British Columbia’s business community will be honouring another round of inductees to its Hall of Fame this month, but experts are urging changes to the selection process as few leaders who are women and people of colour have been recognized.
“Usually, it’s part of the process,” said Stacey Fitzsimmons, an associate professor of international business at University of Victoria. “So they’re getting nominations from other top business leaders, who usually think of people that they know of, or people they’ve interacted with, who are usually very similar demographically to themselves.”According to JABC’s website, members of the Hall are nominated each year by B.C.
Four people from the 2020 class were inducted this year, including one woman, Ratana Stephens, who was named along with her husband as co-founders of Nature’s Path Foods Inc. In addition, 10 people were added posthumously, all men. The laureate nomination committee consisted of 17 members, had six women and one women of colour, according to the JABC website.
She said it is particularly disappointing coming from an organization whose mission is to inspire young people to succeed in a global economy. Paulina Cameron, CEO of the Forum, a Canadian-based charity for female entrepreneurs, said there’s a long list of women in the business community who should be recognized. For example, she pointed to Gerri Sinclair, B.C.’s Innovation Commissioner; Tracey McVicar, partner at Vancouver-based CAI Capital Partners; and Vancouver Airport Authority CEO Tamara Vrooman, who is also the chair of the Canada Infrastructure Bank.
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