The Women in Communications and Technology Leadership Excellence Awards recognizes individuals and organizations committed to gender diversity in Canada’s digital industries.

“Every year, WCT recognizes the individuals who are taking action every day to close the gender gap. With the rate of women’s participation in the tech industry unchanged for almost a decade, particularly at senior levels, recognizing these sparks of change has never been more critical.”

— Joanne Stanley, executive director, WCT

INNOVATOR AWARD: SONIA BRAR

Since joining Bell in 2001, Sonia Brar, has thrived in senior leadership positions, leading large-scale systems implementations for the consumer and small/medium businesses, call centre operations and media broadcast management, as well as BCE’s compliance, financial, supply chain and HR systems. Sonia’s strong leadership and communications skills allow her to foster relationships across executive teams and with diverse stakeholders.

Sonia is an executive sponsor of the Women at Bell network, taking on the challenge to support the development, advancement and visibility of women as leaders within Bell. She has long been involved in Bell’s IT grad program, helping to recruit and retain women team members, in addition to mentoring numerous leaders. Sonia serves as Secretary on the Board of Directors of Women in Film and Television-Toronto (WIFT-T), and is a member of the CIO Strategy Council of Canada, ITAC and WCT. Ms. Brar holds an MBA in eCommerce and a Hon. BSc degree in Psychology from McMaster University. (Source: Bell Media)

LEADER AWARD: CORUS ENTERTAINMENT & CHERYL FULLERTON

Cheryl Fullerton is Executive Vice President, People and Communications at Corus Entertainment, where she is responsible for the creation of integrated and high-impact HR solutions to support the exceptional creativity and performance of the company’s over 3,500 people. Cheryl also oversees the Communications function, which includes internal and external communications strategies and execution, as well as Corus’ corporate social responsibility approach through the Corus Cares program.

Cheryl joined Corus in the fall of 2015, after over 25 years honing her expertise as a business-focused people expert, in a series of great Canadian companies; Maple Leaf Foods, Canada Bread, Morneau Shepell and Sobeys.

Cheryl has been granted a Certified Human Resources Executive (CHRE) designation, and is a member of the HR Professional magazine Editorial Advisory Board and the CHRO Advisory Council of the HR Professional Association. She has a Bachelor of Science summa cum laude and an HRCCC designation from McMaster University. (Source: Corus Entertainment)

Corus Entertainment is the presenting partner of our Corus Media Management Accelerator, a two-month certificate program designed in collaboration with Ryerson University's Chang School of Continuing Education. The intensive program delivers essential management training focused on six core competency areas: communications, financial reporting, marketing, organizational behaviour, project management, and strategic planning.