Lia Grimanis

Lia Grimanis (born December 12, 1971) is a Canadian businesswoman, adventurer, keynote speaker and philanthropist.^[8] She is the founder of Up With Women, an organization dedicated to helping homeless women and children to rebuild their lives.

Up With Women

Grimanis founded the organization to give women and children inspiration and strategies for rebuilding their lives after homelessness. Grimanis was driven to establish Up With Women because of her time spent as a homeless teenager. Up With Women's mission: Success Belongs to Everybody

Up With Women works to:

• Provide advanced career and life-building coaching and education for recently homeless and at-risk women.
• Provide leadership mentoring for formerly homeless children to help them to become leaders in their communities. Up With Women Child Advocates participate in a variety of projects. One of the more notable activities is to create a community action project and creatively give back to the community.^[9]
• Raise public awareness about women's homelessness, through community outreach^[10] and media relations.^[11] Up With Women's media work aims to share positive stories about formerly homeless women and children who have rebuilt their lives.^[12] The media work also works to highlight key issues surrounding women's and family homelessness,^[13] while engaging the public to support the cause of ending homelessness, poverty and violence against women.

Biography

Lia Grimanis on her pink BMW motorcycle (2008)

Grimanis has almost 25 years of experience as a successful businesswoman and entrepreneur.^[14]

On a civic level, she has served on Toronto mayor David Miller's communications advisory team, with a special focus on the “Opportunity for All” platform. She served as a media strategist and she wrote the Opportunity for All platform speech.

Financial Post Magazine listed her as one of Canada's 100 Most Powerful women,^[15] and Chatelaine named her one of the 2012 Women of the Year.^[16] The global businesswomen’s organization the International Alliance of Women recognized Grimanis as one of 50 women around the world making a notable impact on the economic empowerment of women,^[17] and she was named Volunteer of the Year^[18] by Flare Magazine. Grimanis has also been nominated as one of Canada's Top 40 Under 40.

Grimanis now holds two Guinness World Records for strength:

• Heaviest Vehicle Pulled 100 ft by a Woman (17,820 lbs) ^[19]
• Heaviest Vehicle Pulled in High Heels (14,520 lbs) ^[20]

She uses these feats of strength to send a message to women survivors of violence, poverty and homelessness that we're stronger than we think we are ^[21]

Grimanis has been involved in a variety of community engagements, outside of Up With Women. She is a co-founder of Toronto-based Social Venture Partners,^[22] an organization that blends the power of business with the passion of philanthropy to assist grass roots organizations that are focused on poverty reduction. She sits on the advisory board of Future Possibilities for Kids,^[23] and has also worked in partnership with the United Way, the Canadian Women’s Foundation and Raising the Roof. She is also a founder of Muff Scouts, an international adventure sport organization for lesbian, bisexual and transgender women.^[24]

Grimanis has frequently appeared in the media, having had news and story features appear on NBC morning news program Today, Inc Magazine, CNN Money, Global, CTV, CBC Television, Citytv, More Magazine, the Toronto Star and the Toronto Sun. She focuses in on the media to help disseminate the positive stories of women and children coming out of homelessness, while raising awareness about the issues today.

She is frequently asked to give speeches to such diverse groups as business people,^[25] women's groups,^[26] sales professionals,^[27] community service providers,^[28] and government workers.^[29]

Awards

• Named one of Canada's 100 Most Powerful Women ^[30]
• Two time Guinness World Record holder:
  • Heaviest Vehicle Pulled 100 ft by a Woman
  • Heaviest Vehicle Pulled in High Heels
• Chatelaine Woman of the Year
• International Alliance of Women World of Difference global Unsung Heroine
• Flare Volunteer of the Year
• Amazing Woman's Day Business Trailblazer

References

External links

• Up With Women