Partners
We are deeply grateful to the partners and community members whose shared dedication and insights make the Spotlight on Women Entrepreneurs with Disabilities Project (SWED) possible.
Community Futures British Columbia
Brandi Butts
Project Manager, Entrepreneurs with Disabilities Program
Community Futures British Columbia is dedicated to promoting Truth and Reconciliation while fostering Indigenous inclusion in BC's economy. We support Indigenous entrepreneurs, celebrating their success and prosperity through diverse, equitable, and collaborative programs that contribute to more inclusive communities.
Canadian Community Economic Development Network (CCEDNet)
Celina Caesar-Chavannes
Executive Director
CCEDNet connects people and ideas to build local economies that strengthen communities and benefit everyone. The Canadian CED Network is made up of members throughout Canada, including organizations, networks, and individuals, who use participatory, democratic, innovative, and entrepreneurial strategies that challenge the status quo and build alternatives.
Independent Living Resource Centre of Calgary (ILRCC)
Diane Kreuger
Executive Director
The Independent Living Resource Centre of Calgary (ILRCC) was founded in 1985 by a group of dedicated volunteers who recognized the need for an organization that could provide support and services to individuals with disabilities. The organization started as a small peer support group, but it quickly grew to become a recognized and respected resource center in the Calgary community.
Rise
Jasmine Ali
Training Programs Manager
Rise empowers individuals with mental health and addiction challenges across Canada to become entrepreneurs and transform their lives. Why? Because mental health significantly impacts a person’s personal, professional and financial well-being. In any given year, 1 in 5 Canadians will experience a mental health challenge or illness and face significant workplace stigma and barriers to employment because of it. People with mental health challenges experience levels of unemployment as high as 90%.
Spoonie Table
Zoey Schvan
Disability & Business Barista
As founder of Spoonie Table, I am so happy to be here and to help make your life easier! Being a disabled entrepreneur, I’ve been through it all, from navigating workshops with my walker (AKA Charlie), to delivering speeches while having a cough attack. With the chronic condition familial dysautonomia, I know what life is like with spoons.
ST was created to fill in a major gap for us disabled peeps. Let’s have fun filling the gap together!
Women’s Enterprise Organizations of Canada (WEOC)
Victoria Lennox
CEO
Women’s Enterprise Organizations of Canada supports a diverse membership of organizations that directly impact the growth and success of women entrepreneurs. Their goal is to ensure that our members have the tools needed to support their clients by delivering networking opportunities with peers across the country, access to an innovative library of tools and resources, and participation in impactful courses, conversations and events.
The Diversity Institute
Vivian Leung
PhD Researcher
For over 25 years, the Diversity Institute has conducted action-oriented research, worked with organizations across sectors and coordinated innovative programs to strengthen Canada’s competitiveness, sustainability and self-sufficiency. By tracking technological, economic, demographic and geopolitical trends, DI anticipates changes in employment and the implications for the policies, programs and processes.
Lucille Berlinguette-Saumure
Lucille Berlinguette-Saumure is an accessibility professional with 20 years of experience in accessibility planning, policy development, training and problem solving in the built environment, communications, transportation, customer service and programs. With a background in social work, she devoted more than 33 years of service to the City of Ottawa, serving equity deserving groups and vulnerable residents. From 2008 to 2024, she worked as a program manager and specialist of accessibility. In her role, she provided leadership, expertise and guidance to the city in matters of accessibility. She also led the city in the implementation of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act.Mrs. Berlinguette-Saumure is an advisory council member and chair of the Policy Community of Practice of the Canadian Accessibility Network. She is also a member of Ontario’s Customer Service Standards Review Committee.
Cameron Crawford
Cameron Crawford (PhD) researches and speaks on public policy and programs affecting the intersectional human rights and social inclusion of people with disabilities. He is an Adjunct Professor at Toronto Metropolitan University and York University and President and CEO of his consulting firm. He has held senior roles with the Canadian Centre on Disability Studies (Eviance), the Institute for Research and Development on Inclusion and Society (IRIS), and The Roeher Institute. A longstanding focus is on the policy and program conditions needed for people with disabilities to obtain and retain decent work, as defined by the ILO.
Funding for this project provided by the Government of Canada’s Sustainable Development Goals Funding Program.
Evol Financing
Leonie Perron
Director, Partnerships and Strategic Initiatives
Operating in Quebec’s 17 regions, Evol’s mission is to contribute directly to the creation, growth and acquisition of diversified and inclusive businesses that generate positive impacts in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Its financing offer, combined with a personalized guidance experience and adapted complementary services, enables women and men entrepreneurs build sustainable and prosperous businesses.