

Valerie Steele is a results-focused financial leader with a broad range of experience managing businesses, projects and people across geographies, industries and functional areas. She has a proven background resolving complex financial and operational issues, articulating strategy and implementing processes; creating sustainable operations and building strong collaborative relationships to drive change in both static and crisis environments. She is a Chartered Accountant with a specialty designation in Investigative and Forensic Accounting and is a Chartered Business Valuator.

A former partner in a major Canadian public accounting firm, Valerie has recently established a financial and business consulting firm. She also serves on the National Board of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.