FEATURES
KAREN SPARKS
Ottawa Business and Philanthropic Leader She is a competitive show jumper, director of an investment management firm and holding company, board member of the Queensway Carleton Hospital Foundation, director of Equine Canada, executive director of the reinvigorated equestrian park in Ottawa’s west end, director of the not-for-profit Wesley Clover Foundation and mother of two. A Kanata native with a passion for her community, Karen Sparks is one of Ottawa’s top business leaders and philanthropists. FACES had the chance to sit down and chat with Karen about her life, accomplishments and thoughts on Ottawa’s business community. Who are some inspirational women in your life? I’ll be a little sentimental and say my mom because she abides by a fairly strict moral code, she’s a good mother and was very supportive of my riding career. I would never have got to the level I did in my career without the support of my mother. I also work closely with a team at Millarbrook Farms and the husband-wife duo of Ian and Lynn Millar are certainly inspirational. Their daughter Amy was also a mentor during the development of my career. Some businesswomen and colleagues like Debbie Weinstein, who has her own law firm in Kanata, is very inspirational – she works hard, has twins, a family and is very dedicated. What are some of your favourite childhood memories? My favourite memories would have to be my group of friends from Kanata, biking through the streets of Beaverbrook with my buddies and high school in general. As a family we took some fantastic vacations. We did a month-long family camping trip in France, which was incredible. We had a big Jeep loaded with our camping equipment and just travelled around as a family for a month.
22 | March 2015
When did you first get involved in competitive show jumping? I started riding when I was young, but I started competing around 12. I had bugged my parents for years to get me a pony. It wasn’t as nice as some of my friends’ ponies, but he was lovely. When I started going to Millar Brooke Farm I really started taking it to the next level. Tell us a little bit about your work with Wesley Clover and Equine Canada. I got some pressure from the family to get involved with the family business in my 20s. I was competing full time as a show jumper after graduating university, and started with the family business part time. At first, I dealt with investment history, raising a fund and government funding for technology companies. It was a great experience because I got to work with technology groups without really having a technology background. I got to appreciate what it is they need, which is important because it’s not just about the engineers but the whole team. In 2009 I helped found the Wesley Clover Foundation. I started concentrating more on the family’s philanthropic efforts. We had always contributed to numerous causes ad hoc, but we never had a common goal for our giving. I’m very proud that the Foundation has pillars to coordinate the philanthropic efforts we continue to do in the community. Out of that Foundation came the flagship cause in the equestrian park. It was an underutilized property that the city didn’t really want to be in. We thought, with our experiences and support, that we could do something special and give back to the community. Tell us a little bit about your involvement with the Queensway Carleton Hospital and Equine Canada. I was asked to sit on the board of the Queensway Carleton Hospital Foundation. The Wesley Clover Foundation has a relationship with