Renee Merrifield – Leading With Heart

03.11.2020

2 mins read

As we celebrate International Women’s Day, Breakfast Club of Canada would like to pay tribute to our female leaders who help make sure we do everything we can for children. We are fortunate to have a strong, driven and dedicated group of women moving our organization forward and helping to shatter the glass ceiling for future generations.

One of them is Renee Merrifield. Not only has she been on our Board of Directors for the past 12 years, but she also became the first woman to take on the role of chair in the fall of 2019.

Chair of Breakfast Club of Canada’s Board of Directors
Founder and CEO of Troika Developments Inc.

Here are a few excerpts from her inspiring and thought-provoking message to the Club’s employees shortly after her appointment:

“As I was growing up, I watched classmates not have enough food to eat. I found out because several of them would ask to come to my house for supper. My parents always welcomed everyone with open arms and a full plate of food. I see now those same classmates have succeeded incredibly in life, and I know that it was because they had access to food – through school programs like the Club’s, as well as philanthropists like my parents.”

Renee at the breakfast program of Chief Tomat Elementary School (Kelowna, BC).

“Later on, I continued to learn some major life lessons as I travelled to other parts of the world. My experiences helped define who I have become. I learned the importance of listening to your gut instinct and never giving up. I learned to advocate and give a voice to those in need and to do everything you can to improve things that can be improved. Above all, I learned to be courageous.”

This same spirit of determination is what makes Renee a leading entrepreneur. She was named to the Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 list three years in a row (2017, 2018 and 2019).

What advice does Renee have for today’s young women?

“As women, we must help ourselves become everything we can be, elevating one another and pushing the envelope. We have to be authentic and do our best, whatever we take on. And if our best is enough to be recognized by the people around us, so much the better.”