Megan Landry

Anti-bullying community educator, singer-songwriter

“Stand a little prouder, yell a little louder”. — Lyrics to the song Stronger

Lives and attends school in Ottawa.

Was bullied in grades 8 and 9 at two Ottawa schools by a clique of “mean girls”.

At 14, wrote a song about her painful experience, shot a video herself and posted it on You Tube. Her song “Stronger” is attracting world-wide attention for its anti-bullying message.

She is receiving praise and support for her anti-bullying song from around the planet.

Has performed at several youth benefits and will perform at a Canadian Safe School Network dinner in Toronto in November 2012.

Studied classical piano, jazz and pop, as well as taken voice lessons.

Won a Spirit of the Capital Youth Award for arts and culture for her contribution to youths in Ottawa.

www.ottawacitizen.com

Helen MacMurchy

Pioneer physican, health advocate, public health reformer

Born in 1862, died in 1953.

Began her medical career in private practice.

Had a lasting and meaningful impact on health care in Canada as a public health activist who specialized in women's issues.

Was a leading advocate of public health reforms in Canada in the early years of the 20th century.

Became the first chief of the federal Department of Health's Division of Child Welfare in Ottawa. She occupied this position for 14 years. At the time, this was the highest position then open to a woman in the Canadian public service.

Wrote the first childcare advice literature produced by the Canadian Government. In writing the Little Blue Books, she balanced the need to impart important medical advice to Canadian citizens while speaking to the reader in simple and plain language.

Was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1934, and named one of the 10 leading female physicians in the western world in 1949.

Helped found the Canadian National Committee on Mental Hygiene (later renamed Canadian Mental Health Association).

Was designated a national historic person in 1997, recognized for her contributions through her infant mortality reports, her career at the Department of Health and her series of books offering advice to mothers.

www.ottawacitizen.com

www.news.gc.ca

Kira Isabella

Singer-songwriter, musician

Born in Barrie, Ontario; grew up in Orleans (Ottawa) from the age of four. She attended St. Peter Catholic High School.

At 19, already has a decade of experience under her belt performing her brand of up-tempo country music across Canada.

Did her first recital at the age of seven in Ottawa and entered multiple singing competitions, of which she won many over the years.

At 14, she won first place in a country singing contest at an arts festival in Blyth, Ontario (Female Open Category), for which she won the Rising Star Award.

In 2009, she was signed to Sony Music Canada.

Plays guitar, writes poetry and lyrics and has performed hundreds of times to date. Will be releasing her first album “Love Me Like That” on October 4, 2012. The songs for this album were co-written with songwriters in Nashville and Atlanta.

Her first single from the album “Love Me Like That” recently won a 2012 Canadian Radio Music Award in the Country category at Canadian Music Week. See the you tube video of her song by clicking here.

www.kiraisabella.com

www.ottawacitizen.com

Karen Bailey

Artist, painter

“I paint people at work. Military medical personnel, church tea ladies, waitresses, charity shop volunteers”—Karen Bailey

Ottawa-based artist.

Is a graduate of the Reigate School of Art & Design, England.

Is a “painter of the people”. Many of her works feature behind-the-scenes workers and under-recognized people.

Some of her series have highlighted the working life of servers and hairstylists while “Blanche Dot Doris”, focused on older women who prepare food for church functions.

Some of her past work includes courtroom drawing for Global Television, book illustration for Appletree Press, U.K., heraldic art and calligraphy.

Has received the prestigious Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation grants for drawing and painting twice in her 30-year career.

As one of five military appointed artists in the Defence Program, she spent one week at a Kandahar hospital in 2007 to paint portraits of patients and medical military personnel. She entitled this collection of work—“The Triage Collection”.

Her largest canvas to date, Blast Victims, was included in the War & Medicine exhibition at the Canadian War Museum.

