COC signs fundraising heavyweight

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The Canadian Olympic Committee, seeking to become a bigtime factor in the charitable donations market, has signed up Valerie McMurtry to be chief executive of the Canadian Olympic Foundation in April.

McMurtry, currently president and CEO of Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital Foundation, is one of Canada's biggest guns in attracting philanthropy.

Last year, Valerie McMurtry signed on Bill Holland, CEO of CI Financial Corporation as a $20-million donor for Bloorview, bringing the family's donation to $26.2-million. The donation was noted in a name-change of the organization to Holland Bloorview Kids' Rehabilitation Hospital Foundation.

McMurtry has more than two decades of experience working with some of Canada's leading charities including Mount Sinai Hospital Foundation, the Alzheimer Society of Canada, and Queen's University.

"The Canadian Olympic Foundation will lead the way in funding our current and future Canadian athletes," she said in a statement.

"Valerie McMurtry is a leader among Canadian fundraisers," said Marcel Aubut, President of the Canadian Olympic Committee. "She has an outstanding record of achievement in philanthropic and private donor fundraising initiatives and will make a wonderful addition to the Foundation."

In the past nine years with Holland Bloorview, McMurtry has led two ambitious fundraising campaigns. The Defy Disability Campaign raised $45-million towards a new building for the hospital, which opened in 2006; and the new $80-million campaign for children with disbilities dubbed "No Limits". Under her leadership the Holland Bloorview Foundation committed to helping creating "a world without limits" for children with disabilities.

The COC is affiliated with the Canadian Paralympic Committee – which provides a program and showcase for athletes with disabilities, though McMurty does not work directly raising funds for the CPC.