Nancy Greene named one of Canada's Most Influential Women

CAAWS celebrates Canada's Women Leaders in Sport and Physical Activity

- Jan. 17/11

From Olympian to national figure to Canadian senator, Nancy Greene still loves nothing more than getting out and teaching kids. MARK SEREDA/SnowSeekers

OTTAWA, ON – The Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity (CAAWS) announced today its Most Influential Women (MIW) List for 2010 to highlight the leadership, strength, and accomplishments of Canadian women who made a significant impact in sport and physical activity in 2010. The objective of the MIW List is to inspire and motivate other women and girls to take leading roles in sport and physical activity at the community, provincial, national or international level.

This is the 10th time that CAAWS publishes its Most Influential Women List and with each edition we celebrate Canadian women who are making a difference," said CAAWS Executive Director Karin Lofstrom. They are women who work in all fields, and come from all walks of life. This year the MIW List includes coaches, professors, athletes, administrators and volunteers. What unites these leaders is their passion for sport and physical activity and using it to improve the lives of all Canadians. They are women to be admired."

THE CAAWS MOST INFLUENTIAL WOMEN LIST FOR 2010 IS:

(in alphabetical order )

Stacey Allaster (St Petersburg, Florida / Originally Welland, Ontario) Chairman and CEO, Women’s Tennis Association

Margarett Best (Toronto, Ontario) Minister of Health Promotion and Sport, Government of Ontario

Sylvie Bigras (Ottawa, Ontario) Press Chief, 2010 Canadian Olympic Team

Nathalie Cook (Toronto, Ontario) Vice-President, Marketing and Partnerships, Canada's Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium

The team of Chandra Crawford & Marie-Hélène Thibeault (Canmore, Alberta ) Founder of Fast and Female / Executive Director, Fast and Female

Melody (Mel) Davidson (Calgary, Alberta) Team Canada Olympic Hockey Coach

Martha Deacon (Oakville, Ontario) Team Canada Chef de Mission, 2010 Commonwealth Games

Andrea Grantham (Ottawa, Ontario) Executive Director, Physical and Health Education Canada

Nancy Greene Raine (Rossland, British Columbia) Senator, Officer of the Order of Canada, Olympic Ambassador

Lindsay Hugenholtz (Halifax, Nova Scotia) Deputy CEO, 2011 Canada Winter Games

Clara Hughes (Winnipeg, Manitoba & Glenn Sutton, Quebec) Olympian, Officer of the Order of Canada

Nathalie Lambert (Montreal, Quebec) Team Canada Chef de Mission, 2010 Olympic Games

Dominique Langelier (Mont Tremblant, Quebec) Olympic Snowboard Official

Nanci Martin (Vancouver, British Columbia) 2010 Special Olympics North America Coach of the Year

Chantal Petitclerc (Montreal, Quebec) Companion of the Order of Canada, Paralympian, Motivational Speaker

Deborah (Debbie) Pyne (Richmond, British Columbia) Managing Director of Player Development, BC Golf Association, ProMOTION Plus volunteer

The team of Joannie Rochette  (Île-Dupas, Quebec) & Manon Perron (Boucherville, Quebec) Olympian, 2010 Terry Fox Award / Coach

Tricia Smith (Vancouver, British Columbia) Member of the Order of Canada, Olympian, COC Senior Vice-President

The Women and Coaching Journal Advisory Board (Coaching Association of Canada), which consists of:

-       Sheilagh Croxon (Toronto, Ontario) Consultant, Women in Coaching program, Coaching Association of Canada

-       Guylaine Demers (Quebec City, Quebec) Professor, Laval University

-       Gretchen Kerr (Toronto, Ontario) Professor, University of Toronto

-       Dru Marshall (Edmonton, Alberta) Deputy provost, University of Alberta

-       Rose Mercier (Kingston, Ontario) Consultant in leadership development and organizational transition

-       Sheila Robertson (Manotick, Ontario) Editor, Canadian Journal for Women in Coaching

-       Penny Werthner (Ottawa, Ontario) Professor, University of Ottawa

Lauren Woolstencroft (Vancouver, British Columbia) Paralympian, Engineer, Motivational Speaker

Ones to Watch

CAAWS also nominates women as Ones to Watch, and this year two outstanding young women have been selected:

Mary Spencer (Windsor, Ontario) Athlete, Member of  Motivate Canada’s GEN 7 program

June Zimmer (Regina, Saskatchewan) Executive Director, Girls in the Game

Many of the women named to the MIW List were nominated by colleagues and the general public. The final list was compiled by the CAAWS selection panel from both public nominations and contributions from knowledgeable sport and physical activity leaders. The panel reviewed the submissions and based its decision on accomplishment and scope of activities in the 2010 calendar year.

About CAAWS

The Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity (CAAWS) is a national non-profit organization dedicated to creating an equitable sport and physical activity system in which girls and women are actively engaged as participants and leaders. CAAWS provides a number of services, programs and resources to a variety of clients, including sport and physical activity organizations, teachers, coaches, athletes, volunteers, health professionals and recreation leaders. Since 1981, CAAWS has worked in close cooperation with government and non-government organizations on activities and initiatives that advocate for positive change for girls and women in sport and physical activity.

Full profiles and photos of all women on the MIW List can be found at www.caaws.ca.