The VOW

Kathy Le is an award-winning journalist with CTV News Calgary. She was honoured a prestigious RTDNA award for Enterprise journalism for her documentary “Covid-19: The Spread of Racism”. Kathy was also awarded the Spirit of NAIT alumni award for excelling in her career. She has been nominated eight times for an RTDNA award for projects, including four documentaries and investigative stories, and wa...

Passionate, forthright and dynamic, Julie Shipley-Strickland builds strong relationships with her valued clients by understanding their goals, supporting their concerns and providing thoughtful and strategic solutions. As a Senior Investment Advisor with Wellington-Altus Private Wealth and a Senior Insurance Advisor with Bergh Tatomir & Associates, Julie provides independent investment advice,...

Evelyn Ackah is the Founder and Managing Lawyer of Ackah Business Immigration Law with offices in Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto. Her legal practice focuses exclusively on Canadian and cross-border NAFTA US immigration law. After 12 years of practicing law in Toronto at national and international law firms on Bay Street, she moved to Calgary in 2008 as a partner with a leading national law firm. I...

Astokomii Smith is a proud member of the Siksika Nation. She is currently the Indigenous Liaison for the Town of Strathmore where role entails bridging connections and breaking down the barriers between Indigneous and non-Indigenous peoples. In 2019, Astokomii had the honour of being chosen as the Calgary Stampede First Nations Princess where she represented Treaty 7 and the Calgary Stampede at ov...

Dena Dixon is the first woman to be elected president of the Ranchmen’s Club, a Calgary institution founded 130 years ago, before Alberta became a province. She has spent most of her life in Calgary as a volunteer with numerous organizations such as the Calgary Stampede, The Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation and The Alex, while working in several family businesses. Dena is passionate about wo...

Born and raised in Calgary, Sandy O’Connor considers herself fortunate to call the Calgary area home. Passionate about Calgary and all that it offers, she strives to build community, and give back through volunteering. A lifelong volunteer, today volunteering takes the form of serving on boards of not-for- profit organizations including the Calgary Stampede and the Calgary Immigrant Women’s Associ...

Jyoti Gondek believes that we can no longer afford to be polarized and allow the pendulum to swing between extremes, never resting in a position of balance. Because without balance, we cannot get our footing to move forward. Jyoti is a driven community builder and diversity champion,  dedicated to lifting others. To get to the root of problems, she probes, builds...

Frances Wright is very grateful that her parents brought her to Calgary from South Africa when she was six years old.  Calgary has been a great place to receive education (B.A., Psychology/Sociology, U of C, an Hons. B.Journalism, Carleton; and a Canadian Securities Course); start businesses (Wright Consultants 1975-79; PORTS International 1980-90; Pillow Parlor 1991-93 and MOMpreneur® 2008-2...

Rancher and author, Rachel Herbert was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta. The great-granddaughter of pioneer ranchers, but a long-time vegetarian, she returned to her roots and the family ranch near Nanton, Alberta. Alongside her husband, Tyler, she raises and direct-markets grassfed, grass-finished beef. They are the fourth generation, raising the fifth, to live, play, and work on the land at T...

Marlo Brausse is the Founder and CEO of Barre Body Studio where she specializes in offering group fitness classes, instructor training and spiritual wellness programs. In March 2020 Marlo launched an online fitness platform to keep the BBS community connected and moving throughout the pandemic. Despite the difficulties that 2020 presented, Marlo and her team have continuously grown their online au...

Lynn C. Cox is a Rapid Transformational Therapist® (RTT), Certified Hypnotherapist, Yoga, Meditation and Kung Fu coach and Communications Consultant. She uses RTT, a multi-award-winning therapy, to help clients unearth root cause issues, extract harmful beliefs and recode them. Lynn combines her expertise in yoga, martial arts and meditation with RTT® to help clients overcome struggles with weight...

Calgary based employment and immigration lawyer.  She founded Confluence Law in 2014 with a goal to practice law differently - on her own terms - for her clients, her family and herself.  Catherine is a former engineer and until recently ran a photography business alongside her law practice.  She is an avid cyclist and parent of two girls - aged 9 and 12.⁣

Measurably reversing your biological clock – that’s what Lisa Krzyzewski, Founder of Aeon Future Health, Canada’s premier longevity & health optimization clinic/facility is on a mission to do! Born out of a personal need for better health and a desire to feel as healthy as possible for as long as possible, Aeon leverages the latest scientific research and technologies to tackle the aging proce...

