The Women’s Y Foundation is proud to announce the names of the laureates, who will be honoured on September 26, 2019 at The Windsor Montreal during the 26th Women of Distinction Award.
The Foundation is also pleased to announce that this 26th Women of Distinction Award will be taking place under the co-chairmanship of Ms. Geneviève Fortier, Senior Vice President, Sales and Distribution at SSQ Insurance and Mr. Michael Tsaprailis, Managing Partner of the Finance & Enterprise Performance Management Consulting domain at Accenture Canada.
With well-established reputations as leaders in their respective fields, Ms. Fortier and Mr. Tsaprailis both embody and embrace the values of equity and inclusion conveyed by the YWCA Montreal and its Foundation. This collaboration can only be successful, thus reinforcing the message that issues affecting women and girls do not just concern women, but are everyone’s business.
The Women of Distinction Award is a celebration and recognition of the outstanding contribution that the awarded recipients make to the community in various fields. The event is also intended to financially support the YWCA’s initiatives for women and girls in Montreal. Selected by an independent jury from various sectors of activity, seven (7) awards and three (3) special awards will be awarded to nine women and one man. The capacity to inspire and innovate, the actions taken, the influence in society and the voluntary contribution are all criteria that the jury took into account in their evaluation.
The Women of Distinction Awards will be presented on September 26, 2019, to laureates in the following categories:
- Arts, Culture and Design: Manon Barbeau, President and Founder, Wapikoni mobile;
- Business and Entrepreneurship: geneviève bich*, Vice President, Human Resources, Metro Inc;
- Information and Education : Vânia Aguiar, President, Fondation les Petits Rois; Public
- Public services : Reut Gruber, Associate Professor and Researcher, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Director, Attention Behaviour and Sleep Laboratory, Douglas Research Centre;
- Research and Innovation: Isabelle Peretz, Professor, Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal; *Will receive her award in the 2020 Edition.
- Social and Environmental Engagement: Asmaa Ibnouzahir, President and Founder, Institut F;
- Sport and Health/Wellness: José Côté, Professor and researcher, Faculty of Nursing, Université de Montréal.
3 special awards will be presented to the following recipients:
- Coup de coeur Award: Caroline Martel, former participant of the Housing Services of the YWCA Montreal (presented posthumously);
- Exceptional Woman Award: Marcèle Lamarche, Executive Director, Le Chaînon;
- Inspiration Award: Dominic Monchamp, Detective Lieutenant at the Quebec Provincial Integrated Team against Sexual Trafficking.
* She writes her first name and family name with no capital letters