The International Alliance for Women

It is a pleasure to announce

the 2008 Winners

TIAW World of Difference 100 Award

Isabelita M. Abele

A former nanny and school teacher, Isabelita Abele emigrated from the Philippines to the United States in February 1981 and has risen to the top of a historically male-dominated industry as CEO & President of US Lumber Inc. In doing so, she has broken barriers and forged a path for all women, combining business acumen with community service. Isabelita has donated lumber, office equipment and financial support to Southern New Jersey’s new Philippine Community Center as well as funding scholarships for less fortunate Pilipino children. She believes that education is the foundation for all growth and sees her role as a mentor and teacher for other women as a duty, supporting women’s associations and advocacy groups and taking active leadership roles in the National Association of Women Business Owners and the National Association of Female Executives.

For more than two decades, Carole Adriaans has dedicated her life to improving the lives of South African women, using a vast array of humanitarian skills and an impressive network. Through her role as President and Founder of South African Women for Women (1996 – Present) Carole has made an immense contribution to educational and health care initiatives that improve the lives of ordinary women. She has also worked tirelessly to raise awareness and mobilize support that has secured annual scholarships for financially disadvantaged female students. Through Carole’s blend of artistic ability, strategic thinking and business acumen, SAWW events and awards continue to raise awareness of the plight of women as well as to honour South African women who have dedicated their lives to helping others. The past year has seen her work culminate in the founding of the Zenzele Development Organization, established to facilitate economic self-sufficiency of women and their families in developing countries

Emily Arholekas makes a difference in the lives of women and young girls every day. As diversity program manager, she spearheads initiatives aimed at retaining, developing and recruiting women at all levels of the organization at UBS. Most recently, she helped the Garden State Woman Foundation plan a Women’s Financial Forum that provided over 80 women with investment strategies to help them secure their financial future. She serves as an advocate for a variety of issues impacting women and in her spare time, mentors at-risk teenage girls in New York City’s Spanish Harlem through Girls Inc., a national organization that provides life skills and economic programs for young girls in under-served communities. She recently submitted the winning proposal in a global contest that provided Girls Inc. with a sizable grant to implement a financial literacy program in Boston, Dallas and Portland. The financial literacy programs will provide 45 girls and their parents/guardians with investment basics and were not for Emily’s tenacity and creative positioning, Girls Inc. would not have received the additional funding it so vitally needed to continue community-based programs like this one.

Sandy Bartow embodies the heart and soul of empowerment for women. At the age of 20, Sandy borrowed $10,000 from her parents to start her first business. Over the next 20 years she launched three more successful ventures. In 1989, her husband and business partner died unexpectedly. Sandy forged on and used her experience to develop a plan for small business owners to gain the critical skills to manage and grow their businesses. She then turned to the non-profit sector, successfully founding the Kansas Women’s Business Center and four years later, the Jacksonville Women’s Business Center. In 2007 Sandy was appointed to the National Women’s Business Council, which serves as an independent source of advice and counsel to the President, Congress, and the SBA on economic issues of importance to women business owners.

The Honourable Sarmite (Sam) Bulte wears as many hats as mother of three, wife, former member of Canadian Parliament, champion of women’s rights, advocate for women in business, lawyer, arts advocate and supporter, community activist and fundraiser to name a few. As the child of Latvian immigrants, Sam’s sense of duty to her community was instilled at an early age and she became an early advocate for women and their rights. Sam ran a successful law practice built around her own Latvian roots for more than 17 years during which time she also served on many boards of directors, including as President of the Canadian Association of Executive Women and Entrepreneurs, as a founder of the Women Entrepreneurs of Canada. In 1997 she became the first person of a Baltic background to be elected to the Canadian House of Commons. While she was Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Heritage, Sam chaired the first ever Prime Minister’s Task Force on Canadian Women Entrepreneurs.

Neslihan Cakiroglu is a true advocate for the economic empowerment of women through work in women’s organizations such as New Jersey Association of Woman Business Owners (NJAWBO) and charitable organizations such as the Bridges of Hope Project that builds school libraries. A business owner with Turkish roots, she works tirelessly for rural women in small mountain villages of western Anatolia. These hard-working women are poorly educated but true artisans of a delicate hand made craft called ‘Oya’. To keep the craft alive, Nesli has incorporated this unique art into modern fashion accessories. In a male dominated society, money earned from sale of this labor-intense craft is a gender equalizer, giving the talented woman not only financial independence but in many cases providing the only income to sustain the family, their children’s education and health services. Nesli is passionate about empowering women, giving options, opening minds, deepening tolerance, and ending violence in a poignant way, helping woman to manage and guide their own destiny

Sylvia was the first female Executive Vice President of one of Canada’s largest banks, Scotiabank, and today is EVP of Human Resources, Public, Corporate and Government Affairs. In addition to being a role model, Sylvia is also a strong advocate for women and has made gender equity a priority of corporate Canada. She has shared her power through the establishment of formal and informal leadership development programs for women at Scotiabank. Her Strive for Success program facilitates the advancement of women at the bank through an international networking session. Her support of the Advancement of Woman Initiative program has made it a success, nationally and internationally. She established the Sylvia Chrominska HBA Award in 2001 at the Richard Ivey School of Business for young women demonstrating academic excellence. Sylvia serves as a tireless mentor to young women and has helped shape a new generation of women corporate leaders. Sylvia services on several Boards and was named in 2003, 2004 one of Canada’s 100 Most Powerful Women by WXN.