Was commissioned to paint the official portrait of past governor general Michaëlle Jean for Rideau Hall (unveiling took place in September 2012).

www.canada.com www
ottawacitizen.com
www.karenbailey.ca

Verna Cotton

Local historian (Navan), author, volunteer

Is the third Tweedsmuir Coordinator for the Navan Branch of the Woman’s Institute, as well as a founding member of the Cumberland and Township Historical Society.

Is the author of pictorial history books entitled “The Navan of Yesteryear”.

Worked as a volunteer, secretary and president of the Navan Women’s Institute, fulfilling executive duties and helping with fundraising and community service projects.

Continues to serve on committees for the Navan Fair and St. Mary’s Anglican Church.

Verna and her husband Syd have both been recognized by the municipal and provincial governments for their contributions to the community of Navan. They received numerous awards, most significant of which was the Ontario Bicentennial Award, presented in 1984.

In recognition of Syd and Verna Cotton’s contributions to the community of Navan, a park on Forest Lea Drive has been renamed the “Syd and Verna Cotton Park” by the City of Ottawa in September 2012.

As long-term residents of the Navan area, Syd (now deceased) and Verna have shown great commitment to improving their community. To read about Syd’s contribution, please visit the following link: http://ottawa.ca/en/city_hall/policiesadministration/policies/comm_naming/syd_verna_cotton/index.htm

www.ottawacitizen.ca

ottawa..ca

Kathleen Edwards

Singer-songwriter, musician

Born in Ottawa in 1978. As the daughter of a diplomat, spent much of her childhood in Korea and Switzerland. Now lives in Toronto.

Her musical style is classified as “alternative country, folk”; her instruments are guitar and violin.

First recorded a six-song EP entitled "Building 55" in 1999, of which she pressed 500 copies and toured across Canada managing her own gigs.

Wrote seven of the ten songs for her debut album “Failer” launched in 2003. Her second album “Back to Me” came out in 2005, while her third album “Asking for Flowers” was released in 2008.

In 2006, she was nominated for Juno Awards for Songwriter of the Year and Adult Alternative Album of the Year for "Back to Me".

In her career, she has opened for Willie Nelson, John Prine, Aimee Mann, My Morning Jacket, John Mayer and Bryan Adams. She was also invited as a guest on the David Letterman Show, and as a performer at Farm Aid.

Her most recent release is “Voyageur” (2012). For her next project, she plans to record songs from the 1990s.

http://www.kathleenedwards.com

http://www.maplemusic.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathleen_Edwards

www.ottawacitizen.com

Alanis Morisette

Singer, songwriter, guitarist, record producer, actress

Born in Ottawa in 1974. Attended Holy Family Catholic Elementary School, Immaculata High School and Glebe Collegiate.

Won 16 Juno Awards and 7 Grammy Awards, and was nominated for 2 Golden Globes.

Since the beginning of her career (1991), she has launched 8 albums; her first international album was the rock-influenced Jagged Little Pill, released in 1995. It has sold more than 33 million units globally.

Has sold more than 60 million albums worldwide. She is known for her powerful and emotive mezzo-soprano voice.

Has had roles in television (including Sex in the City, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Weeds), film (including God and Dogma) and on stage (including The Vagina Monologues).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alanis_Morissette
www.ottawacitizen.com

Evelyn Stroobach

Pianist, composer, music teacher

“I’ve heard composers say they live to have their music performed. I don’t think there’s anything better on the planet than to share music.” – Evelyn Stroobach

Born in Holland; moved to Cobourg, Ontario with her family in the 1960s; lives in Ottawa since the late 1990s.

Has a master’s of music degree from Indiana University at Bloomington.

Studied the art of composing for various sections of an orchestra, including strings, brass, woodwinds, piano and harpsichord. Has compositions for solo guitar, piano and alto saxophone.

Among her accomplishments are four symphonies which have been performed by 13 orchestras all over Canada, Europe and Asia. Her choral works have been performed by the National Opera Chorus in Kyle and Ottawa’s Harmony Choir. One of her newest compositions will be performed during the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival (August 2012). 

