Women Creating a More Sustainable World

An International Women's Week hybrid event hosted by Invest Ottawa and IBM together with IWW 2023's Title Sponsor, BDC Capital's Thrive Venture Fund

If you're a current or aspiring leader who aims to positively impact our world, economically, socially or environmentally, this event is for you.

Join us for inspiration and actionable insight from true role models who translate vision into action and impact locally, nationally and globally. Our speakers are leading powerful initiatives, companies and investments that are making a difference.

They are accomplished and visionary investors, industry leaders and entrepreneurs who directly support the UN sustainability goals and the objectives that underpin International Women's Week.

Together, we will:

• Address three key spheres of sustainability: innovation, investment and entrepreneurship.
• Provide tangible examples, success stories, and lessons learned
• Deliver takeaways and recommendations you can put to work in support of a cleaner, greener, more equitable and sustainable economy, society and planet.

We strive to help catalyze individual, organizational and community leadership, action and impact. From the investments, ESG policy, the products and services we develop, commercialize, and procure, the companies, cities, and communities we build, and how we engage with the world.

Join us in person at Bayview Yards to enjoy light refreshments, networking and live discussion, or online from any location with WiFi via our Hopin event platform.

8:00 AM: Registration and Networking

Folks with in-person tickets are welcome to join fellow attendees, speakers, allies and women leaders at Bayview Yards for our morning networking session. Light refreshments will be served.

9:00 AM: Welcome Remarks

• Shav Hasfal-McIntosh, Director of DE&I, Wealthsimple; Chair of the Women Founders and Owners Sub-Committee of the Board, Invest Ottawa; Co-MC
• Sonya Shorey, Vice President, Strategy, Marketing and Communications, Invest Ottawa; World Economic Forum Fellow; Co-MC
• Michael Tremblay, President and CEO, Invest Ottawa

9:05 AM: Beautiful Land Acknowledgment Ceremony delivered by Monique Manatch, Knowledge Keeper, member of the Algonquins of Barriere Lake, and Executive Director of the Indigenous Culture and Media Innovations Algonquin

9:10 AM: Driving Change Panel Discussion: Canada’s Future Enabling Sustainability

As recently announced, The Government of Canada is committed to greening its operations and supporting Canada’s transition to a cleaner economy. This has been exemplified by the recently announced new initiatives to reach Canada’s Net-Zero commitments outlined in new standards on greenhouse gas emissions, embodied carbon in construction, as well as additions to the Net Zero Challenge. This session will bring together women leaders from both IBM and the government who are driving sustainability initiatives and implementing sustainability projects and recommendations to share their learnings and discuss the new direction and what it means to all Canadians.

• Moderator: Aneeta Bains, Managing Partner, Canadian Federal Public Service, IBM (Ottawa)
• Zlata Huddleston, Partner Sustainability Practice Lead (Toronto)
• Mufleha Mughal, Associate Partner Public Sector (Ottawa)

9:55 AM: Investment Panel Discussion: The Power of Impact Investing

• Introductory Remarks by Jennifer Francis, Chair of the Capital Angel Network, Co-Founder of SheBoot and Director of the Invest Ottawa Board
• Moderator: Dayo Kefentse, Content Strategist, Globe Content Studio
• Lise Birikundavyi, Co-Founder, BKR Capital, the first black-led VC fund in Canada (Toronto)
• Jill Earthy, President and CEO, InBC (Vancouver)
• Zoë Kolbuc, Vice President, Ecosystems, Sustainable Development Technology Canada (Calgary)
• Susan Rohac, Managing Partner, Climate Tech Fund, BDC (Ottawa)
• Ilse Treurnicht, Managing Partner, TwinRiver Capital (Toronto)

10:40 AM: Networking Break

11:00 AM: Entrepreneur Panel Discussion: Building a Triple Bottom Line for People, Profit and Our Planet

• Introductory remarks from Nick Quain, Vice President, Venture Development, Invest Ottawa
• Moderator: Jane Kearns, Partner, Evok Innovations (Toronto)
• Macarena Cataldo-Hernandez, Co-founder & CEO of Viridis Research Inc., 2022 Second Place SheBoot Winner (Vancouver)
• Amanda Hall, CEO, Summit Nanotech (Calgary)
• Geoffrey MacKay, Chief Creative Officer, Co-Founder; The Aggressive Good, Inc. (Ottawa)
• Heather Ward, Co-Founder & President, Hyperion Global Energy (Ottawa)
• Victoria Xu, Co-Founder & CEO, CleanInnoGen Energy Solutions (Ottawa)

11:45 AM: Panel Discussion: Creating a Competitive ESG Advantage

• Moderator: Krista Jones, Senior VP of Venture Services, MaRS Discovery District; Founder of the Momentum Program (Toronto)
• Alison Nankivell, Senior Vice President, Funds and Global Scaling at BDC Capital
• Richa Sahay, VP of Sustainable Business Consulting, Jones Lang LaSalle; former Associate Director, First Movers Coalition, World Economic Forum, Advisor in the Climate Action Team, Executive Office of the UN Secretary-General (NYC)

12:25 PM: Concluding Remarks and Land Acknowledgement Ceremony

12:30 PM: Lunch and Networking

1:30 PM: Event Concludes

#IWW2023 #WeMeanBusiness

If you are joining us in person we are delighted to share the following information on transportation to our innovation hub and support available upon your arrival

• Cycling: Located beside the Ottawa River Pathway and many other routes, Bayview Yards is easily accessible via bicycle. We offer ample bike racks at the front and back of our building, throughout all seasons.
• Transit: Bayview Yards is 600m away from Bayview Station, which serves multiple routes. It is also the O-Train stop.
• Driving: There are 50 spaces along Bayview Station Road offering 2HR free parking and 27 spaces along Stonehurst and Burnside offering 1HR free parking.
• Parking: Complimentary parking is available onsite.
• Inclusive & Accessible: Should you have any specific mobility requirements, please contact Audrey Willsey at [email protected]. Our team will be pleased to work with you to make all the arrangements required for a great experience.

By registering for this event, you accept that:

• You may be photographed or video recorded as we capture special moments during this event and share memories with our community via our website and social media
• You will receive event-related emails, as well as an invitation to subscribe to our mailing list

Thank you to our Event Sponsor

We proudly host Women Creating a More Sustainable World in partnership with IBM. Sincere thanks goes to the entire IBM team for your generous support and commitment to our shared goals and community.

Thank You to our IWW 2023 Title Sponsor

We are also incredibly grateful to the BDC Capital's Thrive Venture Fund for their generous support as our title sponsor for IWW 2023.

Bayview Yards is located on the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishnaabeg People. We are grateful to have the opportunity to be present in this territory and come together as a community.

Host or Publisher Invest Ottawa