Lois Henderson-Campbell: Private Sector Award Winner, North Bay.

• Author: Louiseize, Kelly
• Position: A Decade of Honouring Achievements

Lois Henderson-Campbell is a true Northerner. Growing up in Yellowknife in a mining and military community has infused a sense of leadership, discipline, and focus into her character.

This private sector northeast winner is the mother of three girls; Sara, Jeniva and Hillary. She is an avid curler, a traveling enthusiast, the vice-president of finance at Cementation Canada and a director of Cementation and its companies in the United States and Mexico.

Cementation is a mine contracting and engineering company based out of North Bay, with expected revenues exceeding $140 million for this year.

Growing up, Henderson-Campbell, the second eldest of four learned how to be self-sufficient. It was a by-product of being an "army brat," since her father Mel, a pilot, would receive frequent postings all over Canada.

As a child Henderson-Campbell excelled in the fine arts and spent hours painting watercolour scenes. She was accepted into the fine arts program at the University of Alberta, but her boss at the Giant Yellowknife Gold Mine encouraged her to obtain an education that would provide her with a "good job."

Henderson-Campbell spent two years at the University of Western Ontario in business administration, and then enrolled in the Certified General Accountant program when her twins, Sara and Jeniva were very young. She found the middle of the night the best time to study.

"There were no distractions and I could easily focus."

Even today Henderson-Campbell works into the evening if deadlines are fast approaching.

"When the squeeze comes, I am usually at the end of it," she smiles with a sort of ease.

"I don't like to be a bottleneck for other people. I like to make sure I have my part done, so they can continue with theirs."

When the weekend approaches Henderson-Campbell and James, her husband, along with their dogs Kodie and Bosun, a four-month old Portuguese water dog, find themselves traveling to their island in the District of Manitoulin.

"Weekends are sacred to me. I don't like to carry my work home."

While she is at work however, Henderson-Campbell is a doer with an extraordinary work ethic and like it or not "by no choice of their own, employees have a good work ethic too," she says giving a hearty laugh.

"I try very hard to recognize the talent in people. I think it is important to say to them "you can do this," especially if they are undecided."

Lois Henderson-Campbell takes on challenges admirably, says Roy Slack, president of...