RBC Champions Awards

Recognizing women who have made a describable difference to the advancement of women in the workplace

CLARE BECKTON

BA LLB MPA, Executive in Residence, Centre for Research and Education on Women and Work CARLETON UNIVERSITY

BIO: Clare Beckton is a champion for the advancement of women’s leadership, sought-after speaker, mentor, coach, facilitator and author of Own It: Your Success,

Your Future, Your Life. She is a former professor of law, senior executive in the Canadian government including head of Status of Women Canada and founder of the Centre for Women in Politics and Public Leadership. Clare is co-author of A Force to Reckon With, Women Entrepreneurs and Risk and Everywhere, Everyday Innovating: Women Entrepreneurs and Innovation.

SUCCESS IS: Making a lasting difference for organizations and people that I work with no matter the role.

ADVICE I WOULD GIVE MY YOUNGER SELF Live life to the fullest everyday, embrace challenges and do not let others tell you what is right or wrong for you. Choose the work or career that inspires and fulfills you.

POWER SONG: “Roar” by Katy Perry.

CHIOMA IFEANYI-OKORO

Speaker and Lead Consultant

CHIOMAIO.COM

Founder

MY AFRICAN CORNER

BIO: Chioma Ifeanyi-Okoro is an award-winning speaker and strategy consultant focused on delivering business growth and personal brand-building strategies to students, professionals, women entrepreneurs, large enterprises and professional associations across the world. She is also the Founder of My African Corner, a platform dedicated to advancing its community of 3,000-plus black professionals and entrepreneurs across Canada, the United States and Europe through providing access to education, resources and networks in partnership with global brands. She currently serves on the CPA Emerging Leaders Advisory Board.

SUCCESS IS: #DoingitAfraid. It is stepping into the unknown, showing up even on the dark days. It is the journey, the missteps, the laughs, the high points and the low points. It is hitting rock bottom and having the courage to get back up, try again, win and then teach someone else how to do the same.

GENESA GREENING

President and

Chief Executive Officer BC WOMEN’S HEALTH FOUNDATION

BIO: Genesa Greening is committed to gender equity in healthcare. She is now a repeat Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 award winner. She serves as Chair of the women’s gynaecological cancer collaborative in B.C. and recently secured an unprecedented $10 million federal investment in cervical cancer research. This fall she was selected by the Governing Council of the CIHR to join its advisory board with the Institute of Gender and Health making her the first non-scientist/ professor ever appointed.

ON BEING DESCRIBED AS POWERFUL: I am powerful because I listen to my intuition, I am willing to be wrong, to take up space, and surround myself with differing opinions and people who are far more capable than I in their respective work.

POWER SONG: “I’m Coming Out” by Diana Ross.

JODI KOVITZ

Founder and

Chief Executive Officer #MOVETHEDIAL

BIO: Jodi Kovitz leads a global movement and organization founded to advance the participation and leadership of all women in tech. Featured in ForbesWomen, Jodi was recognized as an Adweek Brand Star in Toronto in 2018, a 2017 Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 award winner and one of Canada’s 25 Women of Influence in 2018. Jodi sits on several tech company advisory boards, the board of directors of Toronto Global and the SickKids’ Hospital Capital Campaign Cabinet raising $1.3 billion to transform paediatric health.

ADVICE I WOULD GIVE MY YOUNGER SELF: Dream it. Plan it. Go get it. Passion is Queen. Fear is a feeling that emanates from thoughts. You can change those thoughts. There are no failures, only lessons. Perfect is the enemy of good. This is a line I live by. It is what has given me the confidence to “try” things. To put ideas out that I am not sure are right, unapologetically. And then to improve and execute like mad.

SUCCESS IS: My family.

DANIÈLE HENKEL

Founder and

Chief Executive Officer DANIELE HENKEL ENTERPRISES

BIO: A true inspiration to entrepreneurs, Danièle Henkel has made her mark in Quebec and across the globe. Her best-selling autobiography has empowered several generations of strong, confident women. At the forefront of women’s entrepreneurship, she never hesitates to finance, support and mentor businesses she believes in, which she demonstrated during her appearances on the TV show “Dans l’oeil du Dragon” (“Dragons’ Den”). Today, Daniele Henkel Enterprises is one of the largest franchisors in the medical-esthetic business in Canada.

