Lia Grimanis
Lia Grimanis (born December 12, 1971) is a Canadian Charity founder and CEO, Guinness World Record Holding Strongwoman and adventurer . She is the founder of Up With Women, an organization dedicated to helping homeless and at-risk women to rebuild their lives. Up With Women. Grimanis founded the organization to give women and children inspiration and strategies for rebuilding their lives after homelessness. Grimanis was driven to establish Up With Women because of her time spent as a homeless teenager. Up With Women's mission: Success Belongs to Everybody Up With Women works to: Biography. Grimanis has almost  25 years of experience as a successful businesswoman and entrepreneur. On a civic level, she has served on Toronto mayor David Miller's communications advisory team, with a special focus on the "Opportunity for All" platform. She served as a media strategist and she wrote the Opportunity for All platform speech. "Financial Post Magazine" listed her as one of Canada's 100 Most Powerful women, and "Chatelaine" named her one of the 2012 Women of the Year. The global businesswomen's organization the International Alliance of Women recognized Grimanis as one of 50 women around the world making a notable  impact on the economic empowerment of women, and she was named Volunteer of the Year by "Flare Magazine". Grimanis has also been nominated as one of Canada's Top 40 Under 40. Grimanis holds a Guinness World Record for strength, the Heaviest Vehicle Pulled in High Heels (14,520 lbs) She also held another Guinness World Record for strength, the Heaviest Vehicle Pulled 100 ft by a Woman (17,820 lbs) (from 2013 to 2018). She uses these feats of strength to send a message to women survivors of violence, poverty and homelessness that we're stronger than we think we are . Grimanis has been involved in a variety of community engagements, outside of Up With Women. She is a co-founder of Toronto-based Social Venture Partners, an organization that blends the power of business with the passion of philanthropy to assist grass roots organizations that are focused on poverty reduction. She sits on the advisory board of Future Possibilities for Kids, and has also worked in partnership with the United Way, the Canadian Women's Foundation and Raising the Roof. She is also a founder of Muff Scouts, an international adventure sport organization for lesbian, bisexual and transgender women. Grimanis  has frequently appeared in the media, having had news and story features appear on NBC morning news program "Today", "Inc Magazine", CNN Money, Global, CTV, CBC Television, Citytv, "More Magazine", the "Toronto Star" and the "Toronto Sun". She focuses in on the media to help disseminate the positive stories of women and children coming out of homelessness, while raising awareness about the issues today. She is frequently asked to give speeches to such diverse groups as business people, women's groups, sales professionals, community service providers, and government workers.