Women leaders from MedEssist, Antler, Certn among those honoured at Toast Summit in Calgary.
Twenty-five women were honoured at the Toast Summit in Calgary yesterday for their contributions to Canada’s tech ecosystem.
In partnership with BetaKit, the Toast Top 25 Women in Tech initiative spotlights women working in tech or tech-adjacent businesses whose impacts on the Canadian innovation economy often go unnoticed.
“There are incredible women in this country doing really cool shit, and they just don’t get profiled enough.”
April Hicke
The winners included Antler partner Shambhavi Mishra, MedEssist CEO Joelle Almeida, and Certn CTO Saba El-Hilo, among other tech executives, venture capitalists, and community leaders. The full list of honourees can be found below.
“It really came from a simple observation,” Toast co-founder and CEO April Hicke said. “There are incredible women in this country doing really cool shit, and they just don’t get profiled enough.”
Founded in 2022, Toast is a tech recruitment company focused on increasing women’s representation in the industry. It offers inclusive networking and hiring services and hosts events to support and expand opportunities for women and diverse people in the tech industry.
Nine tech and community leaders comprised the judging panel, including The Fireweed Institute co-founder Jacqueline Jennings, TechTO CEO Marie Chevrier Schwartz, ZayZoon founder Tate Hackert, and Melissa Lisanti, chief of staff of data, digital, and innovation at PwC. The team received over 1,000 submissions.
At the third annual Toast Summit, speakers discussed hiring strategies, navigating the gender pay gap, and leveraging technology for good.
The event also featured wellness workshops and a market for local, women-owned brands. Hicke and BetaKit CEO Siri Agrell hosted the Toast Top 25 portion of the event.
“To watch a room full of people cheer for these remarkable women from coast to coast was something special,” Hicke said. “The energy was absolutely palpable.”
She said the diversity of women on the list, across sectors, ages, locations, and backgrounds, showed the many forms innovation can take.
“These 25 women represent the breadth of talent, vision, and impact happening in Canada right now, and shining a light on them matters.”
The Toast Top 25 Women in Tech
Alice Reimer
Alice is the co-founder of Evoco, which was acquired in 2012 after serving global retailers like Home Depot and Walmart. She was named to Profit’s W100 as one of Canada’s Top Female Entrepreneurs and was one of Alberta’s 50 Most Influential People for 2013. She is on the board of the A100 and is the board chair for Startup Calgary.
Alicia Roisman Ismach
Alicia is a fintech leader and community builder based in Atlantic Canada. She is a seasoned entrepreneur and fintech expert who has successfully launched, grown, and sold multiple companies. She founded the non-profit Atlantic Fintech and is involved in community initiatives across New Brunswick.
Angie Papatsonis
Angie is an alumna of Airbnb and Neo Financial, and the current delivery director at VantEdge. At Neo, she built and mentored a team of high performers on the strategic operations side, where she empowered a sense of genuine excitement to build things from scratch.
Arushi Parmar
Arushi is the president of banking at RBCx. She has over a decade of experience across Cleantech and SaaS, and has worked closely with the Women Venture Forward program at the Ivey School of Business. She has built her reputation as a leader who not only drives innovation but also creates opportunities for others to grow alongside her.
Briana Falls
Briana is co-CEO and chief business officer of Leeg Group. Under her leadership, Leeg has doubled revenue year-over-year and grown its user base by more than 60 percent. She has over 20 years of experience in partnerships, business transformation, and operational scale.
Elysa Darling
Elysa is the COO of Digital. Under her leadership, the company has accelerated the commercialization of technologies that are bridging the gap between research and real-world adoption. She has built high-performing teams, streamlined operations for maximum impact, and positioned Digital as a trusted convener where industry and government align toward shared objectives.
Erin Bobicki
Erin is the CEO of Cura and CTO of Thunderstone. She also co-founded Aurora Hydrogen. Her achievements have earned her international recognition, including the $5-million Crush It! Challenge grand prize and the Coalition for Eco-Efficient silver medal. The former University of Toronto professor is a mother of six with significant experience leading volunteer initiatives.
Gina Theivendra
Gina led digital mental health initiatives at Kids Help Phone, scaled a seed-stage startup in Ottawa, built platform products supporting patients nationwide at Loblaw, and is now launching a 0–1 vertical at a Toronto AI scale-up. She also leads product and operations at MyEndo, an app founded by an all-female obstetrics team.
Janet Lin
Janet is the senior vice president and chief information officer at Equitable Bank, and chair of the board at the Information Communication Technology Council of Canada. Her accomplishments have earned her honours like the 2023 Women in Technology Canada Award, and Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women. She also co-founded Loblaw’s Women in Technology.
Jenna Earnshaw
Jenna is co-founder and COO of Wisedocs, where she has been instrumental in scaling the company from ideation to a high-growth startup. Prior to Wisedocs, she led go-to-market efforts at Showpass, PartnerStack, and Railz, helping scale each company from pre-seed to multi-million-dollar revenue.
