Pamela Martin
Pamela Martin is currently Liaison to B.C. Premier Christy Clark and Director of Engagement for the BC Liberal Party. She previously worked as a television journalist, anchoring award-winning newscasts and reporting in the British Columbia market for over 35 years.
Pamela Martin has been a pioneer for women in BC broadcasting, with numerous “firsts” in the industry. She began her broadcast journalism career in 1975 at CHEK-TV in Victoria. A year later she became the first female beat reporter for top-rated radio station CKNW. That same year, she joined BCTV as a reporter and became the station’s first female anchor of a major Six pm newscast in B.C. in 1977.
Ms. Martin anchored, reported and produced newscasts at BCTV until 2001, when she joined the BC affiliate of the CTV network as anchor of CTV News at Six. With Martin at the helm, CTV News at Six won numerous awards including Best Newscast of 2010 chosen by the Radio and Television News Directors, the 2008 International Edward R. Murrow award and in 2006, the RTNDA National Award for Best Spot News Coverage.
In 2008, Martin was awarded the National RTNDA Award for Best Feature Story for her report on breast cancer, called “Kelli’s Red Devils.” In 2003, she won a Leo Award (BC’s Oscar Awards for Film and Television) chosen by viewers as favourite on-air news personality. And in 2000, Martin was chosen Woman of the Year by the Consumers Choice Awards.
In 2010, Martin and Bill Good anchored a nightly national Olympic newscast for the duration of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, winning numerous broadcasting awards.
From 2011 to 2013, Ms. Martin served as Director of Outreach in the office of Premier Christy Clark.
Ms. Martin served as Co-Chair of the United Way of the Lower Mainland campaign of 2008. She was Honourary Chair of the Canadian Cancer Society campaign for BC/Yukon from 1998 to 2003. She stepped off the boards of the Looking Glass Foundation (for eating disorders) and the Pacific Autism Family Centre when she became active in politics and is currently on the board of the Face the World Foundation.
MC:
Wednesday Evening Reception
Friday Evening Gala
Belle Puri
Belle Puri is a seasoned and award winning broadcast journalist with over 35 years of experience. Belle has been with the CBC since 1992. She brings a diverse set of skills and background to her role. Belle has worked as a reporter, producer and host in private radio (CKNW) and, private (BCTV) and public television.
Belle worked as the B.C. Legislative Bureau Chief for CBC after four years as business reporter for the national program Newsworld Business News. Before that she spent three years as Senior Assignment Producer for the evening news. She was also the popular host of CBC Radio One’s afternoon show “On The Coast”.
Belle’s assignments have included covering provincial politics, federal political leadership conventions, the Commonwealth Conference, the Clinton/Yeltsin summit, Royal visits, Expo ’86, APEC and of course the 2010 Olympics.
Belle was one of the first female sportscasters on the west coast and has covered many milestone events such as the tours of Terry Fox, Steve Fonyo and Rick Hansen.
Winner of the Jack Webster Award for Excellence in Legal Journalism, CAN PRO Gold Award, and several regional and national RTNDA awards Belle’s work has made lasting impacts. In the late 1980s, her in-depth look at grizzly bears resulted in the designation of BC’s Khutzeymateen Valley as a grizzly bear sanctuary.
Over the years she has been extensively involved in community work covering healthcare, social service agencies and the arts. Most recently, she was Chair of the Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation Board of Directors.
MC:
Thursday Plenary Sessions
Angela Hofmann
Angela Marshall Hofmann is President of World Strategies, LLC, a certified, woman-owned government affairs and policy consulting firm that provides strategic, innovative solutions to accelerate global investment, manage risk, enhance reputation and drive significant cost savings by responsibly the leveraging chain.
For over 20 years, Angela has served as a trusted advisor to members of the U.S. Congress and Executive Branch as well as to CEOs and senior executives in complex, multi-national organizations for over two decades.
Previously, Angela was Vice President, International Corporate Affairs, at Walmart Stores, Inc. where she led the company’s external engagement in 40+ retail, ecommerce and sourcing countries around the world. She also launched innovative public-private chain capacity building projects focused on transparency, building safety, agricultural development and women’s economic empowerment in Latin America, Asia and Africa. Angela joined the company in 2002 as Director of International Corporate Affairs in the company’s Federal Government Relations office in Washington, D.C. In 2005, she moved to company headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas where she led corporate affairs engagement in the Americas as well as gained operational experience in the supply chain when she was promoted to Vice President, GNFR (indirect spend) and Sourcing Services in Walmart Global Sourcing.
Prior to Walmart, she served as International Trade Counsel on U.S. Senate Finance Committee under Chairman Max Baucus. Angela joined the Senator’s staff in 1989 as a congressional liaison in the State of Montana and in 1997, after receiving her Juris Doctorate from the University of Montana, was his legislative counsel for agriculture and trade in Washington, D.C.
Angela is a staunch advocate for women’s empowerment and continues to be active in the Organization of Women in International Trade (“OWIT”) a voluntary, non-profit association of professionals interested in international trade. She joined the organization in 1997 and in 2005 served as President of the Washington, D.C. chapter. From 2010-2013 she served as President of the organization which included 25 chapters and 2000+ members around the globe.
MC:
Friday Plenary Sessions
