WCT Annual Leadership Awards Recognize Diversity Efforts and Outstanding Women in Canada

Women in Communications and Technology (WCT) announced today the recipients of their prestigious Leadership Excellence Awards. Eleven Canadian leaders and achievers are being recognized by WCT for their efforts to advance and inspire women across Canada in communications, media and technology (CMT).

“We received an overwhelming number of incredible nominations for women with the skills, experience and ambition to reach top ranks in Canada’s digital economy” says Lynda Partner, Chair of WCT. “It is an honour to recognize them as leaders in Canada’s CMT industries and hopefully inspire other women to aim for the top in their careers. It’s time to get more women in communications and technology, and it’s time to get more women in the C-Suite.”

Recognizing and promoting the achievements of women in Canada is a key strategy in WCT’s efforts to engage and advance all women to new heights in their careers. Research shows that without role models in leadership positions, young women and girls are up to 32% less likely to aspire to reach leadership roles themselves. With women largely unrepresented in Canada’s CMT industries, it is important to recognize the achievements of women who have made significant contributions to diversity and Canada’s information, communications and technology industries.

The awards will be presented at WCT’s Annual Awards Gala on April 26th at Ottawa’s Fairmont Chateau Laurier. The must-attend event draws over 400 high-profile public and private sector leaders for a night of networking and celebrating diversity in Canada.

The 2017 Annual Leadership Awards recipients are:

• Woman of the Year: Heather Conway, Executive Vice-President English Services, CBC
• Company of the Year: Microsoft Canada
• Leadership Excellence Awards:
• Arleen King, Senior Vice-President, Customer Experience, TELUS, WCT Trailblazer of the Year
• Catherine Cano, President and General Manager, CPAC, WCT Innovator of the Year
• Dany Meloul, Vice-President, Programming, French Language TV, Bell Media, WCT Mentor of the Year
• Elizabeth Alves, Vice-President Internal Audit & Risk Management, WCT Leader of the Year
• Eniko Rozsa, Natural Language and Dialogue Team Lead, IBM Canada, WCT Technology Innovator of the Year
• Jenelle Sobey, Managing Partner, Norex, WCT Emerging Leader of the Year
• Julie Adam, Senior Vice-President, Rogers Media, WCT Diversity Champion
• Vicki Iverson, Co-Founder and CTO, Iversoft, WCT Entrepreneur of the Year
• Actua, WCT Empowerment Award (brought to you by IBM)

The WCT Judging Committee consists of Julie Cork, Executive Vice-President, ARTEX Environmental Corp, Robin Hildebrand, Manager, Human Resources & Regulatory Affairs, Golden West Broadcasting, Corinne Charette, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Spectrum, Information Technologies, and Telecommunications, Krista Shibata, Leader Women in Technology Initiative at IBM, Grant J. McDonald, Partner, KPMG, and Joanne Stanley, Executive Director, WCT.

For more information, contact Mathea Stevens at mstevens [at] wct-fct.com.

To purchase your ticket to the WCT 2017 Annual Awards Gala or reserve a table for your organization, contact us at: info [at] wct-fct.com

About Women in Communications and Technology

Women in Communications and Technology (WCT) is a national association committed to advancing women in Canadian communications, media and technology. WCT inspires and engages women from coast to coast through professional development programming, networking, mentorship and opportunities to recognize achievements in Canada’s digital economy.