in the news

Diversity and inclusion in the workforce won’t happen because you wish it – you must take action, says #MoveTheDial Founder & CEO, Jodi Kovitz.

[Many] companies are now grappling with how to improve gender balance in the executive suite, on boards and in their recruitment efforts, while women with firms of their own are pressing to be taken seriously.

The dynamic has spawned a range of initiatives to help, or push, the industry to include women at all levels. Here are four Canadian examples:

Despite the continuing growth of Canada's technology industry, women are underrepresented in this critical area of the country's economy.

According to a recent report by TD Economics, while more women are entering fields related to STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math), there's still a long way to go; less than a quarter of the well-paying jobs in these high-growth industries are held by women. Organizations like #movethedial are working to change this.

As founder and CEO of #movethedial, an organization that aims to increase the participation of women in the tech industry, Jodi Kovitz is a dynamic force in Canada’s tech scene. Since its inception two years ago, #movethedial has scaled rapidly into a global movement and a community of thousands.

A fast-growing movement in Canada is holding a huge summit to celebrate all the success they have achieved in just a short time.

#movethedial is hosting their first-ever Global Summit in Toronto on November 7, 2018 to inspire more powerful action and help advance more women into leadership roles in the global technology community. The event will be supported by TD as a lead sponsor.

In this talk, Jodi Kovitz, Founder and CEO of #movethedial speaks about the lack of female leadership in the tech industry. This heartfelt and emotionally charged talk recounts her own experience taking a leadership role with a tech-based nonprofit and seeing the lack of diversity.

Call it T.O., the 6ix or “Toronno” (as Torontonians are apt to do), this city along the northwest shore of Lake Ontario has established itself as a vibrant, diverse creative hub across industries ranging from tech and design to music, marketing and more. Far from being a regional player, Toronto can stand on its own next to New York, Silicon Valley and Los Angeles, offering bold, new ideas on the world stage. In this special report, we’ll meet 33 key movers and shakers behind its success. Some of these folks fashion innovative brand campaigns and guide digital innovation, while others create chart-topping hits or craft cautionary tales that plumb the depths of our cultural soul. Many give back to the community as mentors, grooming the next generation, or raise big bucks for social causes. Collectively, they continue to push the city forward, raising the bar for artistry and excellence, giving Toronto a spirit and style all its own.

NEW YORK, June 1, 2018 /CNW/ -- Adweek, the leading resource for the brand marketing community, will host its inaugural summit and celebration in Toronto to honor the city's most innovative, forward-thinking creatives, marketers and media executives. The highly anticipated event will follow on the heels of the June 4 publication of the Toronto Brand Stars, which will include leaders from Google Canada, MLSE, Cossette and Rogers Communications – all of whom have helped transform Toronto into the dynamic epicenter of Canada's brand marketing ecosystem. The magazine cover of Adweek's Toronto Brand Stars will feature La Mar Taylor, creative director for musical artist The Weeknd and XO Records. The entire list also will appear on Adweek.com.

This week, #MoveTheDial has announced a global summit, while TechTO has paired up with Venture Out to host PrideTechTO. Here’s the latest on these Canadian movers and shakers that are leading the conversation on inclusion.

It was a telling moment for Jodi Kovitz when she went to a youth summit to talk about a severe shortage of women in advanced technology − and found that the girls were out in force, conversing easily and confidently with their male peers on such topics as artificial intelligence, virtual reality and genetic engineering.

In this Maclean’s video, Sarah Kaplan and GATE-funded researcher Hadiya Roderique discuss the gender pay gap alongside Rona Ambrose, Diana Matheson, Kirstine Stewart, Rudayna Bahubeshi and Jodi Kovitz.

On June 12, around 1,000 people, mostly young adults from the Jewish community, filled Koerner Hall in Toronto for The House’s sixth-annual JEDx event.

TORONTO – June 5, 2018 – #movethedial, a movement dedicated to advancing the participation and leadership of women in technology, is hosting the first annual #movethedial Global Summit in Toronto on November 7, 2018. With generous support from TD Bank Group (TD) as the title sponsor, the event aims to inspire powerful action to advance women to leadership roles in the global technology community and encourage young girls to pursue careers in STEM.

Jodi’s movement, #movethedial, has taken the Internet by storm and is setting the stage for challenging the current status quo.

It wouldn’t be a Female Founders & Funders series without including this dynamic, change-making, whole-self-giving woman. Jodi Kovitz, Founder & CEO of #movethedial, is setting the bar high and leading the charge when it comes to having the important conversations that are SO needed in this space.

Jodi’s movement, #movethedial, has taken the Internet by storm and is setting the stage for challenging the current status quo.

Today is International Women’s Day. The STEM industry has not always been the most inclusive to women, but things are moving in the right direction, thanks to industry titans who continue to champion inclusion and prove that women are not only important to have in a business, but incredibly vital.

I didn’t realize this at the time I invited Jodi to be a guest on this show, and I’m fairly certain I wouldn’t have even tried to have her on the show if I did, but Jodi was named as one of the 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada this year because of her work with #movethedial to increase the participation and leadership of women in technology out of Canada, and her success as the CEO of AceTechOntario.

Toronto-based Peloton Innovations has raised $3 million in its first funding round from a group of notable Canadian entrepreneurs.

A new study is highlighting and trying to change what many in the sector already know: Women are woefully underrepresented in Canada’s the technology industry and especially in leadership roles.

Wherever you look in Canada’s technology sectors, from the pre-revenue startup to the Bay Street boardroom, you find too few women in leadership roles.

A new report says just five percent of Canadian technology companies have a female founder and a similar fraction have a woman as CEO, figures which suggest the industry’s gender diversity is lagging other sectors.

Canadian technology companies may be breaking new ground as innovators, but a landmark study published on Wednesday finds the sector is behind the times when it comes to finding a place for women in senior roles.

Earlier this month, Google Canada made an exciting announcement: Sabrina Geremia, the company's former managing director of integrated solutions, is taking over as the national director. She's an obvious choice, of course. She's a strong, smart, well-respected leader with an international résumé. She's always been a visionary, known for having big ideas and the business savviness to realize them. She's a great role model with a generous spirit, always going out of her way to support and mentor young talent.

movethedial is a global movement dedicated to increasing the participation and advancement of women in technology through shifting mindset into one of proactivity, building and uniting community to take big steps together, and delivering uniquely inspiring and highly impactful programs. And, we measure our results.

#movethedial and Raccoon, the short-form video personal storytelling app from Wattpad, the global multiplatform entertainment company for original stories, today announced a partnership to encourage women to share their stories about working in tech: their successes, advice and big ideas for the world.

Ceridian, a global human capital management company, announced it will be a Founding Partner for #movethedial, a global movement committed to raising the profile of, and creating opportunities for women in the tech sector. In addition to contributing financially, Ceridian’s senior leadership team will actively participate in the #movethedial movement.

MoveTheDial founder and AceTech CEO Jodi Kovitz is pushing for tech businesses to put diversity and inclusion at the forefront of their development.

“Elevate is reflecting the value of inclusion. It’s about acting, not just talking about it.” – Jodi Kovitz.

Elevate Toronto is a nonprofit organization led by TechToronto, MaRS, #movethedial, OneEleven, Cossette, and the Spotlight Awards.

Toronto's tech industry is booming and to celebrate and showcase it, the city is partnering with a bunch of tech-related organizations for Elevate Toronto, a three-day festival from September 12 to 14, 2017.

At a #MoveTheDial event in Toronto on Thursday morning, women founders and tech leaders gathered to learn how to amplify their stories in the media, and connect with like-minded entrepreneurs in the community.