Barbara Rae - West Vancouver

Barbara Rae has combined success as a business person with a keen sense of commitment to British Columbia and its people. She received a Masters of Business from Simon Fraser University.

As president and chief executive officer of Office Associates Ltd., she has been a role model, not simply of success but also of personal warmth, generosity and character. And she has created countless employment opportunities, especially for women who need to blend family responsibilities with work outside the home.

Barbara Rae has served on the boards of B.C. Tel, Microtel Ltd., MPR Teltech Ltd., Seaboard Life Insurance Company, Grosvenor International Holdings Limited and the Royal Trust Western Advisory Board.

She is also deeply involved in British Columbia's social and educational institutions - a chancellor of Simon Fraser University and as a member of the provincial Judicial Appointments Committee and the Premier's Economic Advisory Council.

Barbara Rae co-chairs the B.C. Council of Christians and Jews and is on the Pacific Region board of directors of the Salvation Army. Over the years, she has chaired major fund-raising campaigns such as the Lower Mainland United Way and the Salvation Army's Red Shield. She has been president of Junior Achievement, vice-chair of the B.C. Institute of Technology's Board of Governors and a director of the Vancouver Board of Trade. In 1989, her work was recognized with a Canadian Volunteer Award.

Among her other recognition’s are Entrepreneur of the Year (1987), West Vancouver Achievers Award (1987), Vancouver YWCA's Business Woman of the Year (1986), and Simon Fraser University's Outstanding Alumnae Award (1985).