Business Breakthroughs presented by Invest Ottawa

Host

Barbara Balfour

Barbara is an award-winning public speaker and international print journalist. Her work is featured regularly at BBC World News, The Globe and Mail, ELLE, and every major daily newspaper in Canada. She has published two children’s books, contributed to tourism guidebooks on Iceland and Chile, and co-edited an anthology of essays on Canada-European Union relations.

Barbara’s work has taken her to 35 countries and provided opportunities such as interpreting for Mikhail Gorbachev’s entourage, writing for the Economist Group, and interviewing Noam Chomsky. She speaks fluent French and Russian, and holds degrees in international business, Russian studies, and journalism.

Currently residing in Ottawa, Barbara has lived in Belgium, Japan, and across Canada. When she’s not curled up with a good book and a hazelnut hot chocolate, she can be found spinning away on the dance floor of a salsa club or nestled in a window seat on a plane, en route to some exotic new destination.