Business prowess and steady volunteerism has helped make Dawn Donahue an Influential Women In Business finalist.

Donahue's consulting firm, DJB Consultants, specializes in boosting sales for pub and hospitality services. For example, she grew the Ladner Inn's sales from $200,000 to $1 million in two years. And at the Delta Lion Pub, she grew revenues from $750,000 to more than $4 million in one decade.

Donahue's influence also stems from volunteer activity such as serving as a director at the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame and director at the Zajac Foundation. She has also helped organize several golf tournaments including the Gail Moore Memorial Golf Tournament, the Zajac Women's Golf Tournament, the Air Canada Volunteer Golf Reunion and the Caddie Master -- Canadian Tour Swaneset.

What remains the biggest challenge to women in business?

Barbara Maple's influence spreads beyond B.C. and even North America. She is currently serving her second two-year term as president of the Brussels-based International Association of Convention Centres.

Maple also chairs the global summit for the Dallas-based International Association of Assemby Managers and she recently initiated a global strategic communications program for the Joint Meetings Industry Council, a world-wide council of convention-related organizations based in Europe.

Maple's work in Vancouver includes directly managing 40 staff at the Vancouver centre, which won a 2002 Apex Award for world's best convention centre.

She has also been active on several boards and committees including the 2010 Olympic Bid marketing committee, the Vancouver Hotels Association marketing liaison committee and the Vancouver Convention Centre expansion task force.

What remains the biggest challenge to women in business?

Within two years, Adine Mees grew CBSR's budget from $80,000 to $700,000.

She helped the small not-for-profit society launch its advisory services group, which now accounts for half its revenue. She also oversaw the Vancouver-based organization's plans to open its Toronto office.

Before that, Mees led a team launching the Citizens Bank of Canada brand as vice president of Marketing for the Vancouver-based and VanCity-owned bank. She had previously headed VanCity's community action and education division.

Her community efforts include a board membership at Lighthawk USA, an organization of volunteer pilots who donate their planes and flying time to conservation groups throught the Americas.

She was also formerly active as a Forest Stewardship Council member.

What remains the biggest challenge to women in business?

Catherine Osler casts her influence as part of TEC (The Executive Committee), an international organization for CEOs. Osler chairs a group within this organization that consists of business leaders who learn from each other. She also has a boutique consultancy practice.

Her business acumen is evident in her success at building the investor relations firm Titian Communications in the early 1980s. She then moved on to head the corporate communications firm Parallel Strategies Inc. through the 1990s.

Outside work, she is a director at the Women's Enterprise Society of B.C., and an advisory board member at both HyperWallet Systems Inc. and Miles Employment Group Ltd.

Past activities also show her longtime corporate and community activity. Osler was a councillor for the non-profit research institute, the Canada West Foundation, and she held board memberships at the Vancouver Maritime Museum and the private firm Stormworks Inc.

What remains the biggest challenge for women in business?

Faye Wightman's wealth of experience heading non-profit foundations and working in government relations and corporate development helped her land her new job as vice president of external relations with the University of Victoria.

Her non-profit work includes 14 years as president of the B.C.'s Children's Hospital Foundation where she increased annual revenue 650 per cent throughout 10 years. Her work for that foundation was highlighted by her winning the marketer of the year award from the B.C. chapter of the American Marketing Association.

She also spent several years as executive director at the Sunny Hill Foundation for Children and was also campaign director at the United Way of the Lower Mainland during the 1980s. She currently sits as a director of the Pacific Opera.

Wightman's government relations experience came as the executive advisor of the Children and Women's Health Centre of British Columbia.

What remains the biggest challenge to women in business?

The British Columbia Automobile Association's first female vice-president, Cathy Giles Cathro, has been an inspiration to women as much for her hard work last year while battling breast cancer as from her community involvement and leadership ushering in new marketing strategies.

Now BCAA's vice-president for sales and service delivery, Giles Cathro has successfully wrestled her cancer into remission and she can look back at work that helped her firm win a 2002 Gartner Group award for customer relationship excellence for small to mid-sized enterprises.

She is responsible for 600 employees and $42 million in revenue. Her BCAA work includes leading projects to create the automobile association's first Web site and its member loyalty program.

Past extracurricular involvement includes serving on the boards of Tourism B.C., the B.C. Direct Marketing Association and the B.C. Petroleum Corporation.

What remains the biggest challenge for women in business?

