Natasha Ferguson

Labour
Natasha "Nash" Ferguson is leading the charge to bring women into the construction industry.

After experiencing sexism and racism in job interviews and on construction sites, she decided to blaze her own path. In 2018, Natasha became a general contractor and principal owner of Ethelfox Construct Group, the only full-service construction firm in Canada owned and operated by a woman. Her drive and success have since allowed her to expand her business to landscaping, demolition, roofing and electrical.

While Natasha is proud of her own successes, she deeply values opening doors for other women to be able to follow in her footsteps. She takes every possible opportunity to speak at events and in the media about her experiences, advocate for changes in the industry, and mentor and advise other women looking to get into the trades.

Most notably, she created A Women's Work (AWW) in 2021, a non-profit organization that supports women to find success in the trades through training, career placements and self-esteem programs. In the short two years it has been open, A Women’s Work has registered 450 women who are ready to begin their journey in trades.

In 2022, Natasha’s leadership, business savvy and ability to breakdown barriers for other women earned her recognition on the Women’s Executive Network top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada list and with the 2023 Startup Canada Entrepreneur of the year Award.

To be a Black woman in trades is an achievement to be celebrated and learned from. Through Ethelfox Construct Group, named after her mom, Marian Ethel Osbourne, and her youngest daughter, Fox, Natasha is making skilled trades more equitable along gender and racial lines.  

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Jaspreet Gill

Advocacy & Social Justice
Jaspreet Gill, Executive Director of York Region Center for Community Safety (YRCCS), is not afraid to take a chance, especially when it means creating meaningful change.

After hearing countless first-hand stories of abuse from the young women she taught, she made the life-altering decision to leave a successful post-secondary teaching career to support women fleeing violence. Jaspreet quickly made her mark in the field, ascending to the role of Program Manager at the York Region Center for Community Safety. Still, Jaspreet's biggest role in the organization was yet to come.

Citing funding difficulties, in 2019 the Centre’s Governance Committee made the choice to shrink the center’s programs drastically. In response, Jaspreet led the intrepid move to register it as an independent non-profit organization, making it the only service delivery hub of its kind in York Region—a single access point of programs for those impacted by intimate partner violence and sexual violence. Jaspreet’s boldness and perseverance have meant that despite funding cuts, women in York Region facing intimate partner violence still have a place to go when they need help.

Jaspreet is also a fearless advocate and educator, speaking out wherever possible on issues related to intimate partner and gender-based violence. The depth and breadth of her knowledge as well as her trauma-informed methodology have made Jaspreet a trusted educator for non-violence against women services, including York Regional Police, about the importance of addressing gender-based violence.

Jaspreet continues to grow her impact in the community, expanding the York Region Center for Community Safety’s services and collaborating with critical organizations, ensuring no woman in York Region will have to flee violence alone.

Recently, YRCCS launched the #NotAllLoveIsSafe campaign to bring greater understanding to the stigma of intimate partner violence.  

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Gillian Riley

Corporate Leadership
For more than 30 years, Gillian Riley, the current President and CEO of Tangerine Bank, has made it her mission to spark institutional change in the corporate world.

Her efforts have been at the forefront of many initiatives, such as the Scotiabank Women Initiative, a program that empowers women-led businesses in Canada by providing them with crucial resources, and the Commercial Banking National Women's Group, a collective committed to promoting gender equity, diversity and inclusion within Scotiabank. Her work to ensure equitable hiring practices led to a marked increase in women leaders across Tangerine Bank, a subsidiary of Scotiabank, including on the Board of Directors.

Gillian's dedication to gender equity persists outside of her professional sphere. Her contributions to The Equity Opportunity project at LEAP | Pecaut Centre for Social Impact, which brought together eight high-impact organizations to address the pandemic's devastating and disproportional effects on women, were fundamental to getting the project off the ground. For her incredible efforts, Gillian has been recognized as a Catalyst Honours Champion and, on two separate occasions, one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women by the Women’s Executive Network. In November 2023, her alma mater, the University of Hartford Barney School of Business, inducted her into their Alumni Hall of Fame and honoured the occasion with a scholarship in Gillian’s name.

Through Gillian’s commitment to championing gender equity, diversity and inclusion, she is ensuring that all voices are heard especially in the corporate sector.  

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Nadia Ladak

Young Woman of Distinction
Nadia Ladak is a bold and creative entrepreneur, and co-founder and the Chief Executive Officer of Marlow.

When a university project prompted her to create a product she was passionate about, she co-founded Marlow, a gender-inclusive, eco-friendly menstrual care brand offering the first lubricated tampon. Nadia has since raised $1 million in funding to fuel the brand’s growth, earning $400,000 in grants, including from the Entrepreneurship World Cup, the Canada Post Tales of Triumph contest and the Visa She’s Next Grant Program.

Nadia sees her success as an opportunity to support future generations of women business leaders; she does this by volunteering to mentor high school-aged young women on entrepreneurship and advocating for the needs of women entrepreneurs through Startup Canada’s Women Advocacy Network. Additionally, she has contributed to international entrepreneurship policy as a member of the G20 Young Entrepreneur Alliance and has spoken globally at the G20 Youth Entrepreneurship Summit in Germany, the Young Entrepreneurs of the World Summit in New York, and the Ontario Student Leadership Conference.

In tandem with Nadia's dedication to supporting women in business is her passion for reproductive health education and destigmatizing periods. Her work has led her to present at 25 universities across Canada and earned Marlow more than 100 million views on social media.

In 2023, Nadia and her Marlow co-funders appeared on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Toronto list and season 18 of CBC’s Dragon’s Den.

Nadia’s extraordinary commitment to making bold change as an entrepreneur is further evidenced in her weekly newsletter, A Founder Diary, where she continues to shape a community of young women leaders.

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