Maximize your WBN membership benefits and elevate your connections! Encouraging all existing Members and Future Members to attend (SHARE invite with colleagues and friends)! These recurring virtual workshops provide an ongoing, engaging, and interactive environment designed to help you make the most within your WBN community.
A glance at what we cover together:
Scheduled every 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month - daytime and evening for your preferred availability!
Novel Networking (Lunchtime Edition)
Please register by the event start time to confirm your attendance.
Please note, we do not offer refunds. If you need to cancel you will be issued a credit to use toward a future event.
If you are having difficulty registering or if you have inquiries about our membership, please contact info@womensbusinessnetwork.ca
Pop-Up Coffee Break
This year we want to connect with and get to know other members in small groups.
We also want to learn about your businesses, and how WBN can help support your growth.
We will meet at the IKEA Restaurant/cafeteria, 2685 Iris Street, once a month, on a Friday. And it’s not early: it’s from 10am to 11:30am.
If you’re worried about not knowing other members...then that’s the perfect reason to join us.
These coffee breaks will have a loose structure and topics to get things rolling. This event is free but does require registration; the only cost to you will be your own breakfast.
This July, Catherine Bennett will be leading a hands-on session on creating reels for Instagram/Facebook.
We look forward to seeing you!
Please note: this event is open to WBN members only.
Don't miss out on your next connection!
Explore our upcoming events and save the date for your next great networking opportunity.
➡️View All WBN Events
If you are a WBN member, please LOG IN to your account to register for the event at the member rate.
Deadline to register is May 11th 2026.
Please note, we do not offer refunds. If you need to cancel you will be issued a credit to use toward a future event. If you are having difficulty registering or if you have inquiries about our membership, please contact info@womensbusinessnetwork.ca.
Location
Grounded Scratch Kitchen, Coffeehouse & Bar 1545 Carling Ave, Ottawa, ON K1Z 8P9
Please follow the signs to Grounded Scratch Kitchen to the furthest parking lot and take the parking ticket to enter. Parking will be validated at the event.
Can't attend this event?
No problem. You can still make the most of your membership! Explore our upcoming sessions and find the ones that best fit your schedule.
➡️View the full Calendar
Deadline to register is June 23 at 5pm.
Please note, we do not offer refunds. Cancellations must be submitted in writing at least 7 days before the event to be eligible for a credit. No credits will be issued for cancellations made within 7 days of the event. However, tickets may be transferred to another person at any time at no additional cost. Please note that registrations cannot be transferred to a different event.
If you are having difficulty registering or if you have inquiries about our membership, please contact info@womensbusinessnetwork.ca.
Deadline to register is July 29 at 5pm.
Businesswoman of the Year Awards Gala
Join us as we celebrate the shining stars of Ottawa and the collective impact of our community. The 2026 Businesswoman of the Year Awards celebrates the incredible businesswomen of Ottawa and continues our legacy of building something brighter, stronger, and more impactful than any of us can alone.
The WBN and the BYAs are an enduring network that connects and and amplifies the women whose collective light guides the next generation.
Since 1983, the BYA Gala has been a must-attend event for Ottawa’s business elite. Come be a part of the 2026 BYA Gala at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Ottawa, where we will shine the spotlight on our inspiring finalists and award the recipients of the Businesswoman of the Year Awards!
Please note: All attendees must be 19 years of age or older to attend this event.
Pay It Forward Program
This initiative aims to inspire and support new businesswomen and female students. Pay It Forward Fund tickets will be added to a pool of tickets and given to qualifying individuals who might not otherwise have the chance to attend the gala. Recipients of these tickets receive valuable networking opportunities, introductions to industry leaders, and the motivation to pursue their dreams.
Pay It Forward Fund tickets are not available for purchase for specific individuals and will be distributed by the WBN.
Ethical Marketing: Building a Personal Brand People Actually Trust
In a market full of noise, hype, and sameness, the people who stand out aren't the loudest. They're the most trusted and the most clear. This workshop is for women building a career, a business, who know they have something valuable to offer but struggle to put it into words. We'll start with the question that stops most people in their tracks, "What makes you unique?", and turn it into a clear, confident answer to "Why you?" From there we'll tackle the part so many find hardest: how to take a decade of pivots, reinventions, and life changes and shape it into one coherent story that connects, using a simple three-part arc of beginning, turning point, and next chapter.
The heart of the session is a different definition of ethical marketing: honoring yourself as a person, not packaging yourself as a product. You'll learn to draw a clear, intentional line between your private self and your public brand, deciding what to share, how much, and when, all reverse-engineered from where you're actually headed. We'll look at why "building in public" can quietly backfire, how to share hard moments from the scar rather than the wound, and why a deliberate boundary makes a personal brand both more protective and more authentic.
Attendees will leave able to:
- Map their personal story into a memorable brand narrative- Apply a simple framework for deciding what's theirs to share and what stays their own, ready to use the moment they leave the room
Guest Speaker - Katherine Tuominen
Katherine Tuominen is the founder of Catalyst Brand Strategy, a boutique PR and communications agency for impact-driven health and wellness founders. With over a decade across entertainment, luxury, and wellness marketing, she helps purpose-led founders earn credible visibility through ethical, evidence-led storytelling. Her work has been featured in Forbes, Women's Health, and Glossy, and she keynotes on "Ethical Marketing Is Not an Oxymoron.
Strategic leadership for a Changing World
Many organizations today are navigating complex challenges - from outdated systems and unclear priorities to increasing compliance demands and limited resources. This session offers a practical, strategic approach to leadership that helps attendees work smarter, safer, and more intentionally. Drawing from her upcoming book Reset the System, experienced business consultant Heather Cayouette will share a framework for rethinking how your organization operates, so you can lead with clarity, confidence, and resilience - whether you're growing, stabilizing, or simply trying to make things work better.
You'll learn how to:
- Lead with intention: aligning your systems and strategy to support your goals
- Build trust, reduce risk, and make smarter, more confident decisions
- Untangle operational legacies and simplify how work gets done
Guest Speaker - Heather Cayouette - CIPP/C, CIPT
Heather Cayouette is Founder and CEO of Firefly Strategic Consulting. With over 20 years of experience, she helps small and mid-sized organizations build smarter, safer, and more scalable operations.
Heather brings deep expertise in strategy, organizational and change management, governance, program development, information technology, and privacy. A Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/C) and Certified Information Privacy Technologist (CIPT), she specializes in aligning strategy and systems through a risk management lens, with a particular focus on operational reviews, IT strategy, privacy, and AI readiness.
She is the author of the upcoming book, Reset the System: A Practical Guide to Rethinking the Way You Work - to Power Why You Do It.
General Inquires Tel: (613) 566-3442 ext. 230
info@womensbusinessnetwork.ca
