Nancy Southern is Chair & Chief Executive Officer of ATCO Ltd., as well as Executive Chair of Canadian Utilities Limited, an ATCO company. Reporting to the Boards of Directors, she has full responsibility for executing the strategic direction for both companies, and for the ongoing operations of ATCO.
After joining the ATCO Board of Directors in 1989, Ms. Southern served as Co-Chair of ATCO for 16 years prior to being elected Chair in December 2012. Ms. Southern was named President & Chief Executive Officer of ATCO Ltd. in 2003. She serves on the boards of all ATCO subsidiary companies. Ms. Southern also serves as Executive Vice President of Spruce Meadows and is a Founding Director of AKITA Drilling Ltd., a Director of Sentgraf Enterprises Limited, an Honorary Director of the BMO Financial Group and serves on the Rideau Hall Foundation Board of Directors.
In addition to her business leadership, Ms. Southern has long played a leading role in advocating on social issues of global importanceâmost notably, the rights of Indigenous peoples and the role of women in business. She is an Honorary Chief of the Kainai (Blood Tribe of Alberta, Canada) and was given the name Aksistoowa'paakii, or, Brave Woman, in 2012. In 2015, at the request of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Ms. Southern joined 100 other global leaders for the G7 Forum for Dialogue with Women in Berlin.
Over the course of her career, Ms. Southern has served with some of the worldâs most prestigious and influential organizations. She is a member of The U.S. Business Council, a member of the American Society of Corporate Executives, and a Canadian Member of the Trilateral Commission. She is also a member of the Business Council of Canada, the University of Calgary School of Public Policy Advisory Council, and the South Australian Minerals and Petroleum Expert Group.
In 2018, the University of Calgary School of Public Policy honoured Ms. Southern with the âDistinguished Policy Fellow Award,â in recognition of her lifetime commitment to public policy. Earlier that year, she received the âCanadian Business Leader Awardâ from the University of Alberta School of Business â making history as the first second-generation recipient of that honour.
Ms. Southern was inducted as a Companion into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame in 2017. In that same year, in recognition of her achievements in economics and industry, Ms. Southern was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Western University. In 2014, the University of Calgary awarded her its highest academic honour, an honorary Doctor of Laws degree bestowed in recognition of notable achievements and community service.
In 2013, she received the âT. Patrick Boyle Founderâs Awardâ from the Fraser Institute for her entrepreneurial achievements and recognized accomplishments in the promotion of freedom and free markets. In 2012, Canadaâs Public Policy Forum awarded Ms. Southern the âPeter Lougheed Award for Leadership in Public Policyâ.
In 2016, Ms. Southern was included in Fortuneâs list of the â50 Most Powerful Womenâ outside of the U.S. and recognized by the Financial Post Magazineâs âThe Power Listâ. Previously, she was also included in Fortuneâs list of the â50 Most Powerful Women in Business: The Global 50â and named as one of âThe 50 Most Important People in Canadaâ in Macleanâs Magazine. In 2011, she was selected as âBusiness Person of the Yearâ by Alberta Venture Magazine and in 2005, was selected âBusiness Woman of the Yearâ by the Consumerâs Choice Awards.
Born and raised in Calgary, Alberta, Ms. Southern studied Economics and Commerce at the University of Calgary.
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