She Dared to Succeed

The relationship between achievement and service is a complicated one. This is particularly true for women. And the women who accomplish great things are often stigmatized for their success.

Canadian Senator Marie-Paule Charette-Poulin's story is a complicated tale of achievement and service. She served as a social worker, pioneering radio programmer, media executive, President of the Liberal Party of Canada, lawyer, and parliamentarian in the Senate of Canada. She sat on the board of several corporations, organizations, and not-for-profits. In all these roles, she accomplished something truly extraordinary: great personal achievement through public service.

She dared to succeed, but this success has not been easy.

As a single mother in the early 1970s, she was shunned. As a working woman she encountered gender discrimination, sexual harassment, mockery, shaming and intimidation. As a senator she faced the painful public investigation of the Senate expenses enquiry.

And yet, here is a woman of tremendous achievement. She has dedicated her life to public service and to a variety of important causes. She dared to succeed... despite it all.