Dr. Wendy Cukier wins a Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Award

The Ted Rogers School of Management’s Diversity Institute Founder and professor of Entrepreneurship and Strategy, Dr. Wendy Cukier, has been named a Women's Executive Network (WXN) 2019 Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Award Winner.

This is the country’s most recognizable award for the highest achieving female leaders in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors.  It was created to recognize the incredible accomplishments of women, develop a community of support and increase the visibility of strong leaders to inspire future generations.

Dr. Cukier, who was selected in the award’s Public Sector Leaders category, joins an influential community of over 1,100 powerful women who share a passion for the advancement and empowerment of women.

“Dr. Cukier has devoted her career and considerable energy to diversity and inclusion and has transformed so many lives for the better,” says TRSM Dean Daphne Taras. “We are fortunate to have her at the Ted Rogers School of Management, where she inspires us all to reach for success. She is a unique academic and a remarkable person. We are proud of her important work and know she is deserving of this prestigious award.”   

Dr. Cukier is one of Canada’s leading experts in disruptive technologies, innovation processes and diversity and is coauthor of the bestseller “Innovation Nation: Canadian Leadership from Java to Jurassic Park.” Her vision and leadership has shaped Ryerson’s Diversity Institute to become one of the nation’s leading research centres in the areas of inclusive innovation and entrepreneurship. Her talent at combining data-driven research with locally developed, community-based strategies has resulted in the development of effective policies and programs to advance businesses and the economy while serving Canadians from all walks of life.

At the Diversity Institute, she has led projects aimed at advancing diverse women in leadership and promoting the participation of underrepresented groups in the workforce and in entrepreneurship. She has helped organizations become more inclusive through programs such as DiversityLeads, which tracks the progress, impediments and evidenced-based strategies for promoting diversity. The results helped inform Canada’s new comply or explain legislation (Bill C-25) designed to advance women on boards.

Dr. Cukier also leads the new Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub (WEKH) – a network of organizations aimed at developing an inclusive innovation ecosystem – funded as part of Canada’s Women Entrepreneurship Strategy. She also helped craft Ryerson’s bid to host the Future Skills Centre as its Academic Research Lead, with 150 supporting organizations, in partnership with Conference Board of Canada and Blueprint-ADE.

The Top 100 Award will be presented to Dr. Cukier at the Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100: Awards Summit & Gala at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on November 21, 2019.