2009 Olga Howe Networker of the Year
Jennifer Radley
Jennifer provides people with tools to manage and succeed in their daily lives. With over 25 years of experience in health care and consulting, she is passionate about working with individuals and teams to increase emotional intelligence (EQ) and foster healthy interpersonal relationships. She designs and delivers customized training and coaching in various aspects of EQ, Interpersonal Communication and Assertiveness, Stress Management, Team Development, Anger Awareness, Work-Life Balance, and Retirement Planning.
A registered Occupational Therapist with a background in mental health, Jennifer also provides individual counselling to clients who are in transition back to work following a leave for stress or depression, or seeking tools to prevent such a crisis. Her goal is to help people tap into their strengths and expand their repertoire of personal skills.
2008 Olga Howe Networker of the Year
Nancy-lee Glover
President
gcb Glover Customs Brokers Inc.
Nancy-lee is President of Glover Customs Brokers Inc., a company that specializes in the movement of goods across international borders. She was the President of the WBN in 2003 and currently an active member of the Program Committee. In the past year she was also part of the focus group for the Ad Hoc Committee.
Nancy Lee met all the criteria. She introduced Kara-Lee Golota Vice-President of RBR Ltd. to the network and Kara-Lee joined the WBN.
This is the second time that Nancy-lee is the recipient of this award.
2007 Olga Howe Networker of the Year
Elizabeth Jones
Owner
Mulligans Florist
For the last ten years while Liz has been the owner of Mulligans Florist, she has also been a member of the Women's Business Network. She has been the primary marketing leader for Mulligans, building business relationships with several Ottawa companies as well as with organizations associated with her previous career as a teacher in Ottawa. Liz has formed linkages with caterting companies, investment firms, and other companies through her work on various WBN committees; and provided floral arrangements to the annual Gala and other events. Liz has led Mulligans into satisfying charity and community support roles with several organizations, for example the St. Joe's Women's Centre, the Youville centre, Ovarian Cancer Association, the Shepherds of Good Hope, and Big Brothers Big Sisters.
In addition to marketing and day-to-day business activities at Mulligans, Liz has also coached her staff in customer relations and teamwork; she maintains a strong personal involvement with
Mulligans' customers. As a teacher, she was heavily involved with community-school relations: in addition to coaching various sports, she organized the annual career days and networked with a
number of companies in setting up co-op placements for students from the school.
Liz has been a regular, reliable and hard-working member of several WBN committees over the years, including the Business Achievement Awards, the Nominating and Awards Committee, and the Jill Brown Memorial Golf Tournament.
2006 Olga Howe Networker of the Year
Sue Smarkala, B.Math, A.T.C.
Professional and Life Coach
Adlerian Counselling and Consulting Group, Inc.
Sue is a Professional and Life Coach and facilitator who offers coaching and facilitation to individuals and groups. Sue supports her clients to create positive change in their work/life relationships, enabling them to become more effective and more successful in achieving their goals. Coaching is a journey towards the client's goals - topics may include developing leadership skills, increasing effectiveness in a particular area of life, improving interpersonal relationships, choosing a different career.
Sue offers a hybrid service of training and coaching, working closely with clients to customize leadership and communication training programs. The follow-on coaching ensures a focus on the application of new skills into the workplace.
As a manager in the high tech industry for more than 25 years, Sue built strong technical teams to deliver software project objectives by facilitating communication, supporting individual development and creating an open environment in which people's contributions were encouraged and recognized. In this capacity, she worked with many new supervisors to develop their skills and competence in management and leadership.
Sue is an Associate of the Adlerian Counselling and Consulting Group in Ottawa.
Sue has a keen interest in developing strong communities through her volunteer work with her church community and the Women's Business Network of Ottawa - a network of entrepreneurial, management and commissioned sales women. She has been a WBN member for over 20 years.
Olga Howe Networker of the Year Award
The Olga Howe Networker of the Year Award is one of the most prestigious honours the WBN bestows on members. It can be presented to one member per year who has distinguished herself by serving, sharing, guiding, mentoring and inspiring others in the network.
Objectives:
- To honour members who best exemplify the WBN Mission Statement.
- To provide models of networking success.
- To encourage long-term consecutive membership and participation in the network.
Criteria:
- Has been a full member in good standing for a minimum of 24 consecutive months prior to receiving this award.
- Has provided support, guidance, inspiration, leadership and networking to WBN members.
- Has freely contributed her time and talent to the WBN.
- The recipient will be a member who during the past year:
- has actively been a committee member
- introduced one new prospective member by bringing them to a regular meeting
- has attended a minimum of 50% of the regular meetings within the year.
- Is not a member of the WBN board nor a compensated employee.
All timeframes based on WBN fiscal year.
WBN
If you would like to apply for membership in the WBN or are interested in further information about our organization, contact the WBN Secretariat or download the membership application below.