News release: GVBOT announces recipients of the 2018 Rix Awards

December 5, 2017

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For Immediate Release
Dec. 4, 2017

VANCOUVER, B.C.— The Greater Vancouver Board of Trade will pay tribute to Gordon and Leslie Diamond in April 2018, presenting the couple with its prestigious Rix Award for Engaged Community Citizenship in recognition of their many philanthropic endeavours and decades of community service.

In addition, the organization will also present a Rix Award for Engaged Corporate Citizenship to Beedie, an iconic British Columbian company that has been giving back to the community since it was first founded by the late Keith Beedie in 1954.

The Rix Awards are presented each year in honour of the late Dr. Don Rix, a renowned philanthropist who served as the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade’s Chair in 2008-09.

The 2018 awards will be presented at the 31st Annual Governors’ Banquet on April 23. The annual black-tie gala brings together business, government, and community leaders to induct the Board of Trade's immediate past chair into its Council of Governors. The 2018 inductee is Robin Silvester, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority.

Learn more about the gala at boardoftrade.com/governorsbanquet.

 

2018 Rix Award for Engaged Community Citizenship — Gordon and Leslie Diamond

Gordon and Leslie Diamond are two of the most generous benefactors our community has ever seen. They are perhaps most well-known in the community for their $20 million donation to the VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation — the largest donation in the foundation’s history — which led to the creation of the Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre, one of the top facilities of its kind in Canada.

In addition, Gordon and his father Jack also formed the Diamond Foundation, one of Canada’s largest private family foundations, which has benefitted countless Vancouver residents and British Columbians over the past three decades.

Since 1984, the Diamond Foundation’s donations and pledges total more than $140 million, distributed in the areas of education, health care, social services, and at-risk youth initiatives. Dozens of local organizations have received financial support from the Diamond Foundation over the years, including the BC Cancer Foundation, BC Women’s Hospital, University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, Vancouver Art Gallery, United Way of the Lower Mainland, King David High School, the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre, and many more.

Leslie Diamond has a long history of giving to the people of British Columbia through her financial support and personal involvement with many organizations. She is a director of the Diamond Foundation and has served on the boards of many organizations such as Vancouver Foundation, United Way, YWCA, and the BC Women’s Hospital, to name a few. She recently also co-chaired the Vancouver Chinatown Foundation’s 2017 Autumn Gala.

Leslie was instrumental in the founding of the Vancouver Friends for Life Society’s Diamond Centre for Living and is an honorary Board member of the Centre. In addition to the Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre in Vancouver, the couple also established the Leslie Diamond Women’s Healthy Heart Clinic at Vancouver General Hospital, the Sadie Diamond Breast Imaging Center at B.C. Women’s Hospital, and made a major donation to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at B.C. Women's Hospital.

 

2018 Rix Award for Engaged Community Citizenship — Beedie

 


 

Beedie was chosen as this year’s Rix Award for Engaged Corporate Citizenship recipient in recognition of the company’s customer focus, outreach, environmental initiatives, and internal work culture.

Established in 1954 by the late Keith Beedie, the company has grown from humble roots to become the largest private industrial landowner, developer, and property manager in Western Canada. Stemming from its industrial roots, the company’s growth has naturally diversified into mixed-use, retail, and residential developments, as well as capital investments.

For over 60 years, the company has been proving that Beedie projects are “Built for Good.” Founder Keith Beedie understood that being deeply involved in the communities where he lived and worked was not only good for business — it was the right thing to do. And that legacy is still Beedie’s driving force today.

To date, Beedie has given more than $30 million to deserving organizations. Major donations have included $2.7 million to help finance Burnaby General Hospital’s MRI unit and $22 million to create Simon Fraser University’s Beedie School of Business, a launching pad for tomorrow’s industry leaders.

The company also has an employee-driven volunteering platform, Beedie Cares, which focuses on “small dollar, big impact” initiatives supporting children, seniors, and families in our community. All are testaments to the culture of giving that Keith started, and his son Ryan Beedie has nurtured. Examples include Vancouver Sun’s Adopt-A-School program, the CKNW Orphans’ Fund, Boys and Girls Club of Greater Vancouver, Ronald McDonald House BC, and the Quest Food Exchange, among others. By matching employees with such vital community groups, Beedie encourages positive team building and collaboration.

Beedie is proud to be recognized as an employer of choice. Having been named one of the Top 50 Best Workplaces in Canada since 2015, Beedie’s people are at the heart of everything the company does. Developing community and a real sense of shared ownership is fundamental to Beedie’s success, and it starts from within by enhancing the well-being of their employees, creating opportunities to contribute, collaborate and prosper.

 

About the Rix Awards

The Rix Awards are an initiative of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, presented in honour of the late Dr. Don Rix, who served as Chair of the organization in 2008-09. Award recipients are chosen each year by a special selection committee of the board of directors, based on a number of criteria.

The Rix Award for Engaged Community Citizenship is presented to an individual who applies his or her exceptional skills, talents, and drive to making a positive impact in society. Hallmark characteristics of community citizenship include trust, purpose, connectedness, leadership, social capital, passion, empathy, ethics, and responsibility. Past recipients include:

  • Yoshiko Karasawa and Michael Audain (2017)
  • David Podmore (2016)
  • Carole Taylor (2015)
  • David McLean (2014)
  • Terence Hui (2103)
  • Peter M. Brown (2012)
  • Brandt C. Louie (2011)
  • Jimmy Pattison (2010)
  • Craig and Marc Kielburger (2009)

The Rix Award for Engaged Corporate Citizenship is presented to an enterprise that demonstrates, both in policy and practice, the highest standards of stewardship towards the long-term well-being of customers, employees, owners, partners, the environment, and the broader community. Past recipients include:

  • Whistler Blackcomb (2017)
  • FortisBC (2016)
  • Global BC (2015)
  • Vancouver Fraser Port Authority (2014)
  • TELUS (2013)
  • Teck Resources (2012)
  • Vancity (2011)
  • RBC Royal Bank (2010)
  • Vancouver Airport Authority (2009)

Learn more about the awards at boardoftrade.com/rixawards.

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Media enquiries

Greg Hoekstra
Communications Manager
Greater Vancouver Board of Trade
604-640-5450 | media@boardoftrade.com