Arlene Dickinson

Arlene Dickinson (born October 8, 1956) is a South African Canadian businesswoman, investor, author, and television personality. She is the general partner of District Ventures Capital and CEO of Venturepark.[3] Dickinson joined the cast of the CBC business reality show Dragons' Den during its second season in 2007 and departed in the ninth season in 2015. She then returned to continue with the Dragons for the 12th season in 2017. She was selected to perform on the series after she won numerous awards, including Calgary Business Owner of the Year, PROFIT magazine's Top 100 Women Business Owners, the Pinnacle Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence, Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards and Canada's Most Powerful Women Top 100.[4] The show describes her as a self-made multi-millionaire.

Arlene Dickinson
Dickinson in 2021
Born (1956-10-08) 8 October 1956[1]
Germiston, Transvaal Union of South Africa
NationalityCanadian
Occupation(s)General Partner, District Ventures Capital
Political partyIndependent[2]
Websitearlenedickinson.com

Personal life

Born in Germiston, Union of South Africa, and raised in Canada, Dickinson graduated from high school in Calgary, Alberta. She married at age 19 and had four children. She divorced at 31. She has seven grandchildren.[5]

Politically, Dickinson identifies as non-partisan. When her former Dragons' Den co-star Kevin O'Leary entered the leadership race for the Conservative Party of Canada, she responded by saying that he "has this notion that greed is good." Afterwards, she criticized O'Leary for confusing the national debt with the deficit.[6]

Business

Dickinson joined Venture Communications in 1988, taking sole ownership in 1998. In October 2012, she launched Arlene Dickinson Enterprises (ADE) to fund and target Canada's entrepreneurs.[7]

Over the years, Dickinson has served on boards including Ad Rodeo, Kids Help Phone, and the Calgary Municipal Lands Corporation. She sits on the advisory committee of the Stratford Institute at the University of Waterloo, the Leadership Council of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics as well as the editorial advisory board of Marketing Magazine.[8][9] In October 2016, Dickinson was appointed to the board of directors of Aphria, a licensed medical marijuana producer.[10]

Books

In 2011, Dickinson published her first book, Persuasion, her autobiography. Her second book, All In, subtitled "You, Your Business, Your Life", was released in 2013.[11]

In 2019, Dickinson released her third book, Reinvention: Changing Your Life, Your Career, Your Future.[12]

Media

Dickinson starred as a dragon investor on Dragons' Den, starting in 2007 for the second season. She also starred in her own spinoff, The Big Decision. In 2015, Dickinson announced that she was leaving Dragons' Den after the ninth season.[13] She returned for season 12 in 2017.[14]

In 2012, Dickinson guest starred as a past version of herself on the Canadian TV series Murdoch Mysteries, in the episode called "Invention Convention", as a possible investor. She has also appeared as a judge on Recipe to Riches in the 2014 season.[15]

In 2017, Dickinson hosted Under New Management, a television special in which she guided aspiring new entrepreneurs in the process of purchasing a business.[16]

In 2018, Dickinson and singer Jann Arden debuted as cohosts of The Business of Life, a lifestyle podcast on topics such as entrepreneurship, motherhood, writing, relationships and navigating life challenges.[17]

Awards

Dickinson has been inducted into Canada's Most Powerful Women Top 100 Hall of Fame.[18] In 2014, Dickinson was one of the recipients of the Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards presented by Canadian Immigrant Magazine.[19] Her company Venture Communications was noted as one of the 2001 winners on the list of Canada's Best Managed Companies sponsored by Deloitte, CIBC, National Post, Queen's School of Business and MacKay CEO Forums.[20]

Commonwealth honours
Location Date Appointment Post-nominal letters
 Canada2012Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (Canadian Version)[21]

Honorary degrees
Location Date School Degree Gave Commencement Address
 Nova ScotiaOctober 2, 2010Mount Saint Vincent UniversityDoctor of Humane Letters (DHL)[22][23]Yes
 Alberta2010Northern Alberta Institute of Technology[24]Yes
 QuebecJune 7, 2016Concordia UniversityDoctor of Laws (LL.D)[25][26]Yes[27]
 AlbertaJune 3, 2017Olds CollegeBachelor of Applied Science - Agribusiness[28][29]Yes[30]

Honorary military appointments
Military Branch Date Affiliation Position
Canada Royal Canadian NavyJune 22, 2012 – PresentOffice of the Director General Maritime Strategic ManagementHonorary Captain[31][32]

Humanitarianism

Dickinson was the national spokesperson for Breakfast Clubs of Canada to help raise awareness of the importance of children having a nutritious start to the day.[33] In 2013, she joined on as a champion of the Give a Day campaign, in support of Dignitas International and the Stephen Lewis Foundation.[34]