She authored a music book entitled Medieval Tales: The Art of the Mode (2005). She has also scored music for films and won awards for her works. She launched a CD of her compositions in 2007, Aurora Borealis.

Is part of a select group of women composers. In 2011, the Canadian Music Centre counted 788 associate composers, of which only 136 are women.

Serves and participates on different boards and groups including the Association of Canadian Women Composers and the International Alliance for Women in Music.

www.ottawacitizen.com

http://www.oceannamusic.com

Sandra Dyck

Art historian, curator, gallery director

“[…) I’d love for the gallery to serve as a “third space” – neither home nor work – that functions as a forum for dialogue between diverse communities […]”. - Sandra Dyck

Born in Chilliwack, B.C.; lives in Ottawa.

Obtained a Masters in Canadian art history at Carleton University in Ottawa.

Worked at many cultural institutions including the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa Art Gallery, and Library and Archives Canada.

Has been employed by the Carleton University Art Gallery (CUAG) for the last 17 years where, over the course of her career, she has curated 50 and coordinated over 150 exhibitions. She has been named gallery director in July 2012.

As director, her focus will be on strengthening CUAG’s engagement in communities both on and off campus, as well as expand the scope and ambition of educational programming as a means of reaching new audiences both regionally and nationally.

Has contributed essays to books published by the Canadian Museum of Civilization and the Montreal Museum of Fine.

Her recent accomplishments include her 2012 catalogue Shuvinai Ashoona Drawings (recommended as essential reading in the summer 2012 issue of Canadian Art magazine). She has also won two Curatorial Writing Awards from the Ontario Association of Art Galleries. She was general editor of Sanattiaqsimajut: Inuit Art from the Carleton University Art Gallery Collection, which won first prize for exhibition catalogue design in the 2009 American Association of Museum Publications Design Competition.

www.2.carleton.ca
www.ottawacitizen.com

Nicole V. Champeau

Poet, essayist, speaker

Born in Cornwall, Ontario; lives in Ottawa.

Studied literature and music at the University of Ottawa.

Collaborated on a TV series on the Historia channel, called L'Odyssée d'un fleuve. She was also the subject of several television reports, particularly on the St. Lawrence Seaway, broadcast on TV Ontario and Radio-Canada's RDI news network.

During her career as a writer, has also worked as a teacher, learning advisor and researcher.

Has six poetry collections, including Dans les pas de la louve (awarded the 2001 Prix du livre d'Ottawa), and the non-fiction work, Mémoire des villages engloutis.

Was a finalist for the Prix Trillium, and won the Governor General’s Literary Award in 2009 for her work Pointe maligne : l’infiniment oubliée of which the Jury said:

"Like a requiem, this book sings of the destruction of the territories of the Upper Saint Lawrence, drowned by dams and depopulated by expropriation. These places have even disappeared from the memories of maps. Around Cornwall, originally called Pointe Maligne, the memory of the founding peoples, Amerindian and French, has been obliterated."

http://www.canadacouncil.ca

Claire Faubert

Actress, artistic director, teacher, volunteer

Born in Orléans, Ontario in 1946.

Has a BA in Lettres françaises from the University of Ottawa and an MA from the Institut d’études théâtrales, Paris III (Sorbonne).

Joined the ranks of Ottawa's professional artistic community in the late sixties, having appeared and worked for all of the principal French language companies on both sides of the Ottawa River. She regularly performed on all the National Art Centre stages and at the Théâtre de l'Île in Gatineau.

Left for Paris in 1981 to study with Alain Knapp and at the Institut d'études théâtrales and then accepted a position as professor at the Department of Theatre.

Became artistic director of the Théâtre du Trillium in 1990 where she performed in Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf (In French) and Mademoiselle Marguerite. At the Théâtre de l'Île, she performed in Duo pour une soliste and at National Arts Centre in Mademoiselle Eléna.

Began directing in 1978 and has directed productions for the Théâtre de l'Île and the Théâtre du Trillium.

