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Alison Youngman

a legal trailblazer for women and mothers

YWCA Toronto
woman of distinction 2004 award: business and professions

Alison Youngman pioneered maternity leave for her firm as part of a long career as an influential and inspiring role model to working women. Ms Youngman receives the YWCA Toronto Women of Distinction award 2004 for Corporate Leadership.

Ms. Youngman has also broken new ground for women in the legal profession - a traditionally male-dominated field. Along with her many legal accomplishments, she has had a significant positive impact on students and women lawyers. She offers training and advice to younger lawyers through the firm's formal mentor program. She is also an informal mentor to many, and despite her hectic schedule is never too busy to lend an ear and provide advice on legal or non legal issues.

As a senior partner at the global law firm, Stikeman Elliott LLP in Toronto, Ms. Youngman is also Executive Vice-President of the International Women's Forum of Canada. The IWF fosters association and communications between women leaders in diverse professions.

Ms. Youngman's road to success was not a traditional one. She emigrated from England as a young woman and began as a paralegal at Stikeman Elliott's Montreal office, where she was soon asked to head up the paralegal department in the firm's fledgling Toronto office. Then, on the day she had elected to quit, Stikeman Elliott founding partner Fraser Elliott, recognizing her great potential, offered to sponsor her to go to law school. Her accomplishments at law school brought her back to the environment that had taken an interest in her, and Stikeman Elliot LLP has remained her place of work ever since.

Ms. Youngman was among the first women at her firm to balance motherhood and work life. She had her first child just after graduating from law school, and her second child when she was in her first year of practice. Several years later she developed and negotiated the firm's maternity policy to ensure that female lawyers would be able to balance career advancement and motherhood.

Throughout her career, Ms Youngman has shown a desire to pass on similar opportunities to other women, both lawyers and non lawyers. Because of her mentoring and encouragement, Ms. Youngman seldom has an assistant for long before she has inspired her to explore her career advancement opportunities.

Ms. Youngman recently joined the Board of Directors of the International Women's Forum, Leadership Foundation and is chairing their new program development committee. She begins her second term as the first Canadian to be a mentor to a Business Law Fellow of the American Bar Association.

As co-chair of the IWF's 2003 World Leadership Conference she helped create an intensive laboratory for leadership development and brought together 400 heads of business, policy makers and entrepreneurs from 30 countries.

Taking corporate responsibility beyond the confines of her profession and into the wider women's community, Ms. Youngman has made a substantial contribution to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation both nationally and in Ontario through her work on the volunteer-based organization's governance and nominations committees.

Ms. Youngman is also a long-time volunteer at Toronto's Out of the Cold, a seasonal program to bring homeless individuals into warm shelter during the winter months. Ms. Youngman's involvement speaks eloquently to her ongoing commitment to improving the lives of women and girls and to her generosity of spirit.

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