2003• Friendship Award
>> Back to 2003 Awards

MARYANNE CHAMBERS



Mary Anne Chambers is a former Senior Vice-President at Scotiabank, and is currently the Ontario Liberal Candidate for Scarborough East.

At Scotiabank, Mary Anne earned a reputation for superior performance, strategic and operational effectiveness and strong, responsible, ethics-based leadership.

Her commitment to others is in evidence in her extensive voluntary service, which currently includes the United Way of Canada --Centraide Canada where she is a Past Chair of the Board, and the Rouge Valley Health System where she is a Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors, and Chair of the Quality Management Committee.
Mary Anne also served as a Governor at the University of Toronto from 1993 to 2002, including three years as Vice-Chair of the Governing Council. She was a Member of the Board of Trustees of the United Way of Greater Toronto from 1994 to 2001; a Governor of the Air Cadet League of Canada from 1996 to 1999; President of the Canadian Club of Toronto from 1998 to 1999 and a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Canadian Merit Scholarship Foundation from 2000 to 2002.


 


At the University of Toronto, Mary Anne was a member of the Task Force on Tuition and Student Financial Support which recommended the adoption of a policy whereby no student would be unable to study at the University of Toronto because of inadequate financial resources. The policy has been implemented.

As a Member of the Board of Trustees of the United Way of Greater Toronto, she served on the Executive Committee, co-chaired the Way Ahead, a comprehensive review and priority setting initiative, and chaired the Freedom from Violence Grants Review.

As President of the Canadian Club of Toronto, from 1998 to 1999, Mary Anne advanced the interests of youth, through corporate sponsorships of a program which enabled over 800 students, more than double that of any previous year, to attend the Club’s events. The student program also included the establishment of a benefactor relationship with the Canadian Merit Scholarship Foundation, through which the Canadian Club of Toronto funds awards to University-bound students annually.

Mary Anne is a Co-Founder of The National Movement for Harmony in Canada and co-chaired the organization from 1994 to 1997. She has also been a Member of the Board of Tropicana Community Services Organization, and is a Past President of the Toronto Chapter of the Immaculate Conception High School Alumnae Association.

Her personal commitment to education includes the sponsorship of a Basic School in Jamaica, and the awarding of a scholarship annually to a first-year student in a Canadian university. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Canadian Bankers and holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Toronto where she majored in Commerce and Political Science.

Mary Anne and her husband Chris migrated to Canada from Jamaica in 1976 with their two sons, Nicholas and Stefan. In September 1998, the family was featured in a full page Toronto Star article entitled “Banker with heart profits community”.
South African Women for Women is pleased to present Mary Anne with the Friendship Award, in recognition of her enthusiastic, ongoing support of South African Women for Women, our goals and our ideals.