Penny Collenette is an unequivocal champion of women, supporting their economic, political and social empowerment. She is a connector who contributes her time and expertise to critical initiatives, such as the women’s Legal, Education and Action Fund (LEAF). She has publicly advocated for more women on corporate boards with Canadian Women in Communications. While Director of Public Appointments for Canada’s Prime Minister from 1993 to 1997, she oversaw a 10% increase in the proportion of women appointed to public bodies. As a Senior Fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government in 2002-03 and as adjunct professor at the University of Ottawa Penny has focused on business ethics and whistle blowing, highlighting the role that women have played in that area. Penny ran for Canadian Parliament in 2008, setting a high-water mark for her informative, hard fought and ethical campaign. Penny was Vice President, office of the Chairman for George Weston Limited and also served as a director of Holt Renfrew. Penny has personally mentored countless women and is an outstanding role model for women in business and public life.

Elizabeth Dallaire knows that education for girls is crucial for the developing world to achieve better health, financial progress and stable government. As a UNICEF Canada Ambassador and spokesperson, she works tirelessly to ensure that the importance of education, particularly for girls, is understood. A key program she supports is the Kenya Girls scholarship program for nomadic girls. Without the program most of these girls would marry by the age of 13 or 14 and start having children, making their economic independence impossible. Under the program, the brightest of these girls now attend a good secondary school, are able to go to university and plan careers. Elizabeth also travels on behalf of the Général Roméo Dallaire Foundation, founded by her husband (retired Lt. General, Senator Romeo Dallaire), most recently to support female-led cooperatives that are helping support and stabilize the economy and lead Rwanda toward a brighter future. Elizabeth sees her life as one of service and is a role model, an inspiration and a true champion on behalf of all the women and children of the world.

Barbara Davis Blum has put women first in every arena she has entered, from US Presidential politics to public service, the Environmental Protection Agency, international affairs and business. She was the first woman Deputy Director of a Presidential campaign and after her candidate won, recruited women in historic numbers for Presidential appointments requiring Senate confirmation. She continued her work supporting the involvement of women at the EPA and extended it to her time with the UN Environment Program when she worked to help women in developing countries to become paid environmental professionals. From 1983 to 2000 she was Chair, President and CEO of the Abigail Adams Bank, formerly the Women’s National Bank – the largest women-owned bank in the US.

"The above doesn't apply to women, idiots and children…" Nellie Duke was appalled when she noticed that this common footnote, an old phrase from English common law, was still being used in legislation. This spurred her to action and she saw that its use was discontinued and went on to advocate for the Equal Rights Amendment, becoming a leading figure in women’s issues. Nellie was appointed to Georgia Commission on Women by Lieutenant Governor Pierre Howard at its inception in 1992, and twice re-appointed and still serves as its Chair. She counts as one of her greatest accomplishments the publication and recent update of "Women & the Law, A Guide to Women's Legal Rights in Georgia, " knowing that legal rights are essential to the economic and career success of women. She is also on the President's Commission on Women in American History, the Advisory Board of the US-China Cultural & Educational Foundation and the Advisory Board for the Women's Leadership Exchange.

After attending a TIAW conference in Washington, Peggy co-founded the Board of Directors Network in Atlanta. BDN publishes a list of companies in the Atlanta area, tracks the number of women on their boards, releases annual data and puts pressure on companies to do a better job of including women at the highest levels. A tireless advocate, she connects TIAW to individuals and organizations focused on the issue. She personally supports women who work on behalf of women’s empowerment, providing a home away from home to those visiting Atlanta for important conferences and events, and is a leader in her local church. Peggy is very involved in the Philippine American Chamber of Commerce, serving as President in 2001 and 2002. As part of the TIAW Microenterprise Program, she spearheaded the fundraising for village banks for women in the Philippines. In 2004 she personally saw those Village Banks launched!

Elena Fedyashina has been actively involved in the international women’s movement since 1995 when as a volunteer she initiated and implemented numerous highly successful projects aimed at providing Russian women with opportunities to learn best practices, develop their skills and expand their business and personal links. They included a mentoring program, monthly meetings, women’s business exchange as well as educational programs for students. More than 500 women participated in these programs. Elena directed the first and second US-Russia Women’s Business Leaders Summit and The International Conference for Women in Banking and Finance.

