YWCA Women of Distinction Awards 2020 Nominees

In celebration of International Women’s Day, YWCA Metro Vancouver is pleased to announce the 78 nominees for the 37th Annual YWCA Women of Distinction Awards, presented by Scotiabank. 

YWCA Women of Distinction Awards

Where: JW Marriott Parq Vancouver
When: Monday, May 11, 2020 Postponed due to COVID-19
Tickets: Individual tickets and tables available for purchase online »

As of March 16, 2020 this event has been postponed due to COVID-19: “The YWCA Women of Distinction Awards means so much to our organization and community and raises critical funds to support some of Metro Vancouver’s most vulnerable families. We are working with JW Marriott Parq Hotel to organize another date and plan to gather and celebrate our outstanding nominees later in the year when it is safe to do so.”

2020 Nominees

• Arts, Culture & Design
  • BETH CARTER, Curator of Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art
  • DANICA DJURKOVIC, Director of Facilities Planning and Development, City of Vancouver
  • PREM GILL, CEO of Creative BC
  • CAROL MAYER, Head of Curatorial and Design department at the Museum of Anthropology at UBC
  • JANICE MORRIS, Founder and Festival Director of KDocsFF
  • WENDY MOULD, Professional wildlife artist, volunteer for the Visual Arts community
  • CARMEN RODRIGUEZ, Writer, educator and activist
  • LISA WOLFIN, Director of Vancouver Visual Art Foundation

• Business & the Professions
  • BRIDGITTE ANDERSON, CEO of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade
  • ANGELA CAL​LA, Founder of The Angela Calla Mortgage Team
  • MELISSA HIGGS, Principal at HCMA Architecture + Design
  • CHERYL NELMS, General Manager, Project Delivery, Metro Vancouver
  • SHIRLEY SAMUJH-DAYAL, Director of Operations, Coast Mountain Bus Company

• Community Champion
  • BARBARA AIDELBAUM, Co-Founder and Board Director of Hockey Education Reaching Out Society (HEROS)
  • AISHA AMIJEE, Founder and Executive Director of Voices of Muslim Women Foundation (VMW)
  • SONIA ANDHI BILKHU, Founder and Executive Director of Shakti: Empowerment of Women, Children and Families Society
  • ANTONIA BECK, Founder and Executive Director of Burnaby Neighbourhood House
  • KAREN LAI, Independent consultant specializing in accessibility and inclusion
  • DEVINDER MAAN, Founder of The Saheli Foundation
  • MARGARET MUBANDA, Resource Social Worker, Ministry of Children and Family Development
  • AMY ROBINSON, Founder and Executive Director of LOCO BC
  • SUSSANNE SKIDMORE, Secretary-Treasurer, BC Federation of Labour
  • KATHEREN SZABO, Founder of Cedar Bark Poets, Co-Facilitator of Friends of the Grove

• Education, Training & Development
  • BETH APPLEWHITE, A Vice Principal in the Coquitlam School District
  • THERESA BURLEY, Canada Research Chair (CRC) and Equity in Research Lead with SFU’s Institutional Strategic Awards team
  • LOUISA LAM, Pioneering curriculum designer and Head Instructor of the Professional Floral Art Program at Langara College
  • LISA LANGEVIN, Director of Women in Trades for the Industry Training Authority and Founder and President of BC Tradeswomen Society
  • CAROLYN ROBERTS, Indigenous Faculty Lecturer in the Department of Education at SFU
  • LEONIE SANDERCOCK, Professor of Community and Regional Planning at UBC
  • KORY WILSON, Executive Director of Indigenous Initiatives and Partnerships at BCIT

• Entrepreneurship & Innovation
  • AMIEE CHAN, President & CEO of Norsat International Inc.
  • TEARA FRASER, Founder and CEO of Iskwew Air
  • ELISE HUISMAN, Co-Founder and Director of Business Development at Arbutus Medical
  • ELLA JOTIE, Co-Founder and CEO of Barre Fitness
  • CHRISTINA MARCANO, CEO and Founder of Silver Icing Inc.
  • LAURA PATRICK, CEO and Founder of Kids Physio Group
  • ZAHRA RASUL, Founder, Owner and Director of Rasul Learning Group Inc.
  • MADELEINE SHAW, Co-Founder of Lunapads
  • MERIDETH SHUTTER, Founder and CEO of PROtect

