THREE THINGS ABOUT... FAYE WIGHTMAN

1. Last year Wightman scaled more than 4,000 metres of a mountain in Bhutan while trekking with five female friends– although she had to be rescued by the Indian Air Force after developing altitude sickness. “Luckily my insurance company paid the $ 20,000 for me to be airlifted off,” she says. “I was embarrassed, but I recovered.”

2. She grew up on a farm in Creston, East Kootenay, and learned to drive on a tractor. “Many people would say it accounts for my driving habits now.”

3. Wightman rattles off a slew of “incredible experiences” she's enjoyed through her work, such as meeting the Queen and Prince Philip, the Dalai Lama, the Clintons, and Bill and Melinda Gates. Equally important to her: “The parents of children with cancer show such incredible courage and compassion–i've been so blessed.”