Sally Armstrong

Sally Armstrong has the gift of touching the emotions of her audience through her stories based on her travel to many remote parts of the globe. Her stories combine humour, and the challenge of a deeper message revealed by an event or a set of circumstances. International audiences know her as one of the most compelling speakers on the platform today. Taking her message from corporations to conventions to classrooms, she is at home with people of all ages and all walks of life.

In 1996, Sally was honoured by the YWCA of Toronto with the prestigious Women of Distinction Award in Communications. In 1997 she received the Achievement Award for Human Rights for Women from Jewish Women International. In 1998 she was honoured with Media Watch's Dodi Robb Award. In 2000, she received an Honorary Doctor of Law degree from Royal Roads University and in 2002, an Honorary Doctor of Letters from McGill University. In 2004, she received an Honorary Doctor of Letters from St. Thomas University in New Brunswick. In 2007, she received an Honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Guelph and a Doctor of the University degree from the University of Ottawa. In 2008 she received the Clarkson Laureate for public service and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Canadian Journalism Foundation.

In 2010, Sally became a member of the International Women's Commission at the UN, whose mandate is to contribute to a just and sustainable Israeli-Palestinian peace.
She is author of Veiled Threat: The Hidden Power of the Women of Afghanistan and The Nine Lives of Charlotte Taylor: First Woman Settler on the Miramichi and Bitter Roots, Tender Shoots, The Uncertain Fate of Afghanistan's Women.  Sally's documentary work includes They Fell From the Sky and The Daughters of Afghanistan.

Armstrong has covered stories in zones of conflict all over the world. From Bosnia and Somalia to Rwanda and Afghanistan. Her eyewitness reports have earned her many awards, including the Gold Award from the National Magazine Awards foundation and the Author's Award from the Foundation for the Advancement of Canadian Letters. In 2005, she received The International Athena Award - Chicago (for Women in Leadership) and the UNIFEM Canada Award (United Nations Development Fund for Women).

In her presentations, Sally shows people and organizations how to meet the opportunities and challenges of an era when business and society must move in harmony. She helps audiences understand the driving world forces that are shaping this new century and how to meet the needs of the people in their organizations who will make this happen.
Sally's extensive work in the field of human rights and the prestigious invitation to deliver the 2005 Jim Rose Lecture for the Runnymede Institute in London, England on the topic of diversity and multiculturalism, reflects her belief that the way forward means building on the diverse and multicultural experiences each person brings to a group. Because she reports from zones of conflict, her message invariably includes the invaluable tools of compromise and tolerance.

Some of the groups Sally has addressed are: Parliamentarians for Global Action, Ontario Public Health Association, The Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University, and the Women of Influence series. She also presented a lecture in the Distinguished Lecture series for the Canadian Institute of International Affairs.
All of Sally's presentations are especially prepared to meet the needs and goals of each audience.