Gail Asper is president of CanWest Global Foundation, corporate secretary of CanWest Global Communications Corp. and managing director of The Asper Foundation which is currently spearheading the establishment of the $311-million Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg. Asper is well known for her support of the arts and her volunteer efforts encompass a myriad of causes. She has served on the boards of numerous not-for-profit groups and was the 2002 campaign chair for the Winnipeg United Way Campaign which raised a record $13.8 million under her leadership and is now president of the board of United Way. She has also served as president of Manitoba Theatre Centre and co-chaired its successful $6-million capital campaign and ongoing $10-million endowment campaign. She sits on the board of directors for the National Arts Centre Foundation and is a governor of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Among numerous honours, she is the recipient of the YMCA/YWCA Women of Distinction Award for Community Voluntarism (2002); the Children’s Charity of Manitoba, Gold Heart Humanitarian of the Year Award (2004); and the Governor General’s Ramon John Hnatyshyn Award for Voluntarism in the Performing Arts (2005).
