The 2025 WIN Awards Recipients Are:
1. Business Impact: Gauri Harrison
2. Fan The Flame: Leah Vaisanen
3. Health & Wellness: Dr. Jacqueline Presslauer
4. Breathe Fire: Holly Wylie
5. Trades: Karen Fry
6. Creative Innovator: Sandy Gerber
7. Youth Resiliency: Sydney Hunt
8. STEM: Janna Wale
9. Matriarch: Connie Paul
10. Community & Social Responsibility: Dawn Clark
11. Arts & Culture: Sukhi Sangha
Thank You To Our Title Sponsor
Media Sponsors
About
The WIN Awards recognize the extraordinary accomplishments of women, non-binary, 2-spirit, and gender-diverse role models. The awards salute the unique impact of diverse people representing various spheres, careers, and initiatives that help the advancement of women and the fabric of our community. Each recipient has left their mark on this world: contributing to the greater good through their efforts, resourcefulness, example, and advocacy; breaking barriers; blazing new trails; or using their influence to provoke change. With a sold-out crowd of over 620 people attending our inaugural event, we are still basking in the electric energy.
This landmark event is an annual celebration, recognizing outstanding individuals residing in the Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN), including Nanaimo, Lantzville, Parksville, Qualicum Beach, Gabriola, and Ladysmith. Among the highlights of the evening were the announcements of 100 nominees and 11 winners across various categories. The awards were also aired across the island on Rogers tv. It's an evening of inspiration that includes entertainment, light refreshments, and a candy bar! Tickets ON SALE NOW
The funds raised from the event contribute to sustaining a local nonprofit program, Footprints: Infertility & Pregnancy Loss Support Society , aiding families going through infertility and loss. This event aligns with Sexual & Reproductive Health Awareness Week, which the awards kick off. Proceeds from the gala support Footprints in providing free resource tools and mental health support bags for parents navigating these challenging issues, ensuring that every family's journey is supported, and their angel babies count. Additionally, the advocacy group raises awareness about reproductive health rights with equity, diversity, and inclusion policies, advocating for a more supportive and informed community. To find out ways collaborate with Footprints and normalize reproductive health rights in your sphere, email woinanaimo@gmail.com.
Women of Influence Nanaimo is about creating safe spaces to share our stories, amplify of voices, inspire action, influence our sphere, and celebrate one another.
“When We Influence As A Collective, We WIN"
This Network is an inclusive platform geared to support and celebrate the power of being influential. Women, non-binary, 2-spirit, and gender-diverse people all over Nanaimo are influencing the world in positive and revolutionary ways. They are mothers, parents, leaders, entrepreneurs, business owners, creators, STEM pioneers, activists, artists, tradespeople, philanthropists, and so much more. Our goal is to normalize the perception of people in these roles by championing what they do, who they are, and their character rather than the gender they identify with. Inclusion lies in the contrast between a sense of belonging and the pressure for people to “fit in” to groups, communities, or cultures. The WIN Network supports people from all walks of life to thrive through healthy relationships that build emotional intelligence and help them overcome the challenges they face.
We are about applauding being perfectly imperfect. Rather than presenting a fake mask of a final point of success, we share the journey, the flops, the wins, and the lessons learned along the way. We ardently work to highlight the stories of a broad spectrum of people, and we recognize that we can’t progress individually unless we move forward collectively. We are a platform of allies and not about lip service. We all are fashioned to assemble in the beautiful mosaic puzzle of life.
Barbara Anne Photography is the Official Photographer for the Women of Influence Nanaimo Awards & Gala.
Her goal, as a photographer, was to honour each nominee and present them with a portrait of themselves that would always remind them how we as a community view them: Empowered, Successful,
and Inspirational people worthy of being seen and celebrated.
Each nominee received a Fine Art Matted Print which they chose from the images Barbara captured.
Every person deserves a portrait that they LOVE.
Tickets ON SALE NOW
Click Below On Categories To View Award Descriptions
Our committee is comprised of a group of local women and diverse voices who have come together to celebrate our own and to honour the various ways that people enhance and strengthen our community.
Community over Competition
“Women and gender diverse people are powerful influencers of change in their communities. When we recognize their accomplishments and help amplify their voices, everyone benefits. I am so inspired by this collective celebration of community, and proud to take part in this event.”
Lisa Marie Barron, Member of Parliament for Nanaimo-Ladysmith
What Makes This Unique?
We examine influence by the level of impact in one's community. These awards are about expanding the lens on how we measure success and digging deep below the surface to discover the unsung heroes of Nanaimo. This is about celebrating human connection, diverse roles, and how we influence one another to make our world a better place. Our mission is to elevate everyday people doing extraordinary things. These awards are not like other typical business functions; we want to recognize those that don't always fit the mould. Along with the philanthropic component, this event truly showcases people who are earth-shakers and trendsetters. Their valiant voices are unbridled and they breathe fire as they elevate the voices of others and stand up for social and economic change.
Through an awareness of intersectionality, we can better acknowledge and ground the differences among us as well as enter a shared reality with others.
Learning about intersectionality and how it affects all of us, both in our work and personal lives, allows us to respectfully communicate with peers, and deepens our understanding of the ways in which diversity, equity, and inclusion are crucial for us to thrive.
Non-Profit
Footprints: Infertility & Pregnancy Loss Support Initiative
Award-Winning
Footprints is a registered nonprofit dedicated to bringing parents together. This is a safe place to grieve, heal, share, and gather information on how to navigate through this journey. No longer do we need to feel ashamed or sit alone with our pain. We are all Parents of Purpose. This is an inclusive platform dedicated to providing support, healing, and belonging. The mandate for Footprints is a two-part mission:
1) Improve the systems on the frontlines to ensure parents get the proper care, information, and emotional support the moment their trauma happens. This includes handing out mental health support bags. And collaborating with workplaces, health organizations, and governing bodies to create better protocols and procedures when dealing with loss and reproductive health rights.
2) Create a worldwide support community to continue the efforts in bridging the gap in emotional and mental health in the following weeks, months, and years.
The WIN Awards is a fundraiser to help sustain reproductive health advocacy in Nanaimo. Proceeds will help allow these initiatives and support bags to continue to touch the lives of community members and bring awareness to such a taboo topic. The free bags include mental health resource tools, a certificate of life, a Footprints bracelet, items provided by Island Wilderness Bath & Home, a copy of Blaise's book Heroine, and helpful information for parents to assist them in this process. Bags are available in Nanaimo and at the Bonnyville Medical Clinic and the Cold Lake Primary Care Network. If you live outside these areas, Blaise will mail a support bag to you free of charge.
"We are not barren. We are all Mothers of Purpose.
It is time to pick up our miscarried dreams and birth change and be at peace."
If you or someone you know is going through infertility or experiencing a loss of a pregnancy or a baby, please contact the Footprints team at fiplsi2018@gmail.com and a support bag will be mailed out to you. If you are needing further support, someone from Footprints will assist you in your journey.
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Thank You To Our Community Partners
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Jill Drader
To see the amazing sponsorship opportunities or the unique ways to be involved in the event of the year, contact 778-269-1216 or email woinanaimo@gmail.com.
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In the spirit of Truth and Reconciliation, we would like to acknowledge that the Women of Influence Nanaimo (WIN) Network operates on the traditional territories of the Snuneymuxw First Nation peoples. We thank them for allowing us to live, work, and play on their traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory.
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