Patricia Ross currently serves as Deputy Mayor for the City of Abbotsford and has been a councillor for 21 years. She is Chair of the city’s Intergovernmental Affairs committee, Vice-Chair of the Fraser Valley Regional District and serves on the board of the BC Municipal Finance Authority. Patricia’s philosophy toward government is to fully embrace sustainability principles, considering the environmental, social and economic impacts in all decision making. Patricia is a Fellow of Leadership for Environment and Development (LEAD) International, a research and training program dedicated to fostering worldwide sustainability. Her research has taken her to Oaxaca, Mexico; Costa Rica, Zimbabwe and Argentina. Patricia is a motivational and keynote speaker as well as a published free-lance writer who has a passion for helping businesses and communities reach their best sustainable potential. In December 2004, Patricia spoke at the International Climate Change Conference in Buenos Aires about the challenges and rewards of environmental conservation in local government. From 2000 to 2006, Patricia took on the job of Public and Media Relations Coordinator and Chief Lobbyist for the City of Abbotsford on their successful and precedent setting campaign of opposition to the polluting power plant proposal of Sumas Energy 2 (SE2). Patricia is excited about using her expertise and experience to help mentor women achieve success in business and politics through GYB. Patricia has been named one of the Abbotsford New’s Top 100 Most Influential People in Abbotsford several years in a row and has won many awards for her community work including Abbotsford’s 2009 “Woman of the Year,” “Newsmaker of the Year” from the Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce, “Green Leader” from the Abbotsford-Matsqui Rotary Club, “Paul Harris” Rotary club Fellowship and Queens Diamond Jubilee award.
Presenting Sponsor
Inspiring, amazing speakers, I learned many new things, great energy.
There is no question that this was once again one of the most captivating conferences that I have attended—with not only one good idea—but many. It is wonderful how the panels all have different points of view that foster challenging perhaps our previous opinions or at the very least give us more information to have an informed opinion. Our team thought it was time well spent indeed!
McCurdy FinancialWhat captivated me the most was stories, stories of the speakers, the delegates, the businesses, the products….The journeys that have brought them to this point. The challenges, the trials, struggles, successes, along their way, made up who they are as much as their perseverance, their belief in themselves, their “just do it” –ism.
Self Care-FreeI am feeling inspired, educated and frankly blown away by the many amazing women and men that we encountered over the three days. What a fantastic and first-class event! It so exceeded any expectations that I had and I have been passing the word around at BMO that we should be very proud to be the presenting sponsor at this event.
BMO Bank of MontrealSuper organized, great energy, variety and well attended.
Thanks Barb Mowat and EXCELerate2017 for a brilliant conference bringing together so many who are committed to advancing women’s entrepreneurship.
East West Center
Big crowd. Fantastic speakers. The entire event was so polished!
Tanya CurtisMarketing DirectorAbbotsford HighstreetExceptional conference!! The content, quality and quantity of speakers, venue, scheduling, are all exceptional. It is engaging and motivating, and I don’t know of any other event where you’d have the opportunity to hear from so many “keynote” speakers.
The speakers, panelists, food, and gala were all superb. I have learned so much and have so many ideas that I can implement today to help grow my business.
This expert group of panelists gave a wealth of advice to the audience—the clear and incisive responses made my job as moderator so much easier! Kudos to Barbara for arranging this, and to the panel for an excellent session!
EDC
