WIL
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We had the great pleasure in meeting Beverly Wilks, who writes a blog called Bacon & Heels, aimed at empowering women to understand & take control of their money.
OPEN
HOUSE
We are looking to build our new Saskatchewan Chapter with a dynamic group of volunteers that are interested in being part of the Chapter.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
We have several volunteer opportunities available across the country. If you are interested in becoming an volunteer please email us.
Video Blog
FEATURED CAREERS
DIVISION DIRECTOR
Several Regions
Lead, coach and grow your practice in an entrepreneurial environment where you define your success.
SENIOR MANAGER
Toronto
Responsible for planning, directing, managing, staffing and controlling the work activities...
SENIOR GO-TO-MARKET MANAGER
Responsible for bringing Shopify and Shopify Plus platform products to market
EMPLOYER
At IBM, work is more than a job—it's a calling. To build. To design. To code. To consult. To think along with clients and sell. To make markets. To invent. To collaborate.
CAREER POSTING
PROJECT DELIVERY PRACTICE MANAGER
In this role you will have the unique opportunity to build lead and grow a team of over 100 diverse Project Management Professionals
EMPLOYER
CGI JOINS WIL AS A NATIONAL PARTNER
A Canadian company founded in 1976, CGI is among the largest IT and business consulting services firms in the world with hundreds of locations across the globe.
Over 52,000+ Women participants in our Programs
BUILDING A COMMUNITY OF LEADERSHIP
Founded in 2001, Women In Leadership Foundation (WIL) delivers inspirational programs that bring women together to collaborate in the development of their leadership skills & creates positive change in the future of women’s leadership.
The Women in Leadership Foundation acknowledges that our head office operations is located within the traditional and unceded territory of the Okanagan Syilx people. We recognize, honour and respect the presence of all Indigenous people, past, present and future.
VISION
Advancing women in leadership while celebrating the contributions women make in the private and publice sector.
VALUES
Celebration - We are a dynamic group of people passionate about inspiring women to be their best and celebrating their unique talents and successes.
Relevant - We are dedicated to showcasing authentic female role models in a wide variety of sectors.
Collaborative - We bring individuals, companies and organizations together to create positive change.
Mentorship - We believe that we all can learn from, inspire and encourage each other through all stages of our lives.
NATIONAL PARTNERS
WIL TEAM
Susie has been instrumental in creating a sustainable Chapter that continues to surprise us with their achievements. Susie works as a Technical Advisor at Bruce Power. Email
MAYA KANIGAN
Founder & President
Maya Kanigan, a UVIC commerce grad following her life’s passion she founded WIL at the age of 28. For Maya, WIL was created because she saw more potential in the women around her then they saw in themselves. She believed that featuring female role models and women’s success stories would inspire others and make a difference in the lives of the next generation. Email
Susie has been instrumental in creating a sustainable Chapter that continues to surprise us with their achievements. Susie works as a Technical Advisor at Bruce Power. Email
DAVID MOSSMAN
Program Director
David has volunteered and worked for WIL from the beginning. He is dedicated to the advancement of women and has run many of WIL's labor market projects. He has an extensive tech and philanthropic background. Email
Susie has been instrumental in creating a sustainable Chapter that continues to surprise us with their achievements. Susie works as a Technical Advisor at Bruce Power. Email
BINA KAMATH
Calgary Chapter
Executive Director
Bina is the Calgary Executive Director for Women in Leadership Foundation and a member of the Diversity Board for KNOW Tribe Corporate (a US based for-profit organization). She is passionate about empowering women to achieve personal and professional growth and is currently working on developing a mentorship program in an effort to reach remote rural communities. Email
Susie has been instrumental in creating a sustainable Chapter that continues to surprise us with their achievements. Susie works as a Technical Advisor at Bruce Power. Email
LINDA MOTA
Montreal Chapter Chair
Linda Mota, Montreal Chapter Chair, is a Senior HR Consultant and Founder of Topanga HR who is passionate about helping clients implement HR strategies and structure to help grow their business successfully. Linda is also certified Leadership Coach, coaching women in leadership, executives and high-potential employees on achieving objectives, clarifying goals and overcoming challenges to unlock their potential.
Susie has been instrumental in creating a sustainable Chapter that continues to surprise us with their achievements. Susie works as a Technical Advisor at Bruce Power. Email
FARHANA MAHBUB
Toronto Chapter
Chapter Chair
Farhana Mahbub, Toronto Chapter Board Chair is a Director at RBC Capital Markets, is a delivery-oriented professional who is passionate about transformational change and developing world-class implementation capabilities. Email
Susie has been instrumental in creating a sustainable Chapter that continues to surprise us with their achievements. Susie works as a Technical Advisor at Bruce Power. Email
SUSIE HO
Ottawa Chapter
Chair
Susie has been instrumental in creating a sustainable Chapter that continues to surprise us with their achievements. Susie works as a Technical Advisor at Bruce Power. Email
Susie has been instrumental in creating a sustainable Chapter that continues to surprise us with their achievements. Susie works as a Technical Advisor at Bruce Power. Email
JULIE POTTER
Victoria Chapter
Co-Chair
Julie specializes in public engagement and strategic communications. She has a passion for creating community and transformative change. Email
Susie has been instrumental in creating a sustainable Chapter that continues to surprise us with their achievements. Susie works as a Technical Advisor at Bruce Power. Email
HEATHER van MUNSTER
Victoria Chapter
Co-Chair
Heather is a compassionate and empathetic leader with a passion for people, projects, and change.
