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
Big crowd. Fantastic speakers. The entire event was so polished!
Tanya CurtisMarketing DirectorAbbotsford HighstreetAfter 3 days with amazing business women from around the world, I am truly inspired and empowered. Thank you Barbara Mowat and GroYourBiz.
Vancouver Tumblebus
Women Power!!!
Andrea OberdieckSauder School of Business
Epic conference, memorable speakers and loads of positive feedback from delegates!
Shirley BennieDisruption must happen to make room for great things.
BMO Bank of Montreal
One of the most worthwhile conferences I have ever attended. I can’t wait until next year!
Tim & Sharon GloverOwners,Light-Core Inc.The 2017 EXCELerate Conference exceeded my expectations. The plenary sessions alone were worth the fee … the level of speakers gathered— and their synergy—was absolutely brilliant. Regarding the break-out sessions: Ann Gomez’s session, ‘Focus Your Time to GroYourBiz: Personal Productivity for Busy People’, blew my socks off with its relevance and practical applications. Her book, ‘The Email Warrior’, is easy to read and the tips within it are easy to implement. Wow!
Click Media WorksThe 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.
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 Financial
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
