Dianne Lister , LL.B., CFRE
Principal, The Dianne Lister Group

The Dianne Lister Group is a national consulting firm providing strategic counsel for the not-for-profit and charitable sectors that take a fresh and focused approach in leadership and organizational development, governance, management consulting and Intelligent Philanthropy™ (an analytical framework to build capacity within charitable organizations, and a service provided to philanthropic investors.)

Dianne Lister was President & CEO of The Hospital for Sick Children Foundation from 1993-2003. In 2003, Sick Kids’ Foundation was raising over $50 million annually. The endowment base quadrupled from $100M to $420M during Dianne’s tenure. She oversaw the first endowment campaign for medical research spearheaded by a Canadian hospital, the successful “Help Make Sick Kids Better” campaign which raised over $86M.

A graduate of Trent University, and Osgoode Hall Law School, Dianne is also a graduate of the Harvard/MIT Program on Negotiation, and has been certified as a professional fundraising executive since 1995.

In 2004 she was awarded the AMS/John Hodgson Award by the Ontario Bar Association (Charities and Non-Profit Section) for outstanding leadership. In 2002 she was awarded the prestigious “International Association of Professional Fundraisers (AFP) Outstanding Fundraising Executive of the Year” – the first Canadian to receive this recognition. As the current chair of the Board of AFP Canadian Council, Dianne is a national spokesperson for over 2,600 Canadian members. In 2002, Dianne was invited to sit on the international AFP Ethics Committee, the body which is responsible for ensuring public trust among the 26,000 AFP members worldwide.