Hazel Gillespie Community Investment Leadership Award

Leanne Courchesne

nominated by Calgary Police Youth Foundation

 Leanne is a shining example of a great Calgarian who exemplifies Hazel Gillespie’s high ethical standards, commitment, and dedication to her community. Leanne has dedicated her life to helping others succeed and through her outstanding and collaborative leadership, she created an inclusive environment at Cenovus Energy which raised the bar of community investment in this city, province, and nation. 

With over 20 years of experience in the industry, Leanne generously donates her time and effort to the not-for-profit sector, using her expertise to strengthen relationships, connect like-minded organizations, enable and facilitate networks, and make important ties with what is going on in our communities. 

Currently serving as a Director on many local and provincial boards Leanne is passionate about building the capacity of many community organizations by providing leadership, governance, and evaluation support. 

As a Director on the Board of Directors of YouthLink Calgary Police Interpretive Centre Leanne always provides visionary leadership while striving for systemic change in the industry. Through her creativity and determination, Leanne has been able to successfully address the needs of the community and bring others together to achieve outstanding results. 

Throughout her time with Cenovus, Leanne worked with Executive, Sustainability, Safety, Operations, HR, and Meetings & Events to consistently integrate community investment and involvement opportunities at all Cenovus social and business events. She consistently led the way in new strategic visioning, looking beyond financial resources to consider how to make the best use of her team’s assets, expertise, and relationships. 

Leanne is an incredible Community Investment Leader and Calgary is lucky to have such a dedicated and kind individual committed to positively impacting our community. 

At the Calgary Police Youth Foundation, we are honored and privileged to not only work alongside Leanne but to get to know her and appreciate her values. It has been said that a leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way and in our minds, Leanne Courchesne shows the way for others to follow and we appreciate her very much. We asked Leanne how she felt about receiving the Award and she told us “I am honored to receive this special award in Hazel Gillespie’s name – a dedicated community investment professional and true pioneer in corporate citizenship whom I was fortunate enough to meet. I was humbled to be nominated and especially thrilled that the Calgary Police Youth Foundation wanted to recognize me in this manner as they hold a special place in my heart. I have always said that I have the best role in the world – to be able to build strategic partnerships, creative relationships and connect communities for social impact.” 

Well done Leanne, you deserve this great recognition! 

You can watch a video before National Philanthropy Day, here: https://youtu.be/IvUacm1uy_w