• Environmental Sustainability
  • MEREDITH ADLER, Executive Director of Student Energy
  • ELAINE LEUNG, Elaine is Founder and Executive Director of Sea Smart
  • CONNIE LINDER, Founder and President of Intengine Enterprises

• Health & Wellness
  • JOELLE BRADLEY, Hospitalist promoting better advance care and end-of-life planning at Royal Columbian Hospital
  • THALIA FIELD, Stroke neurologist, Fellowship Program Director of the Vancouver Stroke Program at VGH
  • SHARON SELBY, Registered Clinical Counsellor and Founder of Toddler to Teen® Anxiety Solutions

• Non-Profit
  • CAROLINE ANDREWES, President and CEO of the Association of Consulting Engineering Companies – BC (ACEC-BC)
  • DEBBIE BELL, CEO and President of the Mothers Matter Centre (MMC)
  • MEBRAT BEYENE, Executive Director of WISH Drop-In Centre Society
  • BARBARA GRANTHAM, President and CEO of CARE Canada
  • GENESSA GREENING, President and CEO of BC Women’s Health Foundation (BCWHF)
  • SHACHI KURL, Executive Director of the Angus Reid Institute
  • ANITA HUBERMAN, CEO of the Surrey Board of Trade
  • KIM LOCKHART, Cultural Officer at the United Way of the Lower Mainland
  • ROSALIN MILES, Founder and Executive Director of Indigenous Physical Activity & Cultural Circle (IPACC)
  • NEELAM SAHOTA, CEO of DIVERSEcity Community Resources Society
  • TINA STREHLKE, CEO of Minerva BC
  • JILL TIPPING, President and CEO of the BC Tech Association
  • CHRISTINA WONG, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Employ to Empower

• Reconciliation in Action
  • MARION BULLER, Provincial Court Judge in Metro Vancouver, established the first Indigenous Court in BC
  • CHASTITY DAVIS, Principal and Lead Consultant of Chastity Davis Consulting
  • COURTNEY DAWS, Vice President, Governance and Policy at Castlemain Group
  • BRENDA MORRISON, Director of the Centre for Restorative Justice and Associate Professor at SFU
  • MARY POINT, First-ever Indigenous Relations Manager at Vancouver Airport Authority
  • JESKA SLATER, Indigenous Social Innovation Coordinator of Skookum Lab, City of Surrey
  • ANGELA STERRITT, Award-winning journalist with CBC Vancouver
  • LISA UPTON, Principal, North Vancouver School District (NVSD) 44

• Research, the Sciences & Technology
  • KAREN CHEUNG, Professor at the UBC Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Associate Director of the School of Biomedical Engineering and Director of its Graduate Program
  • JOY JOHNSON, SFU’s first woman Vice-President of Research and International
  • MEGAN LEVINGS, Professor in the Faculty of Medicine at UBC and a Researcher at BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute
  • CHRISTIN WIEDEMANN, President of Radical I/O, Board of Directors for Society for Canadian Women in Science and Technology, BC Chapter of Women in Communications and Technology

• Young Woman of Distinction
  • TAYLOR HUI, Founder of BeaYOUtiful Foundation
  • MICHELLE KWOK, Co-Founder and CEO of the Female Laboratory of Innovative Knowledge (FLIK)
  • GAGANJIT PHULKA, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Vitality for the Vulnerable

• Outstanding Workplace
  • BCAA
  • Deloitte
  • TELUS
  • Sage Software Canada
  • Unbounce

Vote – Connecting the Community

In addition to the award category in which they are nominated, all nominees are eligible to win the Connecting the Community Award – the only award category where the recipient is selected by public vote. Each nominee has chosen a YWCA cause that is important to her for a chance to donate $10,000, courtesy of Scotiabank, to the YWCA program of her choice.

Follow the YWCA of Vancouver on Facebook and Twitter for more information.

YWCA Metro Vancouver is dedicated to achieving women’s equality. Their mission is to touch lives and build better futures for women and their families through advocacy and integrated services that foster economic independence, wellness and equal opportunities.

Miss604 is a proud sponsor of the YWCA Women of Distinction Awards, since 2010.