20 Women
This International Women’s Day 2020, I’d like to celebrate 20 women – some of whom are close friends and some of whom I admire from afar. These women have supported me through a particularly challenging time in my life and career or they inspired me through their words and their leadership. Take a fleeting moment to hear their stories. Or follow them and their work and be uplifted, just as I have. In alphabetical order:
- Alli Riese. Alli and I have spent more time apart in different cities, than living in the same city, yet that hasn’t impaired our friendship. She introduced me to the book Tempered Radicals last summer and I feel she truly understands the challenges we navigate as working parents, aspiring changemakers, and persistent leaders at this stage of our careers.
- Aubrey Blanche. Aubrey is a leading voice and champion of diversity and inclusion. @adblanche
- Autumn Peltier. Everyone should stop in their tracks and listen to Autumn Peltier, who has demonstrated so much leadership and courage. She advocates for universal water rights, especially for indigenous communities. @StephaniePelti3
- Carolyn Van. Carolyn is a cherished voice in tech in Canada. She recognizes that women of colour, including women of Asian descent, are underrepresented in tech in Canada and speaks up about it. @CarolynVan
- Carrianne Leung. Growing up I didn’t have a lot of exposure to Chinese Canadian authors, let alone authors that are women. Carrianne is the author of That Time I Loved You, a collection of short stories including one about two Chinese middle-schoolers who come of age in Scarborough, a neighbourhood of Toronto, Canada. @kayee13
- Crystal Lo. I loved working with Crystal. She is a wonderful real estate financier and impact investment professional.
- Danielle Fergusson. Danielle is a strong voice and advocate for livable cities. @dfergusson
- Danielle Graham. Danielle is amazing at organizing communities and creating partnerships. She’s a champion of diversity in tech. @daniellebgraham
- Jay Pitter. Jay is a welcomed voice in urbanism and placemaking. @Jay_Pitter
- Jennifer Li Chiang. Jennifer is a determined tech CEO and new parent. I love her creative persistence.
- Jessica Regan. Jessica perseveres while building an impact-focused technology venture that is helping to reduce CO2e and food waste.
- Karlyn Percil. Karlyn says emotions are data and I couldn’t agree more! @KarlynPercil
- Kieran Snyder. Thank goodness for Kieran and her venture, Textio. She knows words and language matter and has the data and augmented writing technology to prove it. @KieranSnyder
- Laurel Douglas. I admired Laurel’s leadership as CEO and have learned so much from working with her. @WECldouglas
- Lally Rementilla. Lally’s entrepreneurial leadership and career path from finance executive within technology companies to financier of IP-backed technology companies inspire me. Such a smart move! @lallyrementilla
- Ruchika Tulshyan. Ruchika is a diversity and inclusion expert and champion of women of colour. @rtulshyan
- Soraya Chemaly. I am reading pages from Soraya’s book, Rage Becomes Her. I feel so seen. I love her writing. @schemaly
- Susan Washington. Susan is a trusted friend and coach. I’m so lucky to have met her and benefited from her sage advice. @WashingtonGrp1
- Tania Lo. Tania filled a gap in the startup ecosystem, creating a network of contract CFOs and other C-Suite leaders to help companies achieve their goals without breaking the bank. Tania was also my biggest confidante during one of the hardest years of my life. @tania_lo
- Vanessa Lebourdais. Vanessa is entertaining school children into being Planet Protectors. As a CEO, she brings creativity to tackling climate change.
And a bonus: My mom is understated, but when she speaks up it’s with words of support, trust, and encouragement. I have never heard her boast nor draw attention to herself. She took risks. She took care of her daughters. She is strong. She is courageous. I don’t think she lived to her full potential. I can only hope that I make her proud.