Sue Paish is the only female managing partner among the largest 15 law firms in Vancouver. She is responsible for the overall operations of Fasken Martineau's Vancouver office, its 124 lawyers and 224 additional staff.

Paish's community work includes serving as vice-chair of the board of directors of the BCIT Foundation and a director at the B.C. Women's Hospital Foundation. She is also a former mentor in the professional women's group Dress For Success.

Other professional activities include serving on the board of ICBC and a director at the Board of Management, Canada Customs and Revenue Agency.

The past chair of the regional chapter of the Canadian Pensions and Benefits Institute and co-chair of the gender issues section of the Canadian Bar Association has published many legal articles focused on human rights and the workplace.

What remains the biggest challenge to women in business?

Andrea Southcott has built her firm to be one of the top 10 creative agencies in Canada and the second-largest advertising firm in Vancouver, as ranked by 2002 capitalized billings.

One of the few women to be presidents of advertising firms in Canada, Southcott has built a stellar stable of clients including the 2010 Olympic Bid Committee, the B.C. Liberal Party and the B.C. Lottery Corporation among others.

Her community involvement includes directorships at both the B.C. Children's Hospital Foundation and the faculty advisory board of the Sauder School of Business at UBC.

The former president of the Advertising Agency Association of B.C. and chair of the Lotus Awards has also been involved as a director of the VanCity Community Foundation.

What remains the biggest challenge to women in business?

Theresa Kennedy has parlayed her senior role in biotech communications into concrete change. The former head of what is now BC Biotech worked with the British Columbia Institute of Technology to create a biotech course for non-scientists. She also formed a grassroots group that established a multifaceted biotech education effort for B.C. high school kids.

The former Business In Vancouver 40 under 40 recipient also successfully lobbied to bring the 2000 Pacific Rim Biotech Conference to Vancouver and she created the BC Biotech awards.

Kennedy's community work includes creating a national food safety awareness campaign about Hemolytic Uremic Disease that prompted many cities to change local food safety by-laws. She also convinced the Discovery Channel to create a film about B.C.'s indigenous plants that are used to heal patients.

What remains the biggest challenge to women in business?

Nancy McKinstry's days are long. She not serves as vice-president at local brokerage firm Odlum Brown, but as portfolio manager she also oversees more than $150 million in assets.

Her contribution to Odlum Brown was recognized when she became the first woman to be appointed as a director. She has experience sitting on numerous internal committees including the compensation, audit, technology and succession planning committees.

On top of her Odlum Brown work, the 2003 Queen's Jubilee Commemorative Medal winner organizes charitable and leadership activities as chair and founder of the non-profit Minerva Foundation.

The former United Way volunteer has used her influence to create the Minerva Education Awards program -- an initiative that has doled out $405,000 in the past three years to help women complete post-secondary education.

McInstry also sat on the board of governors of the former Vancouver Stock Exchange for two years.

What remains the biggest challenge to women in business?

Mat Wilcox's business success is best demonstrated by her ability to grow the public relations firm, The Wilcox Group, from a fledgeling start-up to be the city's largest public relations firm ranked by 2002 fee revenue.

One of the few women to head a public relations firm in Vancouver, Wilcox's abilities have helped her nab and keep key clients like Telus Corp., Electronic Arts, Starbucks Coffee Company, Krispy Kreme and many other large accounts.

Her community involvement and influence is equally impressive. She helped raise money for cancer research through a benefit concert involving Bryan Adams, Sarah McLachlan and the Barenaked Ladies.

The Wilcox Group's publicity and media relations work for that concert and her ability to get all participants and sponsors to donate time and money helped her win the 2003 International Platinum PR Award.

What remains the biggest challenge to women in business?

Coro Strandberg regularly helps clients focus on the triple bottom line, integrating social, environmental and democratic values. She is well known for her 12-year stint as a VanCity Savings Credit Union director, which included three years as chair of the 1,500-staff financial institution.

Currently a director of VanCity Capital Corp., Strandberg also spends time as a director of the Fraser Basin Council and the North-South Institute while balancing family life as mother of two pre-schoolers.

Strandberg also has extensive government experience.

She was a senior policy advisor to the Green Economy Secretariat at the B.C. government.

Before that, she worked as as the director of social policy with the B.C. government's cabinet policy and communications secretariat. There, she oversaw budget cuts of 10 per cent to social policy ministries.