At the Calgary Influential Women in Business Awards, we celebrate the changemakers advancing gender diversity in business who are paving the way for the future of female leadership. This year, we are honoured to award Hilary Foulkes the Lifetime Achievement Award, highlighting her exceptional work in investment banking and oil and gas and her passion for mentorship and supporting women in her fields.
A lifetime of achievement
Foulkes spent two decades as a geologist before transitioning into investment banking, where she shifted towards a more strategic approach to leadership and governance. Currently, she serves on the boards of Chord Energy and Pine Cliff Energy. She also founded the Canadian platform for Tudor Pickering Holt & Co., a U.S.-based energy investment bank, and continues to serve as a senior advisor to the firm.
A firm believer in education and the power to inspire through teaching, Foulkes is vice chair of Let’s Talk Science, a STEM outreach education organization that works to develop skills in Canadian youth. Foulkes is a proud mother of three daughters, she’s executed and advised on billion-dollar client transactions, been the only woman in a C-suite position at Penn West Exploration, and still finds time to advance the pipeline of future talent in the energy sector through mentorship and coaching.
“I don’t spend a lot of time mentoring people who want to know how to get to the next level in an organization and whose focus is on getting the next promotion. I focus much more on the underpinnings: the self-discovery, managing one’s life, the ups and the downs and setting the stage for whatever choices people want to make,” says Foulkes. “It’s not about providing advice so much as it is very similar to a board where you’re asking illuminating questions. That’s really the approach I have to the mentorship that I provide. It’s just such a rewarding part of my life, and I learn so much from it, as well.”
The leader within
Foulkes’ believes leadership is most impactful when everyone on her team can embrace a collective vision and recognize their part, no matter where they are in the organization. Her business philosophy prioritizes bringing people together for the better.
“People thrive in an environment where they see opportunity. They see a way to contribute, they understand their accountabilities, and they want to be successful for themselves and their families.”
Foulkes is focused on the early stages of the career pipeline, believing this is where we need strong female leaders to help pave a clearer path.
“If there isn’t a recognition of all the microaggressions that take place and all of the areas where women’s careers can be thwarted by less effective leadership, then we cut off the pipeline of potential leaders too early,” she says. “Removing the barriers, for younger people in the industry, or in any industry or corporation, is about teaching leadership throughout the organization so that every level understands that they are leaders.”
As our 2025 Lifetime Achievement award winner, Foulkes is devoted to helping advance women in the workplace and believes we’re better off for it. Now, more than ever, Foulkes believes in the need to advance diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace.
“When we are with people who are exactly like us, we don’t make good decisions and we don’t inspire innovation. Sometimes, instead of seeing talent, we see just difference, and that’s almost human nature. It can be overcome, but it is human nature. So why would we not recognize that we have to continue to evolve in our understanding of talent?”
Please join us in celebrating Hilary Foulkes and her lifetime commitment to advancing women in business.