Lynn Hayes MacDonald has been a proud member of the Calgary Police Service for 24.5 years. She is also Co-Founder and Head Empowerment Warrior for Empowerment Inc. From a young age, Lynn knew she wanted to pursue three careers; the Canadian Armed Forces; an Emergency Medical Technician and a Police Officer. She considers herself blessed to have served in all three careers as well as helped countle...

Kate Hewko is a Calgary based fashion entrepreneur recognized internationally for her collections that are always ahead of the trends. Her work is so fierce and groundbreaking she has been featured in magazines such as Vogue Korea, Refinery 29, Fashion Magazine and Flare, and been seen on notable celebrities Miley Cyrus, Idina Menzel and Cyndi Lauper. Kate Hewko’s collections are undoubtedly an ou...

From a bankrupt, single parent of four little ones to Founder and CEO of her own business school, Sue has become the go-to small business expert who challenges the status quo and sets solopreneurs up for success! She has put in the time so that others don’t have to rely on the school of hard knocks to get their education. She went from teaching at the local library to speaking on conference stages...

A litigator with over fifteen years’ experience, Stacey helps her clients navigate difficult and sensitive family law matters. She offers clients experienced counsel across a complete range of family legal issues including divorce & separation agreements, prenuptial agreements, post nuptial agreements, child custody, spousal support and child support. On every matter, Stacey&nbs...

Lexi Pechout has a background in racing and riding motorcycles her entire life story. Her passion for motorcycles started at the young age of two when her parents bought her first motorcycle. She grew up in the off-road motorcycle community where every weekend was spent riding or racing with friends and family. As she progressed they traveled as a family across Canada, the United States, Europe, a...

Lauryn Vaughn is an entrepreneur at heart founding Canada’s largest online destination for the resale of designer goods. She started her journey after living in Paris on a finite budget for almost 2 years after graduating university. Lauryn’s passion for the circular economy and love of fashion has inspired her to not only start The Upside but now a technology company that partners with retailers...

Karina Birch is co-owner and CEO of natural body care purveyor Rocky Mountain Soap Co. She and her husband Cam nurtured the company from its days as a 300 square foot shop in Canmore to the now 13 retail stores and 16,000 square foot workshop in Canmore. Believing ‘what goes on the body, goes in the body,’ Rocky is on a mission to created small-batch products using simple, natural and fresh ingred...

Kate is a 23 year old social media influencer. Kate was born and raised in Red Deer Alberta, but moved to Okangan when she was 18 to pursue her online platform and education in business marketing. Kate’s passion for marketing came from her obsession with photography and fashion growing up. You can always find her with a camera shooting photos of herself and her friends. Over the years of posting l...

Catherine Brownlee is the President and CEO of Catherine Brownlee Inc. (CBI), where she brings over 30 years’ experience in executive search and development, marketing strategies and networking from around the globe, across all sectors. Her database of over 85,000 contacts demonstrates her capacity to motivate, build and achieve results. Her forte is connecting people and organizations, while nurt...

Dr. Natasha Iyer wanted to be a doctor since she was 11 years old.⁣ ⁣She spent her first 8 years of practicing as a rural emergency physician and family doctor. Her life felt ‘complete’: she delivered babies, looked after generations of families, with a mix of emergencies like heart attacks, broken bone, head injuries, with palliative care and long term care thrown into the mix. Everything she dre...

Malika expressed an innate creative aptitude that carried her through her formative years. She refined these talents at the Parsons School of Design in New York, graduating in fashion design in 2008. In New York her work was presented at Lord & Taylor’s 2008 line debut. While at Parsons Malika had an opportunity to intern for design houses such as Khan Lucas, Ralph Lauren, Red Cat Group and Jo...

Ellen Parker is the proud founder of PARKER PR, a public relations firm in Calgary. PARKER PR is a group of communication professionals with a proven track record of helping businesses thrive through creating and implementing thoughtful communication strategies.⁣ ⁣Prior to founding PARKER PR, Ellen worked in New York City for the Institute for Children and Poverty and for boutique PR firms represe...