Female award empowers international community

On March 8, the Women’s Executive Network announced nominations for Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Awards. The award will recognize women in leadership roles in Canada. The Women’s Executive Network hopes to inspire current and future generations of women and men.

The Top 100 Awards, which will be open to nominations until May 19, is presented to women in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors.

There are several categories where women are able to be recognized, such as: excelling in business, the public sector, within professional associations, the arts and communications arena, entrepreneurship, as well as future leaders and “trailblazers.”

“The purpose of Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Awards is to both celebrate women leaders and inspire others by recognizing the accomplishments of these winners, creating a network of support for them and increasing their visibility so that the next generation can see real examples of what’s possible to achieve,” read a statement Women’s Executive Network released to The Cord.

“These awards help to highlight champions within their communities, women who are already doing incredible things in their industries but don’t always receive the recognition they deserve. It’s a way of supporting their hard work and vision, while putting them in the spotlight to become role models for others in their field.”

Past recipients of the award include Margaret Atwood, Roberta Bondar, Arelene Dickinson, Christine Magee, Michaelle Jean, Heather Reisman and Kathleen Taylor.

As well as the award, Women’s Executive Network also announced a scholarship that will be available this year. The scholarship is titled Women’s Executive Network Strength in Diversity Award for New Canadian.

Women’s Executive Network is partnering with Wilfrid Laurier University to assist those pursuing their post-secondary studies. The scholarship is designed for new arrivals to Canada and will provide $25,000 in awards over five years.

“The city of Waterloo is a growing and [an] innovative place to be right now, attracting many female leaders to its strong economy, including new Canadians. We wanted to partner with Wilfrid Laurier University and create a scholarship/award there for many reasons. The school has long been an integral part of Waterloo with a strong sense of community, and has a reputation for diversity and inclusion, academic excellence and giving back to the community,” the statement read.

“The [Women’s Executive Network] Foundation is critical to the ongoing success of the organization and its mandate to empower young women across the country to pursue their education and advance towards executive roles. This new scholarship is an exciting and important step in advancing that goal to all Canadians,” Sherri Stevens, CEO of Women’s Executive Foundation, said in a press release.