Spirit of Leadership Award Winners

Spirit of Housing Awards recognize and reward individuals (staff, board members and tenants), groups and non-profits who have made an outstanding contribution to the quality of non-profit housing. The Spirit of Leadership award honours those whose energy and vision contribute to the cause of non-profit housing in Manitoba.

This year Doug and Donna Leeies of Murdoch Management received the Harry Lehotsky Spirit of Leadership Award. They started Murdoch Management in the 1990s with a commitment to provide property management services exclusively to non-profit clients, recognizing that the needs of these organizations are better met by a company that tailors to their needs. It wasn’t only the property management side, it was also through the development of many projects in partnership with community non-profit boards and levels of government. Examples include St. Michael’s Villa (one of the first three life lease projects developed in the province) all the way through to more recently developed projects like East Borderland Community Housing or Gimli Non-Profit Housing.

Donna and Doug work in partnership, with Doug bringing technical and development expertise and Donna serving as the company leader for human resources, they compliment one another’s strengths for providing property management services that grew from one client to nearly 40 clients, with constant requests to grow beyond their current capacity.