2007 PEAK Awards Honourees

Award for Performance & Excellence

Catherine Mcleod-Seltzer

Catherine McLeod-Seltzer, Executive Chair and Director, Pacific Rim Mining Corp. Ms. McLeod-Seltzer is the Chair of Pacific Rim Mining Corp. After spending the early years of her career working in mining Corporate Finance, both in North America and internationally, Ms. McLeod-Seltzer went on to co-found Arequipa Resources in 1993 with renowned mine finder J. David Lowell, and was appointed President and CEO in 1996. Following a major gold discovery in Peru, the company caught the eye of gold giant Barrick Gold Corporation, which in mid-1996 purchased Arequipa for $1.1 billion Cdn. Catherine was named Mining “Man” of the Year by the Northern Miner in 1999. In addition to her role as Chairman and Director of Pacific Rim, Ms. McLeod- sits on the boards of several other mining companies.

Award for Knowledge & Leadership

Tamara Vrooman

Tamara Vrooman, MA : Ministry of Finance, Government of British Columbia Tamara Vrooman is the Deputy Minister and Secretary to the Treasury Board of the Ministry of Finance, Government of British Columbia. The team she leads is responsible for developing the government’s three year fiscal plan, the prudent management of government finances and the creation of a sound policy and regulatory framework that supports economic development and increased investment. Tamara’s career in the British Columbia government has included positions with the Children’s Commission, the Ministry for Children and Families and with the Ministry of Finance where she was a Manager at Treasury Board Staff. Tamara was one of the 2004 recipients of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40.

Award for Lifetime Achievement

Doreen McKenzie-Sanders

As an award-winning journalist, educator and publisher, Doreen McKenzie-Sanders, Executive Director of Women in the Lead Inc., has dedicated herself to advancing equality for women. Her focus is the business world, where women hold only 11.2 percent of board-of-director positions in Canada's top 500 companies (Catalyst , 2003). She is also the driving force behind Women in the Lead/Femmes de Tête directory. The third edition has just been published. Women in the Lead Inc. is a unique Canadian non-profit corporation dedicated to creating and promoting this national directory listing the résumés of over 600 women whose professional expertise and experience make them ideal candidates for appointment to corporate boards.

Ms. McKenzie-Sanders began her career while still a teenager, writing for The Vancouver Daily Province newspaper. Today, her career spans six decades and includes many milestones, such as being the first woman to publish and edit Business Quarterly, a management magazine formerly published by the Ivey School of Business, and the first woman elected to serve as president of the Business Press Editors Association and as a board member of the Canadian Business Press Association.

As an educator, Ms. McKenzie-Sanders created, and for 15 years, taught a course in magazine publishing at The University of Western Ontario, where she was also appointed to the Native Peoples Program in Journalism. For many summers, she taught the Radcliffe Publishing Procedures Course, Harvard University. Ms. McKenzie-Sanders has served on the boards of a number of non-profit organizations including the YWCA/YMCA and the Thames Valley Children's Centre.

In October of 2006, she received The Governor General's Award in Commemoration of the Person's Case in recognition of her contribution to the goal of equality for women in Canada.

Ms. McKenzie-Sanders, who is a member of the Order of Canada and holds numerous achievement awards, lives in Vancouver.