The LaDue Crew

Katy Lucas

Honorary Ambassador

Katy Lucas is a ranch raised Alberta cowgirl and no stranger to the “Florence La Due” western way of life. As the very first scholarship recipient of La Due Ladies Lunch Program, Katy went on to win several more scholarships which helped her with her studies at Lethbridge College where she graduated with an honours Communications Arts Diploma, with a speciality in Broadcast Journalism. She now works as the Content Editor for FloRodeo – a live streaming company with over 150 events in their season calendar. Katy is also an avid team roper enjoying the sport of rodeo as an accomplished competitor. Through her work as a competitor, broadcaster and writer, Katy gained one of her proudest achievements, being named one of Western Horse Review’s “Top 25 Under 25” in 2013

La Due Ladies Lunch will be forever grateful to Katy for her dedicated volunteer time that helped expand the La Due Scholarship program and grow it into the program it is today. Katy is always eager to talk about the support that the La Due Ladies organization provides to young women taking stands and making an impact in the Western Heritage and, because of that eagerness, Katy will always be an Honorary Ambassador for the La Due Ladies Lunch.

Alison Keene

President

Alison Keene, one of the original La Due Ladies. Alison has been calling Calgary home since May 21, 1980 and realized this was the place she was meant to be after experiencing her first Calgary Stampede that summer. Since then, the Stampede has always been a favourite time of year – not missing a Stampede Parade or Rodeo performance in 40 years. Gathering friends together each year to kick off Stampede led to the formation of the La Due Ladies lunch which she spearheads as a founding member. Florence La Due and those early day Cowgirls have been a real source of inspiration for Alison; fueling a desire to promote their legacy of courage, tenacity and that Western “can do” spirit. In the early days of creating La Due Ladies Lunch Alison decided a scholarship program would be an ideal way to accomplish this goal. Alison enjoyed a successful and active career in the financial services industry for close to forty years. In February 2019 after thirty years with BMO Nesbitt Burns Alison “retired” from the firm and has started KeeneSense and continues to proudly lead the organizing committee as well as being financial supporter of La Due Ladies Lunch.

Vicki Blais

Director, Event Day Management

Prior to moving to Calgary, Vicki Blais spent most of her life in BC and Quebec. After spending the summer of 1989 in Calgary, Vicki knew she was where she was meant to be and vowed to make Calgary her permanent home one day. That day finally came in 2002. A few short years later Vicki started volunteering and has never looked back. She enjoys being able to support the community in her numerous volunteer roles and has been a long time volunteer with the Calgary Stampede. Vicki is excited to now be a part of La Due Ladies Lunch Foundation as she takes on the role of Event Day Manager for the annual fund raising event in July. Vicki has worked in Hospitality and Human Resources roles for most of her professional career. Vicki holds her Human Resources CPHR designation and is working as a Client Manager & HR Coordinator Fairfield Watson Benefits Consulting.

Wendy Docherty

Director, Event Hospitality

Wendy Docherty was born and raised in Calgary and has always embraced the values and spirit of the western way of life. Being a true Calgarian, not a Stampede was to be missed with Rodeo, Chuck Wagon Races and the Western Art exhibits being her favorites! Spending most of her summers as a child and teenager at her grandparent’s farms gave her a healthy respect for the importance of working together as a family and as a community to achieve a common goal. She currently holds the position of Executive Vice President in her family owned business; Thermotex Therapy Systems Ltd.   She is honored to be involved with the La Due Ladies Lunch and their commitment to supporting women through charitable efforts.

Catherine Manten

Treasurer

Catherine Manten, Chief Administrative Officer of Kaizen Automotive Group, has more than 25 years of progressively responsible experience in Finance, Administration and HR in multi-dealer point operations. Catherine has led her teams through the start-up, acquisition, turnaround and growth modes.

Catherine has spent the past 18 years gaining experience in retail sales, change management, business development, financial analysis and forecasting in both Canada and the United States.

Catherine currently serves on the Board of Directors for the following: AMIC, Automobile Dealers Insurance Exchange, McDougall House as well as Fear is Not Love.

Alisa Brace

Ambassador and Scholarship Administrator

Alisa Brace is a proud fourth generation farmer from the Sundre area and from a young age had a deep passion for rodeo and the western way of life.
Alisa’s dream came true in 2017 when she was crowned Miss Rodeo Sundre 2017, a title she then took to the Miss Rodeo Canada Pageant, where she represented her favourite town and rodeo during an amazing year.
After receiving many scholarships during her time in college to become a Registered Veterinary Technician, she gained an appreciation for any scholarship aimed at providing young people with the opportunity to better themselves and believes that the La Due Ladies Lunch embodies that completely.
She is beyond thrilled to be part of the team and looks forward to meeting the lucky young women who will become scholarship recipients!

Victoria Swift

Director, Communications

Victoria Swift grew up on a family farm and currently lives on a farm with her husband and young son. Agriculture and academics have always been an important part of her life and she loves supporting an organization that celebrates young women through scholarship who embody the Cowgirl Spirit: tenacity, innovation, imagination and a Rancher’s work ethic.

Brenda Walton

Director, Education & Entrepreneurial Program Development

Brenda Walton was born and raised in Central Alberta and has fond memories of her childhood on her family’s farm. It was her career in the oil and gas sector that eventually brought her to Calgary, and she even spent a few years celebrating her birthday during the Calgary Stampede (Yahoo!). But her career also took her away from Calgary for about 20 years; however, throughout that time the Calgary Stampede and the overall spirt of the city was something she missed dearly. When she eventually moved back to Calgary, she began looking for opportunities to volunteer. She soon found the La Due Ladies Luncheon and felt a strong connect to its mission and its scholarship program that encourages advanced education for young women.