She is a certified PMP with a proven track record for seamlessly orchestrating complex projects with a natural ability to facilitate, coordinate and synergize teams.. Email
Susie has been instrumental in creating a sustainable Chapter that continues to surprise us with their achievements. Susie works as a Technical Advisor at Bruce Power. Email
MAUREEN MCKINNON
Vancouver Chapter
Co-Chair
Maureen is delightful to work with and brings a great leadership background to the Vancouver Chapter. As a Career Strategist she helps people solve challenges at work to assist and empower talented executives and professionals to take charge of and successfully advance their careers. Email
Susie has been instrumental in creating a sustainable Chapter that continues to surprise us with their achievements. Susie works as a Technical Advisor at Bruce Power. Email
KELLY WOIDA
Vancouver Chapter
Co-Chair
Kelly brings her positive leadership style to the Vancouver Chapter and as Co-Chair she has helped the team have success in all its programming. Kelly is a Project Manager at Sonepar Canada managing major projects. Email
Susie has been instrumental in creating a sustainable Chapter that continues to surprise us with their achievements. Susie works as a Technical Advisor at Bruce Power. Email
DENISE YOUNG
Okanagan Chapter Co-Chair
Denise brings her strong leadership, marketing and facilitating background to help establish the first Kelowna Chapter. Her warm and inclusive personality makes her shine. Email
Susie has been instrumental in creating a sustainable Chapter that continues to surprise us with their achievements. Susie works as a Technical Advisor at Bruce Power. Email
NICA GRAZIOTTO
Okanagan Chapter Co-Chair
Nica Graziotto is an accomplished sales manager with expertise in new business development, product management, sales and marketing. Nica is passionate in developing relationships and building strong partnerships based on trust. Email
Susie has been instrumental in creating a sustainable Chapter that continues to surprise us with their achievements. Susie works as a Technical Advisor at Bruce Power. Email
HEATHER THOMSON
Alberta Chapter Chair
Heather is the Chair for the WIL - Alberta Chapter. She has worked in education for over 20 years and has been in a leadership role for the past 7 years. She is also a certified executive coach, has her ACC designation from the International Coaching Federation, and is completing her certification in Mental Fitness. Heather has a passion for supporting new and aspiring leaders through leadership coaching as they begin their leadership journey. Email
Susie has been instrumental in creating a sustainable Chapter that continues to surprise us with their achievements. Susie works as a Technical Advisor at Bruce Power. Email
ELIZABETH WILLIAMS
Advisory Board
Recruitment & Employers
Liz is a long supporter of WIL and is a Senior Leader in Talent Acquisition. Champion of change, passionate in creating effective talent acquisition teams and dedicated to ensuring full utilization of human resources in a cost-effective manner. Profile
Susie has been instrumental in creating a sustainable Chapter that continues to surprise us with their achievements. Susie works as a Technical Advisor at Bruce Power. Email
DIMAH KHALILI
Advisory Board
National Strategy
An MBA Strategic Planning and Integrated Communications leader with over 15 years of experience helping organizations to bring their brands and missions to life, through compelling stories and well-developed strategies using creativity, innovation, design thinking and project management skills. Profile
Susie has been instrumental in creating a sustainable Chapter that continues to surprise us with their achievements. Susie works as a Technical Advisor at Bruce Power. Email
LORNA HOWIESON
Advisory Board
Ambassador
Lorna is the Senior Director, Global Facilities and Administration at IMAX. She has a MBA with progressive experience in project management, administration, human resources, facilities, and finance. Email
Susie has been instrumental in creating a sustainable Chapter that continues to surprise us with their achievements. Susie works as a Technical Advisor at Bruce Power. Email
JANICE DETTA COTTI
Ambassador
Past Vice Chair - Board of Directors
Janice has been a key leader at WIL and on the Board of Directors since 2013. Janice provides valuable insight into managing the organization and a great sense of humour. Janice's company "Board Flight Paths" helps Executives and companies with board of director development. Email
HISTORY
WIL was formed in 2001, by Maya Kanigan in Victoria, BC. Maya was a recent UVIC Commerce Grad and was working on a BC Govt. Labor Market Project in Tech and noticed there were very few women speaking at major industry conferences. Doing some research she realizes the lack of women in leadership roles across most sectors.
Maya started the Foundation with a mandate to showcase role models and help more women become leaders. The first program was a University Train Tour sponsored by VIA Rail that visited 22 Universities from coast to coast. The program featured a career forum with women leaders speaking and employers recruiting women.
The next few years WIL ran Women Career Forums across Canada and started doing Labour Market Projects (LMP's) for all 3 levels of Govt. with emphasis on attraction/ retention of women in non-traditional sectors.
In the late 2000's WIL piloted a Mentorship program, ran several large Indigenous Women Leaders Forums, fund raising Galas (always great fun) and more LMP's.
In 2013 WIL created Chapters to help support programs in those major centres. Calgary was one of the first Chapters and they introduced the North American Women in Energy Forum. In 2016 we started holding Tech Forums at all the Chapters. Currently there are 6 Chapter cities and our mentorship program has seen nearly 2000 women graduates!
WIL Financials
WIL has contributed over $5million toward Programs on Women's Leadership Development. We engage both the private & public sector for support. WIL has run 10 Labor Market Projects across Canada with the financial support of the Provincial and Federal Governments.