Ten nominees with connections to Surrey are up for Women of Distinction Awards this year.
YWCA Metro Vancouver’s 2024 event includes 106 nominees in 12 award categories, with winners announced May 13 during a Scotiabank-presented gala fundraiser at Vancouver’s Westin Bayshore.
Since 1984, the awards have celebrated “extraordinary women leaders and businesses,” including more than 355 award recipients and 2,188 nominees in those 41 years.
This year’s nominees who live and/or work in Surrey include three in the Arts, Culture & Design category. They are Angela Elster (Vancouver Symphony Orchestra/VSO School of Music), Naina Grewal (radio host, Red FM) and Nalini Bhui (Surrey Art Gallery Association).
Nominated in the Business & the Professions category are Jennifer Cudlipp (LifeLabs Medical Laboratory Services) and Karen Dosanjh (OSI Digital).
Dr. Laura Housden (Nurse Practitioners, Fraser Health Authority) is nominated in the Health & Wellness category, while Hemanya Sharma (We Can STEM) is up for the Young Women of Distinction award.
Non-Profit nominees include Nicole Taylor (EmotionsBC) and Seema Tripathi (UNITI), along with Prospera Credit Union in the Outstanding Workplace category.
Gala tickets are sold on ywcavan.org/wod.
Last May, during the first in-person gala in three years, more than 1,300 guests and volunteers gathered for the Women of Distinction Awards, a key fundraiser for YWCA Metro Vancouver, a registered charity, gender-equity advocate and community service provider.