Ellen McGregor, industry trailblazer and committed UTM volunteer, receives 2023 Paul W. Fox Award
When Ellen McGregor was a teen growing up in Mississauga, the signs were all there that she would grow up to become a trailblazer in business and a committed volunteer. From running a babysitting network and party planning business to teaching Sunday school and helping establish a camp for lower-income kids, she was a burgeoning entrepreneur and community leader.
The University of Toronto Mississauga is one of the many organizations that have benefited from McGregor’s time, expertise and financial support. In recognition of her distinguished voluntary service to the university over the past two decades, McGregor is the 2023 recipient of the Paul W. Fox Award, one of the UTM Alumni Awards of Distinction.
“I’ve never liked the term ‘giving back,’” said McGregor. “To me, it’s just about doing the right thing. If you can, do. Get connected. Make your community a better place.” She learned this approach to business leadership in part from her father, who founded a small chemical recycling company long before recycling was a concept – let alone an imperative – in industry, and was an active member of the Kiwanis service club.
McGregor assumed ownership of that company, now called Fielding Environmental, in 1994 and has transformed it into an award-winning clean-tech company specializing in the recycling of hazardous waste from sectors such as manufacturing, aviation, HVAC and printing. It was the first solvent and refrigerant recycler in the world to become registered to ISO 14001, an international standard that sets out the requirements for an environmental management system.
“When I took over Fielding, we were having trouble accessing capital for growth because banks didn’t want to fund a family business in a disruptive industry,” said McGregor. “My strategy was to build trust in Mississauga as a company that cared about the local community.”
Just as she’d done all her life, McGregor began to forge ties with various organizations focused on the public good. Since then, she’s contributed to a long list of Mississauga not-for-profits, associations and start-ups and garnered numerous awards, including Business Person of the Year from the Mississauga Board of Trade and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Award.
McGregor’s connection to UTM began when she joined the Hazel McCallion Academic Learning Centre Cabinet in 2004, helping to raise $6 million to support the project. From there, her engagements snowballed. Some of the highlights, she said, have been serving on the UTM Principal’s Advisory Council and UTM Campaign Cabinet, and being a speaker at convocation and within the Master of Science in Sustainability Program.
“I’ve loved connecting with students and faculty who are excited and committed to making a better world through environmental protection and business,” said McGregor, who has also created student bursaries and donated to UTM priorities through Fielding Environmental. “We have a kind of holistic relationship with the university, in that we hire many graduates from UTM and have had professors deliver courses to our employees on subjects like business ethics.”
Always one to step up when the community needs help, McGregor co-founded the Mississauga Economic Resiliency Group when the pandemic hit. It brought together senior leaders from the corporate, not-for-profit and academic sectors to develop practical solutions in a challenging time. UTM Vice-President and Principal Alexandra Gillespie serves as vice-chair of the group, which has evolved into a forum where leaders connect and partner around multiple city issues.
“So often Canadian business and community leaders reach out to people in Europe or the United States instead of looking directly around us for those who are aligned with what we’re trying to accomplish,” said McGregor.
“In UTM, I’ve found a collaboration that allows both Fielding and the university to thrive while helping the wider community."