Women’s Equity Lab has a new boss

Welcome to this week’s Sunday Briefing. In this issue, learn about support for people with brain injuries, an MLA at COAST, and a big step forward for Solaires Enterprises.

Now on to today’s briefing. It’s 620 words: a three-minute read.

-Emily, [email protected]

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Women’s Equity Lab has a new boss

Last week, Women’s Equity Lab (WEL), the Victoria-based investment community, announced its new managing director: Ariel Siller.

Siller, a Stanford-educated corporate lawyer, previously led the Canadian Childrenʼs Literacy Foundation as CEO and the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation as executive director.

“Arielʼs expertise and track record in scaling national, multi-sectoral organizations, including volunteer-based initiatives, is exactly what WEL needs at this pivotal stage of our national growth,” said Stephanie Andrew, WEL co-founder and managing partner, WEL Victoria and WEL Vancouver.

As managing director, Siller will collaborate with WELʼs managing Partners, the national board of directors, and key ecosystem partners, including BDC Thrive Lab and Osler LLP.

WEL is a community of over 150 women investors from around the world, with funds in British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and Silicon Valley. WEL says that over 70% of its investments are in women-run and women-led businesses.

📰 More Victoria innovation news

🧠 In your head: This week’s episode of Chamber Chats featured Pam Prewett, executive director of the Victoria Brain Injury Society, for a conversation on the overlap between drug overdoses and brain injury, plus the supports available.

💡 Don’t turn off the lights: Victoria’s Solaires Enterprises shared that its PVModules have been integrated into volatile organic compound sensors, which are used for monitoring air quality. The integration will allow the sensors to operate using solar power from indoor light.

👋 Come on over: The Centre for Ocean Applied Sustainable Technologies welcomed Grace Lore, MLA for Victoria-Beacon Hill, to the COAST Ocean Innovation Hub.

🕴️ Tech jobs of the week

Find your next career:

• Senior Event Technology Strategist & Project Manager at Atlassian

• Portfolio Leader at Island Health — Vancouver Island Health Authority

• Principal Engineer, Growth Engineering at Hims & Hers Health

Hiring in Victoria? Reply to this email and let us know!

📅 Upcoming events

November 20 | COAST Nanaimo Mixer

Join COAST's networking mixer on Nov. 20 in Nanaimo. Meet industry experts, expand your professional connections, and take your career to the next level.

December 11 | How to Conduct a Pay Equity Analysis Using Diversity Data

Does your organization collect diversity data? If so, how does your data compare to the wider Canadian tech community? If not, how do you get started in collecting diversity data? And once you have data collected, how do you conduct a pay equity analysis to identify pay gaps and create action plans to close these gaps?

Join TAP Network for a special tech community webinar where they’ll be:

• Sharing data from TAP Network’s 2024 Diversity Dashboard

• Connecting you with free diversity benchmarking resources

• Hearing from compensation experts on how to conduct a pay equity analysis

Have an upcoming event? Reply to let us know.

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