Sherry Fotheringham spent more than 20 years at the Royal Bank of Canada and years during her last five years there developed the Bank’s national program for Canadian women and their businesses. She provided support and championship for funding to the first nationwide television documentaries on women entrepreneurs, sponsorship of Canada’s first national women’s business association, support and participation for the Women Entrepreneurs of Canada international conferences, trade summit and trade missions for women as well as for other businesswomen’s associations. Sherry attend the 1997 OECD conference on women entrepreneurs where she became a founding member of the Global Alliance of Banks that was created to assist banks worldwide in training and targeting for the women’s market. Sherry developed a network of 100 advocates across Canada that would champion women and their businesses within the bank. Since leaving banking, Sherry has continued her community involvement as a board member of the Foundation of Canadian Women Entrepreneurs.

Carol Frolinger, JD, is passionate about teaching women to negotiate more effectively. With Dr. Deborah Kolb, an expert on gender and negotiation, she co-authored Her Place at the Table: a Woman’s Guide to Negotiating Five Key Challenges to Leadership Success. She also co-founded Negotiating Women, Inc, which provides practical skills training women can use immediately to be more successful at work. As a speaker, Carol shares stories and lessons learned from thousands of women she has helped to become more successful at work by negotiating more effectively. She teaches at the Simmons School of Management and serves on the board of Bloom Again Foundation, a not-for-profit dedicated to financial independence for women. Since 2007, she has served on the New York State Bar Association’s Committee on Women in the Profession is chair of its Best Practices Sub-committee. Carol also does pro bono work with The InterOrganizational Network (ION) which is focused on increasing the number of women on the boards of America’s publicly held companies.

As the Founding Executive Director of the Women’s Resource Centre at the University of Calgary, Stephanie Garrett is an intelligent, passionate woman who is making a tremendous difference in the lives of immigrant women in Canada, women in the developing world, and university age women in Calgary. With a professional background working for NGOs supporting women's development in South America (organizations in Chile and Honduras) and Canada and a Masters of Science from the London School of Economics, Stephanie's passion is women's empowerment and development. In her role at the Women's Resource Centre over the past two years, she has led the drive for a new Centre and has enabled the agency to learn about, connect, define and value women’s roles in sustainable social development. She raised money, recruited staff and volunteers and promoted cross-cultural communication and human diversity.

18 years ago, Lia Grimanis was homeless, having fled an abusive home and moved into a shelter. While in the shelter, she made two promises to herself. The first was that she would have a successful career and be a role model for other women in crisis, to prove that success belongs to everybody and second, that she would dream as big as she could, and she would fulfill every dream. Today Lia is a top sales executive at SAS Canada, the largest privately held software company in the world. She also swims with sharks, races motorcycles, plays the harp and occasionally flies a helicopter. Her most important achievement to date is starting the Up With Women foundation, an organization that funds programs around housing, safety and the economic empowerment of women. Before founding Up With Women, Lia was active in charitable campaigns for organizations including The Canadian Women’s Foundation and Raising the Roof. She has also served on the Women Abuse Council’s “Voices of Women” team, and on the YWCA’s Women of Distinction Sponsorship Committee.

Leann Hackman-Carty is an entrepreneur and the founder and President of her own marketing communications and fund development company, Blue Heart Consulting that primarily serves the non-profit sector company. Through her company, Leann has made some significant contributions to the development of the City of Calgary including significant charitable projects involving women and the treatment of addiction. Leann has played a major role in the economic advancement of women through her role leading the Organization of Women in International Trade as its global President. Leann is a dynamic personality who recently led the Organization of Women in International Trade as global President. She radiates life and service to everyone she meets and makes a ‘world of difference’.

Helen Holt is a person who has truly made a difference. She has served in senior capacities in regard to nursing homes and elderly programs for the Federal Housing Administration within the Department of Housing and Urban Developments in the US. Her early research into the quality of such facilities led to the first federal programs for nursing homes and care of the elderly. As the first woman Secretary of State for West Virginia, Helen has had a distinguished public service career and has served as a role model for so many others. She has been a strong advocate for the economic empowerment of women through her role as an advocate for women in government, including service as President of Executive Women in Government.

Dr. Marit Hoel is a leading advocate for gender-balanced business who is known internationally for her research and thought leadership on the issue. Based in Oslo, Marit was a key member of a group of individuals and organizations that worked to support the Norway’s ground breaking legislation mandating 40% of board seats to be held by women. Through Center for Corporate Diversity where she is a director, she led the effort to help train and showcase qualified women board candidates. The CCD was founded in 2003 and under Marit’s leadership has engendered a wider understanding of the business case of gender and other types of diversity in management. Under her guidance, CCD undertakes studies of diversity in corporate leadership in Norway and in the Nordic countries and helps companies in their search for highly qualified women to serve on corporate boards. CCD holds a comprehensive archive of women who serve on corporate boards in the 500 largest companies in the Nordic countries and in the 500 ASA companies in Norway.

