The son of Russian immigrants, Art DeFehr is a much-honoured businessman, humanitarian and philanthropist who has bettered the lives of Manitobans and others around the world. He is the CEO of family-owned Palliser Furniture in Winnipeg, a great Canadian success story in furniture manufacturing. A member of the Trilateral Commission and the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, he is also a past member of the World Economic Forum. His directorships include the Canadian Mennonite University and the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre. Dedicated to alleviating global poverty and hunger, he was a founding chair of the board of the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. He has served as the United Nations high commissioner for refugees to Somalia and was the first director of the Mennonite Central Committee agriculture and refugee program in Bangladesh. Among other accomplishments, he played a significant role in creating the Lithuania Christian College in Russia and the Canadian Mennonite University in Winnipeg. He was invested as an officer in the Order of Canada in 2004.
