Virginia Greene, a veteran of both B.C.’s private and public sectors, died from ovarian cancer on Thursday.
She was 66.
Greene had stepped down as president and CEO of the BC Business Council last July. It was a position she held since December 2007, and represented her return to the private sector.
Before then, Greene had been in the premier’s office as deputy minister for intergovernmental affairs following a stint as deputy minister of tourism, sport and arts.
She landed those roles after an unsuccessful run for the BC Liberals in the riding of Vancouver-Fairview in 2004.
Greene first came to prominence in B.C. when she was promoted from a mid-level government role to assistant deputy minister of tourism in 1983.
Among her achievements while there was successfully marketing Expo 86 to the world.
When Expo wrapped up, Greene tackled private sector entrepreneurialism as co-founder of Go Direct Marketing.
The company experienced three-fold increases in annual revenues before being acquired by U.S. advertising giant J. Walter Thompson in 2004 for an undisclosed sum.
She stayed on as CEO of Go Direct for another four years before returning to public life.
During a time with Go Direct, she would spend between 10 and 20 hours a week working as chair of the B.C. and Yukon branch of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.