Jillian McLaren
Jillian is managing director of the Community Safety and Wellness Accelerator, where she helped the program become the CofoundersBeta “Canada’s Top Accelerator” in 2025. She launched the Women Leading Social Impact Summit and has hosted record-breaking demo days, built meaningful partnerships, and steadily increased accelerator applications by fostering a purpose-driven culture.
Joella Almeida
Joella is the founder and CEO of MedEssist. Under her leadership, the company has helped pharmacists launch clinical services, navigate public health crises, and future-proof their roles in healthcare. She demonstrates a deep commitment to innovation that is both scalable and human-centered, elevating the entire ecosystem.
Katrina German
Katrina is the three-time tech founder behind OneStory, LightLeaf Solar, and Ethical Language Management. Her contributions have earned recognition that includes the International Women in Tech Award (Web Summit, Lisbon) and the Startup Canada Prairie Award for Innovation. She’s also been named one of SME Business Review’s “10 Visionary CEOs to Watch” and serves as a regular tech expert on CTV Morning Live in Saskatoon.
Linda Biggs
Linda is the co-founder and CEO of Joni, where she introduced Canada’s first internet of things-enabled period care dispenser, a technological breakthrough that helps ensure free period care is always available. Joni has donated over one million period products through nonprofit partnerships, reaching the country’s most vulnerable populations.
Lourdes Juan
Lourdes is the founder and CEO at Knead Technologies. Knead’s white‑label software redefines food rescue as a climate tech opportunity, shifting it from charity to scalable innovation. She invests time in advocacy, speaking at SXSW, innovation summits, and industry forums on inclusive entrepreneurship and climate resilience. Her earlier ventures, the Leftovers Foundation and Fresh Routes, redistributed millions of pounds of food and created sustainable employment opportunities.
Lucrezia Spagnolo
Lucrezia is the founder and CEO of Vesta, a technology company building trauma-informed digital tools for survivors of gender-based violence. A published researcher in technology and survivor-centered design, she has advised global changemakers as an executive in residence at the Ashoka Foundation. She currently mentors women entrepreneurs through the Toronto Public Library.
Michelle Younes
At Invest Ottawa, Michelle designed and launched the IO Venture Path, which empowered over 1,300 companies to raise more than $1.7 billion in capital and create more than 5,200 jobs. She has expanded venture funding commitments from $1.75 million to $8 million, and increased women advisor representation from 8 percent to nearly 50 percent. She helped secure over $40 million in new funding and led the rollout of initiatives like SheBoot, and Immigrant Founder Launchpad.
Natalie Ashdown
Natalie is the COO and co-founder of Evoco, where she spearheaded the development of plant-based chemistry solutions like bio-foams and bio-leathers. Beyond her professional achievements, she engages with community initiatives like the RBC Women in Cleantech powered by MaRS, and the Asia Pacific Foundation Trade Delegation mission, inspiring young female professionals to pursue careers in science and technology.
RajyaLakshmi Kotamraju
RajyaLakshmi is the CTO at Snap Accounts Payable Corporation. Her more than 20-year journey from India’s tech hubs to Wall Street to Atlantic Canada’s fintech scene positions her as a unique bridge within Canada’s tech ecosystem. She holds a non-provisional patent for attended automation modules—demonstrating continued contribution to actual technological advancement. She has also successfully registered multiple other innovations throughout her career.
Roshni Wijayasinha
Roshni is the CMO of Fractional and the founder of Prosh Marketing. She has 18 years of experience spanning global brands like Sony and Johnson & Johnson, and has helped more than 45 startups grow and scale. She mentors with Techstars, Founder Institute, and the Holt Fintech Accelerator, and her thought leadership has been featured by Forbes, CBC, CTV, and BetaKit.
Saba El‑Hilo
Saba is the CTO of Certn, with over a decade of experience across firms like Hootsuite, Etsy, Mapbox, Unbounce, and Neo Financial. In 2013, she founded “Girl Development,” a Vancouver‑based meetup empowering women technologists. She is also a featured speaker on AI, data infrastructure, and engineering performance at industry conferences, where she helps shape the national conversation on tech maturity.
Shambhavi Mishra
Shambhavi is an associate partner at Antler Canada. She is one of the few women of color in a leadership role within Canadian venture capital, and she uses that platform to create access, open doors, and advocate for under-represented founders. She mentors emerging talent through programs like Google for Startups and QueerTech, and was recently appointed to the board of the South Asian Venture Capital Association.
Tanuvi Bali
Tanuvi Bali is a senior manager at PwC, where she advises Fortune 500 clients across high-impact sectors like energy and nuclear. She has been a part of PwC’s Women in Leadership program, led women in tech panels, and mentors women to take leadership roles in consulting and tech. She also consults engineers and executives on digital twins, AI, and agentic AI strategies.
Tiffani Westerman
Tiffani is the founder and CEO of two cloud security startups: GRC Concierge and Wesley Clover Services. She is a recipient of Ottawa’s 40 Under 40 award and a current nominee for Premier’s Award for Colleges Ontario in the Entrepreneurship and Economic Development category. She is also a business mentor through the Ottawa Catholic School Board’s Social Entrepreneurs Program.
Feature image courtesy Toast.