Maria Esther Landa, 32, grew up on the outskirts of the capital of Lima in Peru. In grade school, she and her sister, Elvira, studied auto mechanics—a trade not typically offered at an all-girls’ Catholic school. When they heard about free local courses being offered by CARE in welding and metal design for industrial structures, they saw a unique opportunity. There were few welders on their side of town, and none of them were women. The only two women in the class, Maria and Elvira passed with flying colors in 1994. Maria quickly put her new skills to work as an apprentice in a nearby metal shop. Soon she mastered the trade and started her own business. Truly an entrepreneur and visionary, Maria developed a plan to expand her business into an emerging market—creating structures for wedding and event venues. But when she applied for a traditional bank loan, she was denied. Maria turned to CARE again and received a loan through its micro-finance program—which she repaid in full in one year. Now recognized as one of Peru’s top welders, Maria has challenged traditional gender roles and helped open doors for more women entrepreneurs in her country.

As a senior executive with CBC, Canada’s public broadcaster, Kirstine Layfield has been an outstanding role model for women in the Canadian arts and culture sector. She has demonstrated tremendous leadership, pushing forward a 24-hour schedule, creating new program commissioning process and launching a number of highly successful new television shows, such as the groundbreaking Little Mosque on the Prairie. Kirstine has been insistent that diverse voices be represented in the production of new shows both on camera and off, and that has been a great support to women in the creative field. Going beyond her daily responsibilities, Kirstine has been a leader in non profit organizations that support the advancement of women, acting as Vice-Chair of Women in Film and Television Toronto and as one of the driving forces behind the Women in the Director’s Chair program.

During her term as the President of TIAW in 1998 and 1999 and a partner in an Atlanta accounting firm, Kay achieved a personal goal to help young women become financially literate and personally independent by creating the TIAW Daughters Program. This program was also an important component of TIAW’s mission to economically empower women at every stage of their lives. With Kay as Chair, this program was run several times, motivating girls, ages 10-16, to aspire to and take action to create their own career paths. This was achieved by using seminars, workshops, mentoring and public events. With the tools gained through the program, the participants were able to forge their own destiny, work towards financial independence and plan for their careers. Kay’s work and her program were honored at a White House reception in 2000. Kay has been a strong advocate for the advancement and achievements of young girls and women as well as a strong role model all who have met her along the way.

For more than a quarter century, Doreen McKenzie Saunders has been a beacon to women pursuing careers in business and journalism. Based in Vancouver, she is a graduate of the journalism program at the University of Western Ontario and wrote for the Vancouver Province and The Financial Post before becoming publisher and editor of Business Quarterly, a management magazine published by what is now the Richard Ivey School of Business at a time when women were scarce in the upper ranks of both business and journalism. What so many women are grateful to McKenzie-Sanders for is her role as a fierce advocate for including more women on corporate boards. She has long argued the business case for gender diversity at the leadership level and it was her force of will that propelled the publication of Canada’s foremost resource on qualified women board candidates, Women in the Lead. She plays a pivotal role bringing women leaders together through Women in the Lead events and her influence goes beyond Canada as the Women in the Lead initiative is known in international circles.

Martha Mertz is the Founder of ATHENA International a non-profit organization that supports, develops and honors women leaders, inspires women to reach their full potential and create balance in leadership worldwide. Martha served as President of the ATHENA Foundation from its inception in 1982 to May 1999. As a spokeswoman for ATHENA she has carried the message that women are leaders around the globe. In 2000 she worked as a project designer and facilitator of Global Links to instruct college students at Zayed University in the United Arab Emirates on the ATHENA Leadership Model. In May 2004, Martha, led a group representing ATHENA to China to participate in an unprecedented women’s conference developing collaborative opportunities and connections on issues of importance to women. In addition to her role with ATHENA, Martha is a successful real estate entrepreneur and is president and owner of Mayhood/Mertz Investment, Inc. In 2006 Martha was inducted into the Enterprising Women’s Hall of Fame and received the Visionary Award from Office Depot in 2004.

the rights and interests of Maori women in New Zealand. Since 1989 Mavis has been the Executive Director of Paewai Mullins Shearing Ltd., a family business handling shearing for more than a million sheep per year. In 2002, Mavis was the first woman appointed to manage the New Zealand shearing and wool handling team to the World Championships in Toowoomba Australia. Mavis is immensely very proud of her New Zealand Maori, Asian and Irish links and she is focused on Maori development, agribusiness, governance and women’s issues. Mavis is a modest and quiet woman of strength who has represented the rights and issues of Maori women to the government of New Zealand and to APEC through her participation in the Women Leaders Network of APEC for many years. She sits on the boards of several organizations in New Zealand and has given back to her own community her whole life. A quiet, modest woman, Mavis epitomizes the dignity of Maori women and their important role in culture and society

