Join us on Friday, March 7th for breakfast and a speaker's panel to celebrate women's achievements in transportation and take action to achieve gender equality. The event will feature opportunities for you to connect with your peers, partners, and industry leaders, and hear from our line up of inspiring speakers on how we can take action to achieve gender equality in our region. The panel will feature inspiring leaders who will share their experiences in the industry and discuss how we can increase momentum in addressing the systemic barriers and biases that women face, both personally and professionally.
Together, we can #AccelerateAction for #IWD2025 to speed up the rate of progress across the world. Accelerate Action is a worldwide call to acknowledge strategies, resources, and activity that positively impact women's advancement, and to support and elevate their implementation.
Panelists
Moderator: Barbara Gray
As General Manager of Transportation Services, Barbara is the first woman to ever lead the division in Toronto. She is driven by her commitment to innovation, equity and leadership. She joined the City in late 2016 and has since successfully led her team to improve neighbourhoods through complete streets investment, has improved service delivery and renewed key delivery plans focused on managing congestion, improving safety for all road users and completing an overhaul of Winter Service delivery.
Speaker: Varni Tayalan
Varni brings a profound reservoir of expertise and experience in Community Benefits, and Diversity & Equity domains. Accumulating more than 15 years of dedicated involvement in the realm of social impact work, she boasts a formidable familiarity with a variety of cherished communities across the GTA. Throughout her distinguished career, Varni has orchestrated and executed award-winning community benefits programs and initiatives that have yielded substantial benefits to diverse communities and neighbourhoods.
Speaker: Rosemarie Powell
Rosemarie is the Executive Director of the Toronto Community Benefits Network, co-founder of the Canadian Building Diversity Institute, and President of Big on Green. With over 20 years of advocacy for social, economic, and environmental justice, she has driven equitable policy development at all levels of government. Rosemarie played a key role in negotiating Ontario’s first Community Benefits Framework for the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, forging powerful partnerships across sectors while unlocking good jobs and procurement opportunities for equity-deserving groups.
Speaker: Angela Clayton
Angela was appointed interim President and CEO of Infrastructure Ontario in December 2024 while Michael Lindsay is on secondment to Metrolinx. With over 20 years of experience in the infrastructure sector, Angela has extensive experience working in both the public and private sectors in the areas of strategic planning, risk management, and program management. She is a passionate advocate for women in the infrastructure sector and actively seeks ways to make meaningful contributions to her community through her involvement in industry associations and volunteer efforts.
- WTS Member Ticket: $65
- Non-Member Ticket: $115