The Women in Leadership Conference brings together professional women to talk about the challenges that they face, exchange views, and learn from peers and leaders.

The event provides an invaluable opportunity to listen to industry leaders as they share best practices and insights to help women in leadership roles become more effective leaders and be on top of their game.

Join us at this in-person event. Learn, connect & reconnect, and have fun!

CARLY EDMUNDSON (Keynote Speaker)
President & CEO
CentrePort Canada Inc.

Excellence: Go beyond getting the Gold Star

Excellence means greatness – the very best. But what does excellence mean to you, and why does it matter? As a reformed overachiever, Carly Edmundson will share what she has learned so far about channelling her energy on impactful excellence (instead of chasing the proverbial ‘gold star’!). This session will explore new approaches to help you commit to excellence in a way that is authentic and meaningful for you.

• • Redefining: The difference between excellence and perfection and how to determine which results matter the most.
• • Understanding: Impactful excellence and why it matters.
• • Building:  Define an intentional path for success and inspire others to find their impactful excellence.

CHRISTINE WATSON
Vice-President, Academic
Red River College Polytechnic

Creative tools for leaders: A treasure hunt

“So this, I believe, is the central question upon which all creative living hinges: Do you have the courage to bring forth the treasures that are hidden within you?” ― Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear. As leaders, one of our roles is to understand the potential of our own unique creativity and nurture that same potential in others. How can you access the beautiful treasures of your own creativity to generate ideas and build teams in new ways? This session will provide hands-on exercises as we go on a treasure hunt together to discover your creative gifts and introduce ways that you can support creative thinking with your teams, including:

• • The beautiful constraint: Seeing limitations as sources of creativity
• • The throne of creative agony: How to recognize it and manage it
• • The “what if” approach: Creative problem-solving for leaders

LAURA SAWARD
Executive Vice President Health & Medical
Adva Diagnostics. Inc.

Effective leadership of innovative strategy

Innovation has become a buzz word but what value does it drive for an organization? Too often viewed as an exercise for employee engagement and fun, the real value is being missed. During this time of technological and societal transformation, innovation can be an important strategic investment to strengthen any company for current challenges and future competitive positions. After leading the enterprise innovation strategy for several years, Laura Sward will share some learnings.

• • Integrating the innovation strategy into the corporate growth strategy
• • Key stakeholders and champions for innovation
• • Successful approaches to embed innovation skills in our organization

JEFF GILBERT
Assistant Auditor General, Investigations & Strategic Projects
Office of the Auditor General Manitoba

Leadership in audit

This presentation will include details of a major fraud. It will cover some of the key players, and the courage of one person to stand up for what is right, even when challenging. The goal is to inspire individuals and learn from this real-life story. 

• • Courage and leadership
• • Standing up for what is right
• • Treatment of whistleblowers

MICHELLE DUPUIS
VP, Strategy and Governance
Access Credit Union Limited

The importance of resilience

In today’s fast-paced society, we are constantly bombarded with enduring and emerging issues. Changes are accelerating, societal ties are weakening, personal and professional pressures are increasing, and artificial intelligence and robot workers have already begun to reshape the way we work, live, connect, and act. This presentation will explore:

• • What it means to be resilient
• • What contributes to resiliency, and why it is so important
• • What can be done to strengthen resilience

NICOLE STEWART
SVP, People & Culture
Norima Consulting

Authentic leadership: Be a leader that people will follow

It is neither your title nor your role description that inspires people to follow you; it is you that they will choose to follow. To be worthy of followers, we must be truthful, ethical, and principled. Nicole Stewart would argue one couldn’t be these things without being authentically themselves.

• • Start with self-awareness
• • Build credibility
• • Inspire others

JEN BJARNARSON
Chief Operating Officer
Johnston Group Inc.

Finding your voice as a leader

“It took me quite a long time to develop a voice, and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent.” – Former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. Your voice as a leader is an indication of your character – e.g. accountability, ethical, trustworthiness. By developing your voice, you focus your attention on the qualities that make you authentic. Using your voice will help build the confidence to succeed.

• • Tips on finding your voice as a leader
• • Using your voice as a leader
• • Improving your voice as a leader

TERRYL WALLER
Vice President, Team Development
Princess Auto

Connecting across generations for success

Most workplaces in 2024 have teams that are comprised of people spanning many different generations. In order to be successful leaders, it’s important that we are deliberate in our strategies to connect with the different Generations we have working side by side. This session will focus on:

• • How to attract talent from different generations to join your workforce
• • Strategies for effective leadership of multi-generational teams
• • Engagement: do we connect differently across age groups?

BEV STUART
Vice President, Business and Organizational Development
Manitoba Institute of Trades and Technology

Morning Chair

Bev Stuart is the Vice President, Business and Organizational Development at the Manitoba Institute of Trades and Technology (MITT). She has over 30 years of experience in organizational leadership, business development and innovation, career and workforce development, and high-performance team building and engagement. Her experience includes working in the public, private, and non-profit sectors designing, developing, and implementing initiatives and strategies for developing Manitoba’s workforce and strengthening the economy.

Bev has volunteered on numerous provincial and national boards and committees and is currently Vice Chair for the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce and Canadian Career Development Foundation boards of directors.

She is the proud recipient of the 2021 Film Training Manitoba Award of Recognition, the 2018 Bill Schulz Lifetime Achievement Award in Career Development, and the 2016 Career Trek Champion Award.

Bev holds a Master of Arts in Leadership and has undergraduate credentials in Administrative Management, Human Resource Management, and Adult and Continuing Education. 

LISA OSACHOFF
SVP, Chief People & Culture Officer
The Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company

Afternoon Chair

Lisa Osachoff is the SVP, Chief People & Culture Officer and a member of the Executive Leadership team, at Wawanesa Mutual. She is responsible for leading HR Business Partnerships, Talent Management, Learning & Development, People Systems & Programs, Total Rewards, Payroll & Pension, HR Systems & Analytics, Wellness, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and Talent Acquisition.

Within her career she has been responsible for developing strategic career pathing, facilitating corporate succession planning, leadership development and reinforcing the strategic nature of people development within any business. Lisa holds a Bachelor of Sociology from the University of Lethbridge.

Being a strong advocate for women’s issues in our culture, and within our workplaces, has always been important to Lisa. Building community to support one another, leverage each other to reach our goals and creating a positive force are all foundational elements that she strongly believes in.

Along with her husband, Ray, and two cats, Toffee & Caramel, they relocated to Winnipeg, Manitoba from Calgary, Alberta in July 2020. They are enjoying all the amazing experiences Manitoba has to offer; from great areas to enjoy outdoor activities to the many small towns that are always fun to visit. Lisa is also an international level show jumping judge, and this takes her to horse shows across North America and in the future hopefully to Europe.