Supporting Canadian women-owned businesses and tapping into the immense potential that they have, could reenergize Canada’s economy and its businesses, adding about $150 billion in incremental GDP by 2026¹.

How can you contribute to this incredible goal?

How can your organization be a part of this movement towards a more equitable entrepreneurial ecosystem?

Women’s Day with WBE Canada is a half day virtual event designed to not only celebrate our resilient and innovative Canadian women-owned businesses but also provide them with the necessary tools and knowledge they need to access and win procurement opportunities in various sectors.

Join us on March 3rd as we feature our amazing women-owned businesses, celebrate female leaders and build awareness around supplier diversity in Canada.

YOU can be a part of the solution.

YOU can make a difference.

Who should attend?

• Women Business Enterprises – certified and non-certified
• Corporations and government organizations – members and non-members
• Women organizations
• Champions and supporters of women-owned businesses

Why attend?

• Discover the latest updates about women entrepreneurship in Canada
• Learn how you and your team can thrive during and after this pandemic
• Find out the latest insights from supply chains across the industries… and how your business can access these top brands
• Get actionable strategies to focus in and achieve winning performance

Agenda

12:00 – 4:30 pm – Expo & Networking

You will have the opportunity to network with other attendees. Remember that the event will be attended by women entrepreneurs, representatives from corporate and government organizations, supplier diversity and procurement professionals, various experts and other Canadian organizations. Your networking options will be varied, imagine the diverse connections you could make! Utilize this networking feature!

12:30 – 1:45 pm – Women Entrepreneurship Update

Prepare for a wild ride! We have tons of information, updates, tips and recommendations to share with you.

• Exciting updates from WBE Canada brought to you by Silvia Pencak, President of WBE Canada
• Remarks from the Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of Small Business and Export Promotion
• Latest updates from research on women entrepreneurship from Barbara Orser, Professor at Telfer School of Management at University of Ottawa
• WBE Panel will discuss tips and recommendations for the workplace during the pandemic. Join us to learn from our Certified WBEs
  • Jan Campbell, CEO of Strategisense Consulting
  • Janine Liberatore, Co-Founder of Hunter Liberatore Law and
  • Marty Britton, President & CEO of Britton Management Profile Inc.

1:45 – 2:00 pm – Networking Break

Take a break or mingle with other attendees.

2:00 – 3:00 pm – Breakouts: Supply Chain Update

The pandemic significantly impacted supply chains around the globe. Join our breakout rooms to learn how industries are coping with the challenges, what is new in supplier diversity and how women-owned businesses can benefit from supplier diversity, training and development and more. Featured industry panels:

Manufacturing

• Reggie Humphrey, Assistant Director, Supplier Engagement, GM
• Lisa Ross, Supplier Diversity Manager, Magna
• Lorri Rowlandson, Senior Vice President Strategy and Innovation, BGIS
• Johanna De La Cadenna, Supplier Diversity Program Lead, CHEP
• Jen McAvoy, Vice President Client Engagement, Cotton Candy
• Celso Afonseca, Manager, Account Services & Program Operations, Staples Promotional Products
• Moderated by Kim Thiara, Acetronic

Financial Industry

• Carol Attak, Senior Manager, Global Supplier Diversity and Sustainability, BMO
• Nadia Malek, VP Strategic Procurement, Desjardins
• Sanja Todorovic, Enterprise Procurement & Vendor Management, Home Trust
• Lucie Pimentel, Director, Global Procurement – Technology & Operations, RBC
• Ashley Fruck Siomos, Manager, Responsible Sourcing and Supplier Diversity, TD Bank Group
• Moderated by Kim Ades, Frame of Mind Coaching

Tech & Telecom

• Kayla Maduk, Specialist, Supplier Diversity Program, Bell
• Kevin Denison, Director, Enterprise Sales, CDW
• George Ehrgott, Supplier Diversity, CTDI
• Michael Bourne, Senior Manager, Procurement Business Operations, Policies, Controls, Supplier Diversity and Ombudsman, IBM
• Andy Thompson, Vice President, Network Infrastructure Transformation, Nokia
• Jacqueline Cotnam, Manager, Supplier Management, Rogers
• Ashifa Jumani, Director Procurement, TELUS
• Moderated by Lisa Siragusa, NRG TeleResources

Government

• Liana Gitto, Procurement Advisor, BDC
• Claudia Santeramo, Manager, Procurement Performance, City of Brampton
• Mike Pacholok, Chief Procurement Officer, City of Toronto
• Kelly Brown, Senior Procurement Advisor, EDC
• Andrea Zervos, Supplier Engagement and Regional Consultation, Government of Canada/OSME
• Moderated by Andrea Robinson, Robinson Global Management

3:00 – 3:15 pm – Networking Break

Take a break or mingle with other attendees.

3:15 – 4:00 pm – How To Overcome the Prioritization Crisis

After lots of learning and networking, join us for a keynote presentation designed to help steer you away from all the noise and find your real priorities.

• Remarks by Megan Quintin, Director of Strategy and Business Insights, RBC
• Keynote by Ann Gomez, Founding President of Clear Concept Inc. – Prioritization is a brilliant theory that simply isn’t working. It holds great promise of super-charging progress on our most essential work. It creates hope for accomplishing incredible goals. And it is the go-to strategy we all turn to when we feel overwhelmed. Practically everyone agrees: when we get busy, we need to prioritize. Yet despite all of our prioritization efforts, we still feel stretched and reactive. Our pace intensifies and our backlog seems to grow by the day. In this distracted world, it is harder and harder to stay on top of everything. We seem to be getting prioritizing wrong. If you are longing for a better approach, this session will show you how to get it right.
• Closing Remarks by Silvia Pencak, President of WBE Canada

4:00 – 4:30 pm – Expo & Networking

We will keep the event open for networking and expo conversations.

All times are in ET

REGISTRATION CLOSED

*This is a FREE event in celebration of Women’s Day 2021

¹ The Power of Parity: Advancing Women’s Equality in Canada; McKinsey & Company, June 2017