SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARDS.

NOB introduced its Special Recognition Awards to acknowledge and thank the ongoing support of our Alumni, sponsors and supporters who have helped promote women's economic development and the IW mission throughout the North.

Maggie Milne, a 1998 IW Alumni and promoter of the Influential Women of Northern Ontario initiative, recently said that her research into how "influence" is built and retained has developed into a toolkit for communication training and community capacity building and has become part of her business.

Milne never misses an opportunity to promote what she believes in.

That is one reason why she was selected to receive the inaugural Special Recognition Award from IW this year. Milne, who is a keynote speaker, writer and entrepreneur, uses her influence to consistently promote the Influential Women of Northern Ontario program, its mission and its mandate.

It was Milne who recommended to PARO, a Northwestern Ontario Women's Community Loan Fund, to partner with IW in Northwestern Ontario this year. The partner ship would provide delegates to PARO's Get Up and Go conference access to networking opportunities, to be inspired by the success of the IW Award winners and to make connections that could help them in their own pursuits of economic initiatives.

Milne uses every opportunity she has to promote the IW mission in other media, at various functions and through community channels she has developed.

Her firm, MMI, has a reputation for zealous, highly interactive programs with a twist of ingenuity. Milne is known for her expertise as a seasoned speaker who relies on more than theory to get her point across. Milne has developed stimulating connections with audiences in the mud huts of Ghana and executive boardrooms in Canada and Australia.

This year the Atlantic Speakers Bureau honoured her as their "Consummate Speaker of the Year."

Milne also has many firsts in her resume: first woman to be hired on contract with the Canadian Grain Elevators, founding member of the Multicultural Association of Northwestern Ontario and the Ontario Prevention Network, founding director of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers, editor of Rural Connections, photographer with the family business, community development consultant and entrepreneur.

As director general of FedNor (the Federal Economic Development Agency in Northern Ontario), Louise Paquette is arguably one of the most powerful civil servants in the region.

Overseeing a $90-million budget and responsible for the delivery of hundreds of pro grams, she has a very demanding job. As the mother of three and as an active community individual, her time is very limited, but Paquette has always found time to mentor other women, to provide and promote content for the IW networking Web site, and to encourage women across the North to pursue their goals. She also has a passion for helping the youth of our region and encourages youth participation in many economic development projects.

For the second year in a row, FedNor has contributed to www.nobwomen.com to help provide an ongoing means of communication, information and networking opportunities for women leaders across the region. Part of FedNor's involvement in the Web site includes the support of a youth spotlight page to promote the accomplishments of our region's young people, and a career spotlight page to promote the, success of Northern women.

Paquette is an articulate and passionate speaker for Northern Ontario frequently addressing business conferences and regional development sessions across the North.

From a community per spective, Paquette has many accomplishments to her credit.

She was instrumental in the development of the Regional Cancer Centre, she was the first woman president of a Rotary Club in District 7010, she was chair of the Easter Seals committee, a director of the YWCA Genevra House, chair of her parish's financial campaign and the 1996 chair of the United Way campaign, which raised a record $1.1 million.

Paquette, who is a 1998 Alumni, once said that her passion for the region is driven by the many success stories she has heard, and by the people of the North who contribute to making Northern Ontario a good place to live in and a good place to do business in.