Alumni named as YWCA Women of Distinction

Congratulations to SFU alumni Jeanette Jackson and Dr. Karen Tee, along with Ginger Gosnell-Meyers—the first Indigenous Fellow with the SFU Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue—who were named as YWCA Women of Distinction during the 40th annual Women of Distinction Awards presented by Scotiabank on May 9, 2023.

Please read below to learn more about these phenomenal women.

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY: JEANETTE JACKSON

As CEO of Foresight Canada, Jeanette’s leadership has driven the company from a small Vancouver-based accelerator to a nation-wide organization that is propelling critical climate solutions and establishing Canada as a global leader in cleantech innovation. Jeanette spearheaded an Innovation Challenge program to connect industry and governments facing sustainability hurdles with market-ready Canadian cleantech solutions; Foresight has now successfully run 55 Innovation Challenges. Jeanette’s initiatives have supported 900+ companies, created 7,000+ Canadian green jobs, with projects projected to remove nearly 69 Mt of greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere. A multi-award-winning sustainability champion, Jeanette also leads an annual Women Leading Cleantech campaign that highlights the success of women in the cleantech sector across Canada and the enormous impact women are having in the fight against climate change.

HEALTH & WELLNESS: KAREN TEE

As a psychologist and advocate for youth health, in 2015 Dr. Karen Tee helped launch Foundry to transform access to mental health services for youth and families in BC. Under Karen’s leadership as associate executive director, Foundry grew from a prototype to a sustained, province-wide initiative that is embedded in public policy and that has supported over 32,000 youth with mental health, substance use, primary care, social services and other supports. Karen was instrumental in initiating and growing the Early Psychosis Intervention program in Fraser Health, now provided by all health authorities with provincial standards. She also helped establish an outreach crisis intervention service reaching all communities in Fraser Health, and was a leader in establishing the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Stabilization Program, a highly specialized inpatient unit based at Surrey Memorial Hospital.

RECONCILIATION IN ACTION: GINGER GOSNELL-MEYERS

Ginger is a Nisga'a and Kwakwak'awakw woman and the first Indigenous Fellow with the SFU Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue. Ginger focuses on decolonization and urban Indigenous policy and planning, bridging Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities in developing public policy and advancing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. In this role, she is creating pilot projects to determine how Indigenous knowledge can be incorporated into urban planning and capital development projects. Ginger’s ground-breaking research resulted in the Environics Urban Aboriginal Peoples Study, the pivotal source of data on urban Indigenous communities. She created the City of Reconciliation Framework which guided all City of Vancouver departments in incorporating Indigenous relationships, culture and identity, and engaged decision making, resulting in over 75 new initiatives and policy changes that advanced reconciliation.

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The YWCA Women of Distinction Awards honour individuals and organizations whose outstanding activities and achievements contribute to the well-being and future of our community. View all of the recipients here.