Eight Western alumni have been named among Canada’s 100 Most Powerful Women in 2021. The women, leaders in the private, public and not-for profit sectors, are being recognized for empowering and championing others.
The annual list is compiled by the Women’s Executive Network (WXN), a national member-based organization celebrating the advancement of women at all levels, in all sectors and of all ages.
“When I look at this year’s winners, I see a group of radically authentic women who remind us all what it means to stand up with courage, for themselves and those around them,” said Sherri Stevens, owner and CEO of WXN. “By recognizing and celebrating the strength, fearlessness, resilience and heart these women demonstrate, we can inspire more of the same in generations to come.”
The winners will be honoured at a virtual awards program Thursday, Nov. 25, at the close of a two-day leadership summit.
The Western alumni recipients include:
Judy Fairburn, MBA’01
Co-founder and co-CEO, The51 Ventures Inc.
Category: Inclusion Vanguard, recognizing individuals, regardless of their gender identity, who have made a profound, thoughtful and measurable impact on diversity within their organization.
As co-CEO of The51 Ventures, Inc., Fairburn has a track record of building collaborative, cutting-edge business ventures. The51 created the Financial Feminist platform where investors and entrepreneurs come together for democratized access to women-led capital for women-led businesses. Fairburn is also a corporate board director, an award-winning Creative Destruction Lab mentor and a fourth-generation farm owner.
Mary Federau, MBA’87
Executive vice-president, Mattamy Asset Management; board chair, Peter Gilgan Foundation; board of directors, Sickkids Foundation
Category: Executive Leaders, recognizing women between the ages of 30 and 45, who have held successive leadership positions within their organizations and have a proven passion for learning and innovation.
Federau is the executive vice-president of Mattamy Asset Management and plays an integral role in the organization’s growth, investment and operation strategies. She is also chair of the Peter Gilgan Foundation, which has donated $300 million toward improving the lives of children, families and communities.
Lorin MacDonald, JD’09
Founder and CEO, HearVue Inc.; Founder and CEO, Lorin MacDonald Consultancy; Principal, MacDonald Human Rights Law
Category: Inclusion Vanguard, recognizing individuals, regardless of their gender identity, who have made a profound, thoughtful and measurable impact on diversity within their organization.
MacDonald is a human rights lawyer and consultant who demonstrates her leadership and passion for disability inclusion, drawing on her experience as a woman born with profound hearing loss. As a writer, trainer and professional speaker, she highlights the considerable challenges Canadians living with disabilities face, especially throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gillian Mandich, BA’07, MA’12, PhD’19
Founder, The International Happiness Institute of Health Research
Category: Professional, recognizing women who are professionals in practice and play a leadership role in their organizations
Mandich explores happiness and health as the founder of The International Happiness Institute of Health Science Research, and research associate at The World Database of Happiness, based out of Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands. She is also co-lead investigator of The Canadian Happiness at Work Study, part of the Meant2Prevent research team at SickKids and a top-rated keynote and TEDx speaker.
Zainul Mawji, MBA’01
Executive vice-president, Home Solutions, TELUS
Category: Executive Leaders
Mawji, is executive vice-president, Home Solutions at TELUS. Her expertise in scaling new technology has been foundational to how she champions her team to drive innovative experiences and solutions, focused on improving the lives of Canadians.
Sarah Saska, PhD’16
Co-founder and CEO, Feminuity
Category: Professional, recognizing women who are professionals in practice and play a leadership role in their organizations
Saska is the CEO of Feminuity, a global strategy firm partnering with startups through Fortune 500 companies to build diverse teams, equitable systems, and inclusive products and company cultures. Before Feminuity, she led pioneering doctoral research highlighting the need for ethical and equitable approaches to designing new technologies. She speaks internationally and is a TEDx speaker.
Allison Taylor, BSc’96
CEO, co-founder, portfolio manager, Invico Capital Corporation
Category: Entrepreneurs, recognizing women who own and operate thriving businesses.
As the CEO and co-founder of Invico, Taylor provides strategic oversight on all investment, compliance and accounting functions. Since 2005, she’s helped grow the firm’s assets under management to over $1.2 billion while continuing to set inclusivity standards industrywide, employing a diverse workforce that is majority female. In 2019, Taylor was named ‘Female Executive of the Year’ at the Wealth Professional Women in Wealth Management Awards.
Charlie Wall-Andrews, EMBA’17
Executive director, SOCAN Foundation; lecturer, University of Toronto; Trudeau Scholar and PhD in Management candidate, Ted Rogers School of Management
Category: Arts, Sports and Entertainment, recognizing women who have shaped Canadian thinking, communications and culture
Wall-Andrews is an entertainment industry executive whose work has helped countless artists turn their passion and talent into sustainable careers. She is on the board of directors of WorkInCulture, and the TELUS community investment board, and is the inaugural vice-chair of Music Canada’s advisory council.
