Career
Born in the Netherlands, she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1979 from York University, her major was Philosophy. Since 1993 she has served on the board of the Canadian Women"s Foundation, serving as chair for 6 years. From 1991 to 2003, she served on the Board of Governors of York University and is currently an Honorary board member
She serves as the co-chair of Women Moving Millions, a break through campaign raising million dollar gifts for the advancement of women and girls.
She has served on the Round Table on the Environment and the Economy as well as the International Human Rights Jury.
.An award is named after her at MicroSkills, the Margot Franssen Leadership Award. Business awards include but are not limited to 100 Best Companies to Work for in Canada/Financial Post, 50 Best Managed Companies/Financial Post, Toronto"s Top 20 Companies/Arthur Anderson, Financial Post Environment Award and the Marketing Communication Award/Retail Council of Canada.
Margot holds an honorary Doctor of Human Letters from Mount Saint Vincent University and a Doctor of Laws, Honoris Causa from the University of Windsor. She is a Fellow of Ryerson Polytechnical University and was the Allard Chair in Business at Grant MacEwan College.
In 2004 The Body Shop Canada was sold to Body Shop International.
Margot is now a leading voice on the issues of funding women"s rights and social justice for women and girls.