Black & Gold 2021

WHEN FIONA MACFARLANE TOOK HOLD OF THE GAVEL, FRESHLY ELECTED AS CHAIR OF THE SHAWNIGAN LAKE SCHOOL BOARD OF GOVERNORS, AND GAVE HER FIRST FORMAL ADDRESS TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY, IT WAS A BALMY, CLEAR-SKIED OCTOBER DAY DURING FOUNDER’S DAY WEEKEND 2019.

At that point, there was no looming spectre of the COVID-19 pandemic, which less than two years later has claimed the lives of millions worldwide and created seismic scientific, societal, and economic shifts that will resonate for decades to come. And yet, there was prescience in Fiona’s address – remarks that now, read in a different context, ring even more loudly and insistently than they did when she first shared them:

“We – the Board and the staff – have a heightened sense of urgency that a disrupted world requires we change and adapt now to future-proof the Shawnigan students of today and tomorrow… We are living in exciting times as we enter the second phase of the fourth industrial revolution… Yet, this incredible progress also comes with some mind-blowing challenges… How do a school, parents, and students prepare students for this brave new world – one in which they will thrive, not merely survive? [Here] our dream is that the spirit of Shawnigan will fuel the student of today and tomorrow. We [all] need the courage to challenge and think differently to create the world that we all want. And I believe we can and will do it.”

It was fitting that Fiona became the first woman to chair the Shawnigan Lake School Board of Governors on a Founder’s Day weekend designed to celebrate Shawnigan’s pioneering female students. Her accomplishments in business and her numerous accolades made her an exceptionally strong candidate; however, it was her belief in the potential of Shawnigan to develop unique responses to 21st century issues that made her an inspirational candidate.

As the parent of two Shawnigan graduates, Kate ’12 (Strathcona) and James ’17 (Duxbury), Fiona not only has tangible personal experience of Shawnigan, but also a long history of achievement and leadership in business and a decades-long commitment to diversity.

Raised in South Africa under apartheid, and a law graduate of both the University of Cape Town and Cambridge University, Fiona immigrated to Canada as an adult, eventually sitting on the Canadian and Americas Executive Committees at Ernst & Young (EY), and serving as EY’s Managing Partner for British Columbia and the Chief Inclusiveness Officer for EY Canada. Drawing in part from the injustice she witnessed in South Africa, she has passionately advocated for diversity and inclusion in the workplace throughout her career.

She was inducted into the WXN Hall of Fame of Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100. In 2013, she was awarded the International Women’s Forum Global Women Who Make a Difference award. She has been recognized as one of the Top 35 Most Influential Women: Power to Disrupt by Business in Vancouver and Top 25 Canadian Women of Influence, Professional Services. She also received the inaugural Luminary Award from Big Sisters in 2015 and Canada’s Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Award in 2016.

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