Future Leaders Awards
Recognizing women under the age of 30 who have distinguished themselves early in their careers
SHEREEN ANIS CEO KID KODER’Z CITY INC.
BIO: A six-time award-winning serial entrepreneur determined to empower more young women to choose a career in technology, Shereen Anis founded Kid Koder’z City, a tech-ed summer camp and afterschool enrichment program, as well as tWEam Initiatives Inc, Netwurxx and TutorPass. She’s been a speaker at TEDx UET Pakistan. Anis was recognized by Governor General David Johnston with the Caring Canadian Award and is a part of the 2016 Queen’s Young Leaders program.
EARLY AND LASTING LESSONS: “Refusing to fit in and maintaining my own unique identity while being the weird one has been my most prized lesson.” WHO I’D TRADE PLACES WITH FOR JUST ONE DAY: “Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo. Her perseverance, tenacity and resilience in leading an arguably failing company is legendary. What makes her even more exceptional is her ability to communicate personally, despite the toughest of times. This is how I see strong, powerful women leading across all industries.”
VÉRONIQUE JACQUES Combat Engineer Officer CANADIAN ARMED FORCES
BIO: How do you create a life and build a career that will give you the opportunity to have a positive impact on the world stage? If you’re Véronique Jacques, you become a civil engineer and join the Canadian Armed Forces. Jacques is part of the Canadian contingent on Operation SOPRANO as part of the United Nations mission in the republic of South Sudan and, in July 2016, she became adjutant officer for the commander of base construction engineering in the St-Jean-surRichelieu region. This year, she won the Woman of Distinction Award from the Montréal Y Foundation. EARLY AND LASTING LESSONS: “Do not postpone!”
ON BEING DESCRIBED AS POWERFUL: “I feel grateful to be recognized.” ON HOW TO RAISE YOUR VOICE: “Believe in yourself and keep going.” WHO I’D TRADE PLACES WITH FOR JUST ONE DAY: “The governor general. I would love to learn more about his work and represent Canada.”
AMÉLIE T. GOUIN Associate BORDEN LADNER GERVAIS LLP
BIO: Amélie T. Gouin was admitted to the Barreau du Quebec in 2012. Since joining Borden Ladner Gervais, she has worked in international commercial arbitration and is interested in class actions, real estate law, shareholders’ recourses and fraud cases. She was French executive editor of the McGill Law Journal and for many years has been involved in the activities of the Young Chamber of Commerce of Montreal, where she serves on the board.
EARLY AND LASTING LESSONS: “Stay calm and carry on. You always find the time to get where you want to be.”
ON BEING DESCRIBED AS POWERFUL: “I just do my best to achieve what I want and to be satisfied by who I am and what I do.”
ON HOW TO RAISE YOUR VOICE: “I ‘raise my voice’ by bringing constructive and concrete solutions to the table and by making sure that my actions talk for themselves.”
AMANDA KHAN Medical Student THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO, MD/PHD PROGRAM
BIO: While completing her masters of science in medical biophysics, Amanda Khan designed and engineered the world’s first brain ventricle MRI phantom, a device that aids in the diagnosis and management of Alzheimer’s disease. Khan is now at the University of Toronto’s world-renowned MD/PhD program, where she was elected the program’s first female president and as part of her doctoral research is developing a laparoscopic tool that automatically prevents surgeons from exerting too much force on delicate body tissues. She was awarded the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship for this research.
EARLY AND LASTING LESSONS: “That you alone are on your own path in life and not to compare yourself to others.” WHAT IT WILL TAKE TO INCREASE GENDER EQUALITY IN MY INDUSTRY: “Advertise science and engineering more towards women early, in high school and middle school.”
SARAH JACOBS BARRS Director, Events KLICK INC.
BIO: Sarah Jacobs Barrs has been in the event industry since 2007, specializing in large-scale fundraising events across North America and helping to raise millions of dollars for organizations such as Mount Sinai Hospital and SickKids. Since joining Klick in early 2015, she has led the execution of numerous event concepts that have changed the face of health industry events, including the award-winning MUSE and Klick Ideas Exchange.
ON HOW TO RAISE YOUR VOICE: “Once you’ve established your credibility in your craft, it’s easy to get people to listen, especially if you listen to them, too. Listening is an underrated aspect of having your voice heard.” WHO I’D TRADE PLACES WITH FOR JUST ONE DAY: “Angela Ahrendts, the former CEO of Burberry and now the only female senior vice-president at the world’s biggest tech giant, Apple. She’s revolutionizing what people already believe to be revolutionary and she’s succeeding in style.”
BAILEY PARNELL Founder & CEO SKILLSCAMP
BIO: Bailey Parnell is an award-winning digital marketer and businesswoman with a passion and talent for helping people and brands tell their stories better. She recently founded SkillsCamp, which helps people and businesses develop the soft skills needed for professional success. Parnell also works in digital marketing at Ryerson University.
EARLY AND LASTING LESSONS: “Confidence is everything. Almost all soft skills we teach come back to confidence. Everyone has a different path to finding or maintaining it, but it’s critical to find how you can do that for yourself.” WHAT IT WILL TAKE TO INCREASE GENDER EQUAL
ITY IN MY INDUSTRY: “We need more leaders to follow in the footsteps of Glen Mazzara, a producer who realized women weren’t speaking up in his writer’s room and were being cut off when they did. He instituted a ‘no-interruptions rule’ that significantly changed the dynamic. We have to be intentionally inclusive, whether that’s specifically asking quiet individuals what they think or instituting equitypromoting policies.”