EARLY, LASTING LESSON: Through courage, resilience, respect of others and hard work, we can reach the goals that we set in order to be happy.

POWER SONG: “Un peu plus haut, un peu plus loin” by Ginette Reno.

VICTORIA LABILLOIS

President

WEJUSEG CONSTRUCTION INC.

BIO: Entrepreneur, speaker, mentor, go-to emcee, connector, coach, corporate director, leader, traveller. After many years in the Indigenous public service at the national, regional and local levels, Victoria LaBillois launched her own businesses advancing Indigenous workforce inclusion in civil construction projects across Mi’gmaq territory. She serves on numerous Indigenous boards and helps to shape federal policy by serving on the National Indigenous Economic Development Board. In 2017, Victoria was selected to be a member of the Governor General’s Canadian Leadership Conference.

EARLY, LASTING LESSON: When you start something, finish it.

ADVICE I WOULD GIVE MY YOUNGER SELF You won’t fail, you will learn instead. Just keep going, it’s so worth it.

POWER SONG: “Born This Way” by Lady Gaga.

DEBORAH SHANNON TRUDEAU

President INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S FORUM (IWF)

BIO: Deborah Shannon Trudeau’s life-long commitment to mentorship and women’s leadership is exemplified by her role, since 2018, as global president of the International Women’s Forum. IWF brings together 7,000 stellar women leaders worldwide to advance women’s leadership and champion equality. An innovator and entrepreneur, Deborah’s experience comes from her role as a senior corporate strategy, product, brand-development and licensing executive at privately held Trudeau Corporation. She played a pivotal role in the strategic transformation of the kitchenware company into a vertically integrated industry leader, expanding its international market share and profile.

ADVICE I WOULD GIVE MY YOUNGER SELF: Mind your ABCs: Be Audacious, Bold and Curious. Be kind and generous. Take time to reflect, especially important problems. Trust in your wisdom and worth.

SANDRA SUTTER

Manager Indigenous Partnerships TARPON ENERGY, A PTW COMPANY

BIO: Sandra Sutter, a Cree Métis woman from the Prairies, is the Aboriginal Partnerships Manager for PTW Energy Services and CGT Industrial and the Executive Director for the Circle for Aboriginal Relations Society. She concurrently enjoys a career as an award-winning recording artist. Sandra serves on numerous boards and committees across Canada. She is a passionate advocate for Indigenous peoples, helping to build bridges of understanding through her circles of influence in business and arts communities, supporting and promoting resiliency.

ON BEING DESCRIBED AS POWERFUL: I am humbled and honoured. As a young woman, I often gave my own power away and underestimated the powerful effect of gentle, consistent and authentic influence. As I become more intimately connected to my own purpose and to my own culture, I become more grounded to the power of women and the land. I am excited when my “groundedness” or “power” becomes a catalyst to drive others to recognize their own abilities.

SAMRA ZAFAR

Speaker, Author, Human Rights Advocate

SAMRA ZAFAR INC Director, Business Finance

BMO BANK OF MONTREAL

BIO: Award-winning speaker, and human rights advocate, Samra Zafar’s book A Good Wife, based on her personal story of escaping gender-based oppression to pursue her education, became an instant national bestseller and is to be adapted to a TV series. She serves as a governor for University of Toronto and a celebrated ambassador for Plan International. Her work has been featured extensively in global media. In 2019 she received a Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Award.

EARLY, LASTING LESSON: Courage is not the absence of fear. It is being afraid and doing it anyway.

ON BEING DESCRIBED AS POWERFUL: For many years, I was stripped of my power. To now be recognized with this award is extremely meaningful. It is further validation to keep believing in one’s dreams and goals, because the power to make them come true lies within us.

ADVICE I WOULD GIVE MY YOUNGER SELF: Iam proud of you.