References
  1. "Arlene Dickinson - IMDb". IMDb. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  2. Davidson, Terry (January 21, 2017). "Ex-Dragons' Den star Arlene Dickinson addresses political aspirations". Toronto Sun. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
  3. Chris Powell, Canadian Grocer, May 31, 2007
  4. Mario Toneguzzzi, Calgary Herald, May 11, 2021
  5. McNish, Jacquie (February 1, 2014). "Dragon's Den's Arlene Dickinson on business, Kevin O'Leary and her favourite investment". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  6. Dickinson, Arlene [@ArleneDickinson] (2017-01-24). "Hey Kev, as someone trying to be PM shouldn't you know the diff between debt & deficit? You're only off by, oh, a TRILLION $ or so? 😂 t.co/Uc9y1cmf8d" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 2017-02-22. Retrieved 2021-07-27 – via Twitter.
  7. Shaw, Hollie (2012-10-26). "Arlene Dickinson launches enterprise to fund, promote entrepreneurs". Financial Post. Retrieved 2017-02-02.
  8. "Arlene Dickinson". The Law Office Management Association. Archived from the original on 2017-02-03. Retrieved 2017-02-02.
  9. "Advisory Board profiles". University of Waterloo. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  10. Fink, Ryan (2016-10-31). "Arlene Dickinson joins the board of Aphira". Lift News. Archived from the original on 2017-10-20. Retrieved 2017-02-02.
  11. "Arlene Dickinson on her new book All In". CBC. 2013-12-17. Retrieved 2017-02-02.
  12. "Arlene Dickinson discusses her new book 'Reinvention' | Watch News Videos Online". Global News. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  13. "Arlene Dickinson leaves 'Dragons' Den'". The Toronto Star. 13 February 2015. Retrieved 2017-01-26.
  14. "Arlene Dickinson returning as panellist on 'Dragons' Den'". Toronto Sun. 2017-04-11. Retrieved 2018-10-19.
  15. Volmers, Eric (13 February 2015). "Departing Dragon: Calgary's Arlene Dickinson talks about her eight seasons on Dragons' Den, her favourite investment and the 'beauty of an idea'". The Calgary Herald. Retrieved 2017-01-26.
  16. "CBC’s Format Incubator returns for third edition". Playback, March 29, 2018.
  17. "First TV show, now podcast for Arden". Toronto Star, September 14, 2018.
  18. "Canada's Most Powerful Women: Top 100".
  19. "Canadas Top 25 Immigrants 2014". Canadian Immigrant. Retrieved 2021-06-18.
  20. "Arlene Dickinson, CEO Venture Communications". Women of Influence. 2009-04-06. Retrieved 2017-01-26.
  21. "Arlene Dickinson's Diamond Jubilee Medal Citation". Governor General of Canada. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  22. "Mount to honour two esteemed Canadians at Fall 2010 Convocation".
  23. "Honorary Degrees".
  24. https://www.nait.ca/nait/about/our-vision/awards-recognition/honorary-degree
  25. "Honorary degree citation - Arlene Dickinson".
  26. Downey, Fiona (2016-05-04). "Concordia awards 9 new honorary doctorates". Concordia University. Retrieved 2017-01-26.
  27. "Arlene Dickinson, 2016 Concordia Honorary Doctorate". YouTube.
  28. Dickinson, Arlene [@ArleneDickinson] (2017-06-03). "@JasonDewling @oldscollege @HJTThompson Such an honour. Thank you! I love Olds College" (Tweet). Retrieved 2021-07-27 – via Twitter.
  29. Dewling, Jason [@JasonDewling] (2017-06-03). "So honored to have @ArleneDickinson join us @oldscollege today to receive an honorary degree @HJTThompson #OCgrad2017 #inspiration t.co/g3GZ4GZxYP" (Tweet). Retrieved 2021-07-27 – via Twitter.
  30. "2017-06-05 Graduation Award Winners". 3 January 2018.
  31. "Arlene Dickinson joins the rank as the newest Honorary Naval Captain". Canadian Forces. 2012-06-22. Archived from the original on 2013-05-28. Retrieved 2017-01-26.
  32. "Arlene Dickinson Joins the Rank as the Newest Honorary Naval Captain". Government of Canada. 22 June 2012. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  33. "A head for business and a heart for charity-at the tender age of 7!". Breakfast Club of Canada. 2015-04-30. Archived from the original on 2017-07-11. Retrieved 2017-06-12.
  34. "Give a Day Supporters". Archived from the original on 2018-01-30. Retrieved 2017-06-12.
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