2019 WBE Canada Plan Benefits Canadian Women Business Owners and Corporations

WBE Canada is committed to the success of Canadian Women Business Enterprises (WBEs). Over the past 6 months we welcomed a new President, hosted 3 major events: Automotive in April, Cross-Border Connection in Detroit in June and our Annual Conference in Toronto this September.

We also re-branded WBE Canada with a fresh new look and moved our website from .org to .ca. We hope you like the changes and we are excited as you continue with us on our journey of making supplier diversity work across Canada. We are continually reaching out to new potential partners to ensure that WBEs are well-supported in all regions of the country.

If you joined us at the Annual Conference you heard about our exciting plans for the upcoming year – and if you were not able to attend we wanted to share all our news with you.

Here’s what we’ll be working on to support Canadian women-owned businesses and corporations devoted to supplier diversity:

1. Improving Capabilities

Monthly training for certified WBEs. We want to help you grow, scale up and prepare your business to win corporate and government contracts, expand your business capacity and become an obvious choice for corporations and government organizations across North America.

We will be sharing supplier diversity news, information and resources as well as key business strategies and tools you might not be aware of. Even though many of our certified WBEs are already successful, we also believe that there is a next level for any business and we want to support you in getting there successfully.

Webinars are free – you just need to invest your time – time well spent. All the training opportunities are posted on our EVENTS page.

2. Facilitating Connections

We are re-focusing our efforts in the regions to support WBEs all across Canada.

Our goal is to start with 1 event on the East Coast, 1 on the West Coast and 1 cross-border event. Your participation is key in order for us to gauge the success of each one and will guide us to determine if we add more regional events to the equation.

You’ve told us our industry specific events are important and we will continue providing these as well. We will be working closely with our current Corporate Members to bring in more buyers to support our certified WBEs.

Our goal is to support corporate & government buyers as we bring the right suppliers for their supply chains, WBEs by introducing them to the right decision makers in the corporations, and connecting WBEs to each other, because we know first hand that successful women support other women! Check our upcoming events here.

3. Creating Opportunities

There are many opportunities to get involved with WBE Canada. At the grass roots level through participation on committees, helping organize our events, connecting with newly certified WBEs and much more. All of them start with you raising your hand and letting us know you want to do more than just receive.

In many cases getting involved raises visibility for your own business and creates unique opportunities that were not there to start with. What strengths, skills or capabilities do you have that could support our community? Let us know here.

4. Celebrating Successes

Whether you are a certified WBE, Corporate Member, Strategic Partner organization, Sponsor or Speaker, we want to celebrate with you. We’ve created the opportunity for you to share your stories with us here. We can’t wait to feature and promote you in our community, on our website and on social media. Let us know when you want us to be there for you.

Another way to celebrate your success is through awards nominations. Here’s what we will be looking at in 2019:

Corporate Member Awards:

• 2019 Corporation of the Year – recognizes a WBE Canada Corporate Member who is making a distinct and describable difference in the advancement of Supplier Diversity in Canada
• 2019 Supplier Diversity Leader of the Year – recognizes a procurement professional within WBE Canada’s Corporate Member organizations who is a champion among peers
• 2019 Most Improved Supplier Diversity Program – recognizes a WBE Canada Corporate Member who significantly improved its supplier diversity program to support Canadian Certified WBEs

Certified WBE Awards:

• 2019 WBE of the Year – recognizes a certified women-owned business who demonstrate excellence in business, namely through growth, accomplishments, impact on the economy and dedication to community service
• 2019 WBE Stars of the Year – recognizes certified women-owned businesses who are actively engaged with our partner organizations, significantly contributing to growth and support of other women-owned businesses in their region or industry
• 2019 Rookie of the Year – awarded to a certified WBE who, within their first 3 years of certification, has demonstrated significant achievements or progress

Other:

• 2019 WBE Canada Ambassador of the Year – awarded to an individual or organization who referred the most companies/businesses to WBE Canada and will be tracked through Certification and Corporate membership applications
• 2019 President’s Award – recognizes individual or organization that significantly contributed to the awareness around WBE Canada, supplier diversity, or promotion of Canadian women in business

5. Continually Improving

Working with women-owned businesses is exciting and we are always being challenged as our WBEs evolve and become more savvy as they learn and grow. And as our corporate partners develop and expand their supplier diversity programs we want to make sure that we are all on the same page and working toward the same goals to benefit both buyers and suppliers.

You have our promise that we will listen to you, embrace your feedback whether you are a WBE or a Corporate Member so that we can ensure our programs and services are relevant and valuable.

We are excited about the year ahead. If you are a representative of a corporation or government organization that wants to support Canadian women-owned businesses through your supply chain, we will be happy to support you on this journey. If you are a Canadian women-owned business ready to tap into opportunities in corporate and government space, learn more about certification here.