Stella Thompson ('68 MA, Economics)
When Stella Thompson ('68 MA, Economics) takes the stage to accept her Alumni Honour Award at the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, it will be a full-circle moment for the accomplished businesswoman. Fifty years ago, Thompson walked across the same stage to receive her degree - one of only two women in her graduating class that year, and one of the first women to ever earn a master's degree in economics at the U of A.
Thompson's convocation marked the end of an often-challenging time, during which she admits she struggled with the strong focus her field put on mathematics. "The idea, at the time, that you could model human behaviour mathematically just seemed to me a bit of a stretch," she says.
But under the guidance of an influential professor, the well-respected Dr. Eric Hanson, Thompson was able to focus her efforts on an area of economics that had always interested her. In what would prove to be a fortuitous choice, she wrote her thesis about the regulation of the oil industry.
That thesis, and the discovery of oil off the shores of Melbourne, led to Thompson being offered a job with one of the largest companies in Australia, Broken Hill Proprietary (BHP). "It was an exciting time," she recalls. "I ended up representing the industry at a Royal Commission studying whether or not drilling should be allowed on the Great Barrier Reef. I was 23 or 24."
Thompson's career is characterized by moments like this, where she boldly took on daunting opportunities. On her return to Canada in the early 70s, she continued to work in the oil sector with a position at Petro-Canada in Calgary. She eventually worked her way up to Vice-President of Planning, Business Information and Systems, becoming one of the first female senior executives at a large oil company. "I really broke a ceiling there," she says. "And that was no small break."
When Thompson began working on boards of directors, her approach was no different. She recalls her first ever board appointment, with the Prime Minister's National Advisory Board on Science and Technology. "I had zero right to be [there]," she says. Yet at the first meeting, the minister in charge of the board put her on the executive committee, and later made her the chair of a committee looking at the role of science and technology in Canada's oceans. "I didn't know anything about that, but I could sure organize a good meeting and I could learn really fast," Thompson says. "I accepted the risk when it came at me."
Thompson credits this approach with much of her success, and it's one of the key pieces of advice she likes to give to young women. "I don't think 'lean in' is nearly enough," she says, referencing the bestselling book by Sheryl Sandberg. "I think you should jump in…Don't hesitate, don't second guess yourself. Just go."
"Women worry about failing," she adds. "Don't even consider failing…If you assume you have a right to be there and you're going to be as good as anybody else, you'll be able to do it."
Thompson's willingness to 'jump in' led to her running a successful board consulting business for 12 years, helping over 200 boards with their governance and strategic planning. She kept up her own board work as well, serving on and chairing boards across a wide variety of industries: engineering, insurance, oil and electricity companies, crown corporations, investment management firms and science-based organizations. She was often the only female member of the boards she served on; in several cases, she was the first female member in the board's history.
Looking back at her diverse career, Thompson cites her recent involvement in a policy initiative with the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) as a highlight. In 2014, the OSC set new rules requiring companies to have targets for improving the number of women on their boards and in senior management.
The response has been slow, she says. "In the 90s I was the only woman on the executive of big energy companies, and now, by golly, each [company] seems to have one woman…it's not exactly proportionate to what it should be given the number of women that have been graduating and coming up through the ranks."
Still, Thompson is quick to point out the drastic changes that have taken place since she began her career in the 70s. "My friends and I will talk about what we had to put up with in terms of harassment," she says. "It was overt, and a battle, and you were on your guard all the time. It was exhausting. That is not okay nowadays."
As things continue to change for the better, Thompson knows that - through both example and advocacy - her career has helped open up possibilities for other women. And it is one of the accomplishments she feels most strongly about.
"What am I most proud of? Being a trailblazer over and over again."
Know another inspiring UAlberta grad? Nominate them for a 2019 Alumni Award. Deadline is Dec 15, 2018. Visit uab.ca/AlumniAwards