Eva Muraya is a tireless advocate and promoter of enterprise amongst youth, women and persons with disability. She is the chairperson of the Kenya Association of Women Business Owners, which started in 2007 and she has played a leading role in Vital Voices Leadership initiatives in South Africa and China, where she addressed the first GTZ and World Bank/IFC conference in November 2007. Since stating her willingness to promote women’s socio economic empowerment, Eva joined the Zawadi Africa Education Fund (www.zawadiafrica.org), which gives Kenyan girls from poor backgrounds who demonstrate academic excellence and leadership potential an education at premium universities in the US and Canada. In the two years she has served as Chairperson, the scholarship value has grown from $1.6 million to $7.2 million. Eva is also the CEO of Color Creations, a wholly Kenyan owned company established in below-the-line advertising products and services. In the “BE Campaign”, Color Creations produces a wide range of retail merchandise that youth can buy and use to start up small enterprises.

Evelyn Murphy has been a pioneer in state government and a champion of the effort for women to earn equal pay. She is President of The WAGE Project, Inc., and a national organization to end wage discrimination against working women, and Resident Scholar in the Women’s Studies Research Center at Brandeis University, where she has researched and authored a book on women’s wages entitled Getting Even: Why Women Don’t Get Paid Like Men and What To Do About It. Her book and programs have educated countless women as to how to expect and get equal pay and equal treatment. After key government roles in the 1970s and early 1980s, Evelyn was elected Lt. Governor and became the first woman in the state of Massachusetts’s 210 year history to hold constitutional office, inspiring countless women by her example. Evelyn is a corporate director for an insurance and an energy company. She is a founding director of The Commonwealth Institute, a trustee of Regis College, Honorary Chair of the Lost Coin Women’s Fund, Inc., amongst other non-profit work

In 1998 Bola Olabisi perceived a huge gap in the market for women's enterprise and founded the Global Women's Inventors and Innovators Network ( GWIIN) as a way to encourage women’s innovation. An important part of GWIIN’s program is the British Female Inventor of the Year Awards, which has just celebrated its 10th Anniversary. While Bola is London-based, her work with GWIIN has extended to West Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe and recently South Africa. Bola has encouraged and given recognition to numerous women, giving them the confidence to start up and develop enterprises that solve many problems, especially in areas such as healthcare, energy, education, agriculture and technology. She has recently been invited to sit on the European Commission's Network for Women in Decision-making in Brussels to assist with the promotion of women's empowerment and gender balance in decision-making positions. Originally from Ghana, this mother of four children wears her national dress with pride and style, makes her mark on the business networking circuit and garners the support of governments to her initiative which challenges the perception that only men are 'inventors' and 'innovators'.

From its inception in 1992 until 2007, Patricia Pape owned and headed the Powerpoint Group in Toronto, the first company in Canada specifically devoted to promoting and marketing to and for women. Pat developed Powerpoint into the leading company in Canada focusing on the women’s market and created the Women of Influence luncheon speaker series featuring Canadian women CEOs and leaders. She following this inspiring initiative with the Gift of Wisdom breakfast series for young women seeking mentorship from women in management. Pat also created Links for Women, the first Canadian golf program linking women in business for networking, sport and fun. In addition to her core business, Pat was instrumental in rescuing the Canadian Women Entrepreneur of the Year Awards after a title sponsor dropped out, ensuring that the Awards continued and grew to recognize women entrepreneurs and their achievements. Pat past President of the Women Entrepreneurs of Canada and was instrumental in organizing the logistics for the first Canada USA Businesswomen’s Summit in 1997. Pat has sat on several community boards and continues to organize fundraisers for such causes as Women’s College Hospital, the Canadian Breast Cancer drive, and Stephen Lewis’ HIV/AIDS Foundation.

Dana Peebles has been an advocate and expert in gender issues and gender equality her whole career. She has almost three decades of experience in international development, including 12 years as Director of Kartini International, a consulting firm she founded specializing in regional trade issues, gender equality, the development of micro-enterprise and small business, adult education and skills training. Dana’s work has included gender analysis and training with government agencies and officials, as well as microenterprise development with rural and indigenous women. She has championed the concerns of women in public policy development in Canada and overseas.

Amélie Poulin started her career at 25 after earning and MBA and noticed right away that some women did not have the appropriate resources to fully realize their potential and be recognized for their achievements. Amélie devoted much of her time and energy as a volunteer as a mentor, speaker, journalist and event organizer in support of women’s advancement. Five years later, she has created a number of innovative career-building opportunities for women as the head of the Canadian Women in Communications Quebec chapter. Amélie initiative professional development conferences on topics such as Women’s Leadership and Women on Boards and created a $2000 scholarship in communications. In addition to her work at CWC, Amélie is on the board of the Women’s Life Organization and serves as a volunteer journalist for the South-West Hebdos, writing about business women and their successes.

