2010 Honourees
Lisa Draper
Lisa Draper’s community involvement spans many years. She was inspired as a
child by her grandmother Rose, who was a shining example of a Woman of Action –
working hard in business, fulfilling the role of matriarch of her growing family,
and taking time to give back to the community.
As a young mother, Lisa balanced family life with 3 kids and a career, and she too
always found time to stay active in the community, particularly at her children’s
schools and canvassing for UJA. Lisa realized that her true passion was in volunteerism
and philanthropy, and after much consideration with her family, she decided to leave
her banking career of 20 years to devote all her time to worthy causes; in particular
Mount Sinai Hospital and UJA.
Lisa first became involved with the Mount Sinai Hospital Auxiliary as Vice-President
for two terms and co-chaired the 2002 Auxiliary Gala, Celebrate Life. She later
joined the MSH Campaign Cabinet to co-chair the Community Gifts Division. In 2005,
Lisa took on a greater leadership role by joining the MSH Foundation Board of Directors
where she plays an active role in fundraising through events.
In addition to her involvement at Mount Sinai Hospital, Lisa was Chair of Women’s
Philanthropy for the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto’s 2009 Campaign, and is currently
Chair of Campaign Operations for the 2010 Campaign. As well, she sits on the Women’s
Executive Board of Israel Bonds and rides annually in the 100 km Barrie to Baycrest
ride raising money for Baycrest Centre, and particularly, Alzheimer’s research.
In her spare time, Lisa enjoys long distance running and has completed several marathons.
She is married to Philip Draper and has three grown children, Haley, Shelby and
Andrew.
Laurie May
Laurie May is Co-President and Co-Founder of Maple Pictures Corp., one of Canada’s largest film distribution companies. Maple distributes all Lionsgate film and TV titles in Canada and acquires other films for distribution in Canada.
Laurie received her law degree from the University of Toronto Law School, practiced corporate and entertainment law at Osler, Hoskin and Harcourt, and was an adjunct professor of Entertainment and Sports Law at the University of Western Law School. She was Senior Vice President of Business & Legal Affairs for Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. from 1997-2005.
In this capacity, she oversaw legal matters involving production and distribution, and was involved in such notable films as Monster's Ball and Fahrenheit 911, as well as corporate responsibilities including the acquisitions of Trimark Pictures and Artisan Entertainment. Since founding Maple she has been involved in successful releases including Academy Award winner Crash, Emmy award winner Mad Men, and recent Academy Award winners Hurt Locker, Precious and The Cove. Laurie acts as a mentor for Women in Film and Television.
Molly Shoichet
Dr. Molly Shoichet holds the Canada Research Chair in Tissue Engineering and is
Professor of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry, Chemistry and Biomaterials
& Biomedical Engineering at the University of Toronto. She is an expert in the study
of Polymers for Regeneration which are materials that promote healing in the body.
Dr. Shoichet's laboratory has numerous patents (published and pending) on drug delivery
and scaffold design. She has founded two spin-off companies from her laboratory.
Before being recruited to the University of Toronto in 1995, Dr. Shoichet worked
at CytoTherapeutics Inc. on encapsulated cell therapy. Dr. Shoichet is the recipient
of such prestigious distinctions as the Canada Council for the Arts’ Killam Research
Fellowship, NSERC’s Steacie Fellowship, CIfAR’s Young Explorer’s Award (to the top
20 scientists under 40 in Canada), CSChE’s Syncrude Innovation Award, Canada’s Top
40 under 40 and the Royal Society of Canada’s Rutherford Memorial Award. Dr. Shoichet
was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the Canadian Academy of Sciences
in 2008. Dr. Shoichet received her S.B. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
in Chemistry (1987) and her Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst
in Polymer Science and Engineering (1992). She has published over 340 papers, patents
and abstracts and has given over 220 lectures worldwide.
Senator Pamela Wallin
The Honourable Pamela Wallin, O.C., S.O.M., appointed to the Senate of Canada on
December 22, 2008, serves on the Senate's prestigious Foreign Affairs & International
Trade Committee; is Deputy Chair of the Defence & National Security Committee and
is also a member of the Veterans Affairs subcommittee.
Senator Wallin serves on several corporate boards, including CTVglobemedia, Gluskin
Sheff & Associates, Oilsands Quest, Porter Airlines, and is a member of the BMO
Harris Bank Advisory Council.
Pamela is the Chancellor of the University of Guelph, a post she assumed in 2007.
Pamela is an Officer of the Order of Canada, Canada's highest civilian honour and
served, at the request of Prime Minister Harper, on the special Independent Panel
on Canada's Future Role in Afghanistan. She was also recently named to the special
Advisory Panel on the Creation of a Democracy Promotion Agency.
Following the events of 9/11 Pamela served as Canada's Consul General in New York
from 2002-2006. As a journalist, Pamela covered Canada-US relations, and this remains
an important interest and as a result, she continues to serve as the Senior Advisor
on Canada-US relations at the Americas Society and the Council of the Americas in
New York and Washington.
The wide-ranging career of the journalist, diplomat and entrepreneur has now spanned
more than thirty years, several continents and many forums. From CBC radio to the
Ottawa bureau of the Toronto Star to CTV where she hosted Canada AM, she went on
to become the Ottawa bureau chief, and anchor of the CTV weekend news. And in 1992,
she became the first Canadian woman to co-anchor the nightly national television
newscast Prime Time News.
In 1995, Pamela founded an independent television company, Pamela Wallin Productions,
through which she hosted and produced several highly successful nightly interview
programs.
Pamela has fourteen Honorary Doctorates and among many other honors, she has been
named to the Canadian Broadcasting Hall of Fame; she received a national Visionary
Award in Canada; and was twice recognized by Queen Elizabeth II for her public service
and achievements.
In 1995, the citizens of her hometown of Wadena, Saskatchewan dedicated a street
in her honor, Pamela Wallin Drive.
She is the author of three books, including her best selling autobiography Since
You Asked (1998), Speaking of Success (2001), and The Comfort of Cats (2002)