Margaret Gillis

Founding President

Margaret Gillis is the founding President of the International Longevity Centre Canada, part of a global alliance of 16 Centers dedicated to the needs and rights of older people. An award-winning executive and innovative leader, Margaret played a key role in establishing the Age-friendly Community program in Canada and internationally, this program is now in over 900 Canadian communities and 26 countries worldwide. Other career highlights include a joint government-NGO project to protect seniors in disasters which was recognized with an individual award by Her Majesty the Queen.

Margaret has strong credentials regarding human rights, working with and speaking at the UN General Assembly on behalf of older people, as Chair of the National Advocacy Working Group at the Global Alliance on the Rights of Older People (GAROP) and at the Working Group on Mainstreaming Aging at the UNECE. With a background in health promotion, protection and programming for the aged, women and children, Margaret is committed to improving the rights of older people.