Shirley Greenberg has been a trail-blazer in the Canadian women's movement for most of her adult life. She helped found the Ottawa Women's Centre, from which subsequently developed the Rape Crisis Centre, the Women's Career Counselling Centre and Interval House, a refuge for battered women. She entered the University of Ottawa's law school in the 1970s, while still busy raising three children.
After obtaining her law degree, Greenberg went on to create the first all-female law practice in Ottawa. Many of the most successful women lawyers in Ontario today began their careers in the law office of Shirley Greenberg.
Throughout her career, she fought systemic discrimination against women in laws and legal documents. Greenberg has since retired from the practice of the law, but her commitment to improving the lives of women continues.
With the help of her generous donation, the Shirley E. Greenberg Centre for Women's Health was established at the Riverside campus of the Ottawa Hospital. This centre, specializing in gynecology and cancer detection, puts particular emphasis on the well-being of older women.