Adelene Perkins won a Stevie Award for Best Executive in the management awards categories of the 2009 edition of the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and was a member of this year's final judging committee.

What item of news recently caught your eye and why?
The news that has been catching my eye every single day for the past couple of years is the whole healthcare-reform debate in the United States.  What stuns me is that the dialog is so narrowly focused on the issue of coverage.  While that is important, the more complex issue is fixing the system.  We need to focus on ensuring the healthcare system provides high-quality care at a reasonable cost and on how to increase the value of healthcare.  Fixing the system is a much tougher issue.  If we are so stuck on the easier issue, will it ever be possible to handle the tougher one?

What book are you currently reading?
I’ve just started reading Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay.  It‘s historical fiction about the treatment of Jews in France during World War II and what an American journalist living in Paris finds out about it 60 years later.  It was recommended to me by a friend, but you’ll have to come back to me when I’ve finished it for my own review.

What was the last movie you saw, and would you recommend it?
The most recent move I saw, which I didn’t love, was The Expendables, featuring virtually all the action heroes of the last decade.  A movie that I did love, however, was Invictus — although I didn’t particularly enjoy the rugby parts because my son plays rugby and they were almost too painful for me to watch!

What is your favorite sport or hobby?
While I love all sports, skiing is my favorite.  In professional life I have to be measured about taking risks and I try hard to keep things under control, but when I’m skiing I take risks and love being on the edge, totally absorbed in the moment and a little out of control, at times.

Who is your favorite historical figure?
Someone who really resonated for me right after I came out of business school was Ronald Reagan. I can hear his voice now saying: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”  He was an extraordinary man, who led his nation and the world to a different place.

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Video clips of this year's Stevie Awards for Women in Business presentations are now up on the Stevie's YouTube channel.  The presentations took place on November 12 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York.  Women at this event always give the best acceptance speeches, but I think these were the best five this year:

1. Amanda Welliver of Paradigm Esteem, winner of the Stevie for Best Canadian Entrepreneur, brings the crowd to its feet - a rare occurrence - with the story of her obstacles overcome

2. Ruth Elliott of R&J Elliott Incorporated, winner of a Best Entrepreneur Stevie,  tells in all of about 30 seconds of going from poverty to riches in just a few years

3. Ann Kaplan of Toronto's Medicard Finance, a Finalist in several categories including Best Entrepreneur, offers a backhanded...er, compliment...to her mother-in-law

4. Rebecca Fishman Lipsey of Teach for America, a Best Executive Stevie winner, offers the evening's most thoughtful speech

5. Anne Walker of International Dance Supplies in the UK, winner of this year's Stevie for Best Entrepreneur in EMEA, gave a lovely tribute to the power of ambition

Which are your favorite speeches?  View them all on YouTube.