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From Crisis to Catalyst: Resilience in Action

Explorer Hotel

March 7th and 8th, 2024

Click here for the full program.

Email admin@ykchamber.com to get your tickets. 

$250 + GST for members

$350 + GST for non-members

 

We will be presenting our award for Trailblazers Women in Business 2023 sponsored by the City of Yellowknife on March 8th.

 

To see our list of nominees, visit:

Trailblazers Women in Business Award 2023 - Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce (ykchamber.com)

Catriona Le May Doan
Olympic Champion Speed Skater | Olympic Broadcaster

Catriona Le May Doan was the fastest woman on ice, and the first Canadian to defend a gold medal at any Olympic games. Having held the world record in the 500 metre speed skating event for ten years, Catriona is a world champion athlete and an inspiration to every crowd she addresses. At ease speaking in both official languages, Catriona motivates audiences to dream bigger and reach farther than they ever thought possible.

Catriona’s accomplishments have earned her the Lou Marsh Award as Canada's Athlete of the Year (2002) and she is a three-time recipient of the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award for Canadian Female Athlete of the Year. She has received three Honorary Degrees from the University of Calgary, the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Regina; was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame and the Canadian Olympic Committee's Sports Hall of Fame; and was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada.

In 2016, Catriona joined Sport Calgary as the new Senior Director of Community Engagement and Marketing. In her role, Catriona is a champion of amateur sport in Calgary, building connections with over 400 community sport organizations, and helping support and advocate for 400,000 active amateur athletes.

Catriona is actively involved in community and charity associations including The Saskatoon Foundation Catriona Le May Doan Endowment for Children and Youth. She is a spokesperson for the SpinaBifida and Hydrocephalus Association of Canada, and involved with Special Olympics Canada. She was on the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Organizing Committee Board and is a board member of the Canadian Sport Institute Calgary and member of the Canada Games Council. At the 2018 Olympic Winter Games, Catriona was a Lead Athlete Mentor for Team Canada.

In the media, Catriona has covered five Olympic Games. She co-hosted CBC’s primetime show Countdown to Beijing; joined the CTV Olympic broadcast team for the Vancouver 2010 Games, which earned her a Gemini Award for Best Sports Analyst; and for the London 2012 Olympic Games, Catriona was co-host of the Olympic Morning Show.

Julie Angus
Explorer | Scientist | Bestselling Author

 

Julie Angus is a leading adventurer, bestselling author, scientist, and entrepreneur. She was awarded National Geographic’s “Adventurer of the Year” award when she became the first woman to row across the Atlantic Ocean from mainland to mainland. She has also cycled across continents, rowed thousands of kilometers of coastlines and rivers, and organized an expedition that sailed the ancient Phoenician trading routes. Angus draws on lessons learned in extreme environments to motivate and inspire audiences to reach their goals and overcome challenges.

Angus is the author of three books and has produced several documentaries. A serial entrepreneur, she is currently the CEO and co-founder of Open Ocean Robotics, a marine drone company. Prior to this, she had a successful career in venture capital, business development, and technology transfer.

Named as one of North America’s leading adventurers by Explore magazine and one of Canada’s Greatest Women Explorers by Canadian Geographic, Angus has a graduate degree in microbiology. She is a fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographic Society and recipient of numerous awards, including the University of Victoria Distinguished Alumni Award and McMaster University Young Alumni Award.

Pam August
Former Director, Culture Activation at WestJet

Visionary, purpose-driven leaders recognize that there is untapped potential in their organizations. When this potential is left unrealized, it can lead to misalignment between an organization’s brand promise (external experience) and culture (internal experience). Through her high-energy keynotes, Pam August helps leaders and their teams unlock this potential to see transformational results. She equips audiences with practical strategies to help activate potential, at home and work, for greater performance and impact.

August was the Director, Culture Activation at WestJet, where for 14 years she was a fierce champion and developer of people and culture as a key enabler of strategic success. Today, she is a trusted partner for high-performance organizations around the world through her consulting firm, Connecting Potential.

With a background in leading culture development and experience working with diverse organizations, August knows what it takes to uncover, align, and activate the best of what organizations already are and what they want to develop into. She brings deep insight and appreciation for what it takes to influence change and the energy and discipline it takes to see it through.

August is a sought-after guide, facilitator, coach, and co-creator with a strong foundation of lifelong learning. She has a Bachelor of Adult Education, a Master of Arts in Leadership, and certification as an Organization and Relationships Systems (ORSC) and Brain-Based Coach.

 

Sheila Watt-Cloutier
Environmental, Cultural, and Human Rights Advocate

Nobel Peace Prize nominee Sheila Watt-Cloutier is in the business of transforming public opinion into public policy. Experienced in working with global decision-makers for more than a decade, Watt-Cloutier offers a new model for 21st century leadership. She speaks with passion and urgency on the issues of today — the environment, the economy, foreign policy, global health, and sustainability — not as separate concerns, but as a deeply interconnected whole. At a time when people are seeking solutions, direction, and a sense of hope, this global leader provides a big picture of where we are and where we're headed.

In 2007, Watt-Cloutier was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for her advocacy work in showing the impact of global climate change on human rights — especially in the Arctic, where it is felt more immediately, and more dramatically, than anywhere else in the world. Watt-Cloutier is an Officer of the Order of Canada, and the recipient of the Aboriginal Achievement Award, the UN Champion of the Earth Award, the Norwegian Sophie Prize, the Jack P. Blaney award for Dialogue, and the Right Livelihood Award, which is widely considered the "Nobel Alternative".

From 1995-2002, Watt-Cloutier was elected the Canadian President of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC). She was later elected in 2002 to become the International Chair of the ICC, representing the 155,000 Inuit from Canada, Greenland, Alaska, and Russia — she held this post until 2006.

Widely recognized for her influential work, Watt-Cloutier gave a TEDx Talk in 2016 titled “Human Trauma and Climate Trauma as One”. She is also the author of the memoir, The Right to Be Cold: One Woman's Story of Protecting Her Culture, the Arctic and the Whole Planet, which was nominated for the 2016 BC National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction and the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing. In 2017, the book was shortlisted for CBC Canada Reads, defended by Chantal Kreviazuk. Watt-Cloutier was also shortlisted for the Kobo Emerging Writer Prize.

 

We thank our event sponsors:

 

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We'd like to recognize the generous contributions of our partners:
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