Molly Robertson of the PrimeTime Business and Professional Women's Association has been a dedicated supporter of micro credit for women and is the Chair of the PrimeTime-TIAW Village Bank Program. Inspired by the work of Mohammad Yunus and the great benefits of micro credit to economically empower women, Molly has overseen Primetime’s many initiatives: creating awareness about micro credit. She helped organize a trip of micro credit donors to a Thailand village bank. She has acted as the main liaison between the TIAW microenterprise program, and Primetime’s fundraising efforts that led to one organization, Prime Time, raising funds for an unprecedented 14 Village Banks for women in Asia. Molly’s dedicated commitment as a volunteer played a major role in this phenomenal fundraising success and will enable hundreds of women to start and grow their micro-businesses.

Optimist, creative, and driven are words that hardly begin to describe Jeannette Rodriguez Corletto – an ongoing source of inspiration to women in the Dominican Republic. As Director Branding and Communications, Jeannette built a 10 person (8 women!) communications team in male-dominated Orange Telecom, while battling a diagnosis of terminal stomach cancer. The company’s first female executive, she increased Orange’s brand recognition from 4th to 1st place while firmly aligning the company’s brand with music and the arts. Last year Jeannette and her team increased Orange’s corporate social responsibility, launching the successful “Together we can do more” campaign – encouraging Dominicans to contribute positively to their communities.

Anthea Rossouw’s work focuses on South Africa and surrounding regions, using tourism to alleviate poverty by helping women to start their own micro businesses. Instead of staying in the mainstream hotels, tourists can stay at the home of one of the women that Anthea has supported and experience true hospitality at a fraction of what it would cost in a hotel. Anthea’s nominator said, “What struck me about Anthea was her passion, sincerity, humility and persistence in making a difference in the world…For lasting change, and to break the cycle of poverty, we need programs such as Anthea’s to lead women toward economic self-sufficiency. These women can effect change in their lives and the lives of their families with such small amounts of money. Programs such as Anthea’s can and do make a difference as reported by the Kamammas (community matriarchs) when they came to Toronto (recently) to spread their message of hope.

As Country Director of The Hunger Project-India, Rita Sarin heads an alliance of 60 organizations which have trained 65,000 rural women to be leaders in their villages. Although the Indian constitution reserves 33% of village-council seats for women, most of those elected are malnourished, illiterate, overworked and unsupported. Under Rita’s leadership, The Hunger Project-India transforms elected women’s self-confidence, educates them about their rights and responsibilities, builds their capacity to create a vision, develops plans to achieve it, and links them with resources. Mobilized to take action, they are forming district- and state-wide federations to ensure their community needs are addressed at top levels of government. Rita is also an advocate for the empowerment of women at the state, national, and international levels. A native of Delhi, with a daughter, she has committed her life to igniting and sustaining the leadership spirit of women in India. Embodying Mahatma Gandhi’s words, “be the change you seek”, Rita is an inspiration.

An advocate for the empowerment of women both nationally and internationally, Mary Schnack truly makes all the difference in the world. After aiding a relief agency during the Rwanda Civil War in 1994, Mary had a strong desire to help women in developing countries. Their courage, strength and commitment to supporting their families and communities were an inspiration to her and Mary began Up from the Dust to help support the global growth of women’s micro enterprises. Importing from over 10 countries including Kenya, Cambodia, South Africa, Guatemala, Egypt, Afghanistan, and China, Up from the Dust imports handmade jewelry, accessories and home decor making them readily available to buyers and supporters in the United States. Mary targets sales to women in business so U.S. women business owners have the opportunity to help women around the world grow their businesses.

Norma Sit was a successful CEO of an IT company who left the corporate world in 2005 to become a social entrepreneur, changing the direction of her life guide underachieving children and youth to reach their full potential, with a particular calling to help teenage girls, low income women and young men in Singapore. Norma founded a social enterprise, Youth Life Ownership (YLO) in 2006 and trained 600 teenagers to aim higher in life, focus on their careers and live responsibly, with accountability and purpose. She also developed the “Compass” program for youths to plan lives systematically in all areas - physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual – as well as founding a youth mentoring program. In 2007 she expanded her work to create two successful pilots for the "Cinderella Compass" program for women in bottom 10% income strata across all races, focusing on single mothers to help them obtain ongoing education and plan their careers. She also developed outreach to Malays to reduce teenage marriages and guide single mothers to focus on education and jobs.

