The Power of Board Ready Women
November 28, 2022
Our Fireside Chat Features:
Kristina Williams
President and CEO, Alberta Enterprise Corp.
Vice Chair, NAIT
Director, North American Construction Group
Bernie Kollman, ICD.D
Trustee, Melcor Real Estate Investment Trust,
Board Director, Edmonton Global
Advisory Board Member, Arrkann Trailer & RV Centre
Phyllis Clark
Board Member, AIMCo
Board Chair, Royal Canadian Mint,
Board Director, Inuvialuit Investment Corp.
Treasurer, Glenn Gould Foundation
Moderated by:
Heather Culbert
Co-Founder/Board Chair – Board Ready Women & Axis Connects
Vice Chair – Export Development Canada
Board Chair – United Way World Leadership Council
Jennifer Koury
Co-Founder / Director – Board Ready Women
Board Director – Bird Construction
Corporate Director – Crescent Point Energy
Vice-Chair – Calgary Zoo
We invite you to join our inaugural Board Ready Women event in Edmonton on Monday, November 28th, from 4:30 to 7 pm, at the Citadel Theatre. This will be an in-person event with registration starting at 4:30 pm, and at 5 pm we will introduce you to the value proposition of Board Ready Women, hear from our all-star Board panel, followed by networking and cocktails.
Board Ready Women is expanding its network and services to “board-ready” women across Alberta. This is an introductory session for Edmonton highlighting who we are and how we can help place more women on Boards. We are also taking this opportunity to showcase local Board talent to inspire and encourage women to participate in our efforts to increase diversification of Boards.
We are thrilled to be hosting this session with an impressive panel of experienced board members, Kristina Williams, Bernie Kollman, and Phyllis Clark, who will talk about their Board journey and share some of their learnings along the way.
Following the formal program, please stay and enjoy cocktails and appetizers during our networking session. Networking is a proven method to create awareness of talent, make introductions and open doors for Board opportunities. We invite both men and women to join us for the event as men can be instrumental in supporting women on their Board journey.
The event will be hosted in-person in Edmonton at the Citadel Theatre. In-person attendance is limited to 100 attendees so register early! Should you have any questions, please direct them to boardreadywomen@gmail.com.
We look forward to your participation in what will surely be an exciting afternoon of insight and inspiration. Please feel free to share this invitation with your network!
Post-event Notes
Some Of Your Comments:
- Great event & panel of inspirational women – thanks for holding this in Edmonton!
- I enjoyed hearing the perspectives of each of the three female board members. I liked that this event showcased female board members rather than having men talk about how increasing women on boards is important. Their lived experience.
- Thank you for this. I will be joining and welcome an opportunity to attend both Edmonton and Calgary.
- Thanks for inviting a broad cross section of people.
- I really enjoyed the panel and the opportunity to connect and network in Edmonton.
- The panel discussion and networking opportunity was appreciated. It was lovely to be greeted by group members.
- I enjoyed the panel, well represented and educated women who I respect and admire.
- Panel was fantastic, as was the level of engagement from the audience.
- Great group of people, really interesting panel discussion, brilliant networking opportunity.
- I liked the candid discussion, honesty and advice from the panelists. The event was perfect – congratulations! I hope you will host more.
- Well done event and I brought a friend with perfect business skills and acumen for this group. Grateful for the time, event and bringing it to Edmonton. Thank you!!!
- Please host more events in Edmonton! Even for a small fee, I believe people would still attend. Well done and THANK YOU!
Speakers' Bios:
Bernie Kollman, ICD.D
Trustee, Melcor Real Estate Investment Trust
Board Director, Edmonton Global
Bernie is a passionate leader who is dedicated to building a stronger community, both economically and socially, and to helping others achieve their goals. She is an experienced board director and chair, serving on public, private, crown and not for profit boards. During her extensive career as an executive at IBM Canada, she was a catalyst for digital transformations and oversaw complex Information Technology initiatives for public sector clients. Bernie has been a long term advocate for diversity and inclusion, creating awareness among young women of the wide range of careers available in the IT industry.
Currently, Bernie serves as a Trustee on the Melcor Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT TSE: MR.UN), as Director of Edmonton Global, an Advisory Board Member of Arrkann Trailer & RV Centre and volunteers as the Vice Chair, Edmonton Chapter, Institute of Corporate Directors. She is currently Chair of a peer mentoring forum for CEOs and executives. Formerly, she was Board Chair of Travel Alberta, Chair of the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce and a former Board Director of Alcanna (TSE: CLIQ), Compute Canada and the United Way of the Alberta Capital Region.
Bernie received her B.Admin from the University of Regina where she was also recognized with a Distinguished Alumni Award, Humanitarian and Community Service. She has been recognized with a Citation Award, Salute to Excellence, City of Edmonton and as a Fellow, Canadian Information Processing Society (CIPS), for commitment to advancing the IT profession particularly for young women. Bernie has received a Global TV Women of Vision award and Top 50 Most Influential Albertans by Alberta Venture Magazine.
Kristina Williams,
President and CEO, Alberta Enterprise Corp.
Director, North American Construction Group
Vice Chair, NAIT
Prior to joining AEC, Kristina worked for several technology companies where her responsibilities spanned the spectrum of legal, regulatory, international and new business development, corporate strategic planning, intellectual property management, as well as marketing and sales. At Alberta Enterprise Kristina has lead several of the corporation’s investments. In 2014 she was named the President and CEO, and she now oversees the management of the Alberta Enterprise Fund. She is an Associate with Creative Destruction Lab – Rockies, and a member of the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology Board of Governors, the North American Construction Group (NYSE/TSX: NOA) and Alcanna (TSX: CLIQ) Board of Directors. She also serves on the Alberta Securities Commission New Economy Advisory Committee, and she is the Honorary Consul for Sweden in Northern Alberta. Kristina holds an MBA from the University of Alberta, a Master of Laws from Uppsala University in Sweden, an accreditation for the Venture Capital Executive Program from the University of California, Berkeley – Walter A. Haas School of Business, as well as an ICD.D from the ICD-Rotman Director Education Program.
Phyllis Clark,
Board Member, AIMCo
Board Chair, Royal Canadian Mint
Board Director, Inuvialuit Investment Corp.
Treasurer, Glenn Gould Foundation
Phyllis Clark served as the Vice-President (Finance and Administration) and Chief Financial Officer at the University of Alberta, from 2002 to 2016. Previously, she spent five years as Vice-President (Finance and Administration) at York University, and prior to that, she was Assistant Deputy Minister of Ontario’s Management Board Secretariat. Between 1991 and 1992, Ms. Clark was the Province of Ontario’s Chief Economist and Assistant Deputy Minister of Finance. She was the Chair of the Audit Committee for the Bank of Canada for four years.
Ms. Clark currently chairs the Board of Directors for the Royal Canadian Mint, is Audit Chair for TEC Edmonton and serves on the Board of Directors for the Inuvialuit Investment Corporation. She also chairs the Edmonton Symphony and Concert Hall Foundation Board. Ms. Clark was born in Lethbridge, Alberta, and graduated from the University of Toronto in 1970 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Economics. She went on to complete her Doctorial Candidacy and Master of Arts in Economics at the University of Michigan in 1973.
