Where
Your Computer2014 OWIT International Annual Awards
Join OWIT on Wednesday, February 25, 2015 at 10:00 am EST as we celebrate the accomplishments of our 2014 award winners:
Ms. Alma Farias, Woman of the Year
Ms. Beatrice Kagondu, Chapter Member of the Year
OWIT-Ottawa, Chapter of the Year. Represented by Ms. Monica Podgorny, 2014 Vice President of Events, OWIT-Ottawa.
This webinar is FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC! Don't miss this great opportunity to celebrate the accomplishments of these amazing individuals and hear from them directly about their perspectives on what drives them to success.
2014 Woman of the Year
Ms. Alma Farias, Ontario Representative for TFO Canada
Alma Farias is a senior international business consultant that assists companies and organizations develop business by identifying key business partners and projects in Canada and Emerging Economy countries. She provides customized assistance across a wide range of industries that includes auto parts, aerospace, manufacturing industry, telecommunications, agrifood, textile and consumer products among others. Alma has developed key government, association and investor relations, as well as international sales and supply networks around the world. She has organized international delegations, conferences, and trade missions in Canada and Latin America. Alma is the Ontario Representative for the Trade Facilitation Office (TFO) Canada, an organization that promotes trade between Canada and emerging economy countries. She is also part of the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) Consulting Network. An active volunteer in numerous business associations, Alma has been a longstanding active OWIT member, serving on both local chapter and international boards. She currently serves as the Co-President of OWIT Toronto. Alma is a co-founder and former Vice President of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Monterrey Mexico. She has also served as Vice President of the Canadian Council for the Americas and the Brazil Canada Chamber of Commerce in Toronto. In recognition of her longstanding contributions in the field of international trade and business, in February 2014, Alma received OWIT Toronto's Joanna Townsend Excellence Award for Leadership in International Trade.
2014 Chapter Member of the Year
Ms. Beatrice Kagondu, OWIT Nairobi; Owner and Manager, Sweet Inspirations
Beatrice is the Vice Chairperson of Membership for OWIT Nairobi. Through her tireless work and dedication, she has spear-headed a variety of successful membership campaigns which have significantly increased the chapter's membership and increased its prominence in the Nairobi business community. Not limiting her contributions to just membership, she's an active board member of the chapter, helping to raise an unprecedented amount of sponsorship dollars to support the chapter's actvities. She has leveraged her business contacts to benefit other chapter members, by connecting OWIT Nairobi members to the International Labor Organization's Growth of Women Enterprise program, which helped these fellow entrepreneurs grow their own businesses. An entrepreneur herself, Beatrice owns and operates Sweet Inspirations, a bakery in Nairobi. A full-time cake decorator and pastry chef, Beatrice trained at the Nofolk Hotel under Chef Eamon Mullen. Sweet Inspirations specializes in novelty (theme) cakes and customized designs to meet her customer's expectations. Sweet Inspirations also imports and sells cake decorating supplies and equipment to other bakeries in Kenya and East Africa and offers training in baking and cake decoration.
2014 Chapter of the Year
OWIT-Ottawa
Monica Podgorny, 2014 Vice President of Events; International Trade Attorney, McMillan LLP
Founded in 2010, OWIT-Ottawa has established itself as a recognized leader in interrnational trade in Canada's national capital region. The chapter has become regarded as the "one-stop-shop" for networking, education, mentoring, and resource-sharing with a loyal and growing following of international trade corporate professionals and entrepreneurs, government officials, foreign ambassadors, diplomats, non-govenmental leaders and academia. In 2014, under Monica's leadership as Vice President of Events, OWIT-Ottawa hosted the OWIT International business meeting, during which the Parliamentary Speaker to the Minister of Trade and Development announced a robust program to expand trade opportunities for Canadian small businesses. The chapter also spear-headed a sponsorship program with TFO Canada, which enabled several OWIT members from Peru and Nairobi to attend the meeting. In her professional career, Monica is an associate in McMillan LLP's Regulatory and Business Law groups, practicing primarily in international trade, competition, and commercial law. Monica advises a diverse range of domestic and multinational clients on economic sanctions, import and export compliance, controlled goods and industry permits and licensing matters. Her competition/anti-trust practice involves the Competition Bureau's merger clearance regime, pricing and advertising matters, cartel and bid rigging investigations, and other civil and criminal competition matters. She currently serves as the Vice President of Outreach for OWIT-Ottawa and Co-Vice President of Chapter Support for OWIT International. In addition to her leadership positions in OWIT, Monica sits on the board of the national Young Polish-Canadian Professional Association and serves as the corporate secretary for the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra.
Cost: FREE!
** All participants MUST REGISTER to gain access to the webinar. Note - The registration process is two steps. First, register on the link below. Second, upon receipt of registration confirmation below, you will receive an email with a link to register for access to the webinar via GoToWebinar. PARTICIPANTS MUST REGISTER IN BOTH SYSTEMS FOR THE WEBINAR.