Barbara Stanny’s mission is to inspire women to become financially empowered. She teaches women how to map out their financial futures and shares her secrets for personal empowerment. Barbara grew up relying on her father (the "R" of H&R Block), then her husband, to manage her money. But a devastating financial crisis became a personal wake-up call. The insights gained in her personal journey to financial independence turned her life around and became the core of her first book, Prince Charming Isn't Coming: How Women Get Smart About Money . Once Barbara had completed her first book and had a solid feeling of financial security, she decided to take this process to the next level. Barbara interviewed over 150 women who make $100,000 or more. Her goal: to find out how they did it, if others could too, and how to avoid the pitfalls along the way. From this new research came her last book, Secrets of Six Figure Women: Surprising Strategies to Up Your Earnings and Change Your Life. Barbara uncovered the secrets that enabled these women to become so financially successful and personally proved her theory was possible by becoming a six-figure woman herself, before the completion of the book.

While PrimeTime Business and Professional Women's Association's main activities are professional events and activities, Louise Tagliante had the vision and commitment to raise her hand to be the Fundraising Chairperson for the 2008 campaign to raise funds for the PrimeTime-TIAW Village Bank program. Rallying support from PrimeTime members, friends and families and corporate sponsors, Louise Tagliante orchestrated Primetime’s first major fundraising event attended by over 200 people and supported through donations by many more. The result was creating a greater awareness of micro credit in the community and raising funds for 11 Village Banks in the Asia region to economically empower many women though micro credit lending.

Governor Christine Todd Whitman is a powerful pioneer in women’s achievement. She was the first and only female Governor of New Jersey and the first Republican woman in the nation to defeat an incumbent governor in a general election in the US. Her impact on women’s empowerment rests not only on being elected or appointed to important posts, but also in her steadfast efforts to bring women alongside her in high-ranking positions. She appointed New Jersey’s first female State Supreme Court Chief Justice, the first female Attorney General, her own chief of staff and recruited many women to serve at executive levels. Her Excellence in Public Service Series is a political leadership training program designed to increase the number of New Jersey women in elected office at all levels of government. Today she owns her own business, a government relations consultancy.

Pania Tyson Nathan is a Justice of the Peace in Porirua, New Zealand. Originally a successful woman entrepreneur, Pania sold her business to work for the promotion of her native Maori people in New Zealand through Maori Economic Development. She was instrumental in ensuring the representation of Maori women in the Women Leaders Network of APEC where she was the New Zealand focal point between 1999 and 2005. Pania has been a strong advocate for the advancement of women through her work with the Maori Economic Development agency, as well as a participant and strong advocate for good corporate governance as a member of several international governance councils. She has been a champion of so many important causes for women in general and Maori women in particular. Pania’s passion for people and human rights reflect the generosity that is felt by all who come into contact with her.

Evelyn Uy graduated from the Ateneo de Manila University where she majored in Chemistry. In the early nineties, she organized the rural and urban women of Dipolog in all the twenty-one villages and affiliated them with the National Council of Women of the Philippines (NCWP). As the chairperson of NCWP, she then found funding for skills training of the women and provided them with access to credit to finance their businesses. There are now more than a thousand members of NCWP and many of them are engaged in microenterprise. The organization is one of the largest producers of bottled sardines, Dipolog’s major industry. The women in the rural villages are now actively engaged in community development work and are helping other women and children in the community. She was also instrumental in establishing a Women’s Center with government support. As a result of her role as a catalyst of women’s economic empowerment, she was convinced to run for mayor and now serves as an outstanding role model for public service in the area of politics.

Herta Von Steigel makes an outstanding contribution to whatever she commits herself to, whether it is organizing business events for City Women's Network, chairing a conference on Women's Health, or raising funds for women’s micro credit through Opportunity International. After an influential banking career, Herta has pursued a portfolio career, in which she dedicates considerable voluntary time to non profit organizations. She is the non-executive Chairman of Stargate Capital Investments which runs Trapezia, a venture capital fund which directly targets women- focused businesses. She is executive Chairman of Ariya Capital group, a fund management firm focusing on sustainable investments in Africa. Herta is the inaugural chair of the women’s leadership group, a fundraising initiative of The Princes’ Trust that helps young women get their lives on track. She is also involved in Enham, a housing and care charity for the disabled for whom she recently put together the Kilimanjaro Challenge - the first multi - disability team to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.

Francine Whiteduck is a native Algonquin woman, prominent in her community and since 1997 has acted as the Aboriginal focal point and spokesperson for Canadian aboriginal women in the Asia Pacific Economic Council (APEC) through its Women Leaders’ Network. As the President and CEO of the publicly traded research firm, Whiteduck Resources Inc., Francine has represented the interests of Canadian native women, including small and micro entrepreneurs, through her work with the government of Canada, native bands, international organizations and through her research and vision. Francine has been able to remain dignified and neutral in what is often a politically charged atmosphere surrounding native and human rights. The following are just some examples of the significant work that she has undertaken in recent years. In addition to numerous vitally important initiatives in the areas of education, water contamination and health, Francine has focused much of her effort on the economic sustainability for native women.

Linda Wind has devoted much of her career to helping women. In 1996 she founded Wind Enterprises, Inc., a corporation that offers women’s leadership development conferences, business weekend retreats and customized leadership development programs for corporations and small businesses. Her programs help prepare women to take control of their careers, balance work/life issues, become stronger leaders, and make significant contributions to their community. In 2002 she founded a not for profit organization, The Possible Woman Foundation International, Inc. (PWFI) PWFI provides scholarships to women, age 24 and older, who are going back to school to complete undergraduate degrees. Over $100,000 in scholarships have been given to women across the US, allowing them to improve their lives and thereby improve the lives of their children. Because of Linda Wind the thousands of women who attend her conferences and programs are inspired, encouraged and are given opportunities to network with other business women and to learn from seasoned professionals in the sessions. Additionally, through the foundation she founded, hundreds of women are better equipped to advance in their careers and care for their families.

Juanita Woodward was one of the founding members of the PrimeTime Business and Professional Women's Association in Singapore and its first President in 1997. She returned to the Board as President serving from 2003 to the current term. Over the years she has led the association and developed a strong team of Board members and instilled an ethic of volunteerism and support in its programs. Today in terms of the size of its membership and breadth of activities – over 100 business, social and community outreach activities each year – Prime Time is the largest businesswomen's association in Singapore. With Singapore as a regional business hub in Asia, Juanita has strategically created an association that brings together international businesswomen represented by over 30 nationalities, a diverse demographic profile, and many professions and industries. Businesswomen are drawn to the organization often because of the networking opportunities – they stay and participate because they are able to advance their skills through the program offerings, find new business partners, or locate a job opportunity. PrimeTime has created a unique international community of women Juanita, through her leadership talents and unwavering commitment to PrimeTime, has created an organization that has and will continue to support the development of women in business.

Widad Ibrahim grew up in Sudan on a farm owned by her grandmother and sold eggs at the side of the road as a child. It was the start of the business sense that enabled her to identify and act on the idea to start selling apartments in Khartoum as a young woman. One business led to another and Widad now owns one of the largest industrial groups in Sudan with 800 employees. Her Bee Group includes gas stations, an oil company, an aviation business and a property development company. Widad has set up a micro credit bank in Sudan together with other women entrepreneurs. Family Bank now has more than 35 million US$ in its accounts. In 1992, she helped to establish the Sudanese Business Women Union. As a result, in 2006 for the first time in the history of Sudan, a woman was elected to join the executive committee of the Business Men’s Union. Ibrahim and the Business Women Union have been supporting children’s education in refugee camps in Darfur and has helped women to fight illiteracy and gain basic skills. They also run first aid workshops for female refugees in camps in South Darfur. At a recent at the Partners for Change Conference organized by the Arab International Women’s Forum, at the World Bank in Washington DC in June 2008.Ibrahim was the only speaker to receive a standing ovation

Myrna T. Yao is not only a successful entrepreneur and pioneer of the toy industry in the Philippines, she also became the first woman trader in commodity and tire distribution in the Philippines. She always aims to make the difference in all her endeavors by introducing new ideas in marketing, designs, and business strategy. Her company Richwell Trading Corporation started with 20 employees in 1980 and has expanded to 1,300 employees in five companies engaged in real estate, trading, distributorship, licensing, apparel, toys, shoes, baby product and tires. Myrna has made sure she used her success to reach out to empower the women in her country. She is the chartered President of the Zonta Club of Greater Rizal II, Founding President of the Filipino Chinese Federation of Business and Professional Women of the Philippines and also the founding President of the biggest Government and Non-Government organization in the country known as the Federation of the Local Council of Women of the Philippines. With all her accomplishments in the fields of business and women’s empowerment, she was appointed by the President of the Republic of the Philippines to Chair the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women with the rank of Deputy Minister. She is a recipient of many prestigious awards in the national and global arena, among them is the Global Entrepreneur of the Year and the Presidential Merit Award given by the President of the Philippines Her Excellency Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. She now heads the Great Women project that aim to uplift the economic condition to alleviate poverty and create more jobs for women.

Amal Zniber founded an organization called, Amis Des Ecoles, a non-profit organization that sets up donations for food, clothing, school supplies, bikes and medical supplies. Amal stores the donated goods and several times a year makes a ten hour journey to the mountains to deliver the donations to communities of Berbers, who are amongst the poorest in the world. To do this work, she often hikes for hours to reach schools that aren’t accessible by car, where she documents school conditions along with each student’s name, returning later with important supplies. Amal makes a special effort to ensure that the women of the Berber region get education and the means to be able to support themselves. In these mountain communities, girls only go to school until grade six and marry soon after, becoming mother in their mid-teens. Amal is working to open a high school for girls to ensure they receive higher education that will lead to work and financial independence, choosing the site carefully to allow access from as many Berber villages as possible. Right now, the closest high school is a four hour walk away and that is out of the question for the young girls. In addition to secondary education, Amal is helping women who are trying to provide for their family by selling things in the souk such as fruit or vegetables and is teaching them business skills.