Page 8 - Spring Convocation 2015

CHANCELLOR’S COMMUNITY RECOGNITION AWARD
JANE BUTLER MCGREGOR
June 18, 2015, 9:30 a.m.
Jane Butler McGregor is Chief Executive Officer of the Victoria Conservatory of Music (VCM), an organization dedicated to enriching lives through music. She joined the organization in 2008 after being approached by members of the VCM board who were searching for strong leadership for the troubled organization. Seven years later, with the elimination of $2.2 million of debt and organizational transformation, the VCM now welcomes more than 4,500 students through its community and professional schools, children’s programs and music therapy. Butler McGregor, and the community that has supported her, have turned what was a struggling, debt-ridden organization into a thriving, vital part of Victoria’s cultural landscape.
Butler McGregor’s business experience stretches back to 1982 when she was hired to manage guest relations and VIP services for Expo 86. Impressed with her work, Jim Pattison, CEO and president of Expo 86 Corporation, hired her as Director of Human Resources at the Jim Pattison Group.
Butler McGregor later moved to the United States for 13 years, where she became involved in the non-profit sector in Palm Beach and Chicago. She founded the West Palm Beach Green Market, and was Board Chair of a major art school that was $900,000 in debt when she took over and in the black when she left. She also helped establish Turtle Nest Village, a group that helps youth being discharged from foster care in West Palm Beach, and served on the Chicago board of PAWS (Pets Are Worth Saving).
In 2005, Butler McGregor returned to Victoria and joined the Pacific Opera board. At the request of the board, she stepped in as Executive Director and led the Pacific Opera for 16 months. It was after this experience that Victoria Conservatory of Music board members approached her to lead the organization.
Under Butler McGregor’s guidance, the VCM is developing a national reputation for music education excellence. With the recent opening of a new School of Contemporary Music, a new School of Music Technology and the first satellite location in Langford, the VCM is committed to bringing more music to more people in more communities.
Butler McGregor has just completed a six-year term on the Board of Governors of the University of Victoria and currently serves on the Victoria Telus Community Board.
Butler McGregor holds a BA in psychology from the University of British Columbia.
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