Ruth MacKenzie

Ruth MacKenzie is President & CEO of Volunteer Canada, a national not-for-profit organization with a 30-year history in supporting, promoting and celebrating the volunteer experience in Canada.  

Ruth joined Volunteer Canada in 2001, bringing extensive experience in the field of volunteer engagement and development. She led the implementation of the Canada Volunteerism Initiative and has played a key role in establishing national relationships and alliances with all sectors. As President & CEO, Ruth has seen the organization through significant change, establishing partnerships and alliances and developing new programs and initiatives to achieve Volunteer Canada’s mission and sustain its future vitality.  

Ruth has worked in the voluntary sector for over 25 years, at the grassroots, provincial and national levels and has a life-long commitment to voluntary action.

Prior to joining Volunteer Canada, she worked at the Canadian Cancer Society, Ontario Division, and later the Nova Scotia Division, as Director of Volunteer Development. In between those two positions, she established and ran her own micro-brewery, receiving recognition for her business acumen by being selected as an Entrepreneur of the Year. 

Ruth believes that volunteering is more than something we do; she believes it is intrinsic to who we are, as individuals and as caring Canadians. She has been involved in countless volunteer opportunities, from front-line service delivery to community-based activist work and at the leadership level through a variety of boards, committees and advisory groups.

Ruth currently sits on two volunteer Boards: the international Council for Certification in Volunteer Administration and the International Journal of Volunteer Administration.