The Surrey Board of Trade’s 2019 Surrey Women in Business Awards winners were announced Wednesday before a sell-out crowd of 400.
The 10th annual awards luncheon was held at the Sheraton Vancouver Guildford Hotel, with Betsy Myers, a former advisor to U.S. presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, as guest speaker.
“The Surrey Board of Trade’s Surrey Women in Business Awards inspire and illuminates guests in an ongoing way,” board CEO Anita Huberman said.
Betsy Myers, a former advisor to U.S. presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, spoke at the Surrey Women in Business Awards event on Wednesday (March 13). (Photo: twitter.com/DouglasRTennant)
Five winners were announced.
Santoshi Desai, co-founder of Orange Oranges Technologies Ltd., won the Entrepreneur category. She leads a staff of five.
“Originally from India, Santoshi has broken through the cultural norms to travel to multiple countries to carry out work, something not common for women of her background,” her bio reads.
Family lawyer Rupinder Khunkhun, a partner and owner of Grandview Law Group LLP, won the Professional category. Her bio states she is “only one of a handful of female family litigators that are fluent in Punjabi and can service the ends of the South Asian community.”
The winner of the Not-for-Profit Leader category is Ninu Kang, director of communications and development at MOSAIC. Her bio says she is often interviewed by the media “as an expert on issues of domestic violence, immigrant and refugee women and children as well as racism and youth gang violence in the South Asian community.”
Alison Fuller, senior vice president of finance at Venturis Capital Corporation, won the Corporate/Leadership category. She is a “key member” of the corporation’s mergers and acquisitions teams, responsible for due diligence work and operational transition. “Most recently, Alison successfully completed and ERP implementation, a cross border transfer pricing project, as well as a $65 million acquisition in Texas,” her bio states.
And winner of the Social Trailblazer category is Sonia Andhi Bilkhu, of Shakti Society. She is a registered social worker and family counsellor who has worked in the not-for-profit sector since 1987. Her bio says she is an expert in the fields of social services and mental health and has sat on committees and boards including the Surrey Women’s Centre, and is the media chairwoman of NEVR, the Network for Eliminating Violence in Relationships.
tom.zytaruk@surreynowleader.com
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