BroadbandTV’s Shahrzad Rafati Among WCT Award Winners

Women in Communications and Technology announced this week the recipients of their prestigious Leadership Excellence Awards.

Twelve leaders and achievers in Canada’s digital economy are being recognized by WCT for their efforts to advance and inspire women across Canada.

Recognizing the success and leadership of women in Canada is a cornerstone of WCT’s efforts to engage, inspire and advance women to new heights in ICT.

“We want to inspire women across Canada to seek new opportunities in ICT sectors,” says Joanne Stanley, executive director of WCT. “Women are ready to lead, and diverse organizations are proving more successful every year. It’s time to get more women in the C-Suite.”

The awards will be presented at WCT’s much-celebrated Annual Awards Ceremony and Gala at Ottawa’s Fairmont Chateau Laurier on April 27.

The 2016 Annual Award recipients are:

  • Woman of the Year: Monique Mercier, Executive Vice-President, Corporate Affairs, Chief Legal Office and Corporate Secretary, TELUS
  • Company of the Year: Accenture
  • Paul Vallee, CEO and Founder, Pythian as Diversity Champion of the Year
  • Serda Evren, Vice President, North American Communications, MasterCard for Empowerment
  • Shahrzad Rafati, Founder & CEO, BroadbandTV for Entrepreneur of the Year
  • Julie Kumaria, Vice-President, Marketing and Content Distribution at Hollywood Suite for Mentor of the Year
  • Susan Ibach, Technology Evangelist, Windows, Microsoft Canada as Technology Innovator of the Year
  • Nanci MacLean, Vice-President, Bell Media Production, Bell Media as Trailblazer of the Year
  • Michelle Goldson, Director, Organizational Readiness, Cogeco Connexion for Innovator of the Year
  • Kate Arthur, Executive Director and Co-founder, Kids Code Jeunesse as Emerging Leader of the Year
  • Nilufer Erdebil, Founder and CEO, Spring2 Innovation, WCT Leader of the Year
  • Janice McDonald, President, The Beacon Agency, Chair’s Award of Distinction

The WCT Awards Judging Committee consists of Julie Cork, Executive Vice-President, ARTEX Environmental Corp, Robin Hildebrand, Manager, Human Resources & Regulatory Affairs, Golden West Broadcasting, Corinne Charette, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Spectrum, Information Technologies and Telecommunications, Grant J. McDonald, Partner, KPMG, and Joanne Stanley, Executive Director, WCT.