How do you know where business trends and growth are headed? That is Katie Fitzmaurice’s challenge as the executive vice-president of Invest Vancouver, on top of creating relationships and making sure she catches every trend as it happens. This is especially true today, with what businesses in Europe and Asia are seeing in Canada’s market – she has to compete with other Canadian jurisdictions, especially when those overseas markets could see Canada as a singular market.

As the CEO of the Mining Association of British Columbia, Michael Goehring represents the entire mining and smelting industry of the province and advocates the sector’s interests to the government.

What is going on in the Asia Pacific region? And how do we use that knowledge to do business and build relations? That is the mission for Vina Nadjibulla of the Asia Pacific Foundation. After all, understanding different places seems to be her calling, being born in the Soviet Union and growing up in multiple countries – and even working with the United Nations.

As CEO of the Vancouver Board of Trade, Bridgitte Anderson needs to be diverse – after all, that is what her members are.

Heading up a real estate association is not a job you can go to school to learn. That’s because it's a rare position and schools can’t prepare you for this type of position. The job is part visionary, leader, guiding hand, advocate and so much more.