Councillor Colleen Hardwick

Born in Vancouver, Councillor Hardwick is a third generation elected representative of the City. Upon the completion of her undergraduate degree in geography, Councillor Hardwick was headed for a career in Urban Planning when a twist of fate launched her into a 20-year career in the film industry. When a movie was shot in the family home, Hardwick changed course to planning movies instead. A longtime member of the Director’s Guild of Canada, Councillor Hardwick produced dozens of film and television projects throughout the 1990s. She was named one of the 13 most powerful people in the BC film industry in 1993. She won multiple awards during this period, notably a ‘40 under 40’ award in Entrepreneurship 1997 from BIV.

She was appointed to the City’s Development Permit Board Advisory Panel and served from 2005 to 2008. In 2006, she was invited to participate in the Marshall McLuhan Festival of the Future and won the Vortex Award for New Media Innovation. She then transitioned to the infant Digital Media sector with her first tech startup, MovieSet. In 2009, she was recognized with an Influential Women in Business Award by BIV.

In 2011, Councillor Hardwick founded her third company, this time in Civic Technology. With the support of the National Research Council of Canada IRAP program, she developed a location-based citizen engagement platform called PlaceSpeak, which has won multiple awards for innovation. She also returned to UBC working toward a PhD in Applied Innovation. In 2012, she was appointed to the Mayor’s Task Force on Housing Affordability. Councillor Hardwick has also served on the Board of Trustees of the Vancouver Maritime Museum and on the Board of the Urbanarium.

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