Winner of the Victor Tolgesy Arts Award in 1998; this award recognizes the accomplishments of residents who have contributed substantially to enriching cultural life in the city of Ottawa.

www.theatre.uottawa.ca

http://www.aefo.on.ca

Carol Anne Chenard

Soccer referee, microbiologist

Born in Prince Edward Island; grew up in Ottawa; lives in Orleans.

Has a wide-ranging athletic career with a background in speed skating, basketball, volleyball and soccer.

Attended Colonel By Secondary School in Ottawa and was senior athlete-of-the-year in her graduating year; played for the Gloucester Hornets soccer team.

Attended the Canadian short-track national team’s training centre, as well as completed a PhD in microbiology and immunology at McGill University.

Is the owner of six World Cup short-track speedskating medals and a one-time world record holder in the 3,000-metre relay.

Combines a career as head of Regional Compliance Program of Controlled Substances at Health Canada with coaching at her home Gloucester Concordes Speed Skating Club and soccer refereeing.

Became a FIFA referee in 2006, operating on a national level. In 2008, she began officiating international matches, including the U20 Women’s World Cup tournament in Chile and the Women’s World Cup final in Germany.

Will be the only Canadian soccer referee at the London Olympic Games in 2012.

www.sportsottawa.com

http://www.carolannechenard.blogspot.ca

Tanya Heath

Inventor of the convertible shoe

“Above all I want the notion of having to suffer to be beautiful to disappear and I hope my shoe will be as liberating as when women left the corset behind.” – Tanya Heath

Born in Ottawa; moved to Paris in 1998 where she worked for a strategy firm.

As an entrepreneur, she designed a shoe with interchangeable heel heights that combine mobility, comfort and glamour in one shoe. The goal was to create shoes that women could wear at the office, for evenings out and for the commute home by simply changing the heel height.

She worked with a team of 14 engineers and shoe technicians to invent a mechanism that requires a simple secure click of a button to change the heel height. The result is one of the best technically executed examples of convertible footwear.

http://www.ecouterre.com

http://www.tanyaheath.com

Diane Morrison

Homelessness advocate

Obtained a Bachelor of Education at McGill University and a Master of Public Administration at Queens University.

Worked for 20 years as a professional educator.

Appointed Executive Director of The Ottawa Mission in 1992; she was the first woman appointed to this position. Under her guidance and leadership, The Ottawa Mission has grown from a small emergency homeless shelter to an active community resource.

Is a founding member of The Alliance to End Homelessness.

In April 2004, was honoured with the Women of Distinction Award from the YM/YWCA. In 2005 she was named by The Ottawa Sun as one of five people who changed the face of Ottawa.

http://www.ottawamission.com

Sharon Anne Cook

Professor, researcher, historian, author

Earned a bachelor degree in Arts at Carleton University in Ottawa in 1970, and her bachelor in Education from Queens University the next year.

Taught history at secondary schools from the Carleton Board of Education for a decade before completing a Master degree at the Institute of Canadian Studies Carleton University in 1987, then her Ph.D. in History in 1990.

Joined the Faculty of Education of the University of Ottawa as an associate professor in 1990 and has been a full professor since 1997. Currently teaches in the graduate program in the Faculty of Education and is the Assistant Director of the Teacher Education Program.

Is a prolific author having published extensively in her areas of research which are feminist theory and methods, gender theory, health history, historical analysis, history of education, social studies education and women’s studies.

Published the first comprehensive study of women and smoking in Canada, Sex, Lies, and Cigarettes (2012); this work explores women’s long association with smoking in this country – first as implacable opponents of male smoking, and as protectors of children who would be smokers, then as consumers themselves, and as sexualized symbols to sell tobacco.

Has received numerous accolades and teaching awards since 2004. Is a Distinguished professor at the University of Ottawa since 2010.

www.ottawacitizen.com
http://www.education.uottawa.ca

Sheila E. McKee

Politician, community leader

Lived in Kanata (now part of Ottawa) from 1968 to 2010; died in 2010.

Well-known and respected member of the community of Kanata; was involved in countless community and volunteer groups including Kanata Golf Club, KBCA, March Rural Association and the Women’s Institute.

Was alderman of Kanata from 1982 to 1985 and councillor of Kanata three times between 1991 and 2000; first got involved in politics as a writer for the then Kanata Standard.

Was also President of the Board of Directors of Community Child Care of Ottawa and vice president of the March Rural Community Association (MRCA).

Was commissioner of Kanata Hydro, on the board of management at Pinhey’s Point, the board of the Kanata Public Library and an integral part of the city’s rural summit task force.

On June 14, 2012, the city of Ottawa named a West Carleton-March park in her honour. The park, located at 1730 Sixth Line Rd., was formerly named Riverfront Park.

www.flagstick.com

www.ottawacitizen.com

www.yourottawaregion.com

Louise Hine-Schmidt

Pioneer firefighter

Became one of Ottawa’s first female firefighters in 1999.

Along with two colleagues, she also helps women discover what a career in the fire service is all about by offering an annual week-long summer event that shows women age 15 to 19 what is required to be a firefighter and that it's a job they can do (Camp FFIT).

Historical Note: As of 2011, nearly 4% of Ottawa’s full-time uniformed firefighting staff are women, a total of 41. There are 91 women employed - 63 work as front-line firefighters, 50 of them volunteers.

http://cnews.canoe.ca (Firefighters mark International Women’s Day)

http://www.yourottawaregion.com

Elizabeth Embury

Pioneer doctor

Born in Lennox County circa 1867; moved to Ottawa in 1906; died in Kingston in 1945.

One of the first women to graduate with a medical degree from Queens University (1888); was a prominent Canadian physician for 55 years and one of the first women to practice medicine in Canada.

She practiced medicine in Ottawa for 37 years (1906-1943). Upon retirement in 1943, she moved to Kingston.

Ottawa Citizen, February 5^th, 1945
www.fmwc.ca

Pat Durr

Artist, arts advocate

“Be assured that the state of the visual arts in this city and country would be in a very sorry state if it were not for the dedication of Pat Durr,” Adrian Göllner, Ottawa artist

Originally from Kansas, Missouri, moved to Ottawa in 1964.

Her artistic work includes drawings, paintings, prints and installations.

Recently had a major solo show at the Ottawa Art Gallery — a retrospective exhibition entitled Persistance of Chaos with several decades of her work on display dating back to the 1960s.

Has been active not only as an artist but as an advocate for artist rights and in developing cultural policy in the city of Ottawa and in Canada. She was instrumental in establishing Arts Court and the Ottawa Art Gallery, and is past president of CARFAC.

In June 2012, won the National Visual Arts Advocacy Award, given by CARFAC, the group that represents visual arts nationwide; this award honours  “a professional artist who has made a significant contribution to the Canadian visual arts community.”

www.ottawacitizen.com

www.couchassassin.com

http://www.artengine.ca

Kimothy Walker

News anchor, journalist, community advocate

Grew up across Canada; settled in Ottawa in 1982.

Graduated from Carleton University School of Journalism.

Has spent almost half her life working for CTV in Ottawa and the Valley. Presently anchors and produces the Weekend News.

In 2008, she was voted one of the Capital's top "Forty Under 40". She is also a Y Woman of Distinction Nominee, and an award-winning journalist.

She is a voice for survivors of child sexual abuse and has launched a nationwide campaign to bring attention to the issue. Was also a board member for Ottawa Race Weekend from 2006-2011 and is an Advisor to the Algonquin College Victimology program, a Community Ambassador for the Y, a champion for organ donation, as well as working regularly with CHEO. She also makes about 100 appearances a year for various other charitable causes.

http://ottawa.ctv.ca/tl/about_us/anchors/kimothy-w.htm