With a mission to inform, empower, celebrate and advocate for British Columbia's current and aspiring business leaders, BCBusiness go behind the headlines and bring readers face to face with the key issues and people driving business in B.C.
Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1365499
28 BCBUSINESS MAY 2021 L AUREL DOUGL AS Kelowna-based Douglas is CEO of ETSI-BC, the Economic Trust of the Southern Interior. From 2004-20, she was CEO of the Women's Enterprise Centre (WEC), which provides business loans, advisory services, mentoring, training and export support to women entrepre- neurs across the province. Douglas sits on the boards of the Justice Institute of B.C. and the Central Okanagan Economic Development Commission. During her time at WEC, she co-founded and was a director of WEOC.ca, the national association of women's enterprise support organizations, co-founded the Web Alliance of Women's Business Networks, was organiz- ing partner of We for She and represented Canada at the W20, the official G20 group focused on gender parity. She is a champion of equity, diversity and inclusion, and a mentor for many. PAR I S GAUDE T Gaudet has been an integral part of activating the technology sec- tor both regionally and provin- cially for more than a decade. She is a collaborative professional with a demonstrated history of creating partnerships, connecting the dots, developing programs and executing plans. Known as an inspiring leader with a passion for championing diversity in the tech sector, Victoria-based Gaudet is motivated by the growth potential of innovation in B.C. Outside of the of fice, you'll find her volunteering as a director for the Women's Enterprise Centre and advancing the entrepreneurial capacity of women as a mentor and facilitator. T R I SH M AN DE WO Mandewo is a multi-award-winning serial entrepreneur, diversity and inclusion strategist, author, sought- after speaker and Coquitlam city councillor. She is founder and CEO of Synergy Executive & Boards Con- sulting Group, which supports the advancement of Black, Indigenous and visible-minority subject matter experts and senior executives seeking to take their voices and expertise to the boardroom, C-suite and other decision-making tables. Mandewo also co-founded Women's Collaborative Hub, a nonprofit whose mandate is to empower women and girls. A former microbiology and embryol- ogy professional, she has built and sold three businesses and served on more than 20 public, private and nonprofit boards. Mandewo shares her knowledge through public speaking and as a mentor-in- residence with SFU's Charles Chang Institute for Entrepreneurship. T IN A ST REHLK E Strehlke is CEO of Minerva BC, a Vancouver-based charity dedicated to advancing the leadership of girls and women. She has more than 15 years' expertise in leadership, career development, training and human resources. Strehlke, who holds master's degrees in interna- tional relations and communica- tions, has had the opportunity to live in Germany, Costa Rica, Guyana and Taiwan. She currently resides in Burnaby with her husband, two kids and a rescue dog named Lulu. n THE JUDGES W I N N E R SAMANTHA LINDEMAN O W N E R , W I L D E Y E B R E W I N G IT HASN'T TAKEN much more than some tables, a patio and really good beer for Samantha Lindeman to make a name for herself and her company, Wildeye Brew- ing. The former wine industry worker opened Wildeye in June 2019, and though there's no doubt the pandemic made life harder, the brewery that Lindeman started in her hometown of North Vancouver has created enough momentum to persevere. Yes, sales to restaurants died out in a big way—accounts that would usually order four kegs a week were down to half a keg every three weeks, she notes—but Wildeye built out a covered patio and kept folks coming back, even in the winter months. Liquor store sales perked up, too, and the brewery's cans are now available for purchase in about 30 shops across the province. At Wildeye, Lindeman has also focused on collaborations with unlikely partners, like nearby pub Colony North- woods. "I sit there often and talk to the girls there, and they say things like, We never make decisions on what we sell; it's always corporate throwing stuff at us," she recalls. "And I said, What if you got to decide the beer? And they said, Yeah, we'd totally sell the shit out of that." So Lindeman got Colony's head office to sign off on bringing six Colony servers down to the brewery for blind taste test- ing. The result—a white IPA with mango— sounds incredibly tasty, but it's likely not as significant as the prospect of women working together to make their mark on the male-dominated beer industry. We'll see what happens with COVID restrictions in the coming months, but one gets the feeling that Wildeye and its owner have more good things brewing. —N.C. • RISING STARS