Leading a local favourite

When Liz Wilson [BComm(Hons)/93] drives to the office each morning, she’s never quite sure what the day will look like. One thing she can count on is that it is already bustling when she arrives.

Manitoba’s signature cold doesn’t keep the birds or beasts away at FortWhyte Alive, and every morning, Wilson, President and CEO of this local winter favourite, looks forward to what a workplace run by weather, land, and living things will bring that day.

“No day is ever the same,” she says. “As much as I love to have a day planned, every day ends up different than the last.”

That morning, Wilson was at the construction site—steel-toes, parka, and hard hat—checking in on the construction of FortWhyte’s Buffalo Crossing, a new visitor centre and entry point on McGillivray Boulevard, designed in consultation with local Indigenous advisors. The building is set to use 90% less energy than most commercial buildings.

“It’s been in the works for nearly 10 years and was a dream of my predecessor [Bill Elliott, former President and CEO of FortWhyte Alive]. We’ve designed it as a 100-year building, and it will be the most sustainable building in the Province of Manitoba,” she explains.

As the second-ever President and CEO of FortWhyte Alive, Wilson works with the weight of legacy and the duty of sustainability, all while leading the day-to-day business operations of a place that brings together swathes of people—volunteers, members, visitors, and more—every day.

Family business, community, and being part of something bigger

Wilson’s formal study of business began right here at Asper, where she completed her Bachelor of Commerce. Reflecting on her time in the program, she highlights the community.

“I learned early on that in business, you will never know everything. There are going to be times when you need help and having a local network of Asper grads who share a mindset that we are there to help each other is incredible,” she says.

This first lesson—that she can’t know everything—was instilled long before sitting in university classrooms. Her real training in business began at the family dinner table, where she listened to her parents talk business each night.

Wilson’s father was the third-generation leader of their family business, Wilson Furniture Ltd., a mainstay of Downtown Winnipeg dating back to the 1880s. Conversations across the table about clientele, quality, budgets, and negotiations sparked a love of business for Wilson and a curiosity for what goes beyond business.

“I think what those conversations really instilled in me is the importance of community and customer service, but also being part of something bigger than yourself,” she says.

She served as President of Wilson Furniture for nine years, navigating market shifts and worsening business conditions. The organization closed in 2003, which Wilson cites as one of the hardest business decisions she’s ever made. Exhausting every option and refusing to compromise on the quality and service that defined the business for so long, Wilson knew what she had to do.

She recalls her father’s response when she told him of her decision: “well, it’s about time,” he’d said.

“I asked why he hadn’t told me sooner that he also saw the writing on the wall, and he told me that it had to be my decision to make. I had to come to this conclusion, because I was the one who was going to see it through, stand by it, and deliver,” she says.

The big picture, sustainability, and a vision for the future

At Wilson Furniture, there was something that went beyond business: the community served, the history that the organization represented. Today, at FortWhyte Alive, Wilson is still driven by history, community, and something more: seeking sustainability over longevity, stewardship over preservation.

Her career path shifted into the conservation and not-for-profit sectors, serving in various roles at Ducks Unlimited Canada before taking on her current role as President and CEO of FortWhyte Alive.

Once again, Wilson stepped into a role steeped in legacy, serving as the second-ever President and CEO in the organization’s history.

“The work is the same,” she explains, noting that from a business perspective, she still takes her insights in finance, entrepreneurship, marketing, and strategy to the role. “You’re just doing it for a different reason.”

“Every day, I think about what I can do to make sure that Fort Whyte is here for future generations,” she says. “That drives me, asking how I can steward this land in the best way possible.

“We are committed to growth, but we also want to be a leader for sustainability here in Manitoba, showcasing, for instance, that it’s possible to build climate-resilient architecture here,” she says, referring to Buffalo Crossing.

A vision beyond today, moments beyond business

For Wilson, leading the organization means making sound business decisions that contribute to this bigger picture and standing by this vision with integrity.

Every day, Wilson sees this vision come to life, in the management of capital campaigns, operations affected by windchills, budgets, marketing, volunteer coordination, and much more.

She also sees it each time she looks out a window: in her office, concluding an online meeting and seeing three deer trot past; in the boardroom, looking out onto Lake Devonian—remarkably quiet in the winter before the chirps, rushes, and honks of the spring season—in the Buffalo Stone Café, where she shares her career journey and points out flickers, nuthatches, and sparrows at the bird feeders.

As life outside the visitor centre stays busy, members file in, greeted with warm familiarity by volunteers. Children and parents zip down the toboggan slide across the frozen lake.

“FortWhyte is a special place,” she says. “The thing that I love most about it is that it means something different, something important, to everyone,” she says.

FortWhyte Alive: A local favourite

This year, the Asper School of Business is highlighting alumni leading at some of Manitoba’s local favourites in business, arts, culture, food, recreation, nature, and more. Connect to local excellence that makes an impact. Learn more about the Asper School of Business today.

We asked Liz Wilson to share some of her local favourites: summer performances at Rainbow Stage, the Oval Room at the Hotel Fort Garry, InFerno’s Bistro, McNally Robinson, and all our local sports teams.

Emily Wilson