Age: 31
Blythe Butler grips a Glock 22. Green eyes narrow. Heartbeat slows. A finger squeezes the trigger. Six rounds explode from the sleek revolver. The target? It’s now Swiss cheese. The petite brunette then suits up in black leather, straddles a jet-black 750 Honda motorcycle and cruises through Calgary. A gun-slinging vigilante? Not exactly. Atop of that speeding metal rocket actually sits a softspoken, eloquent woman. Firing several kinds of guns was only an opportunity for Butler to learn about something that happens to contrast with her job.
At Simpact, Butler helps companies, such as TD Bank, Enbridge Inc., CIBC, Telus Corp. and TransCanada Corp., measure the performance of their community and volunteer contributions. Through workshops and one-on-one meetings, she helps them set up a series of measurements, including cash, time, in-kind donations and management costs, to capture and calculate the long-term impact of each philanthropic related effort on society. Last year, Butler also helped Simpact increase the number of companies it works with by 100 per cent. “I like making a difference in the community,” she says.
A transplant from Edmonton, armed with a BComm from the University of Alberta, Butler brags that her work combines her two passions. “I like the corporate world. I have a financial background. But I’m also drawn to the community. This is a perfect fit.” Indeed, Butler got her first volunteer gig at 12, helping out at the Special Olympics. Now she spends up to 50 hours a month working with Leadership Calgary, which cultivates the next generation of leaders. “Being born in Calgary. . . is as privileged as you can get on this planet,” she says. “I feel a huge responsibility to make it better.”
COMMUNITY WORK
Co-chair, program team, and advisory board member, Leadership Calgary
PAST
Fundraiser, Decidedly Jazz Danceworks
Volunteer, Calgary Cares, AIDS Calgary