Arlene Dickinson
Arlene Dickinson | |
|---|---|
 Dickinson in 2010 | |
| Born | 8 October 1956[1] Germiston, Gauteng, South Africa |
| Occupation | General Partner, District Ventures Capital |
| Political party | Independent[2] |
| Website | arlenedickinson |
Arlene Dickinson (born October 8, 1956) is a Canadian businesswoman, investor, author, and television personality. She is the general partner of District Ventures Capital and CEO of Venture Communications. Dickinson joined the cast of the CBC business reality show Dragons' Den during its second season in 2007 and later departed in the ninth season in 2015. She then returned to continue with the Dragons for the 12th season in 2017. She was selected to perform on the series after she won numerous awards including Calgary Business Owner of the Year, PROFIT magazine's Top 100 Women Business Owners, the Pinnacle Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence, Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards and Canada's Most Powerful Women Top 100.[4] The show describes her as a self-made multi-millionaire.
Personal life[]
Born in Germiston, South Africa, and raised in Canada, Dickinson graduated from high school in Calgary, Alberta. She married at age 19 and had four children. She divorced at 31. She has seven grandchildren.[5]
Politically, Dickinson identifies as non-partisan. When her former Dragons' Den co-star Kevin O'Leary entered the leadership race for the Conservative Party of Canada, she responded by saying that he "has this notion that greed is good." Afterwards, she continued to criticize O'Leary for referring to the national debt as the deficit.[6]
Business[]
Dickinson joined Venture Communications in 1988, taking sole ownership in 1998. In October 2012, she launched Arlene Dickinson Enterprises (ADE) to fund and target Canada's entrepreneurs.[7]
In 2015, Dickinson founded District Ventures. In 2017, Dickinson launched her venture capital fund, District Ventures Capital. In 2019, District Ventures announced the latest component of their commercialization efforts, District Ventures Kitchen, with the acquisition of Food Starter. The District Ventures Kitchen offers the opportunity to businesses in the food and beverage industry to innovate and commercialize their product.
Over the years, Dickinson has served on boards including Ad Rodeo, Kids Help Phone, and the Calgary Municipal Lands Corporation. She sits on the advisory committee of the Stratford Institute at the University of Waterloo, the Leadership Council of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics as well as the editorial advisory board of Marketing Magazine.[8][9] In October 2016, Dickinson was appointed to the board of directors of Aphria, a licensed medical marijuana producer.[10]
Books[]
In 2011, Dickinson published her first book, Persuasion, in hardcover as an autobiography. Her second book, All In, subtitled "You, Your Business, Your Life", was released in 2013.[11]
In 2019, Dickinson released her third book, Reinvention: Changing Your Life, Your Career, Your Future.
Media[]
Dickinson starred as a dragon investor on Dragons' Den, starting in 2007 for the second season. She also starred in her own spinoff The Big Decision. In 2015, Dickinson announced that she was leaving Dragons' Den after the ninth season.[12] She returned for season 12 in 2017.[13]
Dickinson guest starred as a past version of herself on the Canadian TV series Murdoch Mysteries, in 2012, in the episode called "Invention Convention", as a possible investor. She has also appeared as a judge on Recipe to Riches in the 2014 season.[14]
In 2017 she hosted Under New Management, a television special in which she guided aspiring new entrepreneurs in the process of purchasing a business.[15]
In 2018, Dickinson and singer Jann Arden debuted as cohosts of The Business of Life, a lifestyle podcast on topics such as entrepreneurship, motherhood, writing, relationships and navigating life challenges.[16]
Awards[]
Dickinson has been inducted into Canada's Most Powerful Women Top 100 Hall of Fame.[17] She has been an honorary captain of the Royal Canadian Navy since June 22, 2012.[18] In 2014, Dickinson was one of the recipients of the Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards presented by Canadian Immigrant Magazine.[19] Her company Venture Communications was noted as one of the 2001 winners on the list of Canada's Best Managed Companies sponsored by Deloitte, CIBC, National Post, Queen's School of Business and MacKay CEO Forums.[20]
Honorary degrees[]
| Location | Date | School | Degree | Gave Commencement Address |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Nova Scotia |
October 2, 2010 | Mount Saint Vincent University | Doctor of Humane Letters (DHL)[21][22] | Yes |
 Alberta |
2010 | Northern Alberta Institute of Technology | [23] | Yes |
 Quebec |
June 7, 2016 | Concordia University | Doctor of Laws (LL.D)[24][25] | Yes[26] |
| Alberta |
June 3, 2017 | Olds College | Bachelor of Applied Science - Agribusiness[27][28] | Yes[29] |
 | This list is incomplete; you can help by . (September 2020) |
Humanitarianism[]
Dickinson was the national spokesperson for Breakfast Clubs of Canada to help raise awareness of the importance of children having a nutritious start to the day.[30] In 2013, she joined on as a champion of the Give a Day campaign, in support of Dignitas International and the Stephen Lewis Foundation.[31]
References[]
- ^ "Arlene Dickinson - IMDb". Retrieved 15 April 2012.
- ^ Davidson, Terry (January 21, 2017). "Ex-Dragons' Den star Arlene Dickinson addresses political aspirations". Toronto Sun. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
- ^ "Arlene Dickinson net worth as of 2017 estimated at £75 million (USD $100 million; CAD $125 million) – Celebrity entrepreneur and CBC dragon on Canada's Dragons Den". Blog and Forum for Business. 27 September 2017. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
- ^ Mario Toneguzzzi, Calgary Herald, May 31, 2007
- ^ McNish, Jacquie (February 1, 2014). "Dragon's Den's Arlene Dickinson on business, Kevin O'Leary and her favourite investment". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
- ^ Dickinson, Arlene [@ArleneDickinson] (2017-01-24). "Hey Kev, as someone trying to be PM shouldn't you know the diff between debt & deficit? You're only off by, oh